Latitudinal evolution of the Réunion hotspot deduced from paleomagnetic results of Leg 115

Abstract

During ODP Leg 115 in the Indian Ocean, four holes penetrated the basement. Paleomagnetic measurements on basement cores yield good quality results, but their interpretation is limited by possible but often undetectable subsequent tectonic tilting, and in one case by insufficient averaging of secular variation. Two Sites (64 and 55–60 Ma) yield apparently reliable results. Results from sediments of another Site (36 Ma) studied by Schneider and Kent also appear to be reliable. The three corresponding paleolatitudes are roughly in agreement with values predicted from the synthetic apparent polar wander paths of the African and Indian plates. Together with results from the Deccan (67 Ma), they indicate smooth and rather slow (8mm/yr) northward drift of the Réunion hotspot since its inception at the Deccan. This motion is consistent with the hotspot models of Morgan and Duncan.