Alkaline plumes of continents and oceans

Abstract

Series of continental and oceanic alkaline associations have been compared. Comparison confirms that alkaline plumes originated from the Earth’s liquid core under the continents and, less often, under the oceans. The spatial distribution of alkaline complexes has been analyzed in terms of the plume magmatism theory. Analysis suggests that the zoning and lateral migration of alkaline magmatic centers in alkaline provinces were determined by the migration of an alkaline plume (multiplume) and its alkaline basaltic, alkaline ultramafic, carbonatitic, kimberlitic, and other derivates. Two components are well pronounced in the chemical history of alkaline plume magmatism. The first is the foidaphile component, which persists in all igneous and metasomatic rocks of various alkaline complexes. It includes elements associated with Na and K: rare alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, radioactive elements, rare earths, and others. They make up the important part of the plume that might have separated from the liquid core. The second component is rock-forming mantle–lithospheric, which formed in the asthenosphere during the mixing of mantle and lithospheric sources while the plume ascended to the Earth’s surface.