Some remarks on heat flow and gravity anomalies
Abstract
Heat flow anomalies on the oceanic ridges and the large free air gravity anomalies observed from the earth's surface and from satellites are often believed to be surface expressions of high temperatures and flow within the mantle. A simple model for the temperature within a spreading sea floor can, however, reproduce the shape and magnitude of the observed anomalies. Thus, it is not necessary for the upper mantle to be hotter beneath ridges than it is elsewhere. A similar model may be used to relate the free air gravity anomaly to the stress in the lithosphere. The results show that long-wavelength harmonics of the external gravity field cannot be supported by the strength of the lithosphere. Most free air anomalies observed on the surface can be maintained in this way, except possibly the largest of those over the trenches.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the combined convective-elastic plate model, the gravity anomaly over the rising current becomes negative at dimensionless wavenumber k' = 0.43.
“Gravity becomes negative over the rising current when k' = 0.43.”
From Speculations on the Thermal and Tectonic History of the Earth (2007) · cites this paper as McKenzie (1967b)
Cited by
Sorted by citations
On the relative importance of the driving forces of plate motion
Forsyth, D., & Uyeda, S. (1975) · Geophysical Journal International · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb00631.x · Cited by 1,673 · see citing works
Speculations on the Consequences and Causes of Plate Motions
McKenzie, D. P. (1969) · Geophysical Journal International · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1969.tb00259.x · Cited by 1,151 · see citing works
Self-citationOn the regional variation of heat flow, geotherms, and lithospheric thickness
Pollack, H. N., & Chapman, D. S. (1977) · Tectonophysics · doi:10.1016/0040-1951(77)90215-3 · Cited by 1,049 · see citing works
The evolution of the Indian Ocean since the late Cretaceous
McKenzie, D., & Sclater, J. G. (1971) · Geophysical Journal International · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1971.tb02190.x · Cited by 929 · see citing works
Self-citationFormation of oceanic crust: Some thermal constraints
Sleep, N. H. (1975) · Journal of Geophysical Research · doi:10.1029/jb080i029p04037 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Speculations on the Thermal and Tectonic History of the Earth
McKenzie, D., & Weiss, N. (2007) · Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb05855.x · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Self-citationGravity, bathymetry and convection in the Earth
Anderson, R. N., McKenzie, D., & Sclater, J. G. (1973) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/0012-821x(73)90095-2 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Self-citationLliboutry, L. (1969) · Journal of Geophysical Research · doi:10.1029/jb074i027p06525 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
The influence of the boundary conditions and rotation on convection in the Earth's mantle
McKenzie, D. P. (1968) · Geophysical Journal International · doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.1968.tb00203.x · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationÁvila, P., & Dávila, F. M. (2018) · Tectonophysics · doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2018.10.006 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
- Authors
- McKenzie, D. P.
- Affiliations
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- McKenzie, Dan P.
- ORCID
- McKenzie, Dan P.
- Venue
- Journal of Geophysical Research
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 1967-12-15
- Volume
- 72
- Issue
- 24
- Pages
- 6261-6273
- ISSN
- 0148-0227 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2117025716
- Cited by
- 751
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 38.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › High-pressure geophysics and materials
- Keywords
- heat flow anomalies, oceanic ridge, free-air gravity anomalies, mantle temperature, lithospheric stress, lithosphere strength, trench, satellite gravity
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
