Terrestrial heat flow versus crustal thickness and topography – European continental study

Abstract

The relation between heat flow, topography and Moho depth for recent maps of Europe is presented. Newest heat flow map of Europe is based on updated database of uncorrected heat flow values to which paleoclimatic correction is applied across the continental Europe (Majorowicz and Wybraniec 2010). Correction is depth dependent due to a diffusive thermal transfer of the surface temperature forcing, of which glacial–interglacial history has the largest impact. This explains some very low uncorrected heat flow values of 20–30 mW/m2in shallow boreholes in the shields, shallow basin areas of the cratons, and in other areas including orogenic belts where heat flow was likely underestimated due to small depth of the temperature logs. New integrated map of the European Moho depth (Grad et al 2009) is the first high resolution digital map for European plate, which is understood as an area from Ural Mountains in the east to mid-Atlantic ridge in the west, and Mediterranean Sea in the south to Spitsbergen and Barents Sea in Arctic, in the north. For correlation we used the following: onshore heat flow density data with palaeoclimatic correction (5318 locations), topography map (30x30 arc seconds, by Danielson and Gesch 2011) and Moho map by Grad et al (2009), providing longitude, latitude and Moho depth (with resolution of 0.1 degree). Analysis was limited to locations for which datasets were available. The area of continental Europe has been divided into two large domains: Precambrian East European craton and Palaeozoic Platform of the West Europe. In addition, two smaller areas were considered, corresponding to Scandinavian Caledonides and Anatolia. The results obtained reveal significantly different correlations between Moho depth, elevation and heat flow for these regions. For each region detailed analysis of these relations in different elevation ranges are presented. In general, it is observed that Moho depth is more significant for heat flow than elevation. Depending on the region and elevation range, heat flow value is up to two times larger than Moho depth, while relation of heat flow to elevation has much more variability.

Terrestrial heat flow and lithospheric thermal structure in the Chagan Depression of the Yingen‐Ejinaqi Basin, north central China

“…Terrestrial heat flow is an objective reflection of the dynamics of the sedimentary basin and the thermal evolution of the lithospheric structure (Artemieva, 2018; Goodge, 2018; Majorowicz et al, 2019; Wang, 2015). Sedimentary basins of different ages and different origins show obvious differences in their present‐day thermal states (Artemieva, 2006; Björk & Winsosr, 2006; Gong et al, 2011; Hu et al, 2001; Li et al, 2017; Liu et al, 2016; Zuo et al, 2011).…”

“…Its Moho temperature reaches from 757 T A B L E 7 Lithospheric thermal structure of the typical wells to 850°C, with an average value of 816°C ± 36°C (Table 7), and the lithospheric thermal structure is "hot crust and cold mantle" type. Terrestrial heat flow is an objective reflection of the dynamics of the sedimentary basin and the thermal evolution of the lithospheric structure (Artemieva, 2018;Goodge, 2018;Majorowicz et al, 2019;Wang, 2015). Sedimentary basins of different ages and different origins show obvious differences in their present-day thermal states (Artemieva, 2006;Björk & Winsosr, 2006;Gong et al, 2011;Hu et al, 2001;Li et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2016;Zuo et al, 2011).…”

“…Exploring the internal structure of the lithosphere and its geodynamics is one of the frontier topics in Earth Science (Artemieva, 2006(Artemieva, , 2018Ashchepkov et al, 2012;Björk & Winsosr, 2006;Dalton, Bao, & Ma, 2017;Goodge, 2018;Hu, He, & Wang, 2001;Majorowicz, Grad, & Polkowski, 2019;Mareschal & Jaupart, 2004;Qiu, Zuo, Chang, & Li, 2014;Wang, 2015). In 1914, following the early work of Barrel (1914) on the concept of the lithosphere relative to the asthenosphere, different approaches have been used to define the lithosphere based on different physical and chemical boundary conditions, such as thermal lithosphere (Griffin et al, 1999), petrological lithosphere (Rudnick, McDonough, & O'Connell, 1998), seismic-thermal lithosphere (Goes, Govers, & Vacher, 2000), mechanical lithosphere (Schubert, Turcotte, & Olson, 2001), seismological lithosphere (Anderson, 1995), elastic lithosphere (Watts, 2001), chemical lithosphere (Lee, Lenardic, Cooper, Niu, & Levandar, 2005), and electric lithosphere (Clowes, 1997).…”

“…The thermal lithospheric structure refers to the proportion of the heat flow in the crust and the mantle, and their competency and structural relationship (Blackwell, 1971;Wang, 2015). The crust-mantle heat flow distribution affects the current crustal and mantle activity, deep temperature conditions, and the formation of basins and mountains (Artemieva, 2018;Artemieva & Mooney, 2001;Dalton et al, 2017;Goodge, 2018;Majorowicz et al, 2019;Norden, Förster, & Balling, 2008;Rudnick & Nyblade, 1999;Wang, 2015), and is an important window to understand the tectonic evolution of the lithosphere and the deep dynamics of basins (Hu et al, 2001;Mareschal & Jaupart, 2004;Björk & Winsosr, 2006;Artemieva, 2006;Zuo et al, 2013;Zuo, Li, Li, & Hao, 2015;Zuo, Song, Li, Wang, & Yang, 2017;Gong, Zhang, & Ye, 2011;Qiu et al, 2014;Li, Zuo, Qiu, & Gao, 2017;Liu, Zhang, Zhang, & He, 2016;Jiang et al, 2019). Pollackm & Chapman (1977) first computed the "thermal" lithospheric thickness in North America and Australia.…”

Subsalt Rotliegend Sediments—A New Challenge for Geothermal Systems in Poland

“…The highest heat flow values have been noticed from northwestern Poland in the area of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline, within an approximately 50-70 km wide belt. This zone corresponds to the trend of continental crust thinning [76,79]. The zone of the highest HF corresponds to the location of the thick (up to 1000 m) volcanic cover of Autunian, but their quantitative relationships have not yet been recognized.…”