Constraints on the rheology of the lower crust in a strike-slip plate boundary: evidence from the San Quintín xenoliths, Baja California, Mexico

van der Werf, Thomas; Chatzaras, Vasileios; Kriegsman, Leo Marcel; Kronenberg, Andreas; Tikoff, Basil; Drury, Martyn R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1211-2017

Articles | Volume 8, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1211-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Special issue:

Analysis of deformation microstructures and mechanisms on...

https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-1211-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 8, issue 6

Research article

|

21 Dec 2017

Research article |

| 21 Dec 2017

Constraints on the rheology of the lower crust in a strike-slip plate boundary: evidence from the San Quintín xenoliths, Baja California, Mexico

Thomas van der Werf, Vasileios Chatzaras, Leo Marcel Kriegsman, Andreas Kronenberg, Basil Tikoff, and Martyn R. Drury

Download

Final revised paper (published on 21 Dec 2017)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 11 May 2017)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

- Printer-friendly version

- Supplement

RC1: 'Review of se-2017-45: Constraints on the rheology of lower crust in a strike-slip plate boundary: Evidence from the San Quintin xenoliths, Baja California, Mexico', Scott Johnson, 10 Jun 2017
- AC1: 'Reply to comments of referee #1, Scott Johnson', Vasileios Chatzaras, 01 Aug 2017
RC2: 'Review of the manuscript "Constraints on the rheology of lower crust in a strike-slip plate boundary: Evidence from the San Quintin xenoliths, Baja California, Mexico”, by T. van der Werf and co-authors, submitted to Solid Earth', Luca Menegon, 11 Jun 2017
- AC2: 'Reply to comments of referee #2, Luca Menegon', Vasileios Chatzaras, 01 Aug 2017
RC3: 'Comments on the manuscript: "Constraints on the rheology of lower crust in a strike-slip plate boundary: Evidence from..." by van der Werf et al.', Anonymous Referee #3, 13 Jun 2017
- AC3: 'Reply to comments of referee #3, Anonymous', Vasileios Chatzaras, 01 Aug 2017

Short summary

The strength of Earth's lower crust affects the cycle of earthquakes in tectonic plate boundaries. To understand the mechanical properties of the lower crust beneath northern Baja California, Mexico, we studied rocks, which were transferred to the surface during the eruption of Quaternary volcanoes. The lower crust is strongly deformed, hot, and dry. During transient events of deformation, the lower crust is weak, and its strength is similar to the strength of the upper mantle.