Thermal Mantle Plume Research Articles

Olivine and Cr-spinel as indicators of the petrogenesis and partial melting conditions of the high-MgO ultramafic volcanic rocks from NW Ad Dhala Province—Yemen

The high-MgO ultramafic volcanic rocks in the NW Ad Dhala province are classified as meimechite according to the IUGS classification scheme. This province represents the southeastern outcrops of the Yemen Volcanic Group (YVG), which constitutes part of the Afro-Arabian continental large igneous province (LIP) and located within the boundary of the Afar mantle plume. In this study, we present the chemical compositions of olivine and Cr-spinel in meimechite rocks from Bagah Village in NW Ad Dhala province, aiming to characterize the genesis and partial melting conditions and to estimate the crystallization temperatures of these high-MgO rocks. Olivine crystals are characterized by high forsterite, ranges from Mg-rich core (up to Fo89.69) to relatively Fe-rich rim (down to Fo78.57), high CaO, MgO and MnO whereas Cr-spinel crystals have high TiO2 and Cr# values ranging from 0.49 to 0.63 which indicate that they are crystallized from primary magma and are typical of volcanic olivine and Cr-spinel that formed in intraplate tectonic setting. Olivine and Cr-spinel compositional data and primary melt composition (MgO ~ 23 wt.%) are compatible with the derivation of studied meimechite rocks from peridotite mantle source by small degrees of partial melting under conditions of high temperature and pressure at great depths, mostly within the garnet stability field. Also, these data provide a compelling indicator for the important role of upwelling Afar mantle plume in the genesis of these high-MgO ultramafic volcanic rocks. Finally, based on the different olivine-liquid equilibrium methods and Al-in-olivine thermometer approach the estimated crystallization temperature ranges from 1450 to 1490 °C, and mantle potential temperature (Tp) ranges from 1617 to 1677 °C, at high pressure (3–4.8 GPa). These high temperatures substantiate the existence of the Afar thermal mantle plume and its important role in the genesis of the studied meimechite rocks.

Corona structures driven by plume–lithosphere interactions and evidence for ongoing plume activity on Venus

In the absence of global plate tectonics, mantle convection and plume–lithosphere interaction are the main drivers of surface deformation on Venus. Among documented tectonic structures, circular volcano-tectonic features known as coronae may be the clearest surface manifestations of mantle plumes and hold clues to the global Venusian tectonic regime. Yet, the exact processes underlying coronae formation and the reasons for their diverse morphologies remain controversial. Here we use three-dimensional thermomechanical numerical simulations of impingement of a thermal mantle plume on the Venusian lithosphere to assess the origin and diversity of large Venusian coronae. The ability of the mantle plume to penetrate into the Venusian lithosphere results in four main outcomes: lithospheric dripping, short-lived subduction, embedded plume and plume underplating. During the first three scenarios, plume penetration and spreading induce crustal thickness variations that eventually lead to a final topographic isostasy-driven topographic inversion from circular trenches surrounding elevated interiors to raised rims surrounding inner depressions, as observed on many Venusian coronae. Different corona structures may represent not only different styles of plume–lithosphere interactions but also different stages in evolution. A morphological analysis of large existing coronae leads to the conclusion that at least 37 large coronae (including the largest Artemis corona) are active, providing evidence for widespread ongoing plume activity on Venus. Thermomechanical modelling shows that the formation and diverse morphologies of coronae on Venus can be explained by interactions between the lithosphere and impinging mantle plumes. Some corona structures are consistent with ongoing plume activity.

Plume Mode of Thermal Convection in the Earth’s Mantle

In our previous works, based on numerical models, it was shown that under certain conditions a hot material can rise in portions in the tails of thermal mantle plumes. The spectrum of these pulsations can correspond to the observed spectra of catastrophic hotspot eruptions. Since most of the existing numerical models of thermal convection for the mantle of the present Earth do not reveal these pulsations, in this work, we analyze the physical cause and initiation conditions of pulsations of thermal plumes. The results of a numerical solution of the thermal convection equations for a material with varying parameters in the extended Boussinesq approximation are presented. It is shown how the structure of the convection is transformed with the increase of convection intensity. At the Rayleigh numbers Ra > 106, convection becomes unsteady, and the configuration of the ascending and descending flows changes. The new flow emerging at the mantle bottom acquires a mushroom shape with a head and a tail. After the rise of the plume’s head to the surface, the tail remains in the mantle in the form of a quasi-stationary hot steam. It turns out that at Ra ~ 5 × 107, the thermal mantle plume becomes pulsating and its tail is in fact a heated channel through which the hot material rises in successive portions. At the Rayleigh numbers Ra > 5 × 108, the tail of the thermal plume breaks and the plume becomes a regular conveyor of separate ascending portions of the hot material, which are referred to as thermals. Thus, thermal convection with pulsating plumes takes place at the transitional stage from the regime of quasi-stationary plumes to the regime of thermals.

Lower-mantle plume beneath the Yellowstone hotspot revealed by core waves

The Yellowstone hotspot, located in North America, is an intraplate source of magmatism the cause of which is hotly debated. Some argue that a deep mantle plume sourced at the base of the mantle supplies the heat beneath Yellowstone, whereas others claim shallower subduction or lithospheric-related processes can explain the anomalous magmatism. Here we present a shear wave tomography model for the deep mantle beneath the western United States that was made using the travel times of core waves recorded by the dense USArray seismic network. The model reveals a single narrow, cylindrically shaped slow anomaly, approximately 350 km in diameter that we interpret as a whole-mantle plume. The anomaly is tilted to the northeast and extends from the core–mantle boundary to the surficial position of the Yellowstone hotspot. The structure gradually decreases in strength from the deepest mantle towards the surface and if it is purely a thermal anomaly this implies an initial excess temperature of 650 to 850 °C. Our results strongly support a deep origin for the Yellowstone hotspot, and also provide evidence for the existence of thin thermal mantle plumes that are currently beyond the resolution of global tomography models. The Yellowstone hotspot could be fed by a thin, thermal mantle plume that extends from the core–mantle boundary to the surface position of the hotspot, according to analyses of seismic data.

Mantle transition zone beneath the central Tien Shan: Lithospheric delamination and mantle plumes

We investigate structure of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) under the central Tien Shan in central Asia by using recordings of seismograph stations in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and adjacent northern China. We apply P-wave receiver functions techniques and evaluate the differential time between the arrivals of seismic phases that are formed by P to SV mode conversion at the 410-km and 660-km seismic boundaries. The differential time is sensitive to the thickness of the MTZ and insensitive to volumetric velocity anomalies above the 410-km boundary. Under part of the southern central Tien Shan with the lowest S wave velocity in the uppermost mantle and the largest thickness of the crust, the thickness of the MTZ increases by 15–20km relative to the ambient mantle and the reference model IASP91. The increased thickness is a likely effect of low (about −150K) temperature. This anomaly is indicative of delamination and sinking of the mantle lithosphere. The low temperature in the MTZ might also be a relic of subduction of the oceanic lithosphere in the Paleozoic, but this scenario requires strong coupling and coherence between structures in the MTZ and in the lithosphere during plate motions in the last 300Myr. Our data reveal a reduction of thickness of the MTZ of 10–15km under the Fergana basin, in the neighborhood of the region of small-scale basaltic volcanism at the time near the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The reduced thickness of the MTZ is the effect of a depressed 410-km discontinuity, similar to that found in many hotspots. This depression suggests a positive temperature anomaly of about 100–150K, consistent with the presence of a thermal mantle plume. A similar depression on the 410-km discontinuity is found underneath the Tarim basin.

Pulsations and breaks of tails of thermal mantle plumes

In the available numerical models, mantle plumes are represented by homogeneous ascending streams of thermal convection. Pulses are considered to be possible only in thermochemical plumes within the compositionally inhomogeneous mantle. We show that pulses can also occur under regular thermal convection in the homogeneous mantle. As the intensity grows, the flow in the tail of a thermal plume first begins pulsing and then the plume breaks up into a set of sequentially emerging thermals. For the present-day mantle, the pulsation periods for plumes in the lower mantle can range up to 10 Ma and about 1 Ma in the upper mantle.

Hidden hotspot track beneath the eastern United States

Hotspot tracks are thought to be the surface expressions of tectonic plates moving over upwelling mantle plumes, and are characterized by volcanic activity that is age progressive. At present, most hotspot tracks are observed on oceanic or thin continental lithosphere. For old, thick continental lithosphere, such as the eastern United States, hotspot tracks are mainly inferred from sporadic diamondiferous kimberlites putatively sourced from the deep mantle. Here we use seismic waveforms initiated by the 2011 M_w 5.6 Virginia earthquake, recorded by the seismic observation network USArray, to analyse the structure of the continental lithosphere in the eastern United States. We identify an unexpected linear seismic anomaly in the lower lithosphere that has both a reduced P-wave velocity and high attenuation, and which we interpret as a hotspot track. The anomaly extends eastwards, from Missouri to Virginia, cross-cutting the New Madrid rift system, and then bends northwards. It has no clear relationship with the surface geology, but crosses a 75-million-year-old kimberlite in Kentucky. We use geodynamical modelling to show that an upwelling thermal mantle plume that interacts with the base of continental lithosphere can produce the observed seismic anomaly. We suggest that the hotspot track could be responsible for late Mesozoic reactivation of the New Madrid rift system and seismicity of the eastern United States.

Temperature, Pressure, and Composition of the Mantle Source Region of Late Cenozoic Basalts in Hainan Island, SE Asia: a Consequence of a Young Thermal Mantle Plume close to Subduction Zones?

Basaltic lavas from Hainan Island near the northern edge of the South China Sea have an age range of between late Miocene (about 13 Ma) and Holocene, with a peak age of late Pliocene to middle Pleistocene. The basaltic province is dominated by tholeiites with subordinate alkali basalts. Most analysed samples display light rare earth element (LREE) enriched REE patterns and ocean island basalt (OIB)-like incompatible element distributions. The basalts contain abundant undeformed high-Mg olivine phenocrysts (up to Fo90·7) that are high in CaO and MnO, indicating high-magnesian parental magmas. Independent barometers indicate that clinopyroxenes in the basalts crystallized over a wide range of pressures of 2–25 kbar (dominantly at 10–15 kbar) and that the melt cooled from about 1350°C to 1100°C during their crystallization. The compositional characteristics of the basalts indicate that their generation most probably involved both low-silica and high-silica melts, as represented by the alkali basalts and tholeiites, respectively. Our results show that the source region for the Hainan basalts is highly heterogeneous. The source for the tholeiites is mainly composed of peridotite and recycled oceanic crust, whereas the source for the bulk of the low-Th alkali basalts consists predominantly of peridotite and low-silica eclogite (garnet pyroxenite). Some high-Th (≥ 4 ppm) alkali basalts may have been produced by partial melting of low-silica garnet pyroxenite (eclogite). We estimated the primary melt compositions for the Hainan basalts using the most forsteritic olivine (Fo90·7) composition and the most primitive bulk-rock samples (MgO > 9·0 wt % and CaO >8·0 wt %), assuming a constant Fe–Mg exchange partition coefficient of KD = 0·31 and Fe3+/FeT = 0·1. The effective melting pressure (Pf) and melting temperature (T) of the primary melts are Pf = 18–32 kbar (weighted average = 23·8 ± 1·8 kbar) and T = 1420–1520°C for the tholeiites, and Pf = 25–32 (weighted average = 28·3 ± 1·4 kbar) and T = 1480–1530°C for the alkali basalts. The Pf –T data form an array that plots systematically above the dry lherzolite solidus but below the base of the lithosphere (∼55 km) and intersects the dry peridotite solidus at a pressure of about 50 kbar. The mantle potential temperature beneath Hainan Island, based on the estimate primary melt compositions, varies from about 1500 to 1580°C with a weighted average of 1541 ± 10°C. The high-magnesian olivine phenocrysts, high mantle potential temperature, and the presence of recycled oceanic crust in the source region provide independent support for the Hainan plume model that has previously been proposed largely based on geophysical observations. The Hainan plume thus provides a rare example of a young mantle plume associated with deep slab subduction.

Linking mantle plumes, large igneous provinces and environmental catastrophes

Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are known for their rapid production of enormous volumes of magma (up to several million cubic kilometres in less than a million years), for marked thinning of the lithosphere, often ending with a continental break-up, and for their links to global environmental catastrophes. Despite the importance of LIPs, controversy surrounds even the basic idea that they form through melting in the heads of thermal mantle plumes. The Permo-Triassic Siberian Traps--the type example and the largest continental LIP--is located on thick cratonic lithosphere and was synchronous with the largest known mass-extinction event. However, there is no evidence of pre-magmatic uplift or of a large lithospheric stretching, as predicted above a plume head. Moreover, estimates of magmatic CO(2) degassing from the Siberian Traps are considered insufficient to trigger climatic crises, leading to the hypothesis that the release of thermogenic gases from the sediment pile caused the mass extinction. Here we present petrological evidence for a large amount (15 wt%) of dense recycled oceanic crust in the head of the plume and develop a thermomechanical model that predicts no pre-magmatic uplift and requires no lithospheric extension. The model implies extensive plume melting and heterogeneous erosion of the thick cratonic lithosphere over the course of a few hundred thousand years. The model suggests that massive degassing of CO(2) and HCl, mostly from the recycled crust in the plume head, could alone trigger a mass extinction and predicts it happening before the main volcanic phase, in agreement with stratigraphic and geochronological data for the Siberian Traps and other LIPs.

How Do Oceanic Plateaus Form? Clues From Drilling at Shatsky Rise

Oceanic plateaus are huge basaltic constructions whose eruptions may briefly outstrip even global mid‐ocean ridge magma production. Although they form great undersea mountains, their origins are poorly understood. A widely accepted explanation is that oceanic plateaus are built by massive eruptions from the head of nascent thermal mantle plumes that rise from deep in the mantle to the surface [e.g., Duncan and Richards, 1991]. An alternative is that plateaus erupt by decompression melting of fusible patches in the upper mantle at plate edges or zones of extension [Foulger, 2007].

On the possibility of crater formation associated with an ascending plume

A hypothetical possibility of a qualitative explanation of large crater formation on the surfaces of the Moon and Mercury is discussed in terms of the concept of thermal mantle plumes. Prerequisites to this hypothesis are revealed under the assumption that the model equation of state of SiO2 exhibiting an anomaly (a negative coefficient of thermal expansion) in the range of states approximately corresponding to average conditions typical of mantles of minor planets is applicable, in a first approximation, to mantle material. The anomaly reduces the buoyancy of hot plume material in such a way that, under conditions of moderate overheating, only relatively high columns comparable in size to the mantle are capable of ascending from the mantle bottom to the crust; allows cold peripheral material surrounding the hot column to be pushed away; causes compaction of the vertical zone of the contact of the column with the surrounding medium at the first stages after the plume ascent; and leads to compaction of the deep mantle due to the long-term heat supply. Such phenomena can lead to vertical craterlike deformations of the crust in areas of ascending large plumes whose presence can be supposed at early stages of the existence of minor planets. Significant implications of such an anomaly for geophysical processes can also be postulated.

Temperature of the plume layer beneath the Yellowstone hotspot

Recent studies show that the Yellowstone hotspot is associated with a plume-like lowvelocity pipe that ascends from the transition zone to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, where the plume is sheared to the southwest by North American plate motion. Rayleigh wave tomography shows this plate-sheared plume layer has an extremely low S wave velocity of 3.8 ± 0.1 km/s at 80 km depth, ~0.15–0.3 km/s lower than the velocity observed beneath normal mid-ocean ridges. To constrain the temperature of the plume layer, a grid search with respect to grain size and temperature is performed to fi observed Rayleigh wave phase velocities. This search fi nds that the excess temperature of the plume layer is >55–80 °C at 95% confi dence for two different temperature-velocity and two different melt-velocity models , confi rming that a thermal mantle plume exists.

Dynamics of Mid-Palaeocene North Atlantic rifting linked with European intra-plate deformations

The process of continental break-up provides a large-scale experiment that can be used to test causal relations between plate tectonics and the dynamics of the Earth's deep mantle. Detailed diagnostic information on the timing and dynamics of such events, which are not resolved by plate kinematic reconstructions, can be obtained from the response of the interior of adjacent continental plates to stress changes generated by plate boundary processes. Here we demonstrate a causal relationship between North Atlantic continental rifting at approximately 62 Myr ago and an abrupt change of the intra-plate deformation style in the adjacent European continent. The rifting involved a left-lateral displacement between the North American-Greenland plate and Eurasia, which initiated the observed pause in the relative convergence of Europe and Africa. The associated stress change in the European continent was significant and explains the sudden termination of a approximately 20-Myr-long contractional intra-plate deformation within Europe, during the late Cretaceous period to the earliest Palaeocene epoch, which was replaced by low-amplitude intra-plate stress-relaxation features. The pre-rupture tectonic stress was large enough to have been responsible for precipitating continental break-up, so there is no need to invoke a thermal mantle plume as a driving mechanism. The model explains the simultaneous timing of several diverse geological events, and shows how the intra-continental stratigraphic record can reveal the timing and dynamics of stress changes, which cannot be resolved by reconstructions based only on plate kinematics.

Direct and inverse problems of high-viscosity fluid dynamics

Methods and algorithms of numerical simulation for three-dimensional thermal-convective motions of the inhomogeneous high-viscosity incompressible fluid in the direct and inverse time are described. In contrast to the direct-time problem, the inverse-time problem is ill-posed; to solve it, one of the variants of the quasi-reversibility method is used. The main attention is focused on the organization of effective computing processes on parallel-action computers. As an example, simulation results of the inverse problem of restoration of development history of thermal mantle plumes are given.

A case for mantle plumes

The existence of at least several plumes in the Earth’s mantle can be inferred with few assumptions from wellestablished observations. As well, thermal mantle plumes can be predicted from wellestablished and quantified fluid dynamics and a plausible assumption about the Earth’s early thermal state. Some additional important observations, especially of flood basalts and rift-related magmatism, have been shown to be plausibly consistent with the physical theory. Recent claims to have detected plumes using seismic tomography may comprise the most direct evidence for plumes, but plume tails are likely to be difficult to resolve definitively and the claims need to be well tested. Although significant questions remain about its viability, the plume hypothesis thus seems to be well worth continued investigation. Nevertheless there are many non-plate-related magmatic phenomena whose association with plumes is unclear or unlikely. Compositional buoyancy has recently been shown potentially to substantially complicate the dynamics of plumes, and this may lead to explanations for a wider range of phenomena, including “headless” hotspot tracks, than purely thermal plumes.

Tectonic plates, D″ thermal structure, and the nature of mantle plumes

It is proposed that subducting tectonic plates can affect the nature of thermal mantle plumes by determining the temperature drop across a plume source layer. The temperature drop affects source layer stability and the morphology of plumes emitted from it. Numerical models are presented to demonstrate how introduction of platelike behavior in a convecting temperature dependent medium, driven by a combination of internal and basal heating, can increase the temperature drop across the lower boundary layer. The temperature drop increases dramatically following introduction of platelike behavior due to formation of a cold temperature inversion above the lower boundary layer. This thermal inversion, induced by deposition of upper boundary layer material to the system base, decays in time, but the temperature drop across the lower boundary layer always remains considerably higher than in models lacking platelike behavior. On the basis of model‐inferred boundary layer temperature drops and previous studies of plume dynamics we argue that generally accepted notions as to the nature of mantle plumes on Earth may hinge on the presence of plates. The implication for Mars and Venus, planets apparently lacking plate tectonics, is that mantle plumes of these planets may differ morphologically from those of Earth. A corollary model‐based argument is that as a result of slab‐induced thermal inversions above the core mantle boundary the lower most mantle may be subadiabatic, on average (in space and time), if major plate reorganization timescales are less than those required to diffuse newly deposited slab material.

Nd‐Sr‐Pb isotopic variations along the Gulf of Aden: Evidence for Afar Mantle Plume‐Continental Lithosphere Interaction

We report on the rare earth and Nd‐Sr‐Pb isotopic composition of basalts dredged along the Sheba Ridge axis in the Gulf of Aden and its extension into the Gulf of Tadjoura and subaerial basalts from the Ardoukoba Rift in east Afar. The sampling profile provides a means to study the evolutionary nature of the mantle sources involved in the melting process associated with the interaction of the head of a starting mantle plume with continental lithosphere and an ocean basin at a nascent stage of formation. An 800‐km‐long Nd‐Sr‐Pb isotopic and La/Sm gradient, sinusoidally modulated, is apparent from the Afar eastward. The first enrichment peak occurs in the Gulf of Tadjoura, where diffuse extension of the Danakil‐Aisha continental lithospheric block and westward rift propagation is currently progressing. The second enrichment peak at 46°E is associated with a mantle buoyancy anomaly and related constructional volcanism. East of 48°E, the MORBs are typically light rare earth element depleted, whereas 206Pb/204Pb and 87Sr/86Sr slightly increase, suggesting recent decoupling. In Nd‐Sr‐Pb isotope ratio space, three distinct vector trends are observed within a plane. The mixing vectors point toward three mantle source end‐members which can be interpreted as Pan‐African continental lithosphere along the Gulf of Tadjoura (a hybrid EM‐l‐EM‐2), a mantle plume (relatively young HIMU‐like) which dominates the 46°E anomaly, and the depleted asthenosphere east of 48°E (DUPAL‐like). Combined data from the Gulf of Aden‐Red Sea‐Afar‐Ethiopian rifted zones suggest a radial pattern of geochemical and isotopic variation about the Afar. A working dynamical‐thermal model is presented for the past 30–40 m.y. history of the Horn of Africa. It invokes both passive rifting/seafloor spreading in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden and the flattening and interaction of the starting head of a toruslike thermal mantle plume with the Pan‐African continental lithosphere which is slowly moving northeastward with the plume head attached at its base. The plume flattened into a pancakelike form, twice the diameter of the original head which is estimated to be of the order of 700 km in diameter. The thinning of the lithosphere by stretching and thermal erosion by the mantle plume has not yet been completed. A working ternary mixing model constrained by the isotope data indicates that within the 800–1000 km radius of influence of the Afar mantle plume, melting of the lithosphere mantle and the depleted asthenosphere apparently entrained by the ascending mantle plume dominates initially. Only along the three rifting zones intersecting the flattened plume ring, 450±150 km in radius, composed of original HIMU‐like plume material does the original plume component play a more dominant role. Judging from the spatial isotopic composition variation of the basalts, the plume torus may be apparent along (1) the 46°E Gulf of Aden anomaly where seafloor spreading is now well established; (2) the 13°–16°N southern Red Sea segment, which represents a rift zone at a transient stage of either development or abandonment (overlapping with the Afar NW neovolcanic zone), where ocean island alkali volcanism dominates and diffuse lithosphere extension may still operate; (3) the high alkaline field of the Aden Volcanic Series; and (4) the Ethiopian Rift around 8°N in a purely continental setting. The NW Afar neovolcanic zone, which is essentially at a nascent stage of seafloor spreading and is overlapping the ring and the center of the pancakelike flattened mantle plume, is dominated by tholeiites derived from depleted asthenospheric material entrained by the plume during its original ascent. Plate reconstructions further suggest that the original center of the flattened mantle plume head has moved with the lithosphere some 900 km northeastward. The stem feeder of the plume has now been drawn or tilted toward the Afar as a result of the migration of the Gulf of Aden/Red Sea spreading centers which act as sinks of asthenospheric material and the likelihood that the feeder of the mantle plume is encountering with time an African lithosphere increasing in age, thickness, and rigidity.

Evidence from geoid data of a hotspot origin for the southern Mascarene Plateau and Mascarene Islands (Indian Ocean)

A high‐resolution geoid map of the Madagascar and Mascarene basins is constructed from GEOS 3 and Seasat satellite altimetric data with an accuracy of 0.7 m. Large positive anomalies are due to topographic highs and their regional compensation. The deflection of the lithosphere under volcanic loads and its effect on the geoid are modeled for the Southern Mascarene Plateau, Mauritius, Reunion, and Rodriguez islands. Assuming a purely elastic lithospheric model, the effective flexural rigidity is estimated for the four zones. Rigidity varies from 1×10+21 to 2×10+23 N m, increasing from north to south. The highest rigidity occurs under Reunion Island and suggests a recent origin for the volcanism (3–5 Ma). The Southern Mascarene Plateau shows the lowest rigidity, suggesting a near‐ridge origin; Rodriguez Island shows the same trend but in another tectonic framework. The topographic and geoid swell is studied as an effect of a thermal mantle plume. Using a conductive model of lithospheric heating, we confirm the assumption of “hotspot migration” for the origin of the Southern Mascarene Plateau and the Mascarene Islands.