Geodynamic evolution of the Galápagos hot spot system (Central East Pacific) over the past 20 m.y.: Constraints from morphology, geochemistry, and magnetic anomalies

Abstract

We report results of magnetic data from the Nazca Plate and of geochemical (major element and Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐isotope) analyses of rocks dredged from the Galápagos hot spot tracks (Cocos, Carnegie, Malpelo and Coiba Ridges and adjacent seamounts) in the Central East Pacific. Magnetic anomalies indicate that the Malpelo and Carnegie Ridges were once attached and that seafloor spreading separated the two ridges between 14.5 Ma and 9.5 Ma. The variations in Sr‐Nd‐Pb isotopic composition show that three of the mantle components currently observed at the Galápagos (Central, Southern, and Eastern) existed in the hot spot for at least 20 m.y., whereas the Northern Galápagos mantle component has been present for at least ∼15 Ma. Our data are consistent with the existence of a compositionally zoned/striped Galápagos plume since ∼20 Ma. Combined constraints from the morphology of the hot spot tracks, the magnetic record, and the isotope geochemistry of the rock samples provide new insights into the hot spot‐ridge geometry and interaction of the Galápagos hot spot with the Cocos‐Nazca spreading center (CNS) over the past 20 m.y. At 19.5 Ma a ridge jump moved the spreading axis to the northern edge of the hot spot. Between 19.5 and 14.5 Ma, the spreading axis was located above the center of the hot spot. At 14.5 Ma, a new ridge jump moved the spreading axis to the south, splitting the paleo‐Carnegie Ridge into the present Carnegie and Malpelo Ridges. The repeated ridge jumps reflect capture of the northwardly drifting spreading center by the Galápagos hot spot. At 11–12 Ma an offset of the spreading axis lay above the plume center. Spreading between the Carnegie and Malpelo Ridges continued until 9.5 Ma.