TY  - JOUR
A1  - Comeau, Matthew J.
A1  - Becken, Michael
A1  - Connolly, James A. D.
A1  - Grayver, Alexander V.
A1  - Kuvshinov, Alexey V.
T1  - Compaction-Driven Fluid Localization as an Explanation for Lower Crustal Electrical Conductors in an Intracontinental Setting
Y1  - 2020
VL  - 47
IS  - 19
JF  - Geophysical Research Letters
DO  - 10.1029/2020GL088455
DO  - 10.23689/fidgeo-5076
N2  - We present electrical resistivity models, derived from magnetotelluric data, of the crust beneath the Bulnay region, Mongolia. They reveal that the lower crust contains a pattern of discrete zones (width of ~25 km) of low resistivity (<30 Ωm). Such features may be an effect of unaccounted-for electrical anisotropy. However, when anisotropy is considered in the modeling, the features remain. We investigate an alternative explanation, based on a conceptual model of fluid localization and stagnation by thermally activated compaction, and demonstrate it is compatible with the observed low-resistivity zones. The model explains the location, shape, and size of the zones, with plausible values of the activation energy for lower crustal creep (270–360 kJ/mol), and a viscous compaction length on the order of 10 km. The results imply tectonic deformation and compaction processes, rather than lithological-structural heterogeneity, control the regional lower crustal fluid flow.
UR  - http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/9422
ER  -