Evidence for High Temperature in the Upper Mantle Beneath Cape Verde Archipelago from Rayleigh-Wave Phase-Velocity Measurements

Researchers of the Instituto Dom Luíz (IDL), Joana Carvalho, Graça Silveira, and João Mata, together with researchers from the School of Cosmic Physics, Geophysics section of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (Dublin, Ireland), Seismic Hazard Group (Aix-en-Provence, France) and Institute of Geosciences of the Christian-Albrechts University Kiel (Kiel, Germany) published a paper in Tectonophysics magazine. This work is based on a study developed in the Cape Verde region, through the determination of Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves over a wide range of periods. The data revealed a low speed zone, indicating a temperature anomaly, which was the cause of a significant thermal rejuvenation of the oceanic lithosphere under Cape Verde. The results of this work interpreted together with other published data on non-radiogenic trace elements and low seismic anomalies in the lower mantle, suggest that the origin of the Cape Verde hotspot is related to a plume anchored in the mantle.

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