We study the 3-D P wave velocity (Vp) structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Greenland and surrounding regions using the latest P wave arrival time data. The Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network (GLISN), initiated in 2009, is an international project for seismic observation in these regions using 34 stations. We use a regional seismic tomography method to simultaneously invert P wave arrival times of local earthquakes and P wave relative traveltime residuals of teleseismic events. These data are extracted from the ISC-EHB catalog; however, for the teleseismic data, we picked new arrival times from seismograms using a cross-correlation method. Our tomographic results clearly reveal the Iceland plume, the Jan Mayen plume, and a newly discovered "Svalbard plume," which merge together in the mantle transition zone. A high-Vp body exists beneath the Greenland Sea, which might act as an obstacle against the rising Svalbard plume. Furthermore, our results reveal a remarkable low-Vp anomaly elongated in the NW-SE direction at depths ≤250 km beneath central Greenland, which is connected with the Iceland and Jan Mayen hotspots. Although previous studies have suggested a similar feature, our result is the first to show the low-Vp zone existing at all depths in the Greenland lithosphere, and its spatial distribution coincides with a high heat flux region. These characteristics indicate that the low-Vp zone reflects residual heat from the Iceland plume when the Greenland lithosphere passed over this plume at~80-20 Ma. Our results also indicate the possible existence of residual heat from the Jan Mayen plume. Plain Language Summary Greenland is a stable land mass that has preserved~4 Gyr of Earth's history. In its vicinity, there are the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Iceland and Jan Mayen hotspots, and a geothermal area in Svalbard, which indicate the complexity of this region. We apply seismic tomography to analyze the latest data recorded by a new seismograph network, and we obtain detailed 3-D images of the crust and upper mantle. Our results clearly image the conduit-like Iceland plume, the Jan Mayen plume, and a newly discovered "Svalbard plume," which merge together in the mantle transition zone. These new findings will improve our understanding of the tectonic and thermal evolution of this region. We also find a low seismic velocity zone running in the NW-SE direction beneath central Greenland, which is connected with the Iceland and Jan Mayen hotspots. This zone is located within the Greenlandic plate, and its spatial distribution agrees well with an area of high geothermal heat flux. These results suggest that the low-velocity zone reflects residual heat from the Iceland plume when the Greenlandic plate passed over the plume at~80-20 Ma. Our model further suggests a possible heat track left by the Jan Mayen plume.
We study the 3-D P wave velocity (Vp) structure of the whole mantle beneath Greenland and surrounding regions using the latest P wave arrival time data. We use a new method of global seismic tomography by setting 3-D grid nodes densely in the study volume to enhance the resolution. We invert~5.6 million arrival times of P, pP, and PP waves from 16,257 earthquakes extracted from the ISC-EHB catalog, which were recorded at 12,549 seismic stations in the world. Our results reveal a hot plume rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland, which is called the Greenland plume. This plume has the main conduit and two branches in the lower mantle, and the main conduit rises to the mantle transition zone (MTZ) beneath eastern Greenland, so it is distinguishable from the Iceland plume that appears to rise from a midmantle depth (~1,500 km) beneath Iceland. The Iceland plume itself is a powerful plume, but it may also be fed by hot mantle materials from three joints with other plumes: a branch of the Greenland plume at~1,500 km depth, a plume beneath Western Europe at~1,000 km depth, and the main conduit of the Greenland plume at the MTZ, leading to many active volcanoes in Iceland. We deem that the main conduit of the Greenland plume mixes with the Iceland plume incompletely and splits mainly into the Jan Mayen and Svalbard plumes in the upper mantle, which supply magma to the Jan Mayen hotspot and a geothermal area in western Svalbard, respectively. Plain Language Summary Greenland and its surrounding regions have many clues for understanding global-scale tectonics of the Earth. Seismic tomography is a well-established method for obtaining 3-D images of the underground structure by inverting a large number of seismic wave arrival times. We obtain detailed tomographic images of the whole mantle beneath Greenland and adjacent regions using the latest dataset. Our high-resolution results show that the so-called Iceland plume could be composed of two plumes. One is located directly beneath Iceland but rising from~1,500 km depth, which we call the Iceland plume. The other is rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland, which we call the Greenland plume. The Greenland plume has the main conduit and two branches in the lower mantle, and the main conduit rises to the mantle transition zone beneath eastern Greenland. Although the Iceland plume itself is a powerful plume, it may also have three joints with other plumes: the main conduit and a branch of the Greenland plume, and a plume beneath Western Europe, resulting in many active volcanoes in Iceland. The main conduit of the Greenland plume may also supply magmas to the Jan Mayen hotspot and a geothermal area in western Svalbard.
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