Constraints on the upper crustal magma reservoir beneath Yellowstone Caldera inferred from lake‐seiche induced strain observations. Issue 3 (13th February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luttrell, Karen; Mencin, David; Francis, Olivier; Hurwitz, Shaul
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 40:Issue 3(2013:Feb.)
• Page Start: 501
• Page End: 506
• Publication Date: 2013-02-13
• Subjects: Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/grl.50155
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>[1] Seiche waves in Yellowstone Lake with a ~78‐minute period and heights &lt;10 cm act as a load on the solid earth observed by borehole strainmeters with subnanostrain sensitivity throughout the Yellowstone Caldera. The far‐field strain induced by the load of the seiche waves calculated with a homogeneous elastic model representing the upper crust is more than an order of magnitude smaller than the measured strain amplitude ~30 km from the lake shore. By contrast, the observed far field strain amplitudes are consistent with the seiche load on a two‐layered viscoelastic model representing an elastic upper crust overlying a partially molten body deeper than 3–6 km with Maxwell viscosity less than 10¹¹ Pa s. These strain observations and models provide independent evidence for the presence of partially molten material in the upper crust, consistent with seismic tomography studies that inferred 10%–30% melt fraction in the upper crust.</p> </abstract>