Recent volcanism in relation to plate interaction and deep-level geodynamics

Abstract

The spatial distribution of recent (under 2 Ma) volcanism has been studied in relation to mantle hotspots and the evolution of the present-day supercontinent which we named Northern Pangea. Recent volcanism is observed in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa, Greenland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Several types of volcanism are distinguished: mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanism; subduction volcanism of island arcs and active continental margins (IA + ACM); continental collision (CC) volcanism; intraplate (IP) volcanism related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and transcontinental belts. Continental volcanism is obviously related to the evolution of Northern Pangea, which comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, Australia, and Africa. The supercontinent is large, with predominant continental crust. The geodynamic setting and recent volcanism of Northern Pangea are determined by two opposite processes. On one hand, subduction from the Pacific Ocean, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa consolidates the supercontinent. On the other hand, the spreading of oceanic plates from the Atlantic splits Northern Pangea, changes its shape as compared with Wegener’s Pangea, and causes the Atlantic geodynamics to spread to the Arctic. The long-lasting steady subduction beneath Eurasia and North America favored intense IA + ACM volcanism. Also, it caused cold lithosphere to accumulate in the deep mantle in northern Northern Pangea and replace the hot deep mantle, which was pressed to the supercontinental margins. Later on, this mantle rose as plumes (IP mafic magma sources), which were the ascending currents of global mantle convection and minor convection systems at convergent plate boundaries. Wegener’s Pangea broke up because of the African superplume, which occupied consecutively the Central Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean and expanded toward the Arctic. Intraplate plume magmatism in Eurasia and North America was accompanied by surface collisional or subduction magmatism. In the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, deep-level plume magmatism (high-alkali mafic rocks) was accompanied by surface spreading magmatism (tholeiitic basalts).