Hotspot Trail Research Articles

Holocene volcanic activity in Anjouan Island (Comoros archipelago) revealed by new Cassignol-Gillot groundmass K–Ar and 14C ages

The Comoros archipelago has attracted renewed attention since 2018 due to the submarine volcano growing east of the island of Mayotte and the associated ongoing seismic crisis. However, the origin of Comorian magmatism remains controversial, as it is either interpreted as related to a hotspot trail, to a fracture zone, or to a plate boundary. Lying in the central part of the archipelago, Anjouan is a key island to better understand the relationship between volcanism and geodynamics. Together with a careful selection of published whole-rock K–Ar ages, our new set of 13 groundmass K–Ar ages on lava flows and one radiocarbon age on a charcoal from a strombolian deposit, allow us to reassess the volcano-tectonic evolution of Anjouan Island. New groundmass K–Ar ages lie within the last 1 Ma, i.e. from 899 ± 14 to 11 ± 1 ka. They suggest that most of the subaerial volcanism in Anjouan is much younger than previously inferred, and occurred as pulses at 900–750 ka, perhaps 530 ka, 230–290 ka, and since 60 ka, with erosional periods in between. Among our new data, one 14 C age of 7513–7089 yrs calBCE (9.3 ± 0.2 ka) and five K–Ar ages younger than 60 ka show that recent volcanism occurred in Anjouan. Moreover, the concentration of eruptive vents along a N150° alignment, parallel to the maximum horizontal stress, suggests a strong link between regional tectonics and volcanism. Considering the presence of active volcanoes on both the western and eastern extremities of the Comoros archipelago, our discovery of Holocene activity on Anjouan provides strong arguments against a chronological progression of volcanism along the archipelago, and therefore contradicts the hotspot hypothesis for the origin of volcanism. Finally, this study provides a robust geochronological timeframe of the different volcanic stages of Anjouan. It demonstrates that Anjouan is an active island and suggests that volcanism and tectonics can both resume at any time. • New groundmass K–Ar ages in Anjouan are between 899 ± 14 and 11 ± 1 ka. • Volcanism in Anjouan occurred in successive pulses. • A 14 C age of 7513–7089 yrs calBCE has been obtained for strombolian deposits. • Anjouan is an active island where volcanism and tectonics can both resume. • Holocene volcanism is present all over the Comorian archipelago.

Magmatism and hotspot trails during and after continental break-up in the South Atlantic

The track of South Atlantic hotspots on oceanic crust is well known. However, the possible hotspot trails of Tristan-Gough (TG) and St. Helena (SH) plume heads on continental crust have not been clearly defined. The occurrence of a large igneous province in Northeast Brazil, previously named EQUAMP, is reviewed, enlarged in time and space, and renamed as the Borborema Large Igneous Province, or BOR-LIP (135-104 Ma). There is strong evidence of an active dual plume system during the South America breakup: The BOR-LIP, in Northeast Brazil, and the Paraná-Etendeka Magmatic Province – PEMP-LIP (135-131 Ma), in SE Brazil and SW Africa. As widely accepted, the post-breakup trajectories of the SH, TG, and Sierra Leone (SL) hotspot trails (on oceanic crust) illustrate how the South American and African plates drifted away from each other. Regarding the pre-breakup trajectories, coherent and robust evidence of the migration path of the TG and SH plume heads on continental crust within the Brazilian side of the margin is presented here. They are remarkable consistent with the northwestward movement of Africa and South America, during Early Cretaceous, when referred to a deeper lithospheric reference frame, not necessarily rooted in the core-mantle boundary. The migration paths on oceanic and continental crust of the SH and TG plumes, are consistent with an intense interplay between deep-sourced mantle plumes and the relative rotation between the South American and African plates, as illustrated by the non-linear TG hotspot trail within the extremely stretched continental crust of the Santos Basin. The expressive magmatism observed in the Santos Basin, stretched during the 130-114 Ma interval, is interpreted as a direct consequence of the change in the magma budget due to the arrival of the TG plume head beneath the basin, when decompression-driven may have released melting of plume material. Large volumes of CO2, sourced by the mantle and found in petroleum accumulations within the Santos Basin, may be also genetically related to the TG plume accelerating the exhumation processes in hyper-extended terrains.

The Role of Lithosphere Thickness in the Formation of Ocean Islands and Seamounts: Contrasts between the Louisville and Emperor–Hawaiian Hotspot Trails

AbstractThe Hawaii–Emperor and Louisville seamounts form the two most prominent time-progressive hotspot trails on Earth. Both formed over a similar time interval on lithosphere with a similar range of ages and thickness. The Hawaii–Emperor seamounts are large and magma productivity appears to be increasing at present. The Louisville seamounts, by contrast, are smaller and the trail appears to be waning. We present new major- and trace-element data from five of the older (74–50 Ma) Louisville seamounts drilled during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 330 and compare these with published data from the Emperor seamounts of the same age. Despite drilling deep into the shield-forming volcanic rocks at three of the Louisville seamounts, our data confirm the results of earlier studies based on dredge samples that the Louisville seamounts are composed of remarkably uniform alkali basalt. The basalt composition can be modelled by ∼1·5–3 % partial melting of a dominantly garnet-lherzolite mantle with a composition similar to that of the Ontong Java Plateau mantle source. Rock samples recovered by dredging and drilling on the Emperor seamounts range in composition from tholeiitic to alkali basalt and require larger degrees of melting (2–10 %) and spinel- to garnet-lherzolite mantle sources. We use a simple decompression melting model to show that melting of mantle with a potential temperature of 1500 °C under lithosphere of varying thickness can account for the composition of the shield-forming tholeiitic basalts from the Emperor seamounts, whereas post-shield alkali basalt requires a lower temperature (1300–1400 °C). This is consistent with the derivation of Hawaii–Emperor shield-forming magmas from the hotter axis of a mantle plume and the post-shield magmas from the cooler plume sheath as the seamount drifts away from the plume axis. The composition of basalt from the Louisville seamounts shows no significant variation with lithosphere thickness at the time of seamount formation, contrary to the predictions of our decompression melting model. This lack of influence of lithospheric thickness is characteristic of basalt from most ocean islands. The problem can be resolved if the Louisville seamounts were formed by dehydration melting of mantle containing a small amount of water in a cooler plume. Hydrous melting in a relatively cool mantle plume (Tp = 1350–1400 °C) could produce a small amount of melt and then be inhibited by increasing viscosity from reaching the dry mantle solidus and melting further. The failure of the plume to reach the dry mantle solidus or the base of the lithosphere means that the resulting magmas would have the same composition irrespective of lithosphere thickness. A hotter mantle plume (Tp ≈ 1500 °C) beneath the Emperor seamounts and the Hawaiian Islands would have lower viscosity before the onset of melting, melt to a larger extent, and decompress to the base of the lithosphere. Thus our decompression melting model could potentially explain the composition of both the Emperor and Louisville seamounts. The absence of a significant lithospheric control on the composition of basalt from nearly all ocean islands suggests that dehydration melting is the rule and the Hawaiian islands are the exception. Alternatively, many ocean islands may not be the product of mantle plumes but may instead be formed by decompression melting of heterogeneous mantle sources composed of peridotite containing discrete bodies of carbonated and silica-oversaturated eclogite within the general upper mantle convective flow.

Mantle helium in Southern Quebec groundwater: A possible fossil record of the New England hotspot

The Monteregian Hills are an alignment of magmatic intrusions of Cretaceous age located in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec, Canada. Their origin is controversial and numerous studies have failed to decipher between a hotspot trail or sub-continental magmatism related to the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. Here, we show that 17.7±9.6% of the helium of the modern to Holocene-aged groundwater from the regional aquifer is of mantle origin, with a 3He/4He (R) of up to 1.42 times the atmospheric ratio (Ra). It suggests that a fossil Monteregian Hills magmatic signal, diluted by local radiogenic helium and preserved in the Monteregian Hills intrusions, is leached locally by flowing modern or sub-modern groundwater. Helium isotopic measurements by pyrolysis in Monteregian Hills bulk rocks and clinopyroxene separates show R/Ra values of up to 4.96, suggesting that fossil mantle helium has been partially preserved in these rocks and their mineral phases. Monte Carlo simulations of a magma aging model shows that the initial 3He/4He ratio in these Cretaceous intrusions could have been between 21±10Ra and 33±28Ra (2σ), favoring the hypothesis that the Monteregian Hills are the product of the passage of the North American plate over the New England hotspot. This study raises the prospect of using modern groundwater as an archive of mantle He over a hundreds of millions of years timescale.

Assessing Models for Pacific Absolute Plate and Plume Motions

AbstractAbsolute plate motion (APM) models derived from hot spot trails must satisfy trail geometries, ages, and paleolatitudes, which requires modeling explicit plume motions. Models lacking plume motions or derived independently from seamounts must also fit these data, provided the implicit plume motions are geodynamically reasonable. We evaluate eight Pacific APM models; three have explicitly modeled plume motions. Seven derive from seamount age progressions; one is a geodynamic model driven by slab pull and ridge push. Using the long‐lived Hawaii‐Emperor and Louisville chains, we derive implicit motions of Hawaii and Louisville plumes for models lacking explicit estimates and compare them with observed paleolatitudes. Inferred plume motions are plausible given rheological constraints on mantle flow, but rates vary considerably and not all models fit the data well. One potential endmember model predicts no APM direction change at 50 Ma, which best explains trails and paleolatitudes, minimizes predicted rotation of Pacific‐Farallon ridge and assumes no true polar motion, yet its implicit plume drift is inconsistent with global circulation models. Alternatively, a global moving hot spot model yields acceptable fits to geometry and ages, implies a major APM change at 50 Ma, but requires significant true polar wander to explain observed paleolatitudes. The inherent inconsistency between age progressions and paleolatitudes may be reconciled by true polar wander, yet questions remain about the accuracy of age progressions for older sections of the Emperor and Louisville chains, the independent geologic evidence for an APM change at 50 Ma, and the uniqueness and relevance of true polar wander estimates.

High‐Resolution 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of the Louisville Seamounts IODP Expedition 330 Drill Sites: Implications for the Duration of Hot Spot‐related Volcanism and Age Progressions

AbstractThe Louisville Seamounts display age progressive volcanism and are thought to have formed as the Pacific Plate moved over a long‐lived primary hot spot. Here we present 70 new 40Ar/39Ar age results from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Sites U1372, U1375, U1376, and U1377 drilled and cored during Expedition 330 to the northern, older end of the Louisville Seamounts. The five seamounts drilled are flat‐topped guyots with ages ranging from ∼74 Ma (Canopus Guyot) to ∼51 Ma (Hadar Guyot) recovering up to ∼510 m of basaltic material beneath thin sediment interfaces. Our 40Ar/39Ar measurements reveal that throughout each drill hole, most dates are constant within ∼500‐900 kyr at the 2σ confidence interval. In this study we use the new Louisville age information to compare against the Hawaiian‐Emperor trail on the Pacific Plate. The Louisville hot spot trail is low volume, dominantly alkali basalt, and seamounts have a relatively short lifespan up to ∼4 Myr, whereas the Hawaiian hot spot trail is high volume, has a tholeiitic shield‐building stage capped by an alkalic post‐shield stage, and has a lifespan up to ∼6‐7 Myr. Here we show a new approach to estimating a seamount's inception age based on the known cumulative age distributions for seamounts in the Louisville Seamount and Hawaii‐Emperor Seamount trails. Based on our new 40Ar/39Ar analyses, we conclude that existing absolute plate motion models misrepresent the age progression of Louisville Seamounts and that the timing of the Hawaiian‐Emperor Bend and the 169°W bend in the Louisville Seamounts are asynchronous by ~3.7 Myr.

Magma production along the Lord Howe Seamount Chain, northern Zealandia

AbstractOne of the world’s most notable intraplate volcanic regions lies on the eastern Australian plate and includes two age-progressive trails offshore (Tasmantid and Lord Howe seamount chains) and the world’s longest continental hotspot trail (Cosgrove Track). While most studies agree that these chains formed by the rapid northward motion of the Australian plate over a slowly moving mantle source, the volcanic output along these trails, their plate–mantle interactions and the source of the magmatism remain unconstrained. A geophysical mapping and dredging campaign on the RV Southern Surveyor (ss2012_v06) confirmed the prolongation of the Lord Howe Seamount Chain to the South Rennell Trough, ∼200 km further north than previously sampled. Radiometric dating of these new samples at 27–28 Ma, together with previously published results from the southern part of the chain, indicate straightforward northward motion of the Australian plate over a quasi-stationary hotspot as predicted by Indo-Atlantic and Pacific hotspot models. A peak in Lord Howe Seamount Chain magmatism in late Oligocene time, also seen in the Tasmantid and Cosgrove trails, matches a 27–23 Ma slowdown of Australian plate motion. The average magma flux of the Lord Howe hotspot is estimated at 0.4 m3 s−1, similar to rates of crustal production at the South Rennell Trough prior to cessation of spreading in middle Oligocene time, supporting a potential genetic relationship to this spreading system. In addition, plate tectonic modelling suggests that the seamounts and plateaus in the Coral Sea may host the earliest evidence of plume activity in the area.

Interaction between a hotspot and a fracture zone: The crustal structure of Walvis Ridge at 6° E

The Walvis Ridge is one of the major hotspot trails in the South Atlantic and a classical example for volcanic island chains. Two models compete about the origin of the ridge: It is either the result of a deep mantle plume or active fracture zones above mantle inhomogeneities. Among other things crustal information is needed to constrain the models. Here, we provide such constraint with a 480km long P-wave velocity model of the deep crustal structure of the eastern Walvis Ridge at 6° E. According to our data the Walvis Ridge stretches across the Florianopolis Fracture Zone into the Angola Basin. Here, we observe a basement high and thick basaltic layers covering the oceanic crust and the fracture zone. We found two crustal roots along the profile: one is located beneath the ridge crest, the other one beneath the northern basement high in the Angola Basin. The crustal thickness reaches 18km and 12km and the lower crustal velocities are 7.2km/s and 7.4km/s, respectively. The bathymetric expression of the ridge along the profile is less pronounced than closer to shore, which is mainly attributable to the absence of a thick layer of volcanic debris, rather than to reduced crustal thickness below the basement surface. Therefore, this part of the ridge was never or only briefly subaerially exposed. The crustal structure suggests that the ridge and the fracture zone formed independently of each other. The oceanic crust north of the fracture zone, which is buried underneath the basalt layer, is younger than the reconstructed age of hotspot volcanism of the Walvis Ridge. We interpret these structures north of the fracture zone to be at least partly a product of late stage volcanism.

3-D magnetotelluric image of offshore magmatism at the Walvis Ridge and rift basin

The Namibian continental margin marks the starting point of the Tristan da Cunha hotspot trail, the Walvis Ridge. This section of the volcanic southwestern African margin is therefore ideal to study the interaction of hotspot volcanism and rifting, which occurred in the late Jurassic/early Cretaceous. Offshore magnetotelluric data image electromagnetically the landfall of Walvis Ridge. Two large-scale high resistivity anomalies in the 3-D resistivity model indicate old magmatic intrusions related to hot-spot volcanism and rifting. The large-scale resistivity anomalies correlate with seismically identified lower crustal high velocity anomalies attributed to magmatic underplating along 2-D offshore seismic profiles. One of the high resistivity anomalies (above 500Ωm) has three arms of approximately 100km width and 300km to 400km length at 120° angles in the lower crust. One of the arms stretches underneath Walvis Ridge. The shape is suggestive of crustal extension due to local uplift. It might indicate the location where the hot-spot impinged on the crust prior to rifting. A second, smaller anomaly of 50km width underneath the continent ocean boundary may be attributed to magma ascent during rifting. We attribute a low resistivity anomaly east of the continent ocean boundary and south of Walvis Ridge to the presence of a rift basin that formed prior to the rifting.

The 2014Mw 6.1 Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, Earthquake: A Possible Association with the 85° E Ridge

Oceanic intraplate earthquakes are known to occur either on active ridge-transform structures or by reactivation of their inactive counterparts, generally referred to as fossil ridges or transforms. The Indian Ocean, one of the most active oceanic intraplate regions, has generated large earthquakes associated with both these types of structures. The moderate earthquake that occurred on 21 May 2014 (M-w 6.1) in the northern Bay of Bengal followed an alternate mechanism, as it showed no clear association either with active or extinct ridge-transform structures. Its focal depth of >50 km is uncommon but not improbable, given the similar to 90 Ma age of the ocean floor with 12-km-thick overlying sediments. No tectonic features have been mapped in the near vicinity of its epicenter, the closest being the 85 degrees E ridge, located similar to 100 km to its west, hitherto regarded as seismically inactive. The few earthquakes that have occurred here in the past are clustered around its southern or northern limits, and a few are located midway, at around 10 degrees N. The 2014 earthquake, sourced close to the northern cluster, seems to be associated with a northwest-southeast-oriented fracture, located on the eastern flanks of the 85 degrees E ridge. If this causal association is possible, we believe that reactivation of fossil hotspot trails could be considered as another mechanism for oceanic intraplate seismicity.

Seismic stratigraphy and paleogeographic evolution of Fairway Basin, Northern Zealandia, Southwest Pacific: from Cretaceous Gondwana breakup to Cenozoic Tonga–Kermadec subduction

AbstractWe present the first comprehensive seismic‐stratigraphic analysis of Fairway Basin, which is situated on the rifted continent of Zealandia in the Tasman Sea, southwest Pacific, between Australia and New Caledonia. The basin is 700 km long, 150 km wide, and has water depths of 500–3000 m. We describe depositional architecture and paleogeographic evolution of this basin. Basin formation was concurrent with two tectonic events: (i) Cretaceous rifting during eastern Gondwana breakup and (ii) initiation and Cenozoic evolution of Tonga–Kermadec subduction system to the east of the basin. To interpret the basin history we compiled and interpreted 2D seismic‐reflection profiles and make correlations with DSDP boreholes and the geology of New Caledonia. Five seismic‐stratigraphic units were defined. The deepest and oldest unit, FW3, folded and faulted can be correlated with volcaniclastic sediments and magmatic rocks in New Caledonia that are associated with Mesozoic Gondwana margin subduction. Alternatively, given the basin location 200–300 km west of New Caledonia and inboard of the ancient plate boundary, the unit could have formed as Gondwana intra‐continental basin with no known correlative. The overlying unit FW2b records syn‐rift deposition, probably associated with Cretaceous Gondwana breakup. Subaerial erosion supplied terrigenous sediment into the deltas in the northern part of the basin, as suggested by the truncation surfaces on the basement highs and sigmoid reflector geometries within unit FW2b respectively. Above, unit FW2a records post‐rift sedimentation and passive subsidence as the Tasman Sea opened and the Fairway Basin drifted away from Australia. Subsidence led to the flooding of the basement highs and burial of wave‐cut surfaces. Eocene compressive deformation resulted in minor folding and tilting within the Fairway Basin and was associated with the formation of many diapiric structures. The top of unit FW2 is an extensive unconformity that is associated with erosion and truncation on surrounding ridges. Above this unconformity, unit FW1b is interpreted as a turbidite system sourced from topography created during the Eocene tectonic event, which we interpret as being related to Tonga–Kermadec subduction initiation. Pelagic carbonate sedimentation is now prevalent. Unit FW1a has progressively draped the basin during Oligocene to Pleistocene subsidence. Many small volcanic cones were erupted during this final phase of subsidence, either as a delayed consequence of subduction initiation, or related to Tasmantid and Lord Howe hotspot trails. The northern Fairway Ridge remains close to sea level and its reef system continues to supply carbonate detrital sediments into the basin, most likely during sea‐level lowstands. Fairway Basin contains a nearly continuous record of tectonic and paleoclimatic events in the southwest Pacific since Cretaceous time. Its paleogeographic history is a key piece in the puzzle for understanding patterns of regional biodiversity in the southwest Pacific.

Crustal structure of northwest Namibia: Evidence for plume-rift-continent interaction

The causes for the formation of large igneous provinces and hotspot trails are still a matter of considerable dispute. Seismic tomography and other studies suggest that hot mantle material rising from the core-mantle boundary (CMB) might play a significant role in the formation of such hotspot trails. An important area to verify this concept is the South Atlantic region, with hotspot trails that spatially coincide with one of the largest low-velocity regions at the CMB, the African large low shear-wave velocity province. The Walvis Ridge started to form during the separation of the South American and African continents at ca. 130 Ma as a consequence of Gondwana breakup. Here, we present the first deep-seismic sounding images of the crustal structure from the landfall area of the Walvis Ridge at the Namibian coast to constrain processes of plume-lithosphere interaction and the formation of continental flood basalts (Parana and Etendeka continental flood basalts) and associated intrusive rocks. Our study identified a narrow region (<100 km) of high-seismic-velocity anomalies in the middle and lower crust, which we interpret as a massive mafic intrusion into the northern Namibian continental crust. Seismic crustal reflection imaging shows a flat Moho as well as reflectors connecting the high-velocity body with shallow crustal structures that we speculate to mark potential feeder channels of the Etendeka continental flood basalt. We suggest that the observed massive but localized mafic intrusion into the lower crust results from similar-sized variations in the lithosphere (i.e., lithosphere thickness or preexisting structures)

Age distribution of Ocean Drill sites across the Central Walvis Ridge indicates plate boundary control of plume volcanism in the South Atlantic

The Tristan–Gough hotspot trail on the African plate consists of the Walvis Ridge and a younger province of seamounts and islands. In order to determine the relative motion between the African plate and the Tristan–Gough hotspot it is essential to resolve changes in the age and morphology of the Walvis Ridge. A significant problem is, however, to establish how the vigor and flow of hotspot material to the mid-ocean ridge constructed the Walvis Ridge. We have addressed this issue by measuring an 40Ar/39Ar stratigraphy at three sites across the central Walvis Ridge sampled by Ocean Drilling (DSDP Leg 74). The age–distance relation of volcanism, together with geophysical, geochemical and paleodepth information, suggests collectively that hotspot volcanism was occurring locally c. 72 Ma on an elevated segment of the mid-ocean ridge located close to the Tristan–Gough hotspot. As the mid-ocean ridge migrated away from the hotspot (c. 36 km/Ma) between c. 72 Ma and 68 Ma, hotspot material continued flowing to the mid-ocean ridge and the Walvis Ridge shoaled rapidly (c. 500 m/Ma) to the west, on seafloor that might have been subsiding at a rate consistent with normal crustal cooling. This apparent correlation points to the possibility of an inverse relation between the volume flux of hotspot volcanism and the distance between the mid-ocean ridge and the Tristan–Gough hotspot. We infer that since c. 93 Ma the geometry and motion of the mid-ocean ridge determined where the hotspot material that built the Walvis Ridge was channeled to the plate surface. Furthermore, interplay between hotspot flow, and the changing geometry of the mid-ocean ridge as it migrated relative to the Tristan–Gough hotspot, might explain the age and morphology of the Walvis Ridge. Our finding provides further evidence that the distribution of hotspot volcanism in the southeast Atlantic expresses interaction between deep mantle (plume) and shallow plate tectonic and asthenosphere processes.

Absolute plate motion of Africa around Hawaii-Emperor bend time

Numerous regional plate reorganizations and the coeval ages of the Hawaiian Emperor bend (HEB) and Louisville bend of 50–47 Ma have been interpreted as a possible global tectonic plate reorganization at ∼chron 21 (47.9 Ma). Yet for a truly global event we would expect a contemporaneous change in Africa absolute plate motion (APM) reflected by physical evidence distributed on the Africa Plate. This evidence has been postulated to take the form of the Réunion-Mascarene bend which exhibits many HEB-like features, such as a large angular change close to ∼chron 21. However, the Réunion hotspot trail has recently been interpreted as a sequence of continental fragments with incidental hotspot volcanism. Here we show that the alternative Réunion-Mascarene Plateau trail can also satisfy the age progressions and geometry of other hotspot trails on the Africa Plate. The implied motion, suggesting a pivoting of Africa from 67 to 50 Ma, could explain the apparent bifurcation of the Tristan hotspot chain, the age reversals seen along the Walvis Ridge, the sharp curve of the Canary trail, and the diffuse nature of the St. Helena chain. To test this hypothesis further we made a new Africa APM model that extends back to ∼80 Ma using a modified version of the Hybrid Polygonal Finite Rotation Method. This method uses seamount chains and their associated hotspots as geometric constraints for the model, and seamount age dates to determine APM through time. While this model successfully explains many of the volcanic features, it implies an unrealistically fast global lithospheric net rotation, as well as improbable APM trajectories for many other plates, including the Americas, Eurasia and Australia. We contrast this speculative model with a more conventional model in which the Mascarene Plateau is excluded in favour of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge rotated into the Africa reference frame. This second model implies more realistic net lithospheric rotation and far-field APMs, but fails to explain key details of the Atlantic Ocean volcanic chains. Both models predict a Canary plume influence beneath the Madeiras. Neither model, when projected via the global plate circuit into the Pacific, predicts any significant change in plate motion around chron 21. Consequently, Africa APM models do not appear to provide independent support for a chron 21 global reorganization.

Hotspot trails in the South Atlantic controlled by plume and plate tectonic processes

Seamount chains in the southeast Atlantic Ocean are thought to have formed above plumes sourced from the deep mantle. Dating of lavas erupted along the trails show that the formation and distribution of the seamount chains is also controlled by the motion and structure of the African Plate. The origin of hotspot trails is controversial1. Explanations range from deep mantle plumes rising from the core–mantle boundary2 (CMB) to shallow plate cracking. However, these mechanisms cannot explain uniquely the scattered hotspot trails distributed across a 2,000-km-wide swell in the sea floor of the southeast Atlantic Ocean3. This swell projects down to one of the two largest and deepest distinct regions at the CMB, the Africa Low Shear Wave Velocity Province4,5,6. Here we use 40Ar/39Ar isotopic analyses to date lava samples erupted at several hotspot trails across the Atlantic swell. We combine the eruption ages with an analysis of the structure and age of the sea floor, and find that the trails formed synchronously, in a pattern consistent with movement of the African Plate over plumes rising from the edge of the Africa Low Shear Wave Velocity Province. However, we also find that the seamounts initially formed only at the edge of the swell, where the oceanic crust was spreading apart. Later, about 44 million years ago, the hotspot trails began to cross the swell, but only in locations where the lithosphere was sufficiently young and thin that magma could reach the surface. We conclude that the distribution of hotspot trails in the southeast Atlantic Ocean is controlled by the interplay between deep-sourced mantle plumes and the motion and structure of the African Plate.

Chronology and Geochemistry of Lavas from the Nazca Ridge and Easter Seamount Chain: an 30 Myr Hotspot Record

The Easter Seamount Chain and Nazca Ridge are two of the most conspicuous volcanic features on the Nazca plate. Many questions about their nature and origin have remained unresolved because of a lack of geochronological and geochemical data for large portions of both chains. New 40Ar−39Ar incremental heating age determinations for dredged rocks from volcanoes east of Salas y Gomez Island show that, with very few exceptions, ages increase steadily to the east from 1·4 to 30 Ma, confirming that the two chains are parts of the same hotspot trail and indicating a hotspot location near Salas y Gomez rather than beneath Easter Island some 400 km farther west. Most of the volcanoes appear to have been erupted onto seafloor that was 5–13 Myr old, and no systematic variation in seafloor age at the time of seamount formation is apparent. At about 23 Ma, the formation of the Nazca Ridge ceased and that of the Easter Seamount Chain began, corresponding to a change in the direction of motion of the Nazca plate. Most of the studied rocks are moderately alkalic to transitional basalts. Their geochemical characteristics suggest that they represent relatively small mean amounts of partial melting initiating in garnet-bearing mantle and ending in the spinel facies. Nd–Sr–Pb isotopic compositions are within the range of values previously observed for volcanoes of the Easter Seamount Chain, west of Easter Island; moreover, most of our data cluster in a rather small part of this range [e.g. εNd(t) is between +6·0 and +4·0]. The results indicate that the mantle source has consisted of the same two principal components, a C/FOZO-type component and a high-εNd, incompatible-element-depleted Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalt-source-type component, since at least 30 Ma. The lack of any geochemical gradient along the chain east of Salas y Gomez implies that no systematic change over time has occurred in the proportions of these end-members.

Delineation of the 85°E ridge and its structure in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, Eastern Continental Margin of India (ECMI), from seismic reflection imaging

The passive Eastern Continental Margin of India (ECMI) evolved during the break up of India and East Antarctica in the Early Cretaceous. The 85°E ridge is a prominent linear aseismic feature extending from the Afanasy Nikitin Seamounts northward to the Mahanadi basin along the ECMI. Earlier workers have interpreted the ridge to be a prominent hot spot trail. In the absence of conclusive data, the extension of the ridge towards its northern extremity below the thick Bengal Fan sediments was a matter of postulation. In the present study, interpretation of high resolution 2-D reflection data from the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, located in the northern part of the ridge, unequivocally indicates continuation of the ridge across the continent–ocean boundary into the slope and shelf tracts of the ECMI. Its morphology and internal architecture suggest a volcanic plume related origin that can be correlated with the activity of the Kerguelen hot spot in the nascent Indian Ocean. In the continental region, the plume related volcanic activity appears to have obliterated all seismic features typical of continental crust. The deeper oceanic crust, over which the hot spot plume erupted, shows the presence of linear NS aligned basement highs, corresponding with the ridge, underlain by a depressed Moho discontinuity. In the deep oceanic basin, the ridge influences the sediment dispersal pattern from the Early Cretaceous (?)/early part of Late Cretaceous times till the end of Oligocene, which is an important aspect for understanding the hydrocarbon potential of the basin.

The SW African volcanic rifted margin and the initiation of the Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic

The continental margin of SW Africa is typical of a volcanic rifted margin associated with a hotspot trail characterized by a large volcanic ridge, the Walvis Ridge, defining the hotspot migration, and extensive extrusive volcanism that produced seaward-dipping reflectors (SDR). Previously unpublished seismic data show two significant anomalies of the SW African Margin when compared to other typical volcanic rifted margins: (1) Hyaloclastitic outer highs are rare, and (2) the SDR in the North dip towards the Walvis Ridge. We explain these anomalies by a major transform segment close to the centre of volcanism combined with pulsed volcanism. The Walvis Ridge represents an east-west striking extrusive centre which produced a SDR sequence. Following break-up the northern boundary of the Walvis Ridge became a left lateral transform fault. Our data support the idea that a transform fault system interacting with a ridge jump were responsible for the accretion of the Sao Paulo Plateau to the American plate.

Samoa reinstated as a primary hotspot trail

The classical model for the generation of hotspot tracks maintains that stationary and deep-seated mantle plumes impinge on overriding tectonic plates, thereby generating age-progressive trails of volcanic islands and seamounts. Samoa has played a key role in discrediting this model and the very existence of mantle plumes, because early geochronological work failed to demonstrate a linear age progression along this chain of islands. Specifically on Savai9i Island, the bulk of the subaerial volcanics is younger than 0.39 Ma, much younger than the 5.1 Ma age predicted from the classical hotspot model and a constant 7.1 cm/yr Pacific plate motion. This discrepancy led to alternative magma-producing mechanisms that involve the cracking of the lithosphere beneath the Samoan islands, as a result of the extensional regime generated by the nearby Tonga Trench. Here we report 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages from the submarine flanks of Savai9i Island showing that its volcanic construction began as early as 5.0 Ma and in a true intraplate setting. This reinstates Samoa as a primary hotspot trail associated with a deep mantle plume and a linear age progression.

Seamount morphology in the Bowie and Cobb hot spot trails, Gulf of Alaska

Full‐coverage multibeam bathymetric mapping of twelve seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska reveals that they are characterized by flat‐topped summits (rarely with summit craters) and by terraced, or step‐bench, flanks. These summit plateaus contain relict volcanic features (e.g., flow levees, late‐stage cones, and collapse craters) and as such must have been constructed by volcanic processes such as lava ponding above a central vent, rather than by erosion above sea level. The terraced flanks are composed of a sequence of stacked lava deltas and cones, probably tube‐fed from a central lava pond, a morphology which is suggestive of long‐lived, stable central lava sources and low to moderate eruption rates, indicative of significant time spent above a hot spot outlet. Most of these seamounts have summit plateaus surrounded, and cut into, by amphitheater headwall scarps, and flanks that are scarred by debris chutes, but lack visible debris accumulations at their base. We interpret the lack of blocky debris fields as evidence that the slope failures are mainly small‐scale debris flows, rather than large‐scale flank collapses. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that large flank‐collapse blocks from early in the histories of these seamounts are now hidden beneath the thick glacio‐fluvial fan deposits that cover the Gulf of Alaska seafloor. These slope failure features become smoother and longer and increase in size and abundance with increasing age of a seamount, suggesting that slope failure processes continue long after volcanic activity ceases.