Anisotropy of thermal diffusivity in the upper mantle

Heat transfer in the mantle is a key process controlling the Earth's dynamics. Upper-mantle mineral phases, especially olivine, have been shown to display highly anisotropic thermal diffusivity at ambient conditions1,2, and seismic anisotropy data3 show that preferred orientations of olivine induced by deformation4 are coherent at large scales (>50 km) in the upper mantle. Thus heat transport in the upper mantle should be anisotropic. But the thermal anisotropy of mantle minerals at high temperature1,5 and its relationship with deformation have not been well constrained. Here we present petrophysical modelling and laboratory measurements of thermal diffusivity in deformed mantle rocks between temperatures of 290 and 1,250 K that demonstrate that deformation may induce a significant anisotropy of thermal diffusivity in the uppermost mantle. We found that heat transport parallel to the flow direction is up to 30 per cent faster than that normal to the flow plane. Such a strain-induced thermal anisotropy implies that the upper-mantle temperature distribution, rheology and, consequently, its dynamics, will depend on deformation history. In oceans, resistive drag flow would result in lower vertical diffusivities in both the lithosphere and asthenosphere6 and hence in less effective heat transfer from the convective mantle. In continents, olivine orientations frozen in the lithosphere may induce anisotropic heating above mantle plumes, favouring the reactivation of pre-existing structures.