Tectonic origin of Yellowstone's translithospheric magma plumbing system

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cao, Zebin; Liu, Lijun; Wan, Bo; Chen, Ling; Lundstrom, Craig
• 署名单位: Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing Institute of Geology & Paleontology, CAS; Institute of Geology & Geophysics, CAS; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.ady2027
• 发表日期: 2026-04-09
• 页码: eady2027
• 关键词: WESTERN US; VOLCANIC ACTIVITY; MANTLE PLUME; beneath; HOTSPOT; attenuation; driven; tomography; reservoirs; RHYOLITES

摘要

Yellowstone is widely recognized for its crustal magma reservoirs replenished by asthenospheric melts. However, how primary melts traverse the rigid lithosphere and evolve into bimodal volcanism remains unclear. By leveraging multidisciplinary observations and a data-oriented geodynamic modeling approach, we demonstrate that magma generation and migration in the Yellowstone region are primarily governed by lithospheric tectonics, with negligible contribution from the mantle plume. Below Yellowstone, our model predicts a southwest-dipping extension zone, shaped jointly by the lithospheric body force and basal traction. This tilted translithospheric deforming zone resembles the geophysically imaged magma plumbing system, confirming the key role of tectonic extension in tapping asthenospheric melts to shallow depths. Furthermore, we suggest that the translithospheric magma plumbing system facilitates complex magmatic processes, ultimately driving surface bimodal volcanism.