The Mechanism of Changes in Mantle Volume

Abstract

The crust floats above the mantle, and the volume change of the mantle is the driving force of crustal movement. The increase in mantle volume leads to crustal extensional movement, resulting in continental crust rupture and oceanic crust expansion. The decrease in mantle volume leads to crustal compression movement, resulting in continental crust superposition, folding, and oceanic crust subduction. The factors that contribute to the increase in mantle volume include a change in material state, where solid material in the mantle melts into liquid material. The factors leading to a decrease in mantle volume include: oceanic crust uplift, crustal crystallization, volcanic eruptions, magma intrusion, and hydrothermal upwelling. The change in mantle volume dominates the evolution pattern of the crust. When the mantle volume increases unidirectionally, the crust only has horizontally crystallized continental crust. When the volume of the mantle changes in both directions, blocky layered oceanic crust is formed. The expansion and subduction of oceanic crust, as well as the stretching and compression of continental crust, are the supporting mechanisms for changes in Earth’s surface area caused by changes in mantle volume.