Hawaii Convergent, Part 3. The Moat And Arch Of Hawaii. Now: Active Fracture Tectonics.

Now: Active Fracture Tectonics.
There was a post by me, Sergey D. Sukhotinsky, "Hawaii Convergent, Part 2. Introducing The Concept Of Geofracture (not Plate) Tectonics." < http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2011/10/hawaii-convergent-part-2-introducing.html > Since then I generalized the concept to include celestial objects. See "Tectonics Of A Celestial Object Driven By Material Differentiation And Migration In Temperature Gradient Under Tidal Deformations."
< http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2012/07/tectonics-of-celestial-object-driven-by.html > Let's name the concept: "Active Fracture Tectonics".

Basics of Active Fracture Tectonics.
- Driving force. The mechanism to reshape Earth's solid surface (crust) is driven mostly by Earth's tidal deformations by Moon, Sun etc.
- Active Divergent Fracture Zone. The kind of a fracture zone that develops the compressional stress within crust. The next conditions are normally met:
   a) deformations within the fracture zone caused by tidal deformations of Earth's body;
   b) water layer above the fracture zone to provide effective cooling;
   c) access for magma from beneath the fracture zone;
   d) absence of source of external compressional stress that blocks this Divergent Fracture Zone to spread crust.
- Crust Lamination at Divergent Fracture Zone caused by material differentiation and migration In temperature gradient under tidal deformations. A Divergent Fracture Zone develops mechanically stronger fraction on the top of the spread crust due to water ensured temperature gradient. The weaker fraction is getting spread on the bottom of it in molten form.
- Passive Divergent Fracture Zone. Active Divergent Fracture Zone can't be curvy. Thus, some regions of a spherical crust  undergo extensional stress. The resulting Divergent Fracture Zones could develop in Active Divergent Fracture Zone if the listed above conditions are met. Otherwise Passive Divergent Fracture Zone develops under extensional stress. The conditions that prevent a Divergent Fracture Zone to develop active (just to name a few):
- Absence of water layer above it.
- Limited access of water due to heavy sedimentation.
- Pollution of the zone due to sedimentation.
- Limited access of magma from beneath, say, due to the underlying subducted slab.
- Pollution of the magma from beneath, due to a recycled subducted slab.
- Slab Pull. The Mechanically stronger fraction on the top of the spread crust at a Divergent Fracture Zone can be denser than the underlying magma. So, a subducting slab on delamination could get denser than the underlying magma and get sunk down to the depth of corresponding magma density. That process of slab sinking could be considered as the secondary driving mechanism behind Active Fracture Tectonics. The slab sinking adds seismic events to tidal deformations and participates in magma convection.

The Moat Of Hawaii.
The mechanism to pump magma/lava up to the surface is different between Plate Tectonics and Active Fracture Tectonics. But once magma/lava gets pumped up, both concepts explain the moat as crust overload.

The Arch Of Hawaii. Plate Tectonics's Plume/Hotspot approach.
The Arch Of Hawaii is something that Plate Tectonics's Plume/Hotspot approach has a problem to explain (in my opinion). The common sense tells, if a load is placed on ice then, yes, a depression develops, but, no, there will be no arch around the depression. The Hotspot's idea that hot magma upwells around the depression to form arch seems not to work well, as, for instance, the "hotspotless" mount chain - Line Islands Chain built its own arch without help of a hotspot.

The Arch Of Hawaii. Active Fracture Tectonics approach.
Let's recall - a Divergent Fracture Zone develops mechanically stronger fraction on the top of the spread crust, the weaker fraction is getting spread on the bottom of it in molten form. Hawaii chain is a convergent zone. The top layer of the incoming crust is getting consumed down under crust. The less dense fraction of the bottom layer of the incoming crust tends not to flow under the depression, accumulating at some distance from the convergent zone. The volume of the material with the density less than the density of crust gives local rise to crust forming arch. When that less dense material got the chance to break up through the bent crust, - highly fluid lava shows on the ocean flow in violent volcanic events.

Active Fracture Tectonics: Doing Physics and Maths.
Time unit: Tera second (Tc).
As I wrote in "Hawaii Convergent, Part 2. Introducing The Concept Of Geofracture (not Plate) Tectonics." < http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2011/10/hawaii-convergent-part-2-introducing.html >:
"There is the only time unit - second, To make records shorter, Tera second (Tc) can be used". There is no much sense in maintaining the over-complicated legacy set of time-span names like Cenozoic, Mesozoic etc. In fact, we just can't afford to ignore help from the side of physicists, mathematicians, software and electronic hardware developers, other scientists. Let's speak one language - the language of physics. Let's not build artificial barriers around particular domain of science, - The Earth does not belong to only geologists. See my, Sergey D. Sukhotinsky's post "Code First, Model First, or Behavior First? (Talking On Plate Tectonics, Earth Science)" < http://weblogs.asp.net/sergeys/archive/2011/08/30/code-first-model-first-or-behavior-first-talking-on-plate-tectonics-earth-science.aspx > .
Earth layers in plain English.
Again, as I wrote in "Hawaii Convergent, Part 2..." there is no much sense in maintaining the outdated concept of "asthenosphere/lithosphere". The changes of properties of Earth with depth that are seen with Geophysics instruments could mark the layers' boundaries. The layers defined this way could be called in plain English, such as "brittle", "ductile", "transition" or similar.

Active Fracture Tectonics: Next Order Approximation compared to Plate Tectonics.
Plate Tectonics did do its great job to consolidate scientists in their research on Earth evolution. Alfred Wegener paid the price to be heard and stay forever in our memories as the hero. But, time's passing, we need to keep on moving on. The very concept that the outer solid layer of Earth is loosely coupled to underlying layer, and the parts of the outer solid layer could be loosely coupled to each other still holds quite well.
What's new is that the loosely coupled parts of the outer solid layer are products of fracture zones. The fracture zones create them off underlying magma, move them, break them apart and provide the force to subduct them (in addition to Slab Pull force.)

Credits (in chronological order) .
1. I was born in Ukraine. This wonderful land must be a special place on Earth. Try to search Famous Ukrainians Hollywood.
2. My mother was Russian born in Russian North not far from Ural region. The life had never been easy in the region.
3. My father is Jewish born in Ukraine.
4. I graduated from MIPT(Moscow), then the best educational institution in Physics/Maths domain in the world.
5. My wife and my daughter are very much helpful.
6. In terms of money: NASA, NOAA, NDF, USGS, many other US-based scientific organizations plus GOOGLE spent billions on products I used virtually for free. Without the products it was not possible to advance a single step in the research.

© 2012 Sergey D. Sukhotinsky.
http://sukhotinsky.blogspot.com/
http://weblogs.asp.net/SergeyS
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Message-ID: <BLU172-W41011A63784270A135073EDB790@phx.gbl>
From: Sergey Sukhotinsky <sukhotinsky@live.com>
To: Sergey Sukhotinsky <cognitive.walkthrough@gmail.com>
Subject: Hawaii Convergent, Part 3. The Moat And Arch Of Hawaii. Now: Active Fracture Tectonics.
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:59:55 +0300
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Tectonics Of A Celestial Object Driven By Material Differentiation And Migration In Temperature Gradient Under Tidal Deformations.

Introduction.

   How a celestial object and its satellite could be formed, was suggested in my
"The Formation Of A Satellite Of A Celestial Object By The Differentiation Of Particles' Speed Vectors."
http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2011/10/formation-of-satellite-of-celestial.html
and
"The Double Moon Formation. The "Condensation/Ejected Ring" Concept. (The Formation Of Multiple Satellites Of A Celestial Object)."
http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2011/10/double-moon-formation.html
   In other posts of my "Sergey D. Sukhotinsky's Blog" (sukhotinsky.blogspot.com and divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com) I  suggested that the driving force of Earth Tectonics originates within the divergent boundaries due to tidal deformations and temperature gradient. The important point was that the driving force keeps a divergent boundary under compressional stress, not extensional stress. Now let's try to fill the gap between the two themes. Let's elaborate on how tidal interaction between a celestial object and its satellite could be developing tectonic processes on the object.

Local "negative feedback" of the dry surface.
- When crust is formed and there is no liquid over crust, the crust is cooled through its surface by radiation. A developing fracture would cause magma/lava to pump up according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The magma/lava would cool down and the place around the fracture would be getting thicker and, thus, stronger against deformations.

- The thinner crust is in some location, the faster gets the process of magma solidification on its bottom, the sooner the thickness of local crust would match the thickness of neighboring crust.

The above two mechanisms feature local negative feedback (so to say), thus, are unable to grow to cause global tectonic processes.

Global process due to presence of liquid over the surface of crust. A model.
   A developing fracture in crust is getting filled with liquid. Let's postulate that the material within the fracture has to differentiate under the deformations and the differentiated components have to migrate within the deforming zone. Let's leave to prove the postulate to future generation of scientists.
Now we can suggest a model of two fracture zones in crust under an ocean of some liquid. The fracture zones are parallel to each other and the distance between them is roughly equal to their dimensions. The question is, how would the two fracture zones develop over time, taking into account they both develop compressional stress in the crust? Would they live independent lives developing similar chemical compositions, or would one fracture zone act on another zone the way, the second zone will be developing different chemical composition?

   In other words would one fracture zone be able to develop stronger composition due to faster well-cooled spreading of the crust? Would the second zone become a convergent zone due to the compressional stress developed by the first zone? Yes, I think, the second zone would be getting contaminated with sediment when consuming oceanic crust, the zone would be getting "weak", the thermal gradient would drop, the strongest and heaviest components would be getting washed off the zone, fresh magma finally would be blocked from reaching the surface in the second zone. And, finally the second fracture zone would became a convergent zone under the compressional stress developed by the first zone. The examples of the second type of fracture zone can be Hawaii chain and Lousville seamount ridge, in my opinion.

Some reasons to differentiate.
- Difference in melting temperature. Naturally, under the zone deformations, the solidifying material (the material with highest  melting temperature), on reaching the cooled surface,  would get stuck between the divergent boundaries, the more ductile material would be getting "washed" down between the boundaries.
- Difference in hardness(firmness) in solidifying state. The less strong material is getting crushed under the deformations and is getting "washed" down between the boundaries.
- Difference in the density. Gravitation gives the denser material less chances to reach surface.

The scales of migration.
   The Second Law of Thermodynamics makes material differentiation and migration in temperature gradient under deformations to work for the entire scale from micro (molecular) level up to the range of full Universe. For a particular scale the specific implementation of the mechanism could be described as working over the smaller scale mechanisms. In the case of the Earth, I'd like to think, it could be possible to describe the next (among others) effects:
- On micro level it could be differentiation of isotopes;
- On the greater scale it could be the process of the development of intrusions within the solidifying material.
- On even greater scale, it could be the process of, say, the development of magma chambers under a volcano.
- Further, it could be the process of developing the difference between the material in convergent and divergent boundaries.
- Even further, it could be the process of developing the difference between the material in Earth's core and  its outer layer. The 3-D mechanism of magma transportation for this case is beyond the scope of this post. But the surface-related mechanism, the crust recycling mechanism is worth to be mentioned here. The magma's material captured by the divergent boundaries is the product of magma differentiation, and under some conditions the composition could contain some dense elements in greater proportion then the original magma contains itself. Later on subduction and heating, the slab would loose the less dense (say, water-related) components, and the resulting slab would became quite dense, even, possibly, denser than the surrounding magma. Such a slab would be able to reach extraordinary depths. 

   The material differentiation and migration under deformations may not necessarily be fully responsible for all the above effects. The above effects can go even without it. Say, gravitation on its own could be causing the differentiation on the density even without the presence of deformations of the material. And on molecular level under the thermal gradient without deformations the differentiation would take place because the objects of the layer, molecules are "vibrating" already.

The importance of understanding how material differentiate and migrate in temperature gradient under deformations.
   The importance of understanding how material differentiate and migrate in temperature gradient under deformations can't be overestimated. It not only may give a key to theoretic questions such as "How does a celestial object develop", but is of great practical importance. Some of the aspects of practical importance were outlined by me in my:
Sergey D. Sukhotinsky's Blog
http://weblogs.asp.net/sergeys/archive/2011/08/30/code-first-model-first-or-behavior-first-talking-on-plate-tectonics-earth-science.aspx
"Code First, Model First, or Behavior First? (Talking On Plate Tectonics, Earth Science)."
http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2011/08/code-first-model-first-or-behavior.html
"Porphyry Copper. More On Reshaping Pangaea (Gondwana)."
http://divergent-boundaries.blogspot.com/2011/07/porphyry-copper-more-on-reshaping.html

© 2011 Sergey D. Sukhotinsky.
http://sukhotinsky.blogspot.com/
http://weblogs.asp.net/SergeyS
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Message-ID: <BLU138-W6B9467391C2598093C199DBD20@phx.gbl>
From: Sergey Sukhotinsky <sukhotinsky@live.com>
To: Sergey Sukhotinsky <cognitive.walkthrough@gmail.com>
Subject: Tectonics Of A Celestial Object Driven By Material Differentiation
 And Migration In Temperature Gradient Under Tidal Deformations.
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 03:47:40 +0300

The Concept Of Sea Ice Experiment To Get The Feel Of Geofracture Tectonics.

Sea ice vs Earth crust.
- Both are solid entities floating on something that is less solid.
- Both develop "tectonic-like" structures: ridges, subducting plates, etc.
- Both undergo deformations: crust is getting deformed by Moon/Sun gravity; sea ice is getting deformed by tidal and wind induced waves.

The objective of the experiment.
The main point of the experiment is to reveal whether compressional stress within ice sheet could be developed by ice sheet deformations caused by tidal waves. Could the compressional stress develop the structures: ridges, subducting plates, etc.
The location of the ice sheet to look for.
- A deep bay, probably, in Antarctic. The width of the ice sheet outside the bay should not be great in order to prevent the stress transmission from outside the bay. 
- Winter wind pattern should not develop the significant compressional stress in the ice of the bay. The wind should be blowing mainly toward the open side of the bay.
- Tidal wave should be producing considerable deformation of the bay's ice surface.

The flow of the experiment.
Monitored parameters are:
- tidal deformation of the bay's ice surface;
- stress within the ice sheet;
- development of the "tectonic-like" structures: ridges, subducting plates, etc.
- wind parameters; the wind should be blowing toward the open end of the bay to not cause the compressional stress;
- parameters of water currents beneath the ice sheet; the currents should not produce significant compressional stress in the ice sheet;

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© 2011 Sergey D. Sukhotinsky.
http://sukhotinsky.blogspot.com/
http://weblogs.asp.net/SergeyS
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Message-ID: <BLU138-W69E66250B21377C8843DADB570@phx.gbl>
From: Sergey Sukhotinsky <sukhotinsky@live.com>
To: Sergey Sukhotinsky <cognitive.walkthrough@gmail.com>
Subject: The Concept Of Sea Ice Experiment To Get The Feel Of Geofracture Tectonics.
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 22:25:46 +0300

Is Louisville Ridge seamount chain a convergent boundary?

My post to GEO-TECTONICS list, sorry for the typo in the word "boundary" - "boiundary".
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Message-ID:  <CAMETt9WnZ+6XvcWQnjD6sazQj5Fmqn-Q1Lad3ces0Y3aLd704Q@mail.gmail.com>
Date:         Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:07:25 +0200
Sender:       Tectonics & structural geology discussion list <GEO-TECTONICS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK>
From:         "Sergey D. Sukhotinsky" <cognitive.walkthrough@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Is Louisville Ridge seamount chain a convergent boiundary?
To:           GEO-TECTONICS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK

Dear "geo-tectonics" mailing list members,

   For more than one month I've been trying to figure out what does it mean the different westward rates of the two "micro-plates" northeast and southwest from Louisville Ridge on the picure "Underwater mountains - rate of destruction" from the article: BBC NEWS, Science & Environment, "Undersea mountains march into the abyss", Dec-6, 2011 < http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16056192 >, accessed Jan-11, 2012.

   The NE microplate makes westward 8 sm per year and SW microplate makes 5.5 sm westward per year. Could that mean that not only Tonga Trench is a convergent boundary, but also Louisville Ridge seamount chain itself is a convergent boiundary as well?

   Could the same convergent mechanism be suggested for Louisville Ridge as it was suggested for Hawaii in my post: "Hawaii Convergent, Part 2. Introducing The Concept Of Geofracture (not Plate) Tectonics."

Thanks,
Sergey D. Sukhotinsky.
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