On the rheology of the upper mantle

Abstract

Mechanisms permitting the steady state deformation of crystalline solids are critically reviewed, and an approximate constitutive relationship is derived for fluid phase transport in a partial melt. (Fluid phase transport has a linear stress dependence and an inverse squared grain size dependence.) A set of rheologic material constants for olivine (Fo 85‐Fo 95) are derived from a combination of experimental data and empirical generalizations. Our preferred power law exponent n is 4.2, and the associated Dorn parameter is 1.2 × 10 4. Dislocation creep below the high‐stress breakdown is the dominant deformation mechanism in the upper mantle. The possibility exists that the bottom of the upper mantle is not deforming at a significant rate (≥10−14/sec) if the activation volume for diffusion is greater than 40 cm³/mole.