Composition, structure, origin, and evolution of off-axis linear volcanic structures of the Brazil Basin, South Atlantic

Abstract

The paper considers the conditions and mechanisms of the formation of linear volcanic structures in the Brazil Basin, South Atlantic. Among these objects, those related to the ascent of deep mantle plumes predominate. It is shown that the ascent of melts from plume sources leads to the formation of (a) hot spot tracks in the form of linear volcanic ridges and (b) active hot lines in the form of submarine mountain chains with trends differing from those of hot spot tracks and with a more variable character of the age distribution of volcanic rocks. Fault tectonics affects the character of plume activity. In addition, plume material from a hot spot area is dragged by a moving plate as a flow or a sublithospheric lens, which leads to the long-term existence of particular independent segments of linear structures and sometimes to late volcanism reactivation within their limits. Decompression melting of the asthenospheric mantle in zones where thin lithosphere undergoes tension causes the formation of passive hot lines. The main mantle source for the considered volcanic rocks was a mixture of DMM and HIMU mantle components, with the latter abruptly dominating. In marginal oceanic regions, the EM1 component is also present (the EM2 component is found more rarely) within fragments of tectonically delaminated continental mantle that was trapped by the oceanic mantle during the breakup of Gondwana.