Cenozoic uplift of Europe

Abstract

Following the diachronous Cretaceous - Neogene onset of seafloor spreading in the northern Atlantic and Arctic oceans, the European passive margin and continental Europe underwent a generalized uplift. This long-wavelength Cenozoic uplift has been attributed either to mantle plumes and/or to the far-field compression in the Alps. We suggest an alternative mechanism or concause, where the asthenosphere depleted at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was shifted relatively eastward beneath the continent because of the net rotation of the lithosphere. The partial melting at the oceanic ridge leaves the asthenosphere lighter. When migrating beneath the European continental lithosphere, the substitution of the older, denser mantle with the depleted, lighter asthenosphere should have generated an isostatic rebound and associated uplift of about 300 - 600 m. Dynamic topography exerted by the mantle flowing eastward could have enhanced the uplift process. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.