Steven Tapanes

December 15, 2019

Jeff Webber

GEOL-2101

Mantle Structure Under the Western United states

The mantle structure under the western United States mainly has to do with the magma

plume under yellowstone national park. This is important because of the possibility of an

eruption from this area would send the earth into an apocalyptic state and also knowing the

structure of the earth in this area would help us by giving us clues as to what the earth may look

like many years from now and why it looked that way. Other important features of the western

united states includes the sierra nevada batholith, idaho batholith, baja california batholith, the

coastal range batholith and the shallow asthenosphere below the western United States.

The mantle plume under yellowstone national park originated from the lower mantle

where a large column of hot rock began to rise due to convection. The plume did not originally

reside underneath yellowstone national park where it resides now. It has taken a path that has

taken hundreds of thousands of years, from the pacific to being under yellowstone where it is

today. The reason the process of the plume rising is so slow is mainly due to the high viscosity

of the magma in the mantle. To get a true feeling for how viscous the mantle is, the viscosity of

water is ​8.90 × 10​−4​ Pa (pascal) while the viscosity of the mantle is 2.8 x 10^22 Pa. It is

astronomically more viscous and it very easy to understand after seeing these measurements as to
why processes like this take so long especially when you are moving millions of metric tonnes of

molten rock through the mantle via nothing but convection.

Over time the plume migrated towards the lithosphere to where it has settled under the

western United States. ​The heat from the plume causes rocks in the lower lithosphere to melt as

the tectonic plate above it shifts, volcanic features are created. Such features include the giant

yellowstone caldera and the hot springs and geysers occupating the area. It is good to note that

caldera volcanoes are large features of land that collapse due to magma drainage and form a

bowl shape which is seen in yellowstone just on a very large scale. Also due to the apparent path

of the mantle plume, it has created a thin asthenosphere due the size of the plume. This only adds

to the idea that caldera super volcano might explode because seismic waves tend to slow down

once they reach the asthenosphere. With the asthenosphere thin around this area it allows for

seismic waves to have a greater impact on the magma plume and may provoke an eruption. The

reason there is lots of buzz around the idea of the yellowstone super volcano exploding is mainly

due to the historical records of similar lengths of time between other super volcanoes erupting in

our not so distant past and we are coming upon the time in which another eruption is bound to

happen. To understand why an eruption would happen we would have to look at the

composition of the mantle and what makes the magma volatile. The main elements within the

mantle include oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, aluminum, sodium, calcium and potassium.

Based on all the previous information shown I have gathered that there really shouldn't be

a reason for people to be scared of a yellowstone eruption. There is no concrete evidence that

shows that an eruption will occur or that an eruption from the magma plume would even cause

an explosion that would be of apocalyptic proportions. Some Media sources may say that an
eruption is imminent based on frequent earthquakes in the Yellowstone national park area. As

scientists know it is normal and is nothing new to the region. As proven most of the rumors

about an eruption from the magma plume are simply nothing more than rumors as there is no

technology available today to predict whether there will be an eruption or not.

Other structures under the western united states include the four batholiths. A batholith

starts out originally as a very large magma chamber which provides magma for multiple volcanic

systems and when it cools it becomes a large body of cooled igneous rock. These batholiths can

be seen at times due to lots of uplift and erosion just like how the sierra nevada batholith is able

to be seen as it is now as the core of the mountain range and is visible on the surface as mostly

granite. It is a common misconception that tectonic movement was the main reason for the

formation of the sierra nevada mountains when the reason for the sierra nevada mountains is the

batholith being uplifted over time due to the mantle pushing it up and wind and ice and water

eroding away at the surface of the mountain exposing the main part of the mountain range, the

massive body of igneous rock beneath the surface. The sierra nevada batholith according to

studies was formed around the late Jurassic period. It is also important to note that because of

the sierra nevada batholith it has created different climates on both sides of the mountain range

and is responsible for the amount of precipitation on each side of the mountain range gets and it

is important to know this because it helps scientists figure out what type of climate there was

since the formation of the mountain range. It is important because it has a lot to do with the

volcanic activity in the jurassic period and where certain igneous rocks came from and why the

mountain range is made up of mostly igneous rock.

 The idaho batholith is an important feature because it is the largest batholith in the united

states. It just as the sierra nevada batholith is also a mountain range covering roughly

twenty-five thousand square kilometers of land. The idaho batholith is comprised mostly of

granite and was formed during the late triassic and gives us insight on the volcanic activity back

in that time period and how certain features such as the mountain range in that area and igneous

rocks were created. The crust in the western United States is quite thick due to the mountain

range created by the four batholiths contained within this section of the united states. The crustal

thickness in this area is around 47-55km thick and its composition is mostly potassium,

aluminum, iron, silicon, oxygen and sodium. Overall the four batholiths add a mountainous

terrain to the western United States and give a further insight on how the continent was millions

of years ago.

From all the information assembled it is clear to understand the general structure of the

western United States and how it came to be how it is today. Overall what it is to note that the

Yellowstone caldera supervolcano is something we should keep an eye out for but not worry

about as there just simply isn't technology out today that can help us determine if it will erupt or

not. The four batholiths of the united states have helped us in learning about past volcanism in

the united states and the reason for why the continent in this area is shaped the way it is in terms

of the mountain ranges and climates created by them.

 References cited

Savage, M. K., Sheehan, A. F., June 10, 2000: “Seismic Anisotropy and Mantle Flow from the
Great Basin to the Great Plains, Western United States.” ​Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid
Earth​ 105.B6

George A. Thompson, Manik Talwani, 18 Dec 1964: Geology of the Crust and Mantle, Western
United States (can be accessed at ​https://science.sciencemag.org/content/146/3651/1539​)(site
accessed november 11, 2019)

Peter Bird, March 25, 1988: Formation of the Rocky Mountains, Western United States: a
continuum computer model (can be accessed at
https://find.gale.com/nrcx/infomark.do?action=interpret&source=null&prodId=NRC&use
rGroupName=richstockcol&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=A6553005&type=
retrieve&version=1.0&finalAuth=true​)(site accessed november 11, 2019)

Derek L. Schutt, Eugene D. Humphreys, April 01, 2001:Evidence for a deep asthenosphere
beneath North America from western United States SKS splits (can be accessed at
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/29/4/291/198458/Evidence-for-a-deep-asth
enosphere-beneath-North​)(site accessed november 11, 2019)

R. Kind, X. Yuan, J. Mechie, F. Sodoudi, July 31, 2015: Structure of the upper mantle in the
north-western and central United States from USArray S-receiver functions (can be accessed at
https://www.solid-earth.net/6/957/2015/​) (site accessed november 11, 2019)

Esper S. Larsen, Jr., David Gottfried, Howard W. Jaffe, and Claude L. Waring, 1958:
Lead-Alpha Ages of the Mesozoic Batholiths of Western North America (can be accessed at
https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1070b/report.pdf )(site accessed november 15, 201)