Microstructures, composition, and seismic properties of the Ontong Java Plateau mantle root

To study how an impacting plume modifies the mantle lithosphere, we analyzed the microstructures and crystal preferred orientations (CPO) of 29 peridotites and 37 pyroxenites that sample the mantle root of the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) from 60 to 120 km depth. The peridotites show a strong compositional variability, but homogeneous coarse granular to tabular microstructures, except for those equilibrated at the shallowest and deepest depths, which are porphyroclastic. All peridotites have clear olivine CPO, with dominant fiber-[010] patterns. Low intragranular misorientations and straight grain boundaries in olivine suggest that, above 100 km depth, annealing often followed deformation. Calculated density and P wave velocities of the peridotites decrease weakly with depth. S wave velocities decrease faster, resulting in increasing Vp/Vs ratio with depth. Calculated densities and seismic velocity profiles are consistent with those estimated for normal mantle compositions under a cold oceanic geotherm. Enrichment in pyroxenites may further increase seismic velocities. The calculated seismic properties cannot therefore explain the low S waves velocities predicted by Rayleigh wave tomography and ScS data in the mantle beneath the OJP. Calculated P and S waves anisotropy is variable (2-12%). It is higher on average in the deeper section of the lithosphere. Because olivine has dominantly [010]-fiber CPO patterns, if foliations are horizontal, vertically propagating S waves and Rayleigh waves will sample very weak anisotropy in the OJP mantle lithosphere. Moreover, if the orientation of the lineation changes with depth, the anisotropy-induced contrast in seismic properties might produce an intralithospheric reflector marking the stratification of the OJP mantle root.