EGU General Assembly 2024  

The growing global demand for metal resources requires new high-grade ore deposit discoveries. Known large sediment-hosted clastic-dominated base metal deposits predominantly occur in failed continental rifts and the passive margins of successful rifts. Understanding the large-scale geodynamic controls on rift-related mineralizing processes occurring on much smaller spatial and temporal scales can thus help identify new areas for exploration.

We numerically model 2D rift systems from inception to break-up with the geodynamic code ASPECT (Kronbichler et al., 2012; Heister et al., 2017) coupled to the landscape evolution model FastScape (Braun and Willett, 2013; Neuharth et al., 2022). With ~300-m resolution simulations, we investigate how rift type and the efficiency of sedimentary processes affect the formation of potential metal source and host rock domains, identified by their lithology and temperature. We subsequently analyse the optimal alignment of these domains where metals are respectively leached and deposited  with faulting events providing potential fluid pathways between them (e.g., Rodríguez et al., 2021). For favourable co-occurrences of source, pathway and host, we identify the tectonic conditions that predict the largest clastic-dominated lead-zinc deposits.

We show that the largest potential for metal endowment is expected in narrow asymmetric rifts at a distance of several tens of kilometres to the shore (Glerum et al., 2023). Characterized by rift migration, these rifts generate a wide and a narrow conjugate margin. On the narrow margin, the long-lived border fault accommodates a thick submarine package of sediments, including deep permeable continental sediments and shallower layers of organic-rich sediments. Elevated temperatures from continued thinning could lead to fluids leaching metals from the permeable sediments. Both the border fault and later synthetic faults can provide fluid pathways from the source to the shallow host rock in potential short-lived mineralisation events. In wide rifts with rift migration, these favourable configurations occur less frequently and less potential source rock is produced, limiting potential metal endowment. In simulations of narrow symmetric rifts, the potential for ore formation is low. Based on these insights, exploration programs should prioritize identifying exhumed ancient narrow margins formed in asymmetric rift systems.

Braun and Willett 2013. Geomorphology 180–181. 10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.10.008.

Glerum et al. preprint. EGUsphere 1-40. 10.5194/egusphere-2023-2518.

Heister et al. 2017. Geophys. J. Int. 210 (2): 833–51. 10.1093/gji/ggx195.

Kronbichler et al. 2012. Geophys. J. Int. 191: 12–29. 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2012.05609.x.

Neuharth et al. 2022. Tectonics 41 (3): e2021TC007166. 10.1029/2021TC007166.

Rodríguez et al. 2021. Gcubed 22: 10.1029/2020GC009453.

How to cite: Glerum, A. C., Brune, S., Magnall, J. M., Weis, P., and Gleeson, S. A.: Geodynamic controls on sediment-hosted lead-zinc deposits in continental rifts, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5404, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5404, 2024.

Geodynamics is an actively expanding young quantitative science, which defined its mission very generally as introducing of physical-mathematical methods into traditionally observations-focused Earth and planetary sciences in order to understand and quantify origin and evolution of Earth and other planets. As such, this young science is not limited by any specific object or subject and widens its scope through time. This is a very natural process (‘instinctive evolution’) since human scales of direct observation are extremely limited in both time and space and since rapid progress of quantitative physical-mathematical and computational methods offers every day new and exceptional possibilities to explore sophisticated physical-mathematical models for understanding intrinsically complex natural processes. As the result of this ‘instinctive evolution’, new frontiers in geodynamics are (and always were) defined by its expansion toward other fields. Initially, Geodynamics mainly expanded towards Structural Geology and Tectonics. Currently, new Geodynamics expansion tendencies are clearly visible toward: Seismology, Geomorphology, Geochemistry, Petrology, Climatology, Planetology/Astronomy and Biology/Astrobiology. In this lecture, I will give some recent examples of this impressive expansion and outline future expectations and challenges.

How to cite: Gerya, T.: New Frontiers in Geodynamics, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8300, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8300, 2024.

Accurately constraining past and future ice sheet evolution requires a quantitative understanding of key boundary conditions in ice sheet models, including topography and heat flux. Both of these conditions are in part moderated by spatially and temporally variable mantle dynamics. This study exploits an interdisciplinary approach to probe the mantle beneath Antarctica to better understand sub-crustal processes. First, observed bathymetry and topography are corrected for isostatic effects to isolate the residual topographic signal, a proxy for dynamic mantle support. In this way, a comprehensive suite of oceanic residual depth (n = 1120) and continental residual elevation (n = 237) spot measurements are calculated. Secondly, basaltic rare earth element concentrations acquired from an augmented database of Neogene volcanic samples (n = 264) are inversely modelled to determine melt fraction as a function of depth. Thus, we constrain mantle potential temperature and depth to the top of the melting column (i.e. lithospheric thickness). Finally, results from these approaches are interpreted alongside other geological and geophysical data, including free air gravity anomalies and mantle tomographic models to understand present day mantle-lithosphere interactions. Sequence stratigraphic analysis along continental margins (e.g. offshore from Dronning Maud Land and the Wilkes and Aurora Subglacial Basins) is also used to constrain temporal changes in mantle-induced vertical plate motion. Robust observations in the oceanic realm evidence dynamic support beneath the central Scotia Sea, the Marie Byrd Seamounts, in the vicinity of the Astrid Ridge, and beneath the Emerald Fracture Zone. Residual topography measurements define the extent to which these dynamic swells continue onto the continent, with 1-2 km of mantle support throughout West Antarctica, the Transantarctic Mountains, and the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. Collectively, these results highlight considerable spatial and temporal variation in dynamic mantle support throughout Antarctica, making it imperative to account for such mantle-lithosphere interactions when modelling the onset and evolution of glaciation.

How to cite: Dunn, A., White, N., Larter, R., Holdt, M., Stephenson, S., and Tien, C.-Y.: Spatial and temporal variation in dynamic mantle support of the Antarctic plate: Implications for ice sheet evolution, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-440, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-440, 2024.

The ubiquity of detrital zircon in clastic sediments and their typical high U and low common Pb contents, resulting in relatively high precision U-Pb age determination, made zircon one of the primary minerals for provenance studies. Yet, its high closure temperature (>900^oC), limited growth of new zircon under upper amphibolite-eclogite facies, inherited bias towards zircon-rich sources (e.g., felsic plutonic rocks), and the refractory behavior in sedimentary deposits rarely representing first-cycle sedimentation, can hamper the ability to detect some key tectonomagmatic events. In this sense, other mineral assemblages, like detrital rutile, that is formed in medium- to high-grade metapelite and metabasite mainly during high-pressure and low-temperature subduction metamorphism, can be used to provide a more complete record of orogenesis with polyphase evolution. Herein, we present U-Pb detrital rutile ages from the Cambrian-Ordovician Tacaratu Formation (lowermost unit of the late Jurassic to Cretaceous Tucano-Jatobá Basin, that directly overlies the Borborema Province in its southern region) to track the complete polyphase evolution of southern Borborema Province in the northeastern Brazil. The geodynamic evolution of this structural province is still a matter of debate, with interpretations varying from reworking of Paleoproterozoic continental crust with sedimentation and metamorphism in intracontinental setting, to oceanic closure during a complete Wilson Cycle with or without terrane accretion. Considering the southern Borborema Province Sergipano Belt, subduction started ca. 740 Ma ending with collisional processes (ca. 590-570 Ma) associated with the closure of the Sergipano-Oubanguides oceanic basin. The Neoproterozoic Pernambuco-Alagoas Domain and Sergipano Belt, both formed due to the collision between São Francisco-Congo Craton and the Pernambuco-Alagoas superterrane, are the main source of detritus of the Tacaratu Formation. Coupled U-Pb detrital zircon and rutile analysis revealed that detrital zircon ages lags (i.e., are younger) detrital rutile ages by around 100 Ma. Detrital rutile and zircon present main young peaks at ca. 650 Ma and 545 Ma, respectively. Recently, Neoproterozoic arc-back-arc amphibolite (ca. 743 ± 3 Ma), a rare setting for the early phases of Brasiliano Orogeny, and Cordilleran-type medium- to high-K granites (ca. 645-610 Ma), were recognized in southern Borborema Province, in agreement with our detrital rutile U-Pb ages. Thus, our detrital rutile ages record earlier phases of Brasiliano Orogeny in the southern Borborema Province (subduction-related metamorphism; closure of Sergipano-Oubanguides ocean), since the Brasiliano Orogeny culminated in the collision of blocks that were followed by high-temperature metamorphism (hampering the formation of younger rutile?). Notwithstanding, detrital rutile ages interesting marks around late Tonian to Cryogenian subduction-related metamorphism, perhaps in a magma-poor orogenic phase.

How to cite: Cerri, R. I., Caxito, F. A., Spencer, C., Luvizotto, G. L., Junior, G. W. C., Santos, N. M., and Warren, L. V.: Detecting subduction-related metamorphic events during the early Brasiliano Orogeny in southern Borborema Province using detrital rutile , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1686, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1686, 2024.

Calderas are steep morphological and collapse basins that continue to reshape long after initial structural collapse. While large landslides are associated with caldera collapse and widen the basin, little is known about the morphological and structural changes that occur long after caldera formation. Here, we investigate the shape and slope of the Tambora caldera in Indonesia, which formed in 1815 during one of the most devastating eruptions of the past  centuries. The release of over 150 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash created a caldera 6 kilometers wide and 1250 meters deep, causing climatic effects worldwide. Here we explore an ultra-high-resolution dataset we generated from Pleiades, a tri-stereo satellite, that now allows us to apply computer vision approaches to study the morphology and geometry of the Tambora caldera. We generated a 12 million pixel point cloud resampled to a 1 m resolution Digital Elevation Model and a 0.5 m orthomosaic. We explore the dimension, slope, and outline of the caldera and find localized open fissures, tension cracks, and morphological scars. We also apply an unsupervised image classification approach to the stereo multispectral data and find locations of fumarole activity and hydrothermal alteration in close proximity to these structural features. Hydrothermal alteration sites are commonly located in the caldera wall below the scars and open fissures. We explore this proximity of alteration, scarring, and faulting using newDistinct Element Method models, emphasizing that caldera morphology and structure is strongly influenced by hydrothermal weakening that causes flank instability, localized shedding of material, and large-scale morphological changes.

How to cite: Walter, T. R., Harnett, C. E., Troll, V. R., and Heap, M. J.: Morphology, structure and gravitational instability of the steep caldera walls of Tambora (Indonesia) influenced by hydrothermal alteration., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2023, 2024.

Mantle convection is an essential component of the Earth system. Yet its history is not well known , in part, as the strength of tectonic plates conceals the underlying flow. To date, global mantle convection models have reached an impressive level of sophistication due to significant advancement of computational infrastructures and numerical techniques. This ultimately allows geodynamicists to reconstruct past mantle states through using, for instance, inverse geodynamic models based on adjoint equations. However, key input parameters of these models --- such as thermo-chemical flow properties and rheology --- are complex and poorly known. This in turn limits their ability to effectively interpret the reconstructed mantle flow, thus motivating one to pursue an approach that aims to conceptualize paleo-mantle-flow at a simple analytical level.

To this end, the existence of thin, mechanically weak asthenosphere permits one to develop an analytical Couette/Poiseuille model of asthenospheric flow, where flow is associated with moving tectonic plates, and with lateral pressure gradients due to rising plumes and sinking slabs. Here we present estimates of the Cenozoic asthenospheric flow history from such models in the Atlantic realm. We, moreover, link them to azimuthal seismic anisotropy as well as mantle flow retrodiction simulated by inverse geodynamic models. Our analytically derived asthenospheric flow indicates that it is in broad agreement with the orientation of seismic azimuthal anisotropy, and with the large-scale flow patterns from mantle flow retrodictions. In light of these results, our study suggests exploiting a hierarchy of geodynamic models together with growing observational constraints on mantle flow induced surface expressions to gain a better understanding of paleo-mantle-flow.

How to cite: Wang, Z. R., Stotz, I. L., Bunge, H.-P., Vilacís, B., Hayek, J. N., Ghelichkhan, S., and Lebedev, S.: Cenozoic asthenospheric flow history in the Atlantic realm: Insights from Couette/Poiseuille flow models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2321, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2321, 2024.

The influence of climate on landscape evolution in natural settings remains debated. Here, we focus on tropical hotspot volcanic islands because they exhibit relatively uniform lithology and experience significant precipitation and climate gradients. Furthermore, intermittent volcanic flows effectively “reset” the landscape that begins to evolve post-eruption. Thus, we can constrain initial conditions by reconstructing the initial geometry of radiometrically dated volcanic flows. We constrain landscape evolution through time in several volcanic islands with strong climate gradients to assess the role of climate on incision. We perform topographic reconstructions to calculate long-term basin-averaged erosion rates in two islands of the Réunion hotspot (Réunion, Mauritius) and compile published erosion rates on Réunion and Kaua’i (Hawaii hotspot). We define the time since incision started as the age of the surface incised lava flow. To calibrate incision parameters on all three islands, we use the stream power model and apply a data-driven Bayesian approach to obtain the erodibility, K, the drainage area exponent, m, and the slope exponent, n. We also calculate a normalized erodibility index, K_n, using n = 1 to directly compare results among the different study sites. Erosion rates of Réunion Island range from 9.9 ± 0.5 mm/yr to 5.2 x 10^-3 ± 2 x 10^-4 mm/yr and erosion rates in Mauritius Island range from 6.5 x 10^-2 ± 8 x 10^-3 mm/yr to 5.1 x 10^-3 ± 4 x 10^-4 mm/yr. Incision efficiency seems to decrease with time since incision started from 63 ka to ~300 ka and then does not vary significantly with time since incision started from ~300 ka to 4300 ka. This is likely due to the covariation between the age of volcanism repaving and precipitation rates on Réunion, which is related to the configuration of the island’s two volcanoes – the active Piton de la Fournaise located on the windward side and the dormant Piton des Neiges on the center and leeward side. Our empirical calibration of the stream power law shows high dispersion in n and K_n on each individual island. m ranges from 0.2 to 2.9, and K_n ranges from 2.3 x 10^-7 to 9.8 x 10^-4 m^1-2m/yr. For Réunion, we identify a positive trend between mean annual precipitation and erosion rates, and between mean annual precipitation and K_n, for low to moderate erosion rates (<1 mm/yr). For all basins of Réunion, there is also a positive trend between mean annual cyclonic precipitation rates and erosion rates, and between mean annual cyclonic precipitation rates and n. In Kaua’i, there is a positive trend between erosion rates and mean annual precipitation, consistent with previous studies. In Réunion, the proportionality coefficient between erosion and mean annual precipitation is three times greater than in Kaua’i. In addition, considering all three islands, a nonlinear relationship exists between channel slope and incision rate: best-fit n values range from 0.5 to 6, with n generally lower than one on Kaua’i. Our results highlight different sensitivities of fluvial relief to incision, and of incision to climate, between Kaua’i and Réunion islands.

How to cite: Gourbet, L., Gallen, S. F., Famin, V., Michon, L., Ramanitra, M. O., and Gayer, E.: River incision on hotspot volcanoes: insights from paleotopographic reconstructions and numerical modelling, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2631, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2631, 2024.

The basal Cambrian sandstone unit in the North China craton (NCC) is an example of globally widespread siliciclastic succession that resides on the Great Unconformity and deposited on a hypothesized low-lying peneplain during the Cambrian global eustatic sea-level rise. Detrital zircon age signatures from this distinct sequence enable recognition of the ancient drainage system of the NCC in deep time and track its potential linkage with the Gondwana landmass. LA-ICP-MS U–Pb dating of the fossil-calibrated basal Cambrian (Series 2) detrital zircon samples from seven measured sections reveal marked spatial changes in their age signatures that can be divided into three distinct types. The first is generally characterized by the bimodal age populations with broad peaks at ~1.85 Ga and ~2.5 Ga that correlate with the Archean to Paleoproterozoic basement inboard of the NCC. The second is featured by multi-modal distribution with diagnostic Neoproterozoic peaks that correspond to subregional magmatic record. The third also shows multiple-zircon age populations, but yields significant crystallization ages close to the early Cambrian age. Comparing our new data with existing age spectra for the Cambrian strata across the NCC and the northern Gondwana demonstrates that separate drainage systems did exist in the peneplained basement during global Cambrian transgression and the basal Cambrian unit in the NCC was not a part of the far-travelled sand sheet across the northern margin of Gondwana. The most suitable source for Cambrian-aged grains constrained by paleogeographic restoration is the arc terrane developed along the northern margin of the NCC as a result of subduction of the Paleo-Asian oceanic plate. Our new continental-scale detrital zircon provenance signatures in the basal Cambrian unit suggest that the NCC should be considered a discrete continental block separated by the Proto-Tethys Ocean in the Cambrian, rather than an integral part of the northern Gondwana.

How to cite: Wei, R. and Duan, L.: Detrital zircon age signatures of the basal Cambrian sandstone unit in North China: implications for drainage divides during global Sauk transgression and separation from Gondwanaland, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2721, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2721, 2024.

Mantle convection is driven by buoyancy forces in Earth’s interior. The resulting radial stresses generate vertical deflections of the surface, leaving traces in the geological record. Utilizing new data assimilation techniques, geodynamic inverse models of mantle flow can provide theoretical estimates of these surface processes, which can be tested against geological observations. These inverse models are emerging as powerful tools, providing the potential for tighter constraints on the relevant physical parameters governing mantle flow.

The geodynamic inversions mentioned above require an estimate of the present-day thermal state of the mantle, which can be derived from seismic observations. Using thermodynamically self-consistent models of mantle mineralogy, it is possible to convert the seismic structure imaged by global tomographic models to temperature. However, both seismic and mineralogical models are significantly affected by inherent limitations and different sources of uncertainty. In addition, owing to the complexity of the mineralogical models, the relation between temperature and seismic velocities is highly non-linear and not strictly bijective: In the presence of phase transitions, different temperatures can result in the same seismic velocity, making the conversion from seismic heterogeneity to thermal structure non-unique.

We investigate the theoretical ability to estimate the present-day thermal state of the mantle based on tomographic models in the case of isochemical convection. The temperature distribution from a 3-D mantle circulation model with earth-like convective vigour serves as the “true” temperature field. Using a closed-loop experiment, we aim to recover this initial model after: 1) mineralogical mapping from the “true” temperatures to seismic velocities, 2) application of a tomographic filter to mimic the effect of limited tomographic resolution, and 3) mapping of the “imaged” seismic velocities back to temperatures. We test and quantify the interplay of smoothed seismic structure due to tomographic filtering with different approximations for the conversion from seismic to thermal structure. Additionally, owing to imperfect knowledge of the parameters governing mineral anelasticity, we test the effects of changes to the anelastic correction applied in the mineralogical mapping. The observed mismatch between the recovered and initial temperature field is dominated by the effect of tomographic filtering, with a depth-dependent average error of up to 200 K. Additionally, we observe systematic large errors in the vicinity of phase transitions. Our results highlight that, given the current limitations of tomographic models and the incomplete knowledge of mantle mineralogy, magnitudes and spatial scales of a temperature field obtained from global seismic models will deviate significantly from the true state, even under the assumption of purely thermally driven mantle flow. Strategies to estimate the present-day thermodynamic state of the mantle must be carefully selected to minimize additional uncertainties.

How to cite: Robl, G., Schuberth, B., Papanagnou, I., and Thomas, C.: Deriving mantle temperatures from global seismic models: A quantitative analysis in the light of uncertain mineralogy and limited tomographic resolution, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2858, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2858, 2024.

Global plate reconstructions that constrain the surface plate motions provide crucial boundary conditions for mantle circulation models. Earth-like plate kinematics could reduce the impact of the uncertain mantle initial conditions and generate slab structures in the mantle that are comparable with seismic tomographies. However, due to the subduction of the oceanic plates, uncertainty increases in global plate reconstruction over time. Here, we utilize a novel slab unfolding technique to retrodeform mantle slabs imaged in the MITP08 seismic topography back to the pre-subduction states at Earth’s surface. Such a technique provides additional constraints on plate reconstructions, especially in regions dominated by intra-oceanic subductions, such as Southeast Asia.

Our reconstruction shows a significant trench retreat along Southeast Asia and Northern Australia between 90 and 65 Ma that opened a gigantic, >3,000 km wide backarc basin. This basin, named the East Asian Sea plate, was later consumed by the west-moving Philippine Sea plate and North-moving Australian plate in the Cenozoic. We then embed our reconstruction in a mantle circulation model, TERRA, testing the fidelity of the reconstruction in a closed-loop experiment.

We found that fragmented, sub-horizontal East Asian Sea slabs can be reproduced in the mantle circulation model. These slabs lying underneath the current Philippine Sea plate and northern Australia are similar to the MITP08 tomography on which the reconstruction is built. Moreover, these slabs at 800-1000 km depths result in a more negative dynamic topography on the present Philippine Sea plates comparable with the observed residual topography. On the contrary, the traditional, Andean-style reconstruction can only produce positive dynamic topography. Other Mesozoic, intra-oceanic subductions in NE Asia and western North America embedded in our reconstruction also produce negative, yet smaller magnitude, dynamic topography, possibly due to the older subduction history and deeper slabs. We conclude the negative dynamic topography within the present Pacific plate is the result of ancient intra-oceanic subductions. 

How to cite: Chen, Y.-W., Bunge, H.-P., Stotz, I., and Wu, J.: Testing tomography-based plate reconstructions from a paired, inverse-forward closed-loop experiment in a mantle circulation model, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3083, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3083, 2024.

The Island of Vulcano is the emerged portion of a composite volcanic edifice within the Aeolian volcanic archipelago, situated in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The remobilization, triggered by heavy rainfall, of loose volcaniclastic material from La Fossa cone and the generation of small debris flows are recurrent hazards on Vulcano. Although these debris flows generally transport small volumes of material, in the case of severe events, they can  be channeled along the roads, flood several buildings, inundate the main harbor, and eventually be discharged into the sea. Gravitational and erosive processes, mainly due to rainfall, have formed several gully systems around the La Fossa cone. The presence of gully systems along slopes enhances both runoff and downslope mass wasting, and, above all, the gullies themselves act as a source of mass wasting due to the collapse of their walls and the processes of aggradation and degradation of their beds. Therefore, understanding the behaviour of gullies and their response to rainfall is crucial for predicting the effects of environmental changes, whether climatic or volcanic, on gully dynamics. 

In the frame of "VOlcaniclastic debris flows at La Fossa cone (Volcano  Island): evolution and hazard implication (VOLF)" project funded by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, we here analyze aerial photos of the NW sector of La Fossa cone to describe the evolution of its gully system from the 1954 to 2022. First, we create a georeferenced dataset of photos by orthorectifying existing photos and generating new ones through the Structure from Motion (SfM) method applied to Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) photos. Second, we describe the geomorphological features of the gullies in the NW sector of La Fossa cone, identifying features to be parameterized. Finally, we qualitatively and quantitatively describe their evolution over almost 70 years.  

This work aims to investigate the morphological evolution of the NW flanks of La Fossa cone, a crucial aspect for assessing hazards associated with volcaniclastic sediment-charged flows and floods on Vulcano Island. This is especially relevant in a scenario where ongoing climate changes may potentially disturb the current equilibrium, heightening the likelihood of short-term extreme rainfall events.

How to cite: Fornaciai, A., Favalli, M., Nannipieri, L., Turchi, A., Bonasia, R., and Di Traglia, F.: The gully system on the NW sector of La Fossa cone (Vulcano Island): 2D evolution and hazard implication, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3473, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3473, 2024.

The Cheakamus basalts are a set of ~31 km long, 1.65 km³ valley-filling olivine basalts which erupted into the glaciated Callaghan-Cheakamus Valley system of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt (GVB), British Columbia. Combined paleomagnetic and radiometric (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar) analysis dates the lavas as a short-lived (< 2 ka duration) eruption at 15.95 ± 7.9 ka (2σ); additional field evidence, including well-glaciated lava flow surfaces overlain by till, indicate the eruption coincided with the early stages of the Fraser Glaciation (LGM) at ~20-18 ka. The lavas preserve features indicative of a landscape hosting diverse and dynamic paleoenvironments. Subaerial eruption of basalt lava filled an ice-free Callaghan Creek drainage system before inundating and damming of the paleo-Cheakamus River, creating an upstream rising body of water. Periodic overtopping of the lava dam resulted in syn-eruptive intermittent flooding and overtopping of lavas expressed by discontinuous lenses of interflow sediment and well-developed entablatures in the upper portions of lava flows. Rare instances of enigmatic cooling columns indicate localized ice contact with glaciers that partially filled the Cheakamus Valley. Emplacement features and morphologies in the Cheakamus Valley have been heavily altered by the erosional overprinting of a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) that preliminary ¹⁰Be analysis dates at the close of the LGM (11-10 ka). Lavas in the Callaghan valley remain untouched by the GLOF. Their aerial extent and distribution, especially at high elevations in tributary valley mouths suggest bottlenecking and backing-up of lavas due to narrowing in valley topography. Current work combines field mapping and analogue modelling and aims to provide insight into the emplacement dynamics of effusive lavas in the steep, confined terrain of the BC Coast Mountains. Despite, and in part because of, their heavily modified morphology, the Cheakamus basalts act as an excellent recorder of both effusive volcanic processes and the paleoenvironments into which they erupted. Their thorough and accurate analysis is especially pertinent temporally, as they erupted during a time of glacial flux and can provide additional evidence for the timing and location of the advancing Cordilleran ice sheet. Spatially, the Cheakamus basalts are proximal to population centers and transport infrastructure and thus have implications for potential volcanic hazards and attendant risks, as any future effusive, valley-filling basaltic eruption from the GVB will likely share similar emplacement characteristics and processes.

How to cite: Borch, A., Russell, J. K., Barendregt, R., and Friele, P.: Emplacement and erosion of valley-filling basalt lavas in shifting Quaternary environments of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, British Columbia, Canada, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4176, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4176, 2024.

How to cite: Brown, H., Vilacís, B., Stotz, I., Chen, Y.-W., and Bunge, H.-P.: Synthetic Hiatus Maps as a Tool for Constraining Global Mantle Circulation Models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4552, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4552, 2024.

Peninsula India and Scandinavia are elevated passive continental margins (EPCMs) characterized by asymmetric relief with high mountains in the west and a gentle slope towards lowlands in the east.

New AFTA data from southern India reveal major Phanerozoic episodes of cooling, reflecting exhumation. Here we focus on the early Miocene episode possibly related to the hard India-Asia collision (van Hinsbergen et al. 2012). The Miocene exhumation resulted in a low-relief landscape; e.g. the Karnataka and Mysore plateaus (Gunnel and Fleitout, 1998) with residual regions of higher ground (e.g. Palani Hills). Today, these plateaus reach an elevation of 1 km along the coast of SW India, sloping towards the east. The Miocene peneplains were graded towards the base level of the adjacent ocean (Green et al. 2013), and therefore reached their present elevation after their formation. Thick piles of Pliocene sediments off SW India (Campanile et al. 2008) suggests that this happened during the Pliocene.

Richards et al. (2016) studied river profiles in Peninsula India and concluded that the regional tilt grew since 25 Ma, maintained by sub-lithospheric processes. However, we find that the relief is the result of two episodes: 1) Miocene peneplanation related to far-field stress. 2) Late Neogene, asymmetric uplift driven by sub-lithospheric processes.

We identified a similar development in SW Scandinavia, where two Neogene episodes of uplift and erosion define main features of the relief (Japsen et al. 2018): 1) Early Miocene uplift leading to formation of the Hardangervidda peneplain (possibly related to the hard India-Asia collision). 2) Uplift beginning in the Pliocene, raising Hardangervidda to its present elevation at 1.2 km. Pliocene uplift raised margins around the NE Atlantic with maximum elevations reached close to Iceland. This suggests support from the Iceland Plume due to outward-flowing asthenosphere extending beneath the conjugate margins (Rickers et al. 2013; Japsen et al. 2024). 
Lithospheric as well as sub-lithospheric processes appear to shape main features of EPCMs.

Campanile et al. 2008. Basin Research. Green et al. 2013. GEUS Bull. Gunnell, Fleitout 1998. ESPL. Japsen et al. 2018. JGSL. Japsen et al. 2024. ESR. Richards et al. 2016. G cubed. Rickers et al. 2013. EPSL.

How to cite: Japsen, P., Green, P. F., Bonow, J. M., and Chalmers, J. A.: The large-scale landscapes in SW Scandinavia and in SW India are the result of two episodes of Neogene uplift, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6544, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6544, 2024.

Deflection of the Earth’s surface supported by mantle flow, known as dynamic topography, is associated with a free-air gravity anomaly because such topography is not isostatically compensated. Consequently, the ratio of the gravity anomaly to the dynamic topography, known as the admittance, has been used to estimate the amplitude of dynamic topography, which can be difficult to measure directly. However, at long wavelengths (e.g., spherical harmonic degrees 2 to 6) both dynamic topography and gravity anomalies, and thus the admittance, are sensitive to the mantle’s viscosity structure. Previous studies [e.g., Colli et al., 2016] demonstrate a reversal in sign of the free-air gravity anomaly resulting from lower mantle structures as the viscosity of the lower mantle is increased. This indicates potential complexity for inferring long-wavelength dynamic topography from observations of gravity anomalies, because the upper-lower mantle viscosity contrast is poorly constrained. We further investigated the relationship between dynamic topography and gravity anomalies by introducing lateral viscosity variations into a finite element model of global mantle flow. We find that the gravity anomaly above lower mantle density heterogeneity can change dramatically as we begin to introduce different models for lateral viscosity variations into the upper and lower mantle viscosity fields. In such models we find that the sign of the admittance varies laterally, with the horizontal gradients in mantle viscosity perturbing mantle flow patterns in ways that produce large changes gravity anomalies and smaller changes in dynamic topography. A spatially-varying admittance will greatly complicate estimation of dynamic topography from observed gravity, and may help to explain mismatches between observations of dynamic topography and predictions made using global mantle flow models. On the other hand, the reconciliation of such mismatches may help to constrain viscosity heterogeneity in the lower mantle.

Colli, L., S. Ghelichkhan, and H. P. Bunge (2016), On the ratio of dynamic topography and gravity anomalies in a dynamic Earth, Geophysical Research Letters, 43(6), 2510-2516, doi:10.1002/2016GL067929.

How to cite: Conrad, C. P. and Ramirez, F.: Sensitivity of Long-Wavelength Dynamic Topography and Free-Air Gravity to Lateral Variations in Lower Mantle Viscosity, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6721, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6721, 2024.

A consequence of alluvial processes acting on scoria cones is the development of a drainage network composed of radially distributed rills and gullies parallel to the volcanic edifice's downslope direction. This work focuses on the quantification of the degree of development of the drainage network by applying the Average Erosion Index method to scoria cones from the arid to semi-arid Lunar Crater volcanic field and comparing with previously obtained results from two tropical volcanic fields (Sierra Chichinautzin volcanic field and Paricutin-Tancitaro region, both in central Mexico). The results show that the method helps to determine geomorphic age relations when calibrated separately for each field. Furthermore, the differences in the resultant rates at which AEI varies as a function of time obtained for the three studied fields indicate that the method provides a tool to quantify the effects of different alluvial rates at volcanic fields across various environments.

How to cite: Zarazúa-Carbajal, M. C., Valentine, G. A., and De la Cruz-Reyna, S.: Gully incision development on scoria cones: different behaviors in three volcanic fields reflect environmental conditions., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6783, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6783, 2024.

A region located in the SW sector of the Michoacán-Guanajuato monogenetic field, in central Mexico displays a high spatial density of scoria cones, mostly around Tancítaro, a large central volcano active in the middle Pleistocene. This region became well known when in 1943 a new volcano, Paricutin, was formed in a cornfield at 11 km to the NW of the extinct stratovolcano. The birth of Paricutin was preceded by significant swarm-type seismicity. Afterward, new seismic swarms were reported in the area in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, with a mean recurrence interval of only 4 yr, most of them (not all) showing the characteristics of a magmatic origin.  Aiming to shed some light on the relation between the high density of monogenetic cones and the recurrent seismicity, we have made a morpho-chronometric estimate of the relative ages of 170 scoria cones located in the Paricutin-Tancítaro region (PTR) within latitudes 19°N and 20°N and longitudes -102.0° E and -102.7° using the Average Erosion Index (AEI) which quantifies the degree of alluvial erosion of scoria cones from a Fourier analysis of their level contours. Monogenetic activity began in the PTR at about 1 Ma, and the AEI analysis shows that such activity increased after the end of the Tancítaro activity, around 232 ka, and further increased in the Holocene when about one-third of the scoria cones in the region were formed, with a mean interval between eruptions between 120 and 240 yr. On the other hand, a detailed study of two of the most energetic seismic swarms, recorded in 2020 and 2021 shows that the magma intrusion volume required to produce the measured cumulative seismic moment of both swarms amounts to about 140 million cubic meters, which is seemingly insufficient to produce a Paricutin-size eruption, which ejected about 1.3 cubic km of magma. We thus propose a possible conceptual explanation of the recurrent emplacement of monogenetic volcanoes and the frequent seismic swarm activity in terms of a persistent magma source under the crustal extension of the PTR producing numerous dike and sill forming intrusions. In some cases, such intrusions may have a cumulative effect forming temporary magma reservoirs capable of producing new monogenetic eruptions. Assuming that about 0.5 to 1 cubic kilometer of magma needs to accumulate to begin an eruption, about 7 to 14 sizable (similar to the 2020-2021) swarms may then represent a significant precursor.    

How to cite: De la Cruz-Reyna, S., Zarazúa-Carbajal, M. C., Caballero-Jiménez, G. V., and Mendoza-Rosas, A. T.: Cumulative storage of magma in the Paricutin-Tancítaro region, Mexico, revealed by recurrent swarm seismicity and a high spatial density of morpho-chronometrically dated Holocene monogenetic cones., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6885, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6885, 2024.

Various subduction zone characteristics, including the slab dip, plate velocity, seismicity, and back-arc stress regime, show the global asymmetry with respect to the subduction direction. In particular, the east-directed subducting slabs show shallow dips and slow convergences, contrast to the steep dips and fast convergences of the west-directed subducting slabs. To explain the global asymmetry, the westward lithospheric motion or the eastward mantle wind with respect to the underlying mantle and the overlying plate, respectively, have been proposed. However, the causative force for the lithospheric motion, the tidal force between the Earth and Moon, is only acceptable when the asthenospheric viscosity is dramatically low such as 10¹⁵ ~ 10¹⁶ Pa·s, which could not globally exist in the mantle. The causative force for the mantle wind has left unknown even though the impact of the mantle wind has been verified. Past studies have shown that slabs sinking into the lower mantle can cause global mantle flow. That is, the slabs sinking at the eastern and western trenches around the Pacific ocean can cause the global mantle flow above the low-viscosity liquid outer core, expressed as the mantle wind. Therefore, to verify whether the subducting slabs around the Pacific ocean cause the mantle wind, we conducted a series of 2-D numerical models using an annulus-shape model domain, which simplifies the subduction history in the paleo- and present-Pacific ocean. Along with an allowance of dynamic subduction, both the realistic mantle viscosity and the major phase transition in the mantle were considered. Results show that the global-scale mantle wind is spontaneously formed by the imbalance in lateral mantle stresses owing to the subducting slabs around the Pacific ocean when the slippery core-mantle boundary operates as a lubricant layer, and the direction and magnitude of the mantle wind are periodically changed every tens of million years. When he eastward mantle wind occurs, it induces the relative westward drift of the plate, and as a result, the westward plate velocity becomes greater than the eastward plate velocity with respect to the hotspot reference frame. Simultaneously, the mantle wind pushes the west-directed subducting slab toward the ocean, forming steep slab dips but does the east-directed subducting slab toward the arc, forming shallow slab dips, consistent with the present subduction asymmetry in the Pacific ocean. After that, the negative buoyancy of the shallow slab steepens the slab itself, changing the direction of mantle wind westward; the opponent slab dips and plate velocities occur in the subduction zones. This study reveals that the present subducting asymmetry is a snapshot expression of the evolving global mantle flow, formed by the subducting slabs.

How to cite: Lee, Y. and Lee, C.: Spontaneous Formation of Mantle Wind by Subduction and Its Impacts on Global Subduction Asymmetry, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7187, 2024.

Understanding the relationships between the onset of volcanic eruptions and external forcings, such as solid Earth and ocean tides, can help us to understand the underlying dynamics of volcanic processes and have implications for volcanic monitoring and prediction efforts.

Many studies that explored the relationship between tidal forces and volcanic activity have shown that certain phases of tidal cycles are associated with an increased likelihood of eruptions. At longer-time scales of hundreds of thousands of years, pronounced sea level variations related to ice melting or climatic and astronomical periodic variations have also been associated with pulses of volcanic activity.

Oceans participate in significant redistributions of mass that can affect the stress field within the Earth’s crust over different time scales. Considering that most volcanoes lie near, within or beneath the oceans we hypothesize that stresses induced by ocean loading participate in destabilizing volcanic dynamical systems and ultimately contribute to eruption triggering.

In a previous study we analyzed the worldwide number of monthly volcanic eruptions from the Global Volcanism Program and the global mean sea level between 1880 and 2009 using the Singular Spectrum Analysis time-series analysis technique. We found common periodicities and particularly multi-decadal components of similar periodicities of 20, 30 and 50 years present in both time-series.

In this work we further explore the connection between volcanic activity and sea level by mapping the spatial patterns of volcanic eruptions at the previously identified temporal scales of correlation, ranging from the fortnightly tide to cycles of approximately 100 years. Geographical Information System tools are used to create spatial data layers, perform spatial analysis, and provide geographical visualization. The analysis might reveal global conditions and space-time patterns favorable to eruption triggering.

This work was funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) –

UIDB/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/50019/2020),

UIDP/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/50019/2020) and

LA/P/0068/2020(https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0068/2020).

How to cite: Scala, M., Neves, M. C., and Dumont, S.: Patterns of volcanic eruptions in connection to sea-level change, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8475, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8475, 2024.

Earth’s topography is both isostatically and dynamically supported. Sub-crustal density anomalies, caused by convective mantle processes, generate transient vertical motion at Earth's surface, producing the dynamic component of topographic support. Residual depth measurements are a well-established proxy for quantifying dynamic topography on oceanic crust and provide an observation-led approach to probing mantle dynamics. A global database of residual depth anomalies compiled from seismic reflection profiles and wide-angle seismic experiments is augmented with results obtained from interpreting further seismic experiments in the oceans surrounding the African continent. Residual depth anomalies are calculated by isolating and removing isostatic signals arising from sediment loading and crustal heterogeneity. Following these corrections, observed water-loaded depth-to-basement is compared to that predicted by the plate cooling model, with deviation equal to the residual depth anomaly. Coverage surrounding the African continent is improved, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea and Mozambique Channel. Results are consistent with previous observations, showing dynamic support of ± 1 km out to and including spherical harmonic degree l = 40 (i.e. ~ 1000 km). Results are corroborated by independent geologic and geophysical markers of subsidence and uplift. For example, volcanism and slow shear-wave upper mantle velocity anomalies associated with the Cameroon Volcanic Line indicate dynamic support. Improving the spatial sampling of residual depth anomalies provides insight into the influence of convective circulation on Earth’s surface, culminating in a more robust database against which geodynamic models of mantle convection can be benchmarked.

How to cite: Slay, P., Holdt, M., and White, N.: Implications of dynamic topographic measurements along Africa’s passive margins, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8609, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8609, 2024.

It is widely recognized that mantle dynamics and plate flexure both contribute to Earth’s topography and gravity fields at different wavelengths, yet the actual transition wavelength between them is not well quantified, ranging from ~100 km to ~1000 km. Here we use the observed relationship between topography and the free-air gravity anomaly fields (admittance) to infer the relative contribution of plate flexure and mantle dynamics based on mantle flow models which incorporate an essentially elastic plate. Global and regional Pacific Ocean data studies show that plate flexure and mantle convection potentially contribute to the topography and gravity for wavelengths larger than ~600 km. Plate flexure mainly contributes at wavelengths shorter than ~600 km and is consistent with the support of uncompensated topography for wavelengths shorter than ~200 km. To investigate the admittance associated with mantle dynamics at long wavelengths we have constructed mantle flow models based on a number of different seismic tomography models. The finite element software CitcomS was used to calculate mantle flow and related surface dynamic topography and associated free-air gravity anomaly. Admittance analysis in the Pacific Ocean from different mantle flow models show that the dynamic admittance is generally larger than the observed admittance, while the admittance from plate flexure is smaller than the observed admittance, suggesting that both mantle dynamics and plate flexure contribute to Earth’s topography and gravity at long-wavelengths. The difference between the dynamic admittance and the observed admittance is smallest for cases with temperature-dependent viscosity and weak asthenosphere, and the combined admittance in the presence of both flexure and mantle convection for these cases is generally consistent with the observed admittance. We use a new method to separate the effects of plate flexure and mantle convection to the topography and gravity fields at long wavelengths which has been developed from the plate flexure and dynamic admittances. We assume that the topography and gravity at long wavelength are the combination of plate flexure and mantle dynamics and further assume that the topography and gravity are linearly related through the admittance. The final separated dynamic topography in the Pacific Ocean is generally consistent with previously published residual topography studies at long-wavelengths.

How to cite: Yang, A., Watts, A., and Zhong, S.: Long-wavelength gravity and topography of the Pacific Ocean: Relative contribution of mantle dynamics and plate flexure , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9346, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9346, 2024.

Fluid dynamics simulations are a powerful tool for understanding processes in the Earth's deep interior. Mantle circulation models (MCMs), for example, provide important insight into the present-day structure of the mantle and its thermodynamic state when coupled with mineralogical models, which is essential information for other fields in the geosciences. The evolution of the heat flux through the core-mantle boundary, for instance, is a prerequisite for geodynamo simulations that aim to model the reversal frequency pattern of the Earth's magnetic field on geologic time scales. However, geodynamical modelling requires extensive knowledge of deep Earth properties and plate motions over time. Uncertainties in these model inputs propagate into the MCMs, which subsequently have to be evaluated with independent data, such as the seismological or geological record. Although state-of-the-art MCMs typically explain statistical properties of seismological data, they do not consistently reproduce the location of features in the mantle.

In this contribution, we explore the effect of varying the absolute position of mantle structure on seismic data by applying first-order modifications to an initial MCM. Normal mode data are particularly well suited for assessing the resulting changes in the location of mantle structure, as they capture its long-wavelength component throughout the entire mantle. In addition, the global sensitivity of normal modes reduces the drawbacks of uneven data coverage. Specifically, we use two different seismic forward modelling approaches, an iterative direct solution method for computing full-coupling spectra and a splitting function calculation that is based on the self-coupling approximation. Our goal is to quantify the effects of a limited number of large-magnitude earthquakes, the adequacy of the self-coupling approximation, and the resolvability of relevant model differences through a comprehensive data analysis. Our synthetic forward modelling framework is moreover well suited for testing the depth sensitivity associated with specific frequency intervals in the spectrum that generally is inferred from seismic 1-D profiles within the splitting function approximation.

How to cite: Schneider, A., Schuberth, B., Koelemeijer, P., Shephard, G., and Al-Attar, D.: Exploring the potential of normal mode seismology for the assessment of geodynamic hypotheses, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10128, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10128, 2024.

Interpretations of seismic tomography and applications of the resulting tomographic images, e.g. for estimating present-day mantle temperatures, require information on their resolution and uncertainty. Assessing these model properties is often difficult due to the large size of tomographic systems on global scales. In consequence, there have been only few attempts to consistently analyse the spatially variable quality of tomographic images of deep mantle structure. For linear problems, both resolution and uncertainty can be quantified with the tools provided by classic Backus–Gilbert (B–G) inversion. In this theory, averaging kernels define the local resolving power at each model parameter, while uncertainties represent the propagation of data errors into the model values. By using a more efficient variant of B–G inversion, the method of 'Subtractive Optimally Localized Averages' (SOLA), global tomography can be performed with complete information for model appraisal.

Based on the SOLA framework, we present a concept for the assessment of the 3-D resolution information contained in a global set of averaging kernels. It is based on the rigorous estimation of resolution lengths from a 3-D Gaussian parametrization of the averaging kernels, together with a test for the robustness of this approximation. This is a necessary step because a perfectly bell-shaped or delta-like behaviour of resolution can not always be guaranteed in global tomography due to the inhomogeneous data coverage. Therefore, we also develop a classification scheme, which enables a basic identification of those averaging kernels that are too complex to be sufficiently described by the chosen definition of resolution length. We note that this approach is more generally applicable, i.e. it can be used with any explicitly available set of averaging kernels or point-spread functions, but also with alternative parametrizations.

In the context of the SOLA method, our resolution analysis can be further used to locally calibrate the inversion parameters. This involves on the one hand the specification of a target (resolution) kernel. On the other hand, a trade-off parameter needs to be selected that regulates the fit of the averaging to the target kernel, and the conversely affected propagation of data errors.

To this end, we apply our concept for robust resolution estimation to different sets of averaging kernels from SOLA inversions with varying parameter combinations. Most notably, we systematically increase the spatial extent of the target kernels (taken as 3-D Gaussian functions here as well). The final maps of global (and classified) resolution and uncertainty can be viewed together for a complete picture of the model quality. They reveal where, and for which target size and amount of error propagation, resolution lengths are meaningful and model values can be interpreted appropriately.

How to cite: Freissler, R., Schuberth, B. S. A., and Zaroli, C.: Global assessment of tomographic resolution and uncertainty with the SOLA method, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10566, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10566, 2024.

We present a new book aimed at graduate students, and academics, as well as all volcano enthusiasts. We chose to publish on the topic of volcano geomorphology for two main reasons. Firstly, although several geomorphology textbooks have been published, ones focussed on volcano geomorphology are scarce or outdated and out of print (Cotton, 1944, McDonald, 1972; Ollier, 1969 and 1988). Secondly, many volcanology books have been published over the past few decades, but they do not describe landforms and geomorphic processes in sufficient detail (as stated by the late P. Francis in 1993). To our knowledge, only five modern books on volcanology include a chapter on volcanoes as landforms and landscapes (Francis, 1993 and Francis & Oppenheimer, 2004; Chester, 1993; Scarth, 1993; Lockwood and Hazlett, 2010). They are less process-oriented than modern books on geomorphology.

Our book on Volcano Geomorphology is organised into five main themes, and contains 10 chapters. The first theme is an overview of the geodynamic environments in which the Earth's volcanoes are created.  The second is a detailed account of elementary “constructional” landforms, from lava forms to monogenetic volcanoes, both terrestrial and subaqueous, reflecting a variable degree of magma-water interaction. The third deals with polygenetic volcanic edifices including shield volcanoes, composite cones and volcanic clusters. This is followed by landforms and processes that form calderas, caldera complexes, and volcano-tectonic depressions. The fourth is oriented towards the degradation of volcanoes by short- and long-term erosion processes. The fifth and final theme is twofold: first, we deal with geomorphic hazards on active and dormant volcanoes, along with five specific case studies of recent events; and lastly, we conclude with a chapter presenting a wide array of methods (morphometry, simulations of processes, structural geology, age determination, etc.) that are used to unravel processes on active and dormant volcanoes.
            In summary, our textbook aims to: (1) review the most recent research in geomorphology and physical volcanology, e.g. an improved classification and understanding of volcanic landforms, with respect to geodynamic settings, lithology, and climate; (2) update our knowledge of processes and rates of growth and destruction of volcanic landforms and landscapes by integrating recent results from the expanding sector of volcanology both in the field and in the laboratory; (3) consider how volcanic landforms, landscapes, and processes can be studied by reviewing classical and modern methods.  

In this way, we hope that our compilation, which provides a richly referenced and illustrated piece of work on volcano geomorphology, will be of interest to a broad audience. It is expected to be published later this year (2024).  

How to cite: Karátson, D. and Thouret, J.-C.: ‘Volcano Geomorphology: landforms, processes and hazards’  ̶̶ A new book in ‘Advances in Volcanology’ Collection, Springer Verlag , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11744, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11744, 2024.

 Active volcanic catchments within low-latitude tropical humid climates constitute some of the most dynamic and sediment-rich fluvial systems globally. The combination of factors such as active explosive vulcanism, frequent high-magnitude earthquakes, dense biodiverse vegetation, and intense rainfall leads to very high sediment supply and very active channel morphodynamics within such fluvial systems.

Our research focused on channel dynamics in three remote and challenging-to-access reaches of the Sucio River, situated within the Irazú stratovolcanic structure in Costa Rica's central volcanic chain. This unique setting experiences extreme conditions, including rainfall exceeding 8000 mm annually, infrequent but significant volcanic eruptions (occurring over three times per century), high-magnitude earthquakes (>Mw5), and dense pristine vegetation. The mapped river reaches within this active volcano exhibit a distinctive confined multi-thread channel morphology predominantly comprised of coarse sediments, notably boulders, displaying exceptional dynamism. These reaches showcase rapid shifts between braided, island-braided, and anabranching morphologies in relatively short periods (<20 yrs.). Additionally, the primary sediment sources located in crateric areas have undergone rapid and substantial changes, resulting in the emergence of large landslides and drastic alterations in vegetation.

Employing remote sensing techniques, geostatistical analysis, and fieldwork, we investigated the impacts of eruptions, earthquakes, and rainfall on the Sucio River's channel morphology and its primary sediment sources (craters) from 1961 to 2023. Over 65 images were processed to generate various derived raster products, including supervised classification datasets, change detection outputs, and morphometric parameters (such as channel width, braided index, anabranching index, and area of bars and islands). Moreover, we constructed a precipitation database spanning the study period to assess the frequency, magnitude, and duration of extreme rainfall events. Historical seismic data was utilized to compile a database of relevant earthquakes that might have affected the catchment, given the river's proximity to several active faults. Subsequently, exploratory statistical analysis employing linear regression models helped discern the influential factors behind channel dynamics and changes.

Our findings provide a novel understanding of how this specific fluvial volcanic environment responds to external perturbations and adapts its channel morphology over time. Key outcomes include the rarity of the multithread boulder morphologies observed in these reaches, rapid morphological transformations occurring within this multithread system in short intervals, the significant role of dense pristine vegetation in stabilizing banks and islands, and the cyclic stability-instability phases (erosion-deposition) triggered by pivotal events like eruptions, hurricanes, and high-magnitude earthquakes.

This study presents novel insights into channel morphology dynamics in one of Central America's most extensively studied active volcanoes, likely having the river transporting the most sediments in Costa Rica's volcanic regions.

How to cite: Granados, S., Surian, N., and Alvarado, G. E.: River dynamics in an active volcano with tropical humid conditions, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11817, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11817, 2024.

Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA), which peaked during the mid Permian, resulting in widespread ice centers across Gondwana during its coldest periods. Assessing the climate change across this glaciation and the following deglaciation interval contribute important data not only in terms of understanding the end-Permian extinction event but also present-day global change. Tasmania, located in a high-latitude setting, forming a bridge between the continents Antarctica and Australia provides a valuable record of the environmental and climatic shifts that occurred in areas proximal to glaciation during the acme and waning stages of the LPIA.

At the time of glaciation, Tasmania was a distinct landmass located within the Paleo-Antarctic Circle at a paleo-latitude of ~78°S. Here we present new high-resolution bulk organic carbon isotope analyses (δ¹³C_TOC), mercury, bulk and trace elemental and sedimentological data combined with palynology and conodont biostratigraphy from the late stage (P3 and P4) of the LPIA Glacial-Deglacial Episode III. We base the data on samples from the Bicheno-5 core, from Eastern Tasmania, which contains approximately 83 meters of middle Permian glaciomarine sediments.

Three negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) have been identified in the middle Permian (mPN1, mPN2, and mPN3). The latter two are correlated with the deglaciation episodes in Eastern Australia's glacial intervals P3 and P4 phases. Diamictites and dropstones are typically present in the sediments that record the most positive carbon isotope values, which likely correspond to the peak of the glaciation period. Elemental proxies indicate two cycles of increased weathering and terrestrial sediment influx to the marine system. These cycles coincide with the most negative carbon isotope values and are associated with deglacial cycles in Tasmania and within the paleo-Antarctic circle. The first deglacial cycle (mPN1) coincides with elevated mercury (Hg/TOC) which may hint at a link between deglaciation and volcanism, possibly from the Tarim III LIP.

Comparisons with similar records from the marine Pingdingshan (PDS) section in South China confirms that our data from Tasmania reflect global carbon cycle perturbations providing new insights into the significant global climatic shifts that occurred during the middle Permian. The end stage of the LPIA offers a unique comparison to modern environmental and climatic change in Antarctica associated with anthropogenic global warming.

How to cite: Lestari, W., Al Suwaidi, A., Fox, C., Vajda, V., Ceriani, A., Sun, Y., Frieling, J., and Mather, T.: Unraveling Tasmania's Late Paleozoic Ice Age: Carbon Isotopic and Stratigraphic Signatures in Response to Glacial-Deglacial Cycles and Large Igneous Province (LIP) Events, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12015, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12015, 2024.

Mantle convection is a fundamental process governing the evolution of our planet. Buoyancies in the mantle induce horizontal and vertical motion of the Earth’s lithosphere, which can be mapped using independent geological datasets. Positive surface deflections induced by mantle convection create erosional/non-depositional environments which lead to gaps (hiatuses) in the stratigraphic record, while negative deflections provide accommodation space for sedimentation to occur. We use continental- and country-scale digital geological maps and regional and local stratigraphic studies at the temporal resolution of geological series (ten to tens of millions of years) to map the distribution of hiatus through geological time.

Here we present global continental hiatus surfaces since the Upper Jurassic. We find that they vary inter-regionally at timescales of geological series and that they correlate with known mantle dynamic events. For example, we tend to observe the appearance of a hiatus surface before the arrival of a mantle plume. In Europe, we mapped a large-scale sedimentary hiatus during the Paleocene, prior to the arrival of the Iceland plume. In Africa and South America, we found a widespread absence of the Upper Jurassic prior to the arrival of the Tristan plume. This pattern can be seen as characteristic of plume-induced dynamic uplift. We observe a sea level signal during some geological series, such as in the Oligocene, when there is a global increase of hiatus areas, coinciding with the onset of Antarctic glaciation and associated sea level drop. At other times, we find that the hiatus areas evolve differently for different continents, precluding their interpretation as an eustatic signal. Spectral analysis shows that hiatus surfaces have shorter wavelengths than no hiatus surfaces, requiring higher spherical harmonic degrees to describe the geological series with larger amounts of hiatus. These include the Upper Jurassic, the Paleocene, the Oligocene and the Pleistocene.

Our results imply that a key property of time-dependent geodynamic Earth models must be a difference in timescale between mantle convection itself and resulting dynamic topography. Moreover, they highlight the importance of continental-scale compilations of geological data to map the temporal evolution of mantle flow beneath the lithosphere, which can provide powerful constraints for global geodynamic models.

How to cite: Vilacís, B., Brown, H., Carena, S., Bunge, H.-P., Hayek, J. N., Stotz, I. L., and Friedrich, A. M.: Global continental hiatus surfaces as a proxy for tracking dynamic topography since the Upper Jurassic, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12118, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12118, 2024.

While the isostatic compensation of crustal thickness and density heterogeneity provides the dominant contribution to Earth’s observed topography, there nonetheless remains a substantial difference (the ‘residual topography’) between these two fields. This difference is a consequence of dynamic processes occurring within the mantle, most notably due to time-dependent vertical surface stresses driven by mantle convection. Mantle convection dynamics also produce differences between the observed geoid and the isostatic geoid generated by crustal heterogeneity: the ‘residual geoid’. The joint consideration of both residual geoid and topography anomalies provides unique and fundamental global constraints on the amplitude and spatial distribution of density anomalies in the convecting mantle.
Despite the crucial role of isostasy in determining residual geoid and residual topography, accurate constraints depend heavily on the quality of the isostasy calculations. The classical theory of isostasy relies on a 1^st-order treatment of hydrostatic equilibrium, which is not sufficiently accurate for the calculation of isostatic geoid anomalies on a compressible, self-gravitating mantle. Consequently, we present a geodynamically consistent approach that is based on the surface loading response (via dynamic kernels) calculated with a viscous flow model that incorporates a fully compressible mantle and core (given by the PREM reference model) with self-gravitation.
Another critical issue that remains outstanding is the accuracy inherent in global crustal heterogeneity models. Here we show that the differences between the residual geoid and topography fields predicted using CRUST1.0 (Laske et al. 2012) and the most recent ECM1 (Mooney et al. 2023) crustal heterogeneity models are substantial. We discuss the importance and implications of these differences in the context of determining the most accurate constraints on density anomalies in the convecting mantle.

How to cite: Kamali Lima, S., Forte, A. M., and Greff, M.: A Geodynamically Consistent Approach to Residual Topography and Geoid Anomalies on the Convecting Mantle: Importance of Global Crustal Models , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12457, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12457, 2024.

Analogue experiments can enhance our understanding of complex natural volcanic landscapes formed by eruptions, intrusions, remobilisation of volcanic material and erosional processes. Experimental setup in a laboratory offers a controlled setting to investigate the development of rainfall-induced radial drainage basins on scaled volcano cones. It allows to simulate surface runoff, a prominent sediment transport process in volcanic landscapes, primarily influenced by climate, lithology, and topography. By controlling the flowrate within the setup, maintaining a uniform lithology, and using initial axisymmetric cones with the same size, this study aims to record the variations in erosion patterns caused by systematic cone slope and shape changes.

Analogue volcanic cones made up of water-saturated 70 μm silica powder were built upon a drainage layer of coarse sand at the VUB volcanology analogue laboratory. The cones were scaled based on the height/basal width ratios of natural pristine composite volcanoes with a scaling factor of 4.5*10^-6 for the basal width. Initial cones had basal widths of 33 cm with two sets of cones with heights ranging from 4.2 to 6.9 cm. For the highest cones, the lower flank was 21 degrees and the upper slope 30 degrees, with a break-in-slope at 45% of the cone height. Experiments included cones with and without summit craters, the craters were 5 cm wide and 0.5 cm deep. Rainfall-induced erosion was simulated with two atomizer sprinklers, creating a mist of droplets of circa 30 μm. Experiments were run for 3 to 5 hours, simulating erosion taking place over several millions of years at natural volcanoes. We generated a minimum of ten Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) by photogrammetry with sub-millimetre spatial resolution, enabling the estimation of volume loss and erosion rates. The automated algorithms MorVolc and DrainageVolc were used to extract morphometric and drainage parameters (e.g., height/basal width ratio, drainage density, irregularity index) from the DEM of each timestep.

The analogue models' drainage networks and morphological characteristics replicate those found on natural volcanoes. Having a steeper slope for the upper flank of the cone delayed the forming of erosional features on the lower flank, while the top part of the volcano incised deeper than the cones with one slope gradient. The cones without a summit crater develop a radial drainage network from an initial set of narrow gullies to a more stable pattern with fewer valleys that gradually widen. The introduction of a summit crater substantially modifies the resulting erosional patterns: the incision of the crater rim forms two to four dominant watersheds that widen faster than the basins of cones lacking a crater. Migration of drainage divides ceases when equilibrium in the landscape is attained, with cones featuring a summit crater reaching this equilibrium later than those without. Analogue experiments are a valuable tool for studying erosional processes in a controlled manner and give insight into complex volcanic landscapes, thereby improving our understanding of long-term volcanic landscape evolution.

How to cite: van Wees, R. M. J., Paguican, E., O'Hara, D., Kereszturi, G., Grosse, P., Lahitte, P., and Kervyn, M.: Modelling volcano degradation through analogue experiments: the impact of volcano slopes and summit craters on erosion patterns, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13012, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13012, 2024.

Understanding the interaction between oceanic plates and the underlying asthenosphere and its impact on plate thickness is essential for explaining plate motions and mantle convection patterns. While sub-lithospheric small-scale convection provides an explanation for why oceanic plates do not continue to thicken after a certain age, many open questions still surround this process. Here, we link dynamic models of mantle flow, grain-scale processes, seismic imaging, and surface observations to gain new insights into the mechanisms of asthenospheric small-scale convection and its surface expressions.

We have performed a series of high-resolution 3D numerical models of the evolution of oceanic plates and the development of thermal instabilities at their base using the open-source geomodeling software ASPECT. These simulations use an Earth-like rheology that includes coupled diffusion and dislocation creep as well as their interplay with an evolving olivine grain size. Our models quantify how the effective asthenospheric viscosity and the balance between diffusion and dislocation creep affect the morphology and temporal stability of small-scale sub-lithospheric convection, including the age of its onset, the average depth and wavelength of the small-scale convection rolls, and the amplitude of the temperature and grain size anomalies within the rolls.

All of these quantities predicted by the dynamic models can be directly related to both geophysical observables and to surface manifestations such as dynamic topography and heat flux. To accurately compare our model outputs to geophysical data, we convert them to seismic velocity and attenuation using laboratory-derived constitutive relations and taking into account variations in temperature, pressure, grain size, water content and calculated stable melt fraction. We then create synthetic seismic tomography models of different dynamic scenarios and analyze their fit to observations from the Pacific OBS Research into Convecting Asthenosphere (ORCA) experiment. Comparison with both seismic imaging and surface expressions allows us to determine the parameter range in which geodynamic models fit these observations, providing new constraints on the convection patterns and the rheology of the oceanic asthenosphere beneath the Pacific Plate.

How to cite: Dannberg, J., Eilon, Z., Russell, J. B., and Gassmoeller, R.: Sub-Lithospheric Small-Scale Convection as a Window into the Asthenosphere: Insights from Integrating Models Of Mantle Convection, Grain Size Evolution and Seismic Tomography, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13895, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13895, 2024.

Volcanic edifices are dynamic landforms whose morphology encodes the long-term (thousands to millions of years) interplay between construction and erosion. Short-term, stochastic episodes of volcanic activity cumulatively build topography, competing with stochastic erosive processes associated with climate and mass wasting to degrade edifices over longer timescales, thus generating a variety of morphologies from simple, cone-like edifices to complex, non-axisymmetric volcanoes. Understanding how these processes interact to shape volcano morphologies over the landform’s lifespan is still in its infancy, especially as construction and erosion are often spatially-heterogeneous and temporally-varying. Despite this, disentangling edifice morphologic histories provide new avenues to better discern an edifice’s volcanic record, assess potential hazards, and quantify the role of climate in landscape evolution.

Numerical modeling has been shown to be a useful approach to exploring long-term landscape evolution. Although the majority of studies have applied landscape evolution models to tectonic settings, modeling has also been applied to simulate erosion and drainage development for specific volcanic features (e.g., channel incision on shield volcanoes, soil diffusion on cinder cones). However, thus far no modeling frameworks have been developed to explore evolution over the full spectrum of edifice types

Here, we investigate volcanic edifice erosion and drainage basin formation using a simplified landscape evolution model. Assuming that the various erosive processes that shape a volcano can be simplified to the competition between advection and diffusion, we use common transport laws (stream power law and linear soil diffusion) to conduct a nondimensional parameter analysis. We then test various parameter combinations to demonstrate the range of morphologic evolutions that can occur over different edifice classifications and environments. Afterwards, we compare our results to previously-derived relationships of natural volcano evolutions to test the ability for simplified models to recreate nature. Finally, we explore the effects of edifice size on the competition between incision- and diffusion-based erosion within the framework of our nondimensional parameters by quantifying drainage development of 156 cinder cones from the Springerville Volcanic Field (AZ, U.S.) and comparing these to both edifice age and planform area.

Our results demonstrate that simplified numerical models are able to recreate the trends observed in nature. Furthermore, we show that the combination of model parameters predicts threshold sizes that volcanic edifices must overcome to begin generating fluvial drainage networks and becoming incised by gullies, broadly inferring parametric thresholds that describe the ratios of erosion processes on these landforms. Our results thus establish a new foundation to study edifice morphologies over several volcano types (cinder cones, shield volcanoes, composite volcanoes) and construction styles (intrusion-driven surface uplift, mantling by lava flows and ash deposits), and provides a basis to test how volcanic environments respond to past and future changes in climate and tectonics.

How to cite: O'Hara, D., Goren, L., Campforts, B., van Wees, R., Zarazúa-Carbajal, M. C., and Kervyn, M.: Understanding volcanic edifice erosion and morphologic evolution using numerical models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15103, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15103, 2024.

Lower Jurassic sedimentary successions from the Neuquén Basin, Argentina are unique in the abundance of radiometrically datable material (ash-beds) present, which can be tied to bio- and chemostratigraphic (carbon-isotope) zonations. Here, we present new U-Pb radio isotopic dates, integrated with carbon-isotope and Hg/TOC data, from three localities in Argentina (Arroyo Lapa, Arroyo Serrucho/Las Overas and Chacay Melehue) to generate a biostratigraphically calibrated composite carbon-isotope curve and geochronological framework for the Pliensbachian–Toarcian transition in South America. Using a Bayesian framework we present an age-depth model for this composite record and estimate the age and duration of key intervals extending from the Latest Pliensbachian carbon isotope excursion (CIE) through the Early Toarcian negative CIE. Using a  statistical analysis of all available Karoo and Ferrar Large Igneous Province (LIP ) U-Pb and Ar-Ar radioisotopic ages we create a timeline of the key events and examine the timing of the carbon cycle perturbations specifically looking at potential links to peaks of extrusive emplacement of the Karoo and Ferrar LIP. The geochronological framework is further compared with other available radioisotopic dates from correlative sections, allowing for a more precise constraint and validation of the timing and duration of these Early Jurassic events.

How to cite: Al-Suwaidi, A., Ruhl, M., Kemp, D., Storm, M., Hesselbo, S., Jenkyns, H., Mather, T., Percival, L., and Condon, D.: A Southern Hemisphere Chronostratigraphic Framework for the Pliensbachian–Toarcian Carbon Cycle Perturbations, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15374, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15374, 2024.

The Transantarctic Basin is a continental basin system developed for ca 200 Myr, from the Devonian to the Early Jurassic, along the Panthalassa margin of Gondwana and above the peneplained Ross Orogeny rocks. The Beacon Supergroup strata form the clastic sedimentary infill of the Transantarctic Basin.

Geodynamic interpretation of the Transantarctic Basin is not univocal and likely geodynamic conditions accounting for basin subsidence have been changed in space and time. Involvement of the basin into the Gondwanian orogenic deformation is a key question for defining the geodynamic setting and the tectonic environment during the Beacon Supergroup deposition. Nonetheless, involvement of  Beacon Supergroup  in orogenic shortening is  poorly assessed for the limited exposed rocks and because formation of the Cenozoic  Transantarctic rift shoulder modified the Paleozoic geometry of the Beacon strata.

Here we explored the exhumation pattern and thermal evolution of the basement rocks and the immediately overlain Beacon sandstones through low-temperature apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He zircon thermochronology along the Prince Albert Mts, where Beacon deposits are particularly thin to suppose a relevant erosional event during the Paleozoic. Thermochronological data and thermal modelling pointed out that basement rocks and Beacon sandstones of the Prince Albert Mts have preserved evidence of a Late Paleozoic erosional event that allows to infer an actively eroding topographic high that lasted from Early to Late Paleozoic times, as a consequence of the far-field stress transmitted from the active Gondwanian convergent margin.

How to cite: Olivetti, V., Cattò, S., Balsamo, F., Zurli, L., Perotti, M., Cornamusini, G., Fioraso, M., Rossetti, F., and Zattin, M.: Uplift and erosion of an intraforeland topographic high: implication for the evolution of the Gondwanian Transantarctic foreland, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15516, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15516, 2024.

Volcanoes display a wide range of morphologies, resulting from the cumulative imprints of deposition from multiple eruptive events and processes, deformation by intrusive and gravitational processes, as well as erosion throughout the active volcanic phase and beyond. Quantitative documentation of the morphometry of volcanoes offers opportunities to compare volcanic edifices across tectonic regions, define evolutionary trends for volcanoes of different ages and/or stage, or compare natural volcanoes with results from analogue or numerical modelling. Although such morphometric studies exist, the comparability of their results faces challenges related to the contrasted approaches used for delineating volcanic edifices, defining morphometric metrics to characterize volcano sizes, shapes, and erosion patterns, and deriving the pre-erosional volcano volume.

Building upon the MORVOLC (Grosse et al. 2012) and ShapeVolc (Lahitte et al. 2012) algorithms, the EVoLvE project has produced a suite of scripts in MatLab to semi-automatically document the morphometry of stratovolcanoes systematically. First, the manual delineation of a volcano’s base is aided by implementing a slope threshold (suggested to be at 3°) after applying a 300m low-pass filter on the volcano’s topography to identify the prominent volcano landform. Morphometric parameters documenting volcano-scale size, plan-shape, profile shape and slope, as well as metrics derived at regular elevation intervals, following the MORVOLC approach of Grosse et al. (2012), are complemented with a new set of parameters (DrainageVolc) that document the erosion pattern of volcanoes, specifically the drainage density and the geometry of drainage basins. Finally, assuming basins’ divides or local quasi planar surfaces represent the least eroded sections of an edifice, a surface fitting algorithm (ShapeVolc, Lahitte et al. 2012) is used to find the best approximate pre-erosional shape of the volcano,  making it possible to compute its erupted and eroded volumes, and dismantling and degradation rates.

In this contribution, we illustrate how the EVoLvE toolkit can be used to systematically document the morphometry of stratovolcanoes across volcanic arcs, and with contrasted ages to highlight morphological evolution through time. The toolkit can as well be used to compare the morphometry of natural volcanoes with those of synthetic volcanic cones whose erosion is simulated through analogue experiments and numerical landscape evolution models. The Matlab codes of the EVoLvE toolkit are open-source: they aim to contribute to homogenizing the morphometric datasets for volcanoes around the world as a first step towards a more comprehensive understanding of the morphological evolution of volcanoes.

References:

Grosse, P., van Wyk de Vries, B., Euillades, P. A., Kervyn, M. & Petrinovic, I. A. 2012: Systematic morphometric characterization of volcanic edifices using digital elevation models. Geomorphology 136, 114-131.

Lahitte, P., Samper, A. & Quidelleur, X. 2012: DEM-based reconstruction of southern Basse-Terre volcanoes (Guadeloupe archipelago, FWI): Contribution to the Lesser Antilles Arc construction rates and magma production. Geomorphology, 136, 148-164.

How to cite: Kervyn, M., van Wees, R. M. J., Grosse, P., Lahitte, P., and O'hara, D.: The EVoLvE toolkit: a set of methods for systematic quantification of volcano morphometry and their temporal evolution, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15687, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15687, 2024.

Understanding the temporal variations in erosion dynamics is crucial when exploring the intricate relationship between climates and the evolution of landforms. Volcanic surfaces constitute an undeniable asset for documenting temporal variations in erosion dynamics, as they readily reveal the onset of erosion. Indeed, the dating of volcanic materials constrains the age of eruptive activity, volcanic surface formation, and the time since erosion occurred. This study quantifies the Neogene and Quaternary erosional processes that shaped the current Lesser Antilles's volcanic reliefs. We apply morphometric approaches on high-resolution digital topographies of very densely dated volcanoes to discern the influence of factors driving erosion, focusing on climatic context and erosion duration.

The detailed analysis of the erosion signature's evolution was carried out on the French volcanic oceanic arc islands of Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) and Martinique, thanks to the large number of geochronological constraints (around 100 K-Ar datings on each of them) and the high-resolution topography (LIDAR DEM at horizontal 1m resolution). The meticulous examination of erosion signatures is facilitated because magmatic activity, which produced the same kind of volcanic edifices in both islands, has undergone a spatial migration (westward in Martinique, southward in Basse-Terre). It results in outcrops of terrains spanning vastly different ages (0-3 and 0-25 Ma, respectively), providing a unique opportunity to investigate the distinct influences of geological processes on erosion signature. The study focuses on quantitative analysis of river-long profiles by scaling river profile concavity, hypsometric indexes and knickpoints, which are noticeable slope breaks or abrupt changes in the gradient of the river channel. Thanks to the dense geochronological database, metrics computed for each geomorphological feature can be associated with the age of formation of the local volcanic surface. Then, as these ages are relevant to the cumulated erosion process occurring since the end of the volcanic activity, such metrics can be correlated to the time and evolution trends in morphometric parameters can be investigated.

The 25 Ma-long erosion history of Martinique Island reveals two distinct patterns. During the initial 5 million years of erosion, there is a rapid increase in river concavities and a decrease in the intensity and number of heterogeneities along river profiles, resulting in smoother stream patterns. In contrast, over the 5-25 Ma erosion period, every river's morphometric parameters evolve slowly, suggesting a preservation of river concavity. This transition phase in concavity evolution could mark the moment when the rivers’ incision, driven by regressive erosion and carving into the volcano from every side, having finally affected the summit area, also reached a maximum concavity. Erosive processes then reduced the volcano's elevation but maintained a relatively uniform profile shape and, consequently, concavity over time. Despite Basse-Terre Island's shorter erosion history of 3 million years, morphometric parameters testify that this island experienced strictly similar evolution as Martinique Island during the same erosion lifespan, suggesting a comparable evolution of the Basse-Terre reliefs in the future.

How to cite: Lahitte, P., Bergerot, L., Grosse, P., van Wees, R. M. J., O’Hara, D., and Kervyn, M.: Dynamism of the Neogene and Quaternary erosional processes in the Lesser Antilles volcanoes, constrained by morphometric approaches, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15825, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15825, 2024.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is characterized by young subducting lithosphere, its isolation from other subducting systems, and its ability to produce megathrust earthquakes (M>9.0) and devastating tsunamis. Due to its high potential hazard and risk, it is also a well-studied subduction zone where modern, diverse and detailed observational datasets are available through the USGS and initiatives like GeoPrisms and EarthScope. These datasets include high quality GPS, onshore and offshore geophysical imaging, geochemical and seismic anisotropy data. Integrating these data sets with geodynamic modeling presents an opportunity to gain insight into outstanding questions regarding slab structure, tectonic evolution, seismic hazards, and the physical processes that can self-consistently explain all these observations. For example, geologic and geophysical data suggest that there may be one or two prominent slab gaps or tears, while tomographic data does not fully constrain the depth extent of the slab. Furthermore, the overriding plate is composed of different terranes and contains numerous active and slowly moving faults, complicating efforts to accurately constrain variations in present-day stress and deformation rates.

In this study we test whether comparison of observations to geodynamic model predictions can distinguish between different slab geometries for the Cascadia Subduction Zone. To this end, we have created regional 3D geodynamic models of Cascadia including the slab based on the Slab 2.0 dataset. The model setup is built with the Geodynamic World Builder, and the models are run with the geodynamics code ASPECT. We present results which compare the Juan de Fuca plate velocities against the present day Euler poles. We have found that matching the plate velocity magnitude and direction is sensitive to the rheological model overall, while at the same time being insensitive to certain aspects of the plate boundary rheologies. During the evolution of these models we track the development of the CPO (Crystal Preferred Orientation) with an implementation of the DREX algorithm, so we can compare it against observations of seismic anisotropy in the region. Our presentation will focus on the importance of the geometry of the slab and the strength of different sections of the interface. Furthermore, these models and demonstrate workflows for linking the model results to surface tectonics.

How to cite: Fraters, M., Billen, M., Naliboff, J., Staisch, L., and Watt, J.: Exploring the structure of the Cascadia Subduction Zone by coupling 3D thermomechanical modeling and CPO evolution with observations., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-16531, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16531, 2024.

Tectonic processes shape the Earth's lithosphere and surface. Deformation, as a result of tectonic forcings, arises mainly in the regions of plate boundaries. A recurring process is the subduction of oceanic lithosphere, which is widely regarded as the main driver of plate tectonics and the recycling of surface material into the mantle. In geodynamic models, the breaking of the strong crust is facilitated by processes that mimic plastic deformation. Most efforts to include plate tectonics self-consistently into mantle convection models, combine Newtonian diffusion creep with a stress-dependent pseudo-plastic rheology, given in the form of a yield criterion. Studies from seismology and geodynamic modelling indicate that cold lithospheric crust can reach the lowermost mantle regions, even the core-mantle-boundary. Additionally, the agglomeration of continental lithosphere (the most extreme variants of which are called supercontinents) inhibits the escape of heat over large surface areas, resulting in an abnormally heated mantle beneath. Therefore, it can be argued, that surface processes exert control on mantle dynamics as a whole, by introducing thermal and compositional heterogeneities.

An example of the influence of surface tectonics on the interior can be found in the study of the Earth's geodynamo. Theoretical considerations and numerical models indicate, that the heat flux at the core-mantle boundary partly governs the variability of the geodynamo, and therefore the frequency of geomagnetic reversals and excursions. 

We run several numerical mantle convection simulations in a 2D-spherical annulus geometry, with a visco-plastic rheology to facilitate surface mobilisation. The models are evaluated with respect to well-known diagnostic values, used to recognise plate-like surface deformation, as well as the thermal structure of the lower mantle. In this, we aim to connect tectonic regimes or continental configurations that arise dynamically at the surface, to evolutionary trends in the mantles thermal structure.

How to cite: Henke-Seemann, O. and Noack, L.: Surface regimes can provide an inherent perspective into interior dynamics, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17475, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17475, 2024.

The topography of the Iberian Meseta located between the Pyrenees-Cantabrian Mountains and the Betics Chain is moderately high (660 m on average) compared to the high plateaus on Earth (> 1 km) albeit higher than the topography of the surrounding western European plate. The Iberian Meseta encompasses Cenozoic sedimentary basins, active or inactive Alpine mountain ranges, and low-relief erosional surfaces represented by plateaus with elevations between 600 and 1400 m asl. It is commonly accepted that ~600-700 m surface uplift occurred during the Cenozoic, but the underlaying processes and the precise timing of the onset of the plateau growth are strongly debated. The main objective of the present study is to find out to what extent the topography of the Iberian Meseta has a crustal, lithospheric or a sublithospheric origin. We used the results of a recent modelling based on the joint inversion of both the crustal and lithospheric mantle structure. It encompasses an integrated geophysical-lithological multi-data modelling. The inversion is framed within an integrated geophysical-petrological setting where mantle seismic velocities and densities are computed as a function of temperature and composition whereas crustal density, shear and compressional wave velocities are lithologically linked based on empirical relationships from global petrophysical databases.

We computed the relative contribution to topography of crustal and lithospheric mantle thickness variations and density structure. The topography of the Alpine mountain belts in Iberia is largely associated with thickened crust. We find that the elevated topography in the NW Iberian Meseta (elevation > 700 m) is mostly related to the lithospheric mantle thinning. This is in agreement with Inversion of topographic data, landform dates, and erosion rates suggesting a late Cenozoic mantle-related surface uplift of several hundreds of meters in NW Iberia (EGU24-11613) and in the central Iberia (EGU24-16382). Similarly, a thin and warm lithospheric mantle is responsible for the positive elevation of the onshore Mediterranean margins. A negatively buoyant lithospheric mantle causes >1 km subsidence in the Gibraltar Arc and western Pyrenees.  We solved the Stokes flow to evaluate the contribution of temperature-related buoyancy forces at asthenospheric depths. These forces cause a long wavelength topographic response located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula reaching a maximum value of only 100-150 m, which is much lower than the values reported in previous works assuming an isostatic balance.

How to cite: Negredo, A. M., Fullea, J., Ortega-Gelabert, O., Clemente, C., and Babault, J.: On the different contributions to the peculiar topography of the Iberian Peninsula, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18172, 2024.

Lava tubes are an important transport mechanism in active lava flows. Their presence in a lava flow can influence its distance of emplacement due to the insulation of the hot molten lava by a cooled overlying crust. Understanding mechanisms of formation and development of lava tubes is fundamental to comprehend lava flow propagation and improve knowledge to better manage the hazard during a volcanic crisis. Vesuvius is known for its major explosive eruptions; however, in its history it underwent extensive periods of open conduit, with prolonged explosive activity and lava flows. After the 1631 eruption, Vesuvius entered an effusive period that ended with the 1944 eruption. During these 313 years, over one hundred lava flows emplaced on Vesuvius flanks, particularly the 1858 eruption which produced a compound pahoehoe lava flow that emplaced on the western flank of Vesuvius. 

In this study, we conducted: (1) a temporal and spatial reconstruction of the 1858 lava flow using historical documents (geological maps, paintings, descriptions of eruptions), (2) a morphological and surficial analysis of the 1858 lava flow as well as the definition of new contours based on geological maps and digital elevation models and (3) a complete morphological analysis of the lava tube using high-end technologies (time-of-flight terrestrial laser scanner, Lidar equipped drone and optical cameras).  

On the 1858 lava flow field surface we found numerous tumuli and ephemeral vents. We discovered a small lava tube present in a flat area of the lava flow field (<3°) with ropy to slabby pahoehoe surface lavas. The lava tube is oriented north-south, perpendicular to the main flow direction. It is triangularly shaped with a length of 30.05 meters and a width that varies from 1.20 to 17.61 meters from the northern to the southern part. The average height is around 2 meters. The slope along the flow direction is on average 4.48°. We measured a mean roof thickness of 2.4 meters. The roof is fractured and has collapsed in different areas of the lava tube. Inside, we observed features that relate to the temporal evolution of the lava tube. Stalactites are present on the ceiling of the tube suggesting a prolonged flow of lava within the tube. Multiple layers of lava are covering the wall of the lava tube, the last wall lining is five to seven centimeters thick and, in some areas of the lava tube, has detached from the wall and rolled down on itself, testifying to a sudden drainage of the lava tube when the lining was still plastic.  

The results of the study of the 1858 lava flow field and of its lava tube are essential for expanding our knowledge about the processes at the basis of lava flow field emplacement and development on Vesuvius and the first attempt focused on understanding effusive dynamics governed by lava tube formation (i.e., lava emplacement) at Vesuvius.

How to cite: Lemaire, T., Morgavi, D., Petrosino, P., Calvari, S., Repola, L., Esposito, L., Di Martire, D., and Morra, V.: Lava tubes formation and extensive flow field development during the 1858 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18291, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18291, 2024.

Gondwana Basins of eastern India preserves sediment record from Carboniferous to Triassic, which were possibly sourced partially from Antarctica through a radial drainage system. This study attempts to test the hypothesis regarding source of sediments based on petrographical and mineral chemical analysis of siliciclastic Paleo-Mesozoic sediments of eastern India. We present an integrated provenance and paleodrainage analysis on the sediments of Bokaro and Raniganj basins, outcrops of which occur along E-W trend along eastern part of India. The sedimentation in these Gondwana basins initiates with basal Talchir Formation, consisting of alternation between conglomerate and fine- to medium-grained sandstones, and is succeeded by Barakar-Barren Measures-Raniganj and Panchet Formation with sandstone-mudstone alternation, with or without coal.  Petrographic study of sandstones reveals moderate sorting, with angular to sub-rounded quartz and feldspar and rounded to well-rounded lithic fragments; however, the abundance of lithic fragments drastically reduces from Talchir to Panchet formation. Feldspar grains shows the dominance of K-feldspar over plagioclase.  Most of the sandstones are classified as feldspatho-quartzose arenite. The Qm-F-Lt plot indicates that these sandstones were derived primarily from transitional continental sources. Heavy minerals in sandstones include garnets, tourmaline, epidote, rutile, zircon, monazite in order of decreasing abundance. Mineral chemistry of garnet in sandstones points their source to metasedimentary amphibolite facies rocks and granitoid. The tourmaline mineral chemistry suggests the derivation of sediments from various sources, including Li-poor granitoids associated with pegmatites, aplites and Ca-poor metapelites. Rutile chemistry in sandstones indicates the predominance of metapelitic source over metamafic source. Insights from heavy mineral analysis indicates that the Gondwana sediments were derived from multiple sources, and such variation in sources bears information about paleogeographic and paleotectonic evolution of the depositional basin.  The mineral composition of source rocks and paleocurrent data tracks the source of sediments to Eastern Granulite-Schist belt and the Eastern Ghat mobile belt, situated to the east and southwest parts of the Gondwana succession.  This study when integrated with geochronological data would reveal the extent to which a particular source provided sediments to these basins, evolution of sediment sources from bottom to top and ultimately will lead to a refined understanding of timing and evolution of East Gondwana assembly.

How to cite: Dutta, A. and Banerjee, S.: Facies Analysis, Petrography, heavy mineral analysis of paleo-Mesozoic sediments of Eastern India: Implications on provenance and basin evolution, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18433, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18433, 2024.

The East Africa - Arabia topographic swell is an anomalously high-elevation region of ~4000 km long (from southern Ethiopia to Jordan) and ~1500 km wide (from Egypt to Saudi Arabia) extent. The swell is dissected by the Main Ethiopian, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden rifts, and characterized by widespread basaltic volcanic deposits emplaced from the Eocene to the present. Although most agree that mantle plumes play a role in generating the swell, several issues including the number and locations of plumes and the uplift signatures remain debated. We seek to address these questions and provide a general evolutionary model of the region. To this end, we conduct a quantitative analysis of topography to infer isostatic and dynamic contributions. When interpreted jointly with geological data including volcanic deposits, the constraints imply causation by a single process which shaped the past and present topography of the study area: the upwelling of the Afar superplume. Once hot mantle material reached the base of the lithosphere below the Horn of Africa during the Late Eocene, the plume flowed laterally toward the Levant area guided by pre-existing discontinuities in the Early Miocene. Plume material reached the Anatolian Plateau in the Late Miocene after slab break-off and the consequent formation of a slab window. During plume material advance, buoyancy forces led to the formation of the topographic swell and tilting of the Arabia Peninsula. The persistence of mantle support beneath the study area for tens of million years also affected the formation and evolution of the Nile and Euphrates-Tigris fluvial networks. Subsequently, surface processes, tectonics, and volcanism partly modified the initial topography and shaped the present-day landscape.

How to cite: Sembroni, A., Faccenna, C., Becker, T. W., and Molin, P.: The uplift of East Africa-Arabia swell: the signature of the mantle upwelling and spreading, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18733, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18733, 2024.

Silicic ignimbrite volcanism played a major role in the Miocene evolution of the Central Paratethys. The most voluminuous ignimbrites identified to date (18.1–14.4 Ma) were emplaced in various paleoenvironments in the North Pannonian Basin, thus they are extremely helpful in regional stratigraphy. Here, we present the discovery of a previously unknown but widespread, youngest member of the “Upper Rhyolite Tuff“, referred to as Dobi Ignimbrite, which shows a distinctive glass geochemistry. High-precision sanidine and plagioclase Ar-Ar dating yielded 13.066±0.019 Ma (earliest Sarmatian stage in Paratethys chronology), significantly shifting the previously claimed termination (i.e. Badenian) of the North Pannonian ignimbrite flare-up. In addition, we demonstrate that, although the Dobi Ignimbrite is underlain by a marine sedimentary succession, it was emplaced on land, as it bears leaves and tree trunk fragments and is rich in charcoal. Despite the highly faulted terrain as well as intense dissection and erosion controlled by the neotectonic evolution of the Pannonian Basin, the observed areal extent (c. 1000 km²) and calculated minimum volume (c. 50 km³) of the ignimbrite may represent a VEI= 6 or 7 eruption, which needs to be further delineated. At the same time, the ignimbrite has a strongly phreatomagmatic character, suggesting an abundant, possibly shallow sea- or residual lake water source that was likely limited to the vent area (e.g. caldera graben). The detected sharp environmental change from submarine to terrestrial, as defined by the timing of ignimbrite emplacement at c. 13 Ma, marks the latest Badenian regressive period, followed by a Sarmatian erosion during the Central Paratethethys evolution.

How to cite: Biró, T., Lahitte, P., Portnyagin, M., Márton, E., Mohr, E., Palotai, M., Józsa, S., Iván, L., Krasznai, M., Hencz, M., Paquette, J.-L., Hír, J., Vörös, F., and Karátson, D.: A newly discovered youngermost (13.07 Ma) “Upper Tuff”, a large-volume phreatomagmatic ignimbrite in the Pannonian Basin, drapes the present, faulted/dissected topography , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20357, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20357, 2024.

Four monogenetic volcanoes were formed during the last 100 ka (Late Pleistocene), west of the city of Morelia (Mexico), in the central-eastern part of the Michoacán-Guanajuato Volcanic Field, located in the central region of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. These include four scoria cones (Melón, Mina, Tzinzimacato Grande, and Tzinzimacato Chico) and some lava flow deposits associated with the material emitted during the effusive phase of the volcanoes. From the study of stratigraphic relationships in the field and geological mapping, the eruptive chronology of the monogenetic volcanoes was determined. Subsequently, based on the analysis of the morphological (flow dimensions) and petrographic characteristics, the eruptive parameters (effusion rate and emplacement time) and the rheology of the lavas were estimated. The flow units of the effusive phase of the volcanoes present different morphological and mineralogical characteristics. The flows with greater slopes have average viscosities of 2.7x10⁸ P and a higher volume content of phenocrysts; the value of this property decreases in the flows with lower slopes, 1.7x10⁸ P as respectively. The results indicate that the most voluminous eruption corresponds to that emitted by the Mina volcano, with an effusion rate of 2.3 m³/s and a total duration of 239 days. The Tzinzimacato Chico volcano emitted a smaller volume of lava during its eruption, with an effusion rate of 0.9 m³/s and a total duration of 117 days, which is considered the most recent.

How to cite: Delgado Granados, H. and Hernández Villamizar, D.: Eruptive parameters of volcanoes Melón, Mina, Tzinzimacato Grande, Tzinzimacato Chico (Mexico) from morphology and petrographic studies , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20487, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20487, 2024.

During the 2021 eruption on La Palma Island, the predominant volcanic hazard was lava flows, while tephra fall and gas emission were significant concerns. Consequently, monitoring the expansion of the lava flow perimeter considering the variations in volcanic activity became fundamental. The interaction of lava with the sea water was also a major concern for emergency managers due to its associated hazards like gas emission and explosive activity due to interaction lava-water, leading to a specific focus on the formation and development of lava deltas.

Almost 10 days after the beginning of the eruption, the lava reached the sea, forming a main structure (south delta) that grew in different phases until nearly the end of the eruption, covering an area of approximately 83 ha. The south delta encroached upon the sea and additionally buried the northern part of a pre-existing lava delta from the 1949 San Juan eruption. About 1300 m from the northernmost tip of the south delta, a new lava flow entry to the sea occurred 64 days into the eruption, feeding a second lava delta (north delta) of about 5 ha over a 4-day period.

This study has made significant technical and scientific contributions, not only during the emergency but also in preparation for future recovery efforts on La Palma. Remotely Pilot Aircrafts (RPAs) provided valuable information about the lava-flow development and enhanced a deeper understanding of the formation and evolution of lava deltas and their potential hazards. Moreover, the study highlights the potential impact on new inhabited or economically exploited areas and is imperative its preservation for the geological heritage, including marine zones. Furthermore, it will play a crucial role in forecasting the behaviour of lava deltas and in the development of mitigation measures for potential future eruptions.

How to cite: Sáez-Gabarrón, L., Sanz-Mangas, D., Galindo-Jiménez, I., Vegas, J., García-Davalillo, J. C., Hernández, M., Pérez-López, R., Camuñas, C., Lozano, G., Lorenzo Carnicero, C., Rodríguez-Pascua, M. Á., Perucha, M. Á., López Gutiérrez, J., and Sánchez, N.: Evolution and Growth of Lava Deltas: Insights from the 2021 La Palma Eruption (Canary Islands), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-21095, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-21095, 2024.

Recent advances in computational capabilities make it possible to compute global geodynamic earth models at near earthlike convective vigor. This paves the way to systematically obtain a range of synthetic data from such models in an approach that is known as closed loop experiments. Here we present results from closed loop experiments in geodynamic earth models targeted at three classes of data that are sensitive to the mantle convection process, namely seismic data, global stress patterns as reflected by the world stress map, and continent scale stratigraphy processed for the distribution of conformable and unconformable successions in recently developed so called hiatus maps. Our results reveal effects from spatially variable data collection and quality (as expected), mantle flow geometries (less expected) and (still poorly known) histories of paleo mantle flow. We conclude that the derivation of process based synthetic data from geodynamic earth models provides crucial information for data interpretion, that closed loop experiments are
a powerful tool to link geodynamic earth models to data, and that closed loop experiments could be helpful to guide future data collection efforts.

How to cite: Bunge, H.-P., Stotz, I. L., Hayek, N., vilacis, B., brown, H., freissler, R., schuberth, B., carena, S., and friedrich, A.: Closed loop experiments in global geodynamic earth models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-21895, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-21895, 2024.

Continental intraplate volcanic systems, with their location far from plate tectonic boundaries, are not well understood: the crustal and lithospheric mantle structure of these systems remain enigmatic and there is no consensus on the mechanisms that cause melt generation and ascent. The Cenozoic saw the development of numerous volcanic provinces on the African plate. This includes the Hoggar volcanic province, located in Northwest Africa, part of the Tuareg shield. It is composed of several massifs with contrasting ages and eruptive styles. The magmatic activity began at around 34 Ma and continued throughout the Neogene-Quaternary. Phonolite and trachyte domes as well as scoria cones and necks are found in the Manzaz and Atakor volcanic districts. In order to image the crustal and lithospheric mantle structure of this region, and to understand the origins and potential mechanisms of the continental intraplate volcanic activity in the Central Hoggar and specifically the Atakor/Manzaz area, we acquired magnetotelluric (MT) measurements from 40 locations and generated a 3-D electrical resistivity model. The model covers an area of about 100 km by 200 km. Images of the subsurface architecture, in terms of electrical resistivity, from the near-surface to the lithospheric mantle, allow us image the deep plumbing system of the volcanic system. Low resistivity features (i.e., conductors) in the crust that are narrow, linear structures trending approximately north-south, are revealed along the two boundaries of the Azrou N’Fad terrane, in the Manzaz area. They likely reflect the Pan-African mega-shear zones, which were reactivated throughout the tectonic evolution of the region. The model reveals that these faults are lithospheric-scale. In addition, the low-resistivity features likely represent the signatures of past fluid flow. The location of the recent Cenozoic volcanic activity was likely influenced by the pre-existing structure. A deep feature of moderate conductivity is located in the upper lithospheric mantle directly beneath the Manzaz and Atakor Volcanic Districts. It may represent the origin of the overlying anomalies and may suggest metasomatism of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle.

Keywords:  intraplate, Hoggar, alkaline volcanism, magnetotelluric, electrical resistivity.

How to cite: Boukhalfa, Z., J. Comeau, M., Benhallou, A., Bouzid, A., and Bendaoud, A.: Deep plumbing model of the Cenozoic Manzaz / Atakor intraplate volcanic system, Central Hoggar, Northwest Africa, based on electrical resistivity models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-473, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-473, 2024.

Large Igneous Provinces are defined as magmatic provinces with large magma volumes (> 100,000 km³) emplaced and/or erupted in an intraplate tectonic setting over a vast area within a few Myr, thus having the potential for significant impact on the global climate. The High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) was emplaced during the Cretaceous. The available ages, ranging between ~140 and 80 Ma, suggests that the magmatism was apparently long-lived and multi-phase. Extrusive and intrusive remnants of the HALIP can be found across the circum-Arctic, specifically in Arctic Canada, Russia, Svalbard, Northern Greenland, and the Arctic Ocean. On Svalbard, the HALIP magmatism is regionally called the Diabasodden Suite. Here, the dolerites have mainly been emplaced as sills at shallow depths and occur all over the archipelago. Despite the relative accessibility of outcrops, the HALIP on Svalbard has been mostly unexplored. As such, available U-Pb geochronology of the Diabasodden Suite is limited, but indicates a shorter time span of 125 – 122 Ma.

Yearly field campaigns since 2020 have resulted in over 150 collected samples from Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet. This has been accomplished through a collaborative effort, and by strategically targeting outcrops to build a good representative dataset of the Diabasodden Suite. Additionally, a large number of samples have also been taken for a detailed case-study in central Spitsbergen. The dolerite samples are used for whole-rock major and trace element geochemical analysis, U-Pb baddeleyite geochronology and petrological studies. Furthermore, during all field campaigns, high-resolution drone images have also been acquired. These data form the basis for digital outcrop models (DOMs), which are used for thickness measurements of the sills and to put the geochemical data into a 3D perspective. The resulting DOMs are made openly available through the geoscientific database of Svalbard, SvalBox.

Here we present a review of the available geochronology of the HALIP in the circum-Arctic, as well as new data from Svalbard. Specifically, new U-Pb baddeleyite ages of one mafic sill in northern Isfjorden, and an extensive dataset of whole-rock geochemical data from the HALIP on Svalbard to better understand the magmatic history of the HALIP as a whole.

How to cite: Sartell, A. M. R., Beier, C., Söderlund, U., Senger, K., Shephard, G. E., Jørgen-Kjøll, H., and Galland, O.: Geochemistry and geochronology of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province on Svalbard, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1021, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1021, 2024.

The origin of intraplate magmatism is debated, with two main hypotheses having been proposed. These are deep-seated high-temperature sources (plumes), and  intraplate extension driven ultimately by plate tectonics. A test region in this debate is the 'Jurassic Corridor,' a geological feature proposed to span North America, which contains igneous rocks including kimberlites that are attributed to the Great Meteor Hotspot (GMH). Despite longstanding assumption of this model, close inspection using modern, much-expanded geological information sets shows that the existence of a Jurassic Corridor and GMH lacks support. In this paper we reassess the distribution of kimberlites in North America and on neighboring landmasses. We demonstrate the lack of a clear Jurassic Corridor and show instead that the kimberlites and related rocks are more likely linked to the breakup of the Pangaean Supercontinent and controlled by lithospheric structures. Furthermore, by comparing these findings with global plate models for the last 300 Myr we identify three prominent age peaks in North American kimberlite occurrence that broadly align with periods of heightened plate velocity with respect to Africa. Additionally, the analysis reveals in Africa two peaks in kimberlite abundance and two velocity peaks with respect to North America. Here, however, the velocity peaks occurred approximately 20-30 Myr before the kimberlite abundance peaks. These observations underscore the significance of plate kinematics in controlling kimberlite magmatism and add to a growing body of work linking periods of tectonic upheaval to kimberlite production. The implications of this extend to our broader understanding of intraplate magmatism and warrant a global revaluation of similar phenomena.

How to cite: Peace, A. and Foulger, G.: Beyond the Jurassic Corridor: Exploring North American Kimberlites and their relationship to plate tectonics, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1799, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1799, 2024.

The Parana Basin is one of the larger continental Paleozoic basin in Central South America. Although several studies investigated the flooring mantle of the Parana Basin, mantle-scale oceanic relicts have not been interpreted by previous regional geophysical studies. For this work, we used the global-scale tomographic model of P-wave velocity perturbation UU-P07 for mapping slab-like anomalies, and qualitative gravity and magnetic anomalies for indicating orogenic trends. Positive P-wave anomalies were mapped along fifty-two profiles, and revealed slab-like anomalies (long and segmented tabular mantle bodies), and four top slab surfaces (S1, S2, S3 and S4). The biggest anomalous mantle body (top surface S1) is transversal to the central-southern Brasilia Belt trending, and therefore it can be directly linked to the Southern São Francisco craton. However, the other three slab-like tabular bodies cannot be linked to outcropping orogenic trends, due to the extensive and thick sedimentary cover of the Parana Basin. Southwestern São Francisco Craton, elongated bodies coincide with Brazilian/Pan-African island arc collisions (top surface S2), but other possible slabs (top surfaces S3 and S4) are underneath Paraná Basin. Positive anomalies in the residual geoid anomalies (XGM2019e_2159 model) and transformed total magnetic field (vertical integration) follow the possible accretionary trend formed by S2, S3 and S4. Although the assumptions about the origin of these slab-like anomalies need to be investigated further, all these observations have shown the high complexity of the upper mantle beneath Parana floods. Facing the geophysical anomalies, we realize that the mapped slab-like bodies are mostly located under the Central-Northern Parana Basin, where several studies interpreted the existence of remnants of Proterozoic subductions in the mantle. Previous geochemical analysis had linked the high-Ti domain in the Central-Northern Parana floods with the partial melting of oceanic subduction relics. Nonetheless, the abundance of other incompatible elements (e.g., P, F and B) in the early phase of Central-Northern basaltic floods can be inherited from subduction remnants in the mantle. The remarkable early enrichment contrasts with the primitive mantle affinity in tholeiitic magmas of the relative late northern floods of the Parana Basin, the southern floods of the Parana Basin, the Etendeka counterpart, and the continental margins. In agreement with the previous understanding of the chemical evolution, we consider that the early magmatic phase was highly influenced by subcontinental subduction relicts. On the other hand, the advancing lithospheric embrittlement, due to the Atlantic opening process, intensified the rise of primitive fluids. Therefore, geophysical observations support the hypothesis of the existence of oceanic remnants from oceanic closure southern São Francisco Craton, due to the Western Gondwana’s assembly. The location of highly preserved oceanic-like mantle bodies supports the occurrence of enriched magmas in the early magmatic phase of the Northern Parana-Etendeka LIP.

How to cite: Szameitat, L., Heilbron, M., Bongiolo, A., Licht, O., Aragão, M. A., and Ferreira, F.: Oceanic remnants in the mantle of the Parana Basin, Central South Atlantic: supporting the large-scale geochemical anomaly in the Northern Parana-Etendeka LIP, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3168, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3168, 2024.

Seamounts are theorized to originate from deep mantle plumes or shallow, plate-related activities. The mantle plume hypothesis suggests that abnormally hot materials rise from the lowermost mantle and produce large volumes of volcanism on the surface. However, the accuracy of morphological analysis and volume estimation is highly influenced by the representation accuracy of irregularly shaped seamounts and the extent to which thick sediment coverage obscures their bases. As a result, the precise contribution of magma from mantle plumes to surface volcanism remains unclear.

Our study introduces a novel approach using Gaussian Process Regression to reconstruct the complex topography of seamounts, both above and beneath sedimentary covers. This approach advances previous analyses by (1) taking account of irregular seamount topography and (2) correcting for the varying sediment thicknesses that obscure seamount bases. Our investigation yields two principal findings.

1. Refined Volcanism Distribution Mapping

Analysis in the Pacific Ocean indicates that only 18% of total intraplate volcanic activity is attributable to plume-related volcanism. In addition, the volume statistics of plume-related seamounts and those along the Large Low-Shear-Velocity Province margins show no significant distinction from those of other intraplate seamounts. These results suggest that proposed plumes account for only a minority of the volume of intraplate volcanism in the Pacific plate, and that shallow rather than deep processes are dominant.

Along the volcanic Kyushu-Palau Ridge, high seamount volumes are observed near lithospheric weak zones, implying that tectonic inheritance significantly influences magma distribution during volcanic arc formation.

2. Comprehensive Morphological Analysis

Employing machine learning clustering analysis on high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data, we categorize seamounts in the South China Sea basin into three distinct morphological types: Type I, large seamounts with steep slopes and rounded bases, predominantly located along extinct ridges; Type II, linear seamounts characterized by gentler slopes, situated along ridges; and Type III, smaller, elliptically-based seamounts found along transform faults or off-ridge areas. This morphological classification provides a novel quantitative framework correlating seamount shapes with their tectonic environments during volcanic activity.

Overall, this research advances our understanding of seamount genesis, highlighting the importance of shallow tectonic processes in shaping submarine volcanic landscapes.

How to cite: Zhao, Y., Riel, B., Ding, H., and Deng, D.: Understanding Seamount Genesis: Utilizing Gaussian Process Regression and Clustering for Morphological Analysis, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4616, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4616, 2024.

Volcanic seamount chains are widespread throughout ocean basins, but their formation and structure are not well understood. Active-source refraction seismology can provide images of the interiors of these volcanoes via P wave travel time tomography, but that requires proper identification of seismic phases that are generated by and propagate across complex volcanic structures. Unfortunately, the current limitation on the number of seismic phases that can be included in tomographic analyses leads to less detailed images and a limited geological understanding of the structures being imaged. The primary objective of this study is to compare recorded seismic wavefields from recent surveys across the Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain with synthetic wavefields generated through waveform modeling. We use simplified yet realistic models of volcanic edifices, the underlying oceanic crust, and the mantle to better understand observed seismic phases and their origins. In previous studies (Dunn et al., 2019; Watts et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2022; MacGregor et al., 2023), several seismic phases were identified in recorded sections along the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain. However, interpreting the origins of some of these phases remains challenging. In this study, we developed an idealized seamount model based on the seismic structure of Jimmu Guyot in the Emperor Ridge (Xu et al., 2022). We calculated the seismic P-SV wavefield for various source and receiver positions using a finite difference wavefield modeling code (Levander, 1988; Lata and Dunn, 2020). Our goal is to model the observed seismograms and identify additional phases, including P-to-S converted waves. Additionally, we aim to verify recent tomographic images of the Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain created by P wave travel time inversion via wavefield comparison. By resolving ambiguities and pinpointing new seismic phases, our aim is to improve seismic images of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain. This contribution will enhance our understanding of specific structures, such as volcanic cores (a high-density and high-wave-speed interior core of the seamount), the hypothesized magmatic underplating of the oceanic crust by mantle melts rising beneath the volcanic chain, and the nature of the Moho and upper oceanic crust beneath these volcanic edifices.

How to cite: Fujimoto, M., Dunn, R., and Xu, C.: Modeling seismic wave propagation across complex volcanic structures of the Hawaii-Emperor Ridge, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6451, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6451, 2024.

Unique intraplate volcano eruptions and westward volcano migration since the Oligocene are observed in NE China, an overriding continental zone tectonically controlled by the subduction of the northwestern Pacific plate and the opening of Japan Sea. Interestingly, these intraplate magmatic events occur around a subsiding basin (the Songliao Basin), but no volcanic activities have been observed within the Songliao Basin. The geodynamic mechanism responsible for these volcanoes remains unclear. To address the geodynamic process beneath NE China, numerical experiments are conducted constrained by datasets from regional reconstruction, seismic and volcanic studies. Vertical velocity field of mantle convection and lithospheric partial melting structures yielded from our numerical model show mantle upwelling and melting center migrates from the east to the west of NE China with the westward propagation of the stagnant slab, leading to the volcano migration. Also, with the subduction retreat of NW Pacific plate and the opening of the Japan Sea, significant lithospheric thickness differences between Changbaishan-Mudanjiang Region and the Songliao Basin develop, leading to lithospheric unstable dripping. This dripping structure prevents the partial melting of the lithosphere but facilitates the subsidence of the Songliao Basin in central NE China. Moreover,  the lithospheric dripping model successfully predicts upper mantle structures consistent with the proposed tomography model, the observed Moho depth, and surface topography variations. Thus, the lithospheric dripping induced by lithospheric thickness difference and the subduction of the Pacific slab provides a robust mechanism for the unique geodynamic process in NE China.

How to cite: Lin, F., Qi, L., Zhang, N., and Guo, Z.: An ongoing lithospheric dripping process beneath Northeast China and its impact on intraplate volcanism, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7314, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7314, 2024.

The Great Meteor Seamount is a guyot and the largest seamount in the North Atlantic Ocean with an estimated volume of some 24,000 km³. Located ~1280 km west of Africa and ~720 km south of the Azores, the seamount forms part of a group of seamounts which include Hyeres, Irving, Cruiser, Plato, Atlantis, and Tyro. Previous dredged rock, magnetic anomaly lineation, and predicted hotspot track studies suggest the seamount is ~17 Myr in age, was emplaced on oceanic crust and lithosphere with a thermal age of ~68 Ma and is linked to the New England Seamount Chain. However, bathymetric, free-air gravity anomaly and geochemical data are inconsistent with these ages and such a tectonic setting: bathymetric data suggest a guyot depth of ~400 m which is deeper than expected (~187 m), gravity data suggest an effective elastic thickness, T_e, of ~20 km which is lower than expected (~26 km) and geochemical data suggest a link, not to the New England Seamount Chain, but to the Azores Islands instead. To address these inconsistencies, we used legacy Ocean Bottom Hydrophone, free-air gravity anomaly and bathymetry data to reassess the seismic structure, T_e, and tectonic evolution of Great Meteor Seamount and its neighbouring seamounts. We show the uppermost crustal structure of Great Meteor Seamount is characterised by a relatively low velocity volcano-clastic sediments (2.0-4.5 km/s) and extrusive lava (5.0-6.0 km/s) drape which overlies a relatively high P-wave velocity intrusive ‘core’ of 6.0-6.5 km/s. The lowermost crust, in contrast, is characterized by a 4-km-thick body of P-wave velocity 7.00-7.75 km/s intermediate in velocity between the crust and mantle, the base of which is at depths at ~16 km. This seismic structure has been verified by gravity modelling assuming a Gardner and Nafe-Drake relationship between P-wave velocity and density, but 3-D flexure modelling reveals that a Moho depth at ~16 km requires a low elastic thickness (T_e ~10 km) which is inconsistent with the amplitude and wavelength of the free-air gravity anomaly and the relatively flat depth to the top of the oceanic crust beneath the flexural moats flanking the guyot ‘core’. We found that gravity and seismic data are consistent if the T_e of flexed oceanic crust at Great Meteor Seamount is ~20 km and is underlain by a ~4-km-thick magmatic underplated body. In contrast, we found that the Irving, Cruiser, Plato, Atlantis, and Tyro seamounts are characterised by a best fit T_e of ~10 km and no evidence of underplating. We discuss these findings here with respect to the guyot depth at Great Meteor, terrace depths at Plato, and the tectonic setting of Great Meteor and its neighbouring seamounts.

How to cite: Watts, A. and Grevemeyer, I.: Legacy seismic refraction and gravity anomaly data in the vicinity of Great Meteor Seamount and its implications for plate flexure , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11610, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11610, 2024.

Transcaucasus - the westernmost part of the southern Caucasus, represents an area where the Tethys Ocean was closed in the Late Cenozoic because of Eurasian and Africa-Arabian plate convergence. The lithosphere of the region represents a collage of Tethyan, Eurasian, and Gondwanan terranes. During the Late Proterozoic–Early Cenozoic a system of island arc and back-arc basins existed within the convergence zone. Geological and palaeogeographical data supported by paleomagnetic studies indicate the presence of several tectonic units in the regions that have distinctive geological histories.

The region comprises a 30-55 km thick continental crust with significant lateral variations in thickness of the overlying sediments (0-25 km). The travel times velocity anomalies of the P- and S-waves are interpreted as high-velocity bodies down to about 100 km depth, where the mantle lithosphere is thin or even missing.

The Mesozoic-Cenozoic magmatic assemblages reflect a diversity of paleogeographic -paleotectonic environments. They are indicative of a west Pacific-type oceanic basin setting under which the mature continental North Transcaucasian arc developed with zones of rifting and alkaline basaltic volcanism on the active margins of the oceanic domain.

Within-plate magmatic activity in the North Transcaucasus is represented by volcanic and plutonic complexes, including Late Triassic to Early Jurassic subaerial alkali basalts and alkali gabbro; the Late Bathonian-Late Jurassic high titanium alkali basalts and minor trachytes with coal-bearing shales and evaporites intercalations; Albian alkali basalts alternating with redeposited volcaniclastics and shallow marine carbonates.

The Late Cretaceous volcanics are associated with intraplate-type titanium rich alkali basalts and basanites with minor trachytes and phonolites, while the Eocene volcanics are associated with highly potassic to ultrapotassic basalts and basanites. The Late Miocene-Pleistocene volcanism is represented by alkaline basalt-trachytes as well.

The Great Caucasus, a NW–SE-directed mountain range, extends westwards along the pre-Caucasian strip of the Eastern Black Sea and is bounded to the south by the Transcaucasian Massif. The shoreline of the Eastern Black Sea Basin cuts off the Colchis intermontane trough formed over the rigid Georgian Block, the Achara–Trialeti trough and the Artvin–Bolnisi rigid block.

Onshore and offshore data confirm that the subaerial structures have immediate submarine prolongations. Deep drilling conducted within the onshore zone of the Transcaucasus, in the immediate vicinity of the shoreline, revealed that the volcanic formations below the modern sea level extend further into the Eastern Black Sea basin.

Recent data on structure and evolution of the Transcaucasus and adjacent area provide new constraints on the geological history of the lithosphere of the region, particularly on the Eastern Black Sea basin located in the collision zone between Eurasian and Africa-Arabian lithosphere plates, proximal to ancient sutures.

How to cite: Sadradze, N., Adamia, S., Cloetingh, S., Koptev, A., and Sadradze, G.: TRANSCAUCASUS: Record of 200 My plume activity, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11775, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11775, 2024.

Eastern Australia and the neighbouring Tasman and Coral Seas are home to extensive age-progressive volcanism spanning from ~55 Ma in the north to ~6 Ma in the south. This volcanism forms two offshore seamount trails, the Lord Howe and the Tasmantid Chains, as well as the onshore central volcanoes and leucitites of the East Australian Chain. The three volcanic chains are an average of just 500 km apart, erupted contemporaneously from 35-6 Ma, and share a common age-distance relationship, strongly suggesting a common source, most likely a deep-origin plume. However, they have erupted through lithosphere ranging from oceanic with well-developed seafloor spreading to drowned continental fragments to mainland Australia. How do these diverse settings influence the chemical and physical properties of the resulting mafic volcanism? The East Australian Chain has more fractionated mafic samples, reflecting more complex magmatic plumbing and longer magma residence times in the thick continental lithosphere. However, the most striking result is that the trace element and isotopic ratios remain remarkably similar across the three suites, showing little evidence of crustal or lithospheric assimilation affecting the mafic magmas. 

How to cite: Kalnins, L. M., Douglas, A. K., Cohen, B. E., Fitton, J. G., and Mark, D. F.: The influence of the lithosphere on deep-origin volcanism, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12578, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12578, 2024.

The western Eger Rift (Czech Republic) is a non-volcanic rift setting of intraplate seismicity that is characterized by abundant degassing of mantle-derived fluids. Since 2019, gases obtained from the free gas phase and volcanic rock samples of Quaternary age have been collected in order to determine the origin and evolution of volatiles in the system and define the magma chamber p-T conditions. Results of the CO₂-dominated gas discharges of the Bublák and Hartoušov mofette fields yield an ~93 % mantle input (considering a subcontinental lithospheric mantle) for He. Ne isotopic ratios range from 9.8 to 11.0 for ²⁰Ne/²²Ne and from 0.0282 to 0.0480 for ²¹Ne/²²Ne. Notwithstanding the samples enriched in ²⁰Ne likely due to mass fractionation, many samples show a mixed atmospheric-mantle type source for Ne. However, an additional crustal input cannot be excluded. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratios also cover a wide spectrum of values (between 300 and 4680). Overall, gas samples typically present a higher-than-atmospheric value with ⁴⁰Ar likely deriving from the mixing of an atmospheric and deep source. The ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar* ratio is moderately constant and falls within the MORB range, suggesting an unfractionated magma that originates from mantle sources.. Results obtained from mineral quantitative analyses and by using thermobarometry of orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene rim pairs of matrix grains yield predominantly temperature and pressure conditions of 700 ±100 °C and 1.1 ±0.5 GPa, respectively, indicating a lithospheric depth that ranges between 40 - 45 km for 1.5 GPa and 20-25km for 0.5 GPa. In addition, pairing cores of mm-sized pyroxenes point to a temperature of 1100 ±100 °C and a pressure of 2.5 ±0.5 GPa that correspond to a lithospheric depth of ~75 km. Those minerals that indicate greater depths are likely the oldest ones as they were able to grow for longer times during their ascent. On the other hand, secondary overgrowths or smaller matrix grains represent younger grains that have grown during magma evolution. Therefore, their diverse chemistry and the wide range of p-T conditions reveal rising (and cooling) of magma.

This research is a part of the “MoRe-Mofette Research” and MoCa - “Monitoring Carbon” projects, which were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 419880416, 461419881.

How to cite: Daskalopoulou, K., Niedermann, S., Wilke, F. D. H., Martin, M., and Woith, H.: First insights into the geochemical and petrological features of the Eger Rift’s plumbing system (Czech Republic), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12916, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12916, 2024.

The Eurasia Basin, one of two major oceanic basins of the Arctic Ocean, is composed of the Amundsen and Nansen basins, which were created due to the slow and ultra-slow seafloor spreading at the mid-oceanic Gakkel Ridge initiated during the Paleocene-Eocene transition (53-56 Ma). Since the beginning of the current millennia the Gakkel Ridge and the Eurasia Basin have been subject of marine geological and geophysical studies leading to the collection of diverse datasets including rock samples, seismic, and potential-field datasets. New marine seismic data has become available in the western Eurasia Basin in the very last years, including data acquired by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in the context of the UN Law of the Sea, together with seismic lines gathered by Norwegian research institutions and partners. During October-November 2022 the first High Arctic GoNorth marine expedition collected new seismic reflection and refraction, as well as gravity and magnetic datasets. It is considered that this polar region may hold important clues for the understanding of global processes such as passive margin formation, and the complex links between plate tectonics and climate. Volcanic additions have been suggested within the flanks of the Eurasia Basin during different stages in the Cenozoic. Existing hypotheses further postulate corridors of exhumed mantle formed across the western Eurasia Basin because of the magmatic segmentation imposed by the Gakkel Ridge. Consequently, the oceanic basement of this area should be prone to deformation, hydrothermal alteration and serpentinization. However, little is known about the relationships between such processes with the sedimentary units above, or whether such processes occur away from the ridge and to what extent.

The new compilation of multi-channel seismic reflection profiles provides an image of the sedimentary structure and the upper crust, within the oceanic crust and the continent-ocean transition (COT) between northern Svalbard margin and Eurasia Basin. The preliminary analysis of these datasets indicates that the sediments and basement structures within the southwestern corner of the Eurasia Basin have been modified in a unique manner due to an underlying geothermal anomaly beneath the lithosphere. This is expressed as focused late Miocene (< 20 Ma) to recent sill intrusion events resulting in basement and sediment deformation, and intense hydrothermal and sediment evacuation features. We present unique examples of hydrothermal venting on seismic reflection data and discuss implications of the post-rift NE Atlantic and Arctic setting, including the role of breakup magmatism, post-breakup intraplate volcanism, and sheared/passive margin development during the Cenozoic.

How to cite: Meza, J. C., Faleide, J. I., Minakov, A., and Gaina, C.: Intraplate magmatism, serpentinization and hydrothermal venting in the ultra-slow spreading setting of the Eurasia Basin, Arctic Ocean, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13068, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13068, 2024.

Some prior active-source seismic studies beneath oceanic seamount chains indicate a sub-crustal layer of what is considered to be underplated magmatic material. The classic example is the Hawaiian Ridge, where a seismic study in the early 1980s first proposed the existence of such a layer. Since then, Hawaii has been considered one end-member in a range of possible scenarios, extending from underplating to no underplating, but with possible magmatic intrusion into the lower oceanic crust. Magmatic underplating affects mass flux and lithospheric loading calculations. All else being equal, underplating would be expected to lower the amplitude of the gravity anomaly over the crest of the edifice and provide a positive buoyancy force that makes the plate appear more rigid than it actually is. One hypothesis put forward to explain variations in the style of magmatic emplacement at intraplate volcanoes hinges on the age of the lithosphere at the time of volcano formation. In this model, shallow intrusion into the oceanic crust and overlying edifice is favored for seamounts growing on younger lithosphere, while magmatic underplating is favored for seamounts growing on older lithosphere such as Hawaii. However, recent seismic, gravity, and plate flexure studies conducted along the Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain collectively provide clear evidence for shallow magmatic emplacement and contradict the notion of significant magmatic underplating for ages at the time of loading of ~57 Ma (Emperor Seamounts) and ~90 Ma (Hawaiian Ridge). Additionally, reprocessed legacy seismic data has not revealed evidence for underplating beneath the Hawaiian Ridge. In this presentation, results from these recent studies will be shown, compared, and the evidence for a simple mantle structure without underplating will be presented along with seismic synthetic tests that explore the degree of underplating that may be 'hidden' in the data.

How to cite: Dunn, R., Fujimoto, M., Xu, C., Watts, A., Boston, B., and Shillington, D.: Seismic Silence Speaks Loud: No extensive magmatic underplating found in recent seismic studies of the Hawaiian Ridge, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13901, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13901, 2024.

Establishing the mechanisms for craton modification is critical for understanding cratonic stability and architecture. Cratons are intrinsically strong with long-term stability, but plate tectonics or mantle plumes cause craton weakening, mechanical decoupling, and lithospheric removal. By comparison, craton modification—craton destruction accompanied or followed by rejuvenation—has received less attention. Oceanic plate subduction dominantly destroys the craton, with a lesser degree of rebuilding. Mantle plumes can facilitate decratonization, by weakening and peeling off the lithospheric mantle, or recratonization, by healing the craton with refractory mantle residues. Compared with the effects of oceanic plate subduction and mantle plumes, the role of continental subduction in craton modification remains an open question. The North China Craton (NCC), a previously stable continent with a lithospheric thickness of >200 km since the Paleoproterozoic, was reworked and partially destroyed due to lithospheric delamination triggered by Early Cretaceous Paleo-Pacific oceanic subduction. In eastern NCC, lithospheric thickness decreased from 200 km to 35 km in the Early Cretaceous in only 10 m.y. The NCC experienced an early Mesozoic continent–continent collision (as the overriding plate) with the South China Block (SCB). The collision provides an opportunity to understand the potential for craton modification due to deep continental subduction induced by continental collision.

In the NCC, combined structural geology, magnetic fabrics, zircon U-Pb dating, and Hf-O isotopes, we report the presence of martial derived from a partially melted SCB’s crust. We proposed a three-stage model to interpret the material sourced from the subducted plate into the overriding carton: (1) SCB bulldozed and rebuilt NCC during 250–220 Ma; (2) during 220-200 Ma, the subducted SCB exhumed along the exhumation channel to underplate beneath the NCC, associated with partial melting; (3) finally, Late Jurassic granite derived partial melting of the SCB entrained Latest Triassic reworked SCB’s crust to emplace.

Combining our new results with previous geophysical observations, we estimate the extent of the bulldozing and rebuilding. We argue that a 200-km-long tract of the NCC lithosphere was bulldozed and rebuilt by the subducted SCB, resulting in a lithospheric suture far from the suture zone at the surface. This lithospheric removal occurred at middle-lower crustal levels (16–20 km depth)—much shallower than previously thought possible. The bulldozed NCC lithosphere was replenished by the subducted SCB continental lithosphere rather than the asthenosphere, thus terminating the lithosphere modification. With essentially no net loss of lithosphere during deep continental subduction, the NCC maintained its stability until Early Cretaceous paleo-Pacific oceanic subduction. This “bulldoze and rebuild” model can thus account for how a craton maintains its stability during a collision with another continental plate.

How to cite: Meng, L., Yang, C., Lin, W., Mitchell, R. N., and Zhao, L.: Bulldoze and rebuild: Modifying cratonic lithosphere via removal and replacement induced by continental subduction, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13934, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13934, 2024.

Mesozoic intraplate igneous activity is abundant on the Canadian shield and includes multiple kimberlite fields, a province of alkaline magmatism, and individual bodies of kimberlites and ultramafic lamprophyres. Models have variously attributed the emplacement of these intrusions to the influence of Farallon plate subduction, opening of the Atlantic Ocean, or one or several Atlantic hotspots which North American plate is postulated to have drifted over during the Mesozoic. The latter hypothesis relies of the attribution of spatially, temporally and compositionally distributed and diverse magmatic rocks into a poorly defined, age-progressive, ‘corridor’ which may be derived from a common geochemical reservoir. In this study, we aim to test the spatiotemporal association between intraplate igneous activity along this postulated Triassic-Jurassic corridor and several elements of fixed mantle reference frame, such as the Atlantic hotspots and the hypothesised plume-generating zone (PGZ) of the African Large Low Shear Velocity province (LLSVP).

We use published geochronological databases containing locations and isotopic ages of the Mesozoic intrusions of North America and published global plate reconstructions to dynamically calculate distances between the loci of intraplate magmatism and features of the upper and lower mantle assuming the latter remained fixed in the mantle reference frame throughout their history. We use GPlates 2.3.0 software package and pygplates 0.36.0 Python library to build the reconstructions and implement our calculations.

Results demonstrate that none of the examined mantle features show a consistent association with all instances of intraplate magmatism across the Canadian shield during the Triassic-Jurassic. The coeval kimberlitic magmatism in the western Slave province (Jericho kimberlite field) and Baffin Island (Chidliak kimberlite field) appears to be completely spatially unrelated to any of the examined mantle features. The kimberlite fields of the Superior province (Attawapiskat, Kirkland Lake, Timiskaming) experience emplacements long before and after their passage over the PGZ, but their frequency increases in the PGZ’s vicinity, i.e. 76% of emplacement events in these provinces occur within 200 km of the PGZ’s surface projection.

Our results show that intraplate magmatism across many Triassic-Jurassic fields of North America could be initiated independently of the influence of deep mantle structures. Thereby, a geodynamic mechanism nested in the asthenosphere or lithospheric mantle suffices for melt generation in an intraplate setting. However, it cannot be ruled out whether proximity to deep mantle structures is capable of facilitating “shallow” melt generation and emplacement and that deep-seated mantle structures could provide an influx of fluids or thermal energy, increasing melting intensity and volume.

How to cite: Koptev, E. and Peace, A.: The Triassic-Jurassic corridor of North America: are deep mantle structures a sufficient explanation for intracontinental magmatism?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14228, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14228, 2024.

Intraplate volcanism signifies persistent magmatic activity within plate interiors far from active plate boundaries. However, due to limited assessment of the detailed physical conditions of the intraplate upper mantle, the fundamental mechanism behind the genesis of mantle magma remains poorly understood. We analyzed the temperature conditions of the upper mantle beneath global intraplate volcanic regions estimated from seismic velocity and geochemical data. We revealed that excluding volcanoes near major plumes, large proportions (> 70%) of the volcanoes are situated above the upper mantle with moderate temperatures comparable to or colder than those found at mid-oceanic ridges (potential temperature (Tp) ~1250–1350°C). These volcanoes also overlie regions of low vertical and horizontal asthenospheric shear estimated by global mantle convection simulations. Without peculiarities in thermal and large-scale mantle dynamics, we inferred that these volcanic activities are likely driven by a small-scale local convective process confined to the shallow upper mantle. To constrain a more detailed process of intraplate volcanism, we focus on analyzing the upper mantle rheology and melt distribution beneath intraplate volcanoes in NE Asia. Thermodynamic properties, conservatively constrained by high-frequency seismic attenuation and velocities, revealed the common presence of low-viscosity zones concentrated beneath the volcanoes at shallow asthenospheric depths (< 200 km). These regions contain a small fraction of melt (~0.05–0.8%) at cold-to-moderate temperatures (Tp ~1300–1350°C) compared to the average mantle aligning with global analyses. A series of evidence potentially suggests the existence of localized mantle upflux focused beneath intraplate volcanoes. Considering the amount and extent of the estimated mantle melts and numerical mantle convection simulations with lithospheric structures, we propose that undulations in the lithosphere and asthenosphere boundary could play a primary role in controlling the small-scale mantle convection and the location of intraplate mantle melting. Our estimation supports the possibility of the ubiquitous occurrence of intraplate volcanoes independent of dynamic forces for deriving active mantle upwellings (e.g., thermal or chemical buoyancy).

How to cite: Song, J.-H., Kim, S., Rhie, J., and Kang, T.-S.: Intraplate Volcanism by Spontaneous Shallow Upper Mantle Melt Focusing, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14365, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14365, 2024.

A volcanic edifice much larger than the current one must have existed in Santiago Island, Cape Verde, because the granular rocks and dyke-in-dyke complex representing magma chambers and deep feeders currently outcrop up to 700 m altitude. Therefore, we must find an explanation for the massive destruction of the original edifice. We developed a new tool for the quantitative reconstruction of ancient topographies in a volcanic ocean island to address this problem, because it allows us to estimate the shape and volume of volcanic rock removed at a certain time. The reconstruction of the topography of the basement complex at ca. 6 Ma ago, before the unconformable deposition of the submarine complex, shows a concave depression coincident with the asymmetric distribution of volcanic complexes east and west of the main divide of the island. This concave depression is here interpreted as the remnant of an island-scale, summit collapse. Instituto do Mar de Cabo Verde bathymetry and RRS Charles Darwin (8/85) seismic reflection profile data suggest that the west side of Santiago is characterised by a narrow insular shelf, a major debris avalanche deposit with scattered blocks and at least one lateral sector collapse structure. Data, however, east of Santiago are limited and so the full extent of mass wasting on the east side of the island is not known. Maio Island, which is similar in age to Santiago, would have acted as a buttress in the east, and it is possible that any eastward collapse might have rotated and travelled to the northeast. Irrespective, one or more mass wasting events west or east of Santiago are consistent with a major destruction of the original volcano edifice which removed the summit, exposed the basement complex of the island, and redistributed volcano-clastic material over a large area of the adjacent seafloor. 

How to cite: Ornelas Marques, F., Catita, C., Watts, A., Hildenbrand, A., and Victória, S.: Santiago Island, Cape Verde: Evidence for island-scale collapse from paleotopography onshore and bathymetry offshore, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14871, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14871, 2024.

The Eifel volcanic area in western Germany has been active for tens of million years. Geodetic observations, geochemical analysis and seismological studies all indicate that the source of these long-term volcanic activities is a mantle plume. However, it still remains controversial whether the Eifel plume has a deep origin. This is because the tomography images do not consistently show a continuous plume conduit between the surface and the core-mantle boundary. The Eifel plume is also not associated with any flood basalt province or a clearly age-progressive hotspot track, which is regarded as a key surface feature indicating a deep plume origin. In addition, it has been proposed that the Alpine subduction zone, south-east of the volcanic area, has created a stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone, which might be interacting with the Eifel plume.

Based on the previous studies and observations, our two contrasting hypotheses are as follows: (1) The Eifel plume is not rooted in the lower mantle. In this case, subduction beneath the Alps might trigger a return asthenospheric flow and the ascent of an upper-mantle plume, leading to the formation of intraplate volcanism beneath the European plate. (2) The Eifel plume is assisted from an upwelling in the lower mantle. In this case, the subducting plate might tilt the plume conduit and influence the position where volcanism takes place.

In this study, we apply the Finite-Element-Method geodynamic modeling code ASPECT to model the ascent of the Eifel plume and its interaction with the subducting slab. We design both slab advancing and slab retreating model set-ups, with and without a plume from the lower mantle beneath the subducting plate. We check whether and under what conditions the Eifel plume will be triggered behind the slab due to slab overturn. Preliminary results show that the return flow induced by subduction can help generate an upper-mantle plume and lead to the formation of volcanism. A series of models are also performed to investigate the effects of mantle viscosity and plume temperature on the plume-slab interaction.

How to cite: Li, Y., Steinberger, B., Brune, S., and Le Breton, E.: Intra-plate volcanism generated by slab-plume interaction: Insights from geodynamic modeling of the Eifel plume and its interaction with the European subducting lithosphere beneath the Alpine subduction zone, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15020, 2024.

Compared to oceanic hotspot tracks, volcanic provinces within Earth's continents generally exhibit more intricate surface characteristics, such as spatio-temporal distribution and geochemical signatures of erupted lavas. These complex surface patterns relate to dynamic interactions in the uppermost convective layer of the mantle, where decompression melting occurs. The Cosgrove Track of Eastern Australia constitutes a compelling example of such continental volcanic activity. Recent studies support a mantle plume having sustained the volcanism and discuss several notable features, such as lithosphere-modulated volcanic activity, plume waning, separate volcanic tracks, and plate-motion change.

Here, we simulate the proposed interaction between the Cosgrove plume and eastern Australia during the past 35 Myr. We design a 3-D analogue of the Australian continent using available lithospheric architecture determined through seismic tomography and impose the inferred plate motion associated with this region. Our models incorporate updated peridotite melting and melt chemistry parameterisations that provide quantitative estimates of generated melt volume and composition. We find that plume-driven and shallow edge-driven melting processes, modulated by the lithospheric thickness of the Australian continent, combine to explain the observed volcanic record. Our preliminary results agree well with surface observations and provide further insight into the geodynamics of eastern Australia.

How to cite: Duvernay, T. and Davies, D. R.: 3-D Modelling of Plume-Lithosphere Interaction: The Cosgrove Track, Eastern Australia, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15229, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15229, 2024.

Sal is the oldest island of the Cape Verde archipelago, with magmatic activity starting around 25 Ma (Torres et al., 2010). Located to the northeast of the archipelago, it forms part of a north-south islands alignment and features intrusive bodies potentially representing the subvolcanic roots of exposed volcanic rocks. These intrusions, dated from ≈ 14 to 17 Ma (Torres et al., 2010) are intrusive into the Old Eruptive Complex, located in the central-western part of the island and mostly comprised by gabbro bodies, dyke swarms and several circular gabbro to monzonite complexes.

There are no previous detailed studies concerning mineral chemistry and crystallization conditions of these intrusions, which are a first step, together with precise geochronology, to correlate them with any of the different volcanic series occurring in Sal. In this work we present preliminary mineral chemistry, whole-rock geochemistry and radiogenic (Sr, Nd, Pb) isotope data of the circular complexes aiming to characterize their main features, magmatic evolution and mantle source composition.

The studied rocks range from gabbros to monzonites, sometimes displaying cumulate textures. The main mafic minerals present variable compositions: olivine chemistry ranges from Fo_61-81 in gabbros to Fo_39-49 in monzogabbros; clinopyroxene is classified as augite-diopside in all samples; amphibole is mainly kaersutite-pargasite-Mg-hastingsite and biotite-phlogopite Mg# is in the range 0.4-0.7. Plagioclase is bytownite-andesine (An_30-86) in gabbros, whereas it is more sodic in monzogabbros and monzonites (An_16-66), while nepheline (Ne_70-86) turns more potassic from gabbros to monzonites. Alkali feldspar (Or_20-98) only appears in monzogabros and monzonites. The main accessory phases are ilmenite/Ti-magnetite, chromite, ulvospinel, titanite and apatite.

Major and trace element chemistry points to a progressive evolution from mafic to intermediate types characterized by a linear decrease of MgO, TiO₂, FeO_T, CaO, Ni and Cr, and a gradual increase of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, K₂O, Na₂O, Rb, Ba, Zr and Nb. These patterns suggest initial crystallization of mafic phases (olivine, clinopyroxene, ilmenite-magnetite) and calcic plagioclase. The intra-complexes positive correlation between strongly incompatible element pairs: U-Th, La-Ce and Nb-Ta, suggests the predominance of fractional crystallization within each circular complex.

The studied rocks display ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd initial ratios typical of some OIB having more Sr-radiogenic and Nd-unradiogenic compositions than the N-MORB. These signatures and the Pb isotope ratios are close to the FOZO composition, in an intermediate position between the HIMU and N-MORB mantle components. Small εNd and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb differences between the several circular complexes define two compositional groups, which implies slight heterogeneities in the mantle sources. These isotopic results support the association of Sal intrusive with the Cape Verde northern islands as no low Nd isotopic ratios have been found that could imply EM-1 enriched components, as those described by Torres et al. (2010) for some lavas.

Torres, P., Silva, L.C., Munhá, J., Caldeira, R., Mata, J., Tassinari, C. (2010): Petrology and geochemistry of lavas from Sal Island: Implications for the variability of the Cape Verde magmatism. Comunicaçoes Geológicas, 97: 35-62.

How to cite: García-Rodríguez, M., de Ignacio, C., Orejana, D., Villaseca, C., Mata, J., and Caldeira, R.: Petrology and geochemistry of alkaline Circular Complexes from Sal Island, Cape Verde archipelago., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17719, 2024.

Central East Asia has experienced intraplate volcanism over the past ~110 Myrs. The mechanism for this volcanism is enigmatic, with several potential causes put forward for the origin, including a mantle plume, edge convection, and lithospheric delamination. One of the big questions for the region is the role played by the long-term subducting systems of the Pacific/Izanagi and the Tethys Ocean(s). And secondarily, how much the volcanism is influenced by the lithospheric conditions and its changing thicknesses across the region.  

To recreate the conditions of mantle circulation and flow beneath Central East Asia, a mantle circulation model has been created using the fluid dynamics code ASPECT; the mantle circulation model is coupled with the plate reconstruction of Muller et al. (2019) for the surface conditions of the past 200 Myrs. To better understand the patterns of mantle flow, particles are emplaced into the model to track flow beneath the region, particularly around the subducted slabs. The mantle flow is compared to localities of intraplate volcanism across Central East Asia to assess whether any upwelling regions correlate with the spatial and temporal origins of the volcanism. Initial results show colder downwelling mantle from the surface boundary beneath Central East Asia at ~120-110 Ma, with warmer mantle upwelling into the region to replace it. The timing of this upwelling mantle coincides with the initiation of intraplate volcanism in the region; however, whether this results in the onset of intraplate volcanism in the region and the following 110 Myrs of intraplate volcanism is still being investigated. The mantle flow from the global models will then be used to inform the boundary conditions of a localised box model for Central East Asia. This model will be used to examine any potential effect of delamination beneath Central East Asia, and whether this model can explain any of the timings of intraplate volcanism formation. 

How to cite: Rutson, A., Barry, T., Fishwick, S., and Lane, V.: A geodynamic perspective on the formation of intraplate volcanism in Central East Asia, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18227, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18227, 2024.

The Hawaii-Emperor seamount chain stretches westward from the “Big Island” of Hawaii for over 6000 km until the oldest part of the chain are subducted at the Kuril and Aleutian trenches. Still regarded as the iconic hotspot-generated seamount chain it has been sampled, mapped, and studied to give insights into numerous oceanic phenomena, including seamount and volcano formation and associated intraplate magma budgets, the past absolute motions of the Pacific plate, the drift of the Hawaiian plume, and the thermal and mechanical properties of oceanic lithosphere. Previous work (Wessel et al., EGU 2023 abstract) used a high-resolution free-air gravity anomaly and high-resolution bathymetry data set, together with fully 3-dimensional flexural models with variable volcano load and infill densities, to estimate the optimal effective elastic thickness, T_e, and load and infill densities along the Emperor Seamount chain. Here, we use these parameters to calculate the tectonic tilt of a pre-existing volcano that occurs as each new volcano in a seamount chain is progressively added by flexure to the Pacific oceanic plate. We found tilts in the range 0.1-2.1 degrees which are modest compared to other cases of progressive flexure, for example, at seaward dipping reflector sequences in volcanic rifted margins (~5-15 degrees) but may be significant enough to modify the morphology of volcano summits and the stratigraphy of the sequences that accumulate in their flanking moats. They may also modify the physical properties of the edifice such as their magnetisation vectors.

Wessel, P., A. B. Watts, B. Boston, C. Xu, R. Dunn, and D. J. Shillington “Variation in Elastic Thickness along the Emperor Seamount Chain”, EGU 2023 Abstract

How to cite: Xu, C., Wessel, P., Watts, A., Boston, B., Dunn, R., and Shillington, D.: Plate flexure and tectonic tilt along the Emperor Seamount Chain , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18822, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18822, 2024.

Seamounts and carbonate mounds are ubiquitous features of the global deep seascape. They often provide habitat for unique benthic species communities and support increased production and aggregation of phytoplankton, zooplankton, micronekton, and fish. Seamounts and carbonate mounds interact with the surrounding currents generating flow phenomena over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales including stable Taylor caps, energetic internal waves and turbulent mixing, all with the potential to enhance productivity, biomass, and biodiversity in an often food-limited deep-sea environment. We present hydrodynamic and ecological framework conditions at two contrasting topographic features in the North Atlantic, Great Meteor Seamount and Haas Mound. Great Meteor Seamount is of volcanic origin and one of the largest seamounts in the subtropical North Atlantic rising from 4200 m depth at the seafloor to a summit depth of 270 m. Great Meteor Seamount shows remarkable endemism in meiofaunal groups of copepods and nematodes. Haas Mound is one of the largest biogenic carbonate mounds of the Logachev mound province along the Southeast Rockall Bank in the Northeast Atlantic with a species rich benthic fauna dominated by the cold-water coral Desmophyllum pertusum (Lophelia pertusa). We used results from hydrodynamic models to identify the physical processes, which potentially support seamount and carbonate mound biodiversity. The models employ high-resolution local bathymetry, basin-scale lateral forcing and tidal forcing. Our model simulations provide a detailed three-dimensional picture of the fine-scale motions and physical processes, which potentially drive bio-physical connections such as particle retention and continuous or episodic food supply to benthic communities. 

How to cite: Mohn, C., Schourup-Kristensen, V., Larsen, J., Schwarzkopf, F., Biastoch, A., Tojera, I., Souto, M., Kaufmann, M., van der Kaaden, A.-S., Soetaert, K., and van Oevelen, D.: Seamounts and giant carbonate mounds drive bio-physical connections in the deep-sea: Two case studies from the North Atlantic., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19827, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19827, 2024.

Extensive igneous activity, currently identified from NE Brazil and western Africa to the Falkland Islands and South Africa, preceded the fragmentation of the Western Gondwana supercontinent in the Early Cretaceous. The Paraná-Etendeka Magmatic Province (PEMP) is characterized by continental basaltic flows and igneous plumbing systems in SE South America and its African counterpart. In NE Brazil, dyke swarms and sill complexes compose the Equatorial Atlantic Magmatic Province (EQUAMP). A prominent feature of EQUAMP is the Rio Ceará-Mirim dyke swarm, an arcuate igneous plumbing system approximately 1,100 km in length. Aeromagnetic data suggests that the Rio Ceará-Mirim dykes stretch from the corner of South America to the northwest border of the São Francisco Craton. At this point, the dykes shift orientation to the NNW, extending towards the south, where they appear to connect with the Transminas dyke swarm (northern PEMP). The apparent continuity of dykes as a single entity would constitute a massive transcontinental swarm of about 2,300 km. A similar relationship is observed for the Riacho do Cordeiro (southern EQUAMP) and Vitória-Colatina (northern PEMP) dykes, indicating continuity across the São Francisco Craton of about 1,600 km. This study, supported by new petrological, geochemical, isotopic, and geochronological data, combined with geophysical and geodynamical analyses, demonstrates that the Transminas and Vitória-Colatina dyke swarms share the same composition and age as the Rio Ceará-Mirim and Riacho do Cordeiro dyke swarms, respectively. The set of new evidence supports a genetic connection between the PEMP and EQUAMP. Therefore, they can be collectively referred to as a single large igneous province related to the early stage of the South Atlantic rifting process in the West Gondwana realm: The South Atlantic Magmatic Province.

How to cite: Avelino de Macedo Filho, A., Oliveira, A., Janasi, V., and Hollanda, M. H.: The South Atlantic Magmatic Province: An Integration of Early Cretaceous LIPs in the West Gondwana, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-415, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-415, 2024.

            The type of lithosphere subducted between India and Tibet since the Paleocene remains controversial; it has been suggested to be either entirely continental, oceanic, or a mixture of the two. As the subduction history of this lost lithosphere strongly shaped Tibetan intraplate tectonism, we attempt to further constrain its nature and density structure with numerical models that aim to reproduce the observed history of magmatism and crustal thickening in addition to present-day plateau properties between 83˚E and 88˚E. By matching time-evolving geological patterns, here we show that Tibetan tectonism away from the Himalayan syntaxis is consistent with the initial indentation of a craton-like terrane at 55±5 Ma, followed by a buoyant tectonic plate with a thin crust, e.g., a broad continental margin (Himalandia). This new geodynamic scenario can explain the seemingly contradictory observations that had led to competing hypotheses like the subduction of Greater India versus largely oceanic subduction prior to Indian indentation.

How to cite: Liu, L., Liu, L., Morgan, J., Xu, Y.-G., and Chen, L.: The hypothesis of a lost Cenozoic “Himalandia” between India and Asia, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1934, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1934, 2024.

The OHANA experiment comprises a 15-month deployment of 25 broadband ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) in the northeast Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and the North American west coast. The primary objective of this project is to explore the crust, lithosphere and asthenosphere in a 600~km wide region west of the Moonless Mountains, covering mainly 40-to-50 Myr old Pacific lithosphere. A fundamental question to be addressed is whether this particular area has the signature of a typical oceanic lithosphere that has a normal plate cooling history. Alternatively, we seek evidence for a previously proposed reheating process, e.g. resulting from small-scale shallow-mantle convection. 

The new data enhance seismic imaging in a regional as well as in a global context. Regionally, short-period ambient noise and long-period earthquake-derived Rayleigh wave dispersion provide the centerpiece for imaging the crust and upper mantle. In  a top-down approach,
we start with the assembly and analysis of ambient-noise cross-correlation functions between 5 and 25 s. We present an initial assessment of high signal-to-noise quality cross-correlation functions. We derive path-averaged dispersion curves for the fundamental mode and present tomographic images from initial inversions. 

Furthermore, our cross-correlation functions contain prominent waveforms from overtones that can help improve resolution as a function of depth.

How to cite: Laske, G., Atkisson, G., Talavera Soza, S., Collins, J., and Blackman, D.: Rayleigh-wave Ambient Noise Investigation for the OHANA Experiment in the NE Pacific, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2317, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2317, 2024.

We investigated the impacts of the Kerguelen and Amsterdam-St. Paul (ASP) hotspots on mantle evolution and crustal accretion of nearby spreading ridges in the Southeastern Indian Ocean. Gravity analysis revealed enhanced magmatism and thickened crust along the ridge caused by the Kerguelen and ASP hotspots. By employing plate motions derived from the GPlates global plate reconstruction model, along with the ASPECT 3-D mantle convection code, we presented a comprehensive depiction of the ridge-dual hotspot system, which has been relatively underexplored in previous research. Model results indicated that the Kerguelen hotspot had a significantly greater influence on mantle temperature and ridge crustal thickness compared to the ASP hotspot. Furthermore, there is evidence suggesting a potential interaction between the dual hotspots, leading to the migration of ASP plume materials towards the Kerguelen plume.

How to cite: Luo, Y., Lin, J., Zhou, Z., Zhang, F., Zhang, X., and Zhang, J.: Ridge-dual hotspots interaction and potential hotspot-hotspot interaction in the Southeastern Indian Ocean , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2624, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2624, 2024.

As part of mantle convection, mantle plumes rise from the deep Earth, leading to volcanic eruptions during which large volumes of mafic magma are emplaced at Earth’s surface over a few million years. In 1971, Jason Morgan showed that seamount chains could be used to calculate the absolute motion of tectonic plates above fixed mantle plumes. This ground-breaking work notably led to the study of the relationship between Earth’s deep interior and its surface. Mantle plumes have been critical to constrain absolute plate motions in Earth’s recent geological past, with the development of both fixed-hotspot and moving-hotspot plate-motion models. Recent studies also revealed a statistical link between large volcanic eruptions and basal mantle structures in space and time, suggesting that large volcanic eruptions, mantle plumes, and hot basal structures are intrinsically connected. In these studies, mantle plumes were considered as the implicit process connecting volcanic eruptions at the surface to hot basal mantle structures. Geodynamic models suggest that mantle plumes are generated by two large antipodal hot basal mantle structures, up to ~1,200 km thick, and shaped by subducted oceanic crust through time. Here, we systematically compare three volcanic-eruption databases, four global tomographic models, and six reconstructions of past global mantle flow, to investigate the spatio-temporal links between volcanic eruptions, hot basal mantle structures, and modelled mantle plumes from 300 million years ago to the present day. We find that large volcanic eruptions are spatially closer to fixed and moving hot basal mantle structures than to modelled mantle plumes, because mantle plumes cover an area that is five orders of magnitude smaller than the area covered by hot basal mantle structures. The strength of the spatial-statistical relationships is largest between volcanic eruptions and modelled mantle plumes and, overall, it is larger between volcanic eruptions and moving basal mantle structures than between volcanic eruptions and fixed basal mantle structures.  This suggests that large volcanic eruptions are preferentially associated with mantle plumes generated from the interior of mobile basal mantle structures, which is in sharp contrast to previous studies that suggested mantle plumes are generated from the edges of fixed basal mantle structures.

How to cite: Cucchiaro, A., Flament, N., Arnould, M., and Cressie, N.: Links between large volcanic eruptions, basal mantle structures and mantle plumes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2711, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2711, 2024.

Between about 130 and 75 Ma, the Arctic was impacted by widespread and long-lived volcanism known as the High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP). HALIP is a very unusual large igneous province because it exhibits prolonged melting over more than 50 Myr with pulses of activity, an observation that is difficult to reconcile with the classic view of large igneous provinces and associated melting in plume heads. Hence, the suggested plume-related origin and classification of HALIP as a large igneous province has been questioned, and alternative mechanisms have been invoked to explain at least part of the volcanism. However, the Arctic also exhibits a very complex and time-dependent tectonic history that includes cratons, continental margins and rifting, all of which are expected to interact with the rising plume and affect its melting behaviour.

Here, we use 2-D numerical models that include melting and melt migration to investigate a rising plume interacting with a lithosphere of variable thickness, i.e. an extended-basin-to-craton setting. Models reveal significant spatial and temporal variations in melt volumes and pulses of melt production, including protracted melting for at least about 30-40 Myr, but only if feedback between melt and mantle convection is accounted for. In particular, we find that melt migration transports heat upwards and enhances local lithospheric thinning, resulting in a more heterogeneous distribution of melting zones within the plume head underneath the Sverdrup Basin. Once the thicker continental and cratonic lithosphere move over the plume, plume material is deflected from underneath the Greenland craton and can then re-activate melting zones below the previously plume-influenced Sverdrup Basin, even though the plume is already ∼500 km away. Hence, melting zones may not represent the location of the deeper plume stem at a given time. Plume flux pulses associated with mantle processes, rifting of tectonic plates or magmatic processes within the crust may alter the timing and volume of secondary pulses and their surface expression, but are not required to generate pulses in magmatic activity. Hence, we propose that the prolonged period of rejuvenated magmatism of HALIP is consistent with plume impingement on a cratonic edge and subsequent plume-lithosphere interaction. Based on melt fractions, our models suggest that HALIP magmatism should exhibit plume-related trace element signatures through time, but potentially shifting from mostly tholeiitic magmas in the first pulse towards more alkalic compositions for secondary pulses, with regional variations in timing of magma types.

How to cite: Heyn, B., Shephard, G., and Conrad, C.: Prolonged multi-phase volcanism in the Arctic induced by plume-lithosphere interaction, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4020, 2024.

The India-Asia convergence has persisted since the onset of collision at ~55 Ma, indicating the driving forces of Indian indentation do not disappear on continental collision in the convergence process. What drives ongoing India-Asia convergence? This puzzle cannot be well resolved by the traditional theory of plate tectonics and the concept of Wilson Cycle. Consequently, questions concerning the primary driving force of the ongoing India-Asia convergence and the magnitude of this force still await an answer. Previous works have proposed multiple candidates for the primary driver of India-Asia convergence, including the continental subduction of the Indian lithosphere under Tibet, oceanic subduction at the Sumatra-Java trench, as well as the basal drag exerted by the mantle flow on the base of Indo-Australia plate. Here we present global geodynamic models to investigate the driving forces behind the India-Asia convergence, which produce good fits to the observed motions, stresses and strains within the Indo-Australia plate. On this basis, we quantitatively calculate the magnitude of effective forces of boundary forces (slab pull and ridge push) and basal drag. We conclude that the Sumatra-Java subduction is the primary driver of the ongoing India-Asia convergence. Indo-Australia plate motion is driven at the Sumatra-Java trench, impeded along the Himalaya, which could increase the shear stress within the plate. Different from the recent emphasis on the basal drag as a dominant driving force for the India-Asia convergence, this study shows that basal drag acts as the resisting force for the northeastward motion of the giant Indo-Australia plate, though it serves as a driver in some local regions.

How to cite: Zheng, Q. and Hu, J.: Driving forces for the ongoing India-Asia convergence: insight from global high-resolution numerical modeling of mantle convection, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4314, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4314, 2024.

With recent progress in resolution in global seismic mantle imaging provided by numerical wavefield computations using the Spectral Element Method and full waveform inversion, Jason Morgan’s suggestion from over 50 years ago that mantle plumes may be rooted at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) has been confirmed. Yet the imaged plumes present intriguing features that contrast with the classical thermal plume model and should inform our understanding of mantle dynamics. Among other features, they are broader than purely thermal plumes, and do not extend straight from the CMB to the corresponding hotspot volcanoes, but they are frequently deflected horizontally in the extended transition zone (400-1000 km depth), so that their lower mantle location can be significantly offset (as much as a 1000 km) from their surface expression. They appear to be thinner in the upper mantle. This, together with similar horizontal flattening observed in subduction zones suggests a change in the radial viscosity structure of the mantle that may occur deeper than usually assumed to be related to the 660 km phase change. The fattest plumes have been shown to be anchored within the perimeter of the large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) and an increasing number of them appear to house mega-ultra low velocity zones within their roots.  Moreover, in the upper mantle, they appear to be associated with regularly spaced low velocity channels aligned with absolute plate motion.

We discuss these features in the light of recent regional imaging updates in the south Atlantic and beneath Yellowstone, contrasting the corresponding mantle plumes, and in particular showing mounting evidence that the LLSVPs are not compact “piles” extending high above the CMB, but rather a bundle of thermo-chemical plumes feeding secondary scale convection in the top 1000 km of the mantle.

How to cite: Romanowicz, B., Munch, F., and Kumar, U.: Mantle plumes imaged by seismic full waveform inversion: from the core-mantle-boundary to surface hotspots, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4754, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4754, 2024.

Subduction is one of the most fundamental processes on Earth, linking the lithosphere and mantle and is a key driving force in mantle circulation. Despite this, and the advancement of geophysical methods which allow us to better understand mantle dynamics, our understanding of slab behaviour is still limited. The Earth is a very complex system, and so conclusions regarding slab dynamics are also sensitive to the interplay between countless processes acting within the mantle. 

There is much to learn about slab sinking in the mantle from considering a single 'perfect' plate, such that the dynamics can be isolated from any pre-established or distal processes. We present a range of 3D spherical mantle circulation models which evolve from the initial condition, driven by a 'perfect' plate at the surface. Each of these plates comprises a rectangular geometry, bound by a subduction zone on one side, a spreading ridge on the opposite side, and two tranform faults on the adjacent edges. We vary the geometry of the plate, both in terms of the length of the subducting trench, and the distance from the trench to the ridge, and vary the plate velocity.

We will report the slab behaviour in terms of plate geometry, mantle properties, and plate velocity, focussing on the evolution of downwellings, upwellings and other mantle structures in response to mantle circulation models driven solely by a single plate at the surface.

How to cite: Plimmer, A., Davies, H., and Panton, J.: Slab dynamics in the mantle: a back-to-basics approach, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6247, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6247, 2024.

We implement an innovative method of plate identification for the purpose of evaluating plate motion in numerical mantle convection models. Our method utilizes an existing tool,  Automatic Detection Of Plate Tectonics (ADOPT), which applies a tolerance (threshold) algorithm to elevation maps, to detect candidate plate boundaries at the surface of 3-D spherical mantle convection models. The logarithm of the strain-rate field yields a well-defined elevation map where local maxima lineations indicate spreading centres, zones of convergence, transform faults or diffuse deformation zones. For the plates found by ADOPT’s analysis, we determined rotation (Euler) poles implied by the velocities  within  the plate interiors. Subsequently, we examined the velocity field of each model plate for its agreement with rigid motion about the Euler poles.  We apply our method to snapshots taken from three previously published mantle convection calculations that appear to generate plate-like surface behaviour. Self-consistently generated model plates were obtained by combining a highly temperature-dependent viscosity with a yield stress that adds a strain-rate dependence to the viscosity, thus allowing for both intra-plate low strain-rate and weakening along tightly focussed plate boundaries. We generally identify more (and smaller) rigid plates for low yield stress or low threshold. Strong agreement of the surface velocities with rigid-body rotation around Euler poles is found for many of the plates identified; however, some plates also exhibit internal deformation. Regions that show a departure from rigidity can be decomposed into subsets of rigidly moving plates. Thus, the identification of a mantle convection model's maximally rigid plate surface may require plate boundary detection at both low and high thresholds. We suggest that as global mantle convection models superficially converge on the generation of plate boundary network similar to those observed with plate tectonics (including transform fault generation), testing for plate rigidity through the determination of Euler poles can serve as a quantitative measure of plate-like surface motion.

How to cite: Ojo, T., Guerrero, J., Fairservice, C., Javaheri, P., and Lowman, J.: Utilizing Euler poles for the evaluation of plate rigidity in numerical mantle convection models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6549, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6549, 2024.

Delamination of continental lithospheric mantle is now well-recorded beneath several continents. However, the fate of delaminated continental lithosphere has been rarely noted, unlike subducted slabs that are reasonably well imaged in the upper and mid mantle. Beneath former Gondwana, recent seismic tomographic models indicate the presence of at least 5  horizontal fast-wavespeed anomalies at ~600 km depths that do not appear to be related to slab subduction, including fast structures in locations consistent with delamination associated with the Paraná Flood Basalt event at ~134 Ma and the Deccan Traps event at ~66 Ma. These fast-wavespeed anomalies often lie above broad slow seismic wavespeed trunks at 500-700 km depths beneath former Gondwana, with the slow wavespeed anomalies branching around them. Numerical experiments indicate that delaminated lithosphere tends to stagnate in the transition zone above a mantle plume where it shapes subsequent plume upwelling. For hot plumes, the melt volume generated during plume-influenced delamination can easily reach ~2-4×10⁶ km³, consistent with the basalt eruption volume at the Deccan Traps. This seismic and numerical evidence suggests that observed high wavespeed mid-mantle anomalies beneath the locations of former flood basalts are delaminated fragments of former continental lithosphere, and that lithospheric delamination events in the presence of subcontinental plumes induced several of the continental flood basalts associated with the multiple breakup stages of Gondwanaland. Continued upwelling in these plumes can also have entrained subcontinental lithosphere in the mid-mantle to bring its distinctive geochemical signal to the modern mid-ocean spreading centers that surround southern and western Africa.

How to cite: Shi, Y.-N. and Morgan, J.: Gondwanan Flood Basalts Linked Seismically to Plume-Induced Lithosphere Instability, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6630, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6630, 2024.

There are rare occurrences on Earth where mantle plumes intersect with continents, resulting in surface volcanism.Unlike their more common counterparts in oceanic lithosphere, where the ascent of melts is facilitated by a thinner lithosphere, identifying continental plumes is challenging. Surface volcanism, traditionally a key indicator of mantle plumes, may play a diminished role in regions characterized by complex tectonics and variations in lithospheric thickness.

Eastern Oman provides an excellent example where a continental mantle plume has remained undetected due to the absence of current surface volcanism. The region exhibits evidence of intraplate basanites, although with an age of ~35-40 Ma. Given their geochemical signature, these alkaline rocks likely originated from a mixture of melts from a plume-derived source and those from a lithosphere-derived component. Using P- and S-wave arrival-time residuals from distant earthquakes, we image a new mantle plume in eastern Oman, which we name the Salma plume. This continental plume is revealed in our 3-D P- and S-wave tomographic models as a 200 km low-velocity conduit extending to at least the base of the upper mantle, and located below the area of Tertiary intraplate volcanism. Despite experiencing minimal shortening since the Paleogene, the shallow-marine sediments of the Salma Plateau in eastern Oman reach elevations exceeding 2000 meters. Ongoing uplift, indicated by elevated Quaternary marine terraces, suggests that the plateau is still rising. The present uplift rate is modest but maps of residual topography show a positive trend in eastern Oman that can be associated to the presence of a plume.

Incorporating a geodynamic perspective, our analysis of noise-mitigated Indian plate motion relative to Somalia reveals that India underwent a constant-velocity reorientation of approximately 15˚  from 48 to 30 Ma, concurrent with the arrival of the plume head beneath eastern Oman. We quantitatively demonstrate that increased asthenospheric flow induced by the plume flux in eastern Oman, adjacent to the Indian plate in the Eocene, may be responsible for deflecting the Indian plate path, as indicated in kinematic reconstructions.

The consequence of ignoring a plume in Oman is that we were unable to understand many of the enigmatic observations from plume impingement at ~40 Ma. Our study underscores the potential of combining seismology, geology, geochemistry, and geodynamics to be a more effective approach for detecting continental plumes than relying solely on surface volcanism, and has transformed our understanding of the tectonic evolution of the area and beyond.

How to cite: Pilia, S., Iaffaldano, G., Davies, R., Sossi, P., Whattam, S., and Hu, H.: Absence of surface volcanism and the indeterminate evidence for continental mantle plumes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7075, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7075, 2024.

Many hotspots worldwide display evidence of fluctuating magmatic emplacement rates in their history, at periods of 1-20 Myr, indicative of changing melt production within underlying mantle plumes. Here we report unprecedentedly short fluctuations of magmatic activity in the Réunion hotspot, emblematic because it started with the Deccan traps suspected to have caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Using K-Ar geochronology, field observations, and geomorphology, we reconstructed the volcanic history of La Réunion and Mauritius islands, the two latest manifestations of the Réunion hotspot. Our reconstruction reveals coeval magmatic activity pulses and rest intervals for the two islands over the past 4 Ma. The period of these pulses, of ~400 kyr, is an order of magnitude shorter than any fluctuation found on other hotspots. Given the distance between La Réunion and Mauritius (~230 km), this synchronous short-period pulsation of the Réunion hotspot cannot stem from the lithosphere (≤70 km thick), and must be attributed to deeper plume processes. Moreover, this ~400 kyr periodicity coincides with the recurrence time of magmatic phases in the Deccan traps, suggesting that the pulsation began with the initiation of the hotspot. We propose that the Réunion plume is regularly pulsing with a periodicity of ~400 kyr, possibly since the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition, thus delivering extremely short-period waves of magma to the surface, synchronous over hundreds of kilometers. Understanding the geodynamic causes of this superfast beat of the Réunion plume is the objective of the four-year project “Plum-BeatR”, funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR- 23-CE49-0009), starting in 2024.

How to cite: Famin, V., Quidelleur, X., and Michon, L.: Short-period (400 kyr) pulsation of the Réunion plume, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7255, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7255, 2024.

Plate tectonics plays a pivotal role in shaping the Earth's surface and is intricately linked to internal processes, including the subduction of cold slabs and the ascent of hot mantle plumes. Statistical analyses have unveiled a strong correlation between the distribution of large igneous provinces (LIPs) over the past 320 Ma and two large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs) beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean. Consequently, hypotheses have emerged suggesting the long-term stability of these LLVPs. However, numerical modeling challenges this notion, suggesting that these basal mantle structures are mobile. To resolve these debates, we attempt to study these basal mantle structures from the evolution of intermediate-scale thermochemical anomalies. We report such an intermediate-scale thermochemical anomaly beneath the NW Pacific Ocean based on existing tomographic models and use paleogeographically constrained numerical models to study its evolution. Considering different plate configurations in North Pacific, our models consistently show that this anomaly was separated from the Perm anomaly by the subduction of the Izanagi slab in the Cretaceous. After the separation, it generated a mantle plume, inducing an oceanic plateau that got subducted beneath Kamchatka in Eocene. This scenario is consistent with multiple lines of evidence, including the seismic anomaly in the lower mantle, a seismically detected megameter-scale reflector that coincides with the subducted oceanic plateau and changes in Pacific Plate motion that correlated with the Eocene trench-plateau collision. We propose that intermediate-scale low velocity structures constantly undergo segregation and coalescing, and are sources of plumes that lie outside the two major LLVPs. Merging of the reported anomaly with the Pacific LLVP suggests the latter is still under assembly.

How to cite: Zhang, J. and Hu, J.: Segregation of thermochemical anomaly and associated deep mantle plume outside the large low-velocity provinces, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8432, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8432, 2024.

We present initial tomographic findings from the ERC-funded UPFLOW (Upward mantle flow from novel seismic observations) project, showcasing results from a large-scale passive seismology experiment conducted in the Azores-Madeira-Canaries region between July 2021 and September 2022. Recovering 49 out of 50 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) in a ~1,000×2,000 km2 area with an average station spacing of ~150-200 km, we analyze approximately ~8000 multi-frequency (T ~2.7-30 s) body-wave travel time cross-correlation measurements derived from UPFLOW OBS data and over 120 teleseismic events. A preliminary P-wave tomographic model is presented, offering insight into the region's mantle dynamics.

Furthermore, by integrating UPFLOW's OBS data with global seismic data from both temporary and permanent stations, we expand the dataset to around 600,000 multifrequency measurements. This comprehensive dataset is employed to construct a global P-wave model, providing enhanced resolution throughout the entire mantle column beneath the Azores-Madeira-Canaries region. A comparative analysis with existing global tomography models is performed, and we discuss the geodynamical implications of our new, high-resolution model.

How to cite: Tsekhmistrenko, M., Ferreira, A., and Miranda, M.: UPFLOW body wave tomography of the whole mantle column beneath the Azores-Madeira-Canaries region, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8563, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8563, 2024.

The North Atlantic region is a prime example of the interaction between plate tectonic movements and thermal instabilities in the Earth’s mantle. The opening of the Labrador Sea/Baffin Bay and the North Atlantic, the widespread volcanism and the localized uplift of the topography in Greenland and the North Atlantic are traditionally attributed to the thermal effect of the Iceland mantle plume. However, several prominent features of the region – the temporal synchrony of magmatism and break-up events, the symmetrical configuration of the Greenland-Iceland-Faroe Ridge, and the diachronous domal uplift of the North Atlantic rifted margins – have inspired alternative, “non-plume” views. According to these, the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) and Iceland magmatism originate from plate tectonic processes sourced in the shallow upper mantle, at odds with the unequivocal presence of deep-seated low-velocity seismic anomalies beneath Iceland and the isotopic signatures of plume-derived melts in Cenozoic magmatic units.

We resolve apparent contradictions in the observations and reconstructions and reconcile end-member concepts of the Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution of the North Atlantic realm. We show that simultaneous Paleocene (~62-58 Ma) magmatism in Western Greenland/Baffin Island and the British Isles, which together form the NAIP, is driven by two processes accidently coinciding in time: 1) the propagation of the Labrador Sea/Baffin Bay spreading axis has overlapped with the ~100-80 Ma dated segment of the Iceland hotspot track near the West Greenland margin, while 2) the actual tail of the Iceland plume has reached the eastern continental margin of Greenland, allowing a horizontal flow of hot plume material along corridors of relatively thinned lithosphere towards Southern Scandinavia and Scotland/Ireland. In this framework, the subsequent formation of the symmetrical Greenland-Iceland-Faroe Ridge can be coherently explained by the continuous supply of hot plume material through an established channel between Eastern Greenland and the British Isles. In contrast to the Scotland/Ireland region, the South Norway continental lithosphere remains too thick to enable localized uplift of the topography and melting immediately after plume lobe emplacement at ~60 Ma. Therefore, the development of topographic domes in Southern Scandinavia only started ~30 Myr later in the Oligocene as a consequence of increasing ridge-push compression that built up during the opening of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea.

The evolution of the North Atlantic region shows that a thermal anomaly that has been hidden below a thick lithosphere for tens of Myr without signs of excessive magmatism can be re-initialized (or “re-awakened”) by the lateral propagation of spreading ridges or by the tapping of its source beneath thinner segments of the overlying lithosphere due to horizontal plate movements. We dub this type of Large Igneous Province (LIP) as LIP-Dornröschen (LIP-Sleeping Beauty). We hypothesise that the term LIP-Dornröschen may be applicable to a broad family of LIPs, including Precambrian and oceanic LIPs. This means that the interpretation of the timing of LIP formation from the perspective of mantle dynamics should be treated with caution, as there may be delays between the timing of upwelling in the mantle and detectable magmatic manifestations at or near the Earth’s surface.

How to cite: Koptev, A. and Cloetingh, S.: Iceland plume and its magmatic manifestations: LIP-Dornröschen in the North Atlantic, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8567, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8567, 2024.

Hotspot-related anomalies observed in mid-ocean ridge systems are widely interpreted as the result of upwelling mantle plumes interacting with spreading ridges. A key indicator of this interaction is 'waist width', which measures the distance of plume flow along the ridge. Current scaling laws for waist width, premised on a gradual decrease in plume temperature along the ridge, often overlook sub-ridge longitudinal thermal variations, potentially biasing width measurements at various depths. In this study, we refined waist width measurements by tracking the material flow and its thermal diffusion from the plume source in plume-ridge interaction models. These non-Newtonian viscoplastic models integrate ridge spreading, lithospheric cooling with hydrothermal circulation, and mantle dehydration. Model results show that the hot plume initially boosts upwelling from the deep mantle to near the dehydration zone, followed by a slowdown and lateral spread across and along the ridge. In addition to strongly correlating with plume flux and spreading rate, the pattern and distance of plume flow vary with depth. At deeper depths, the plume expands radially in a pancake-like thermal pattern with shorter along-ridge distances, while shallower, it shows an axial pipe-like dispersion over longer distances, forming a concave structure. This is shaped by the cooling of the plume material during the phase of decelerated upwelling and along-ridge dispersion within the dehydration zone and cooling of the oceanic lithosphere associated with plate spreading. Estimates of plume buoyancy flux, derived from both material- and isotherm-tracking waist widths, show significant variations at different depths, suggesting that understanding depth-dependent plume dynamics beneath mid-ocean ridges is crucial for reconciling the observed discrepancies in buoyancy flux estimates.

How to cite: Liu, S., Zhang, F., Zhao, L., Zhang, X., and Lin, J.: Depth dependence of mantle plume flow beneath mid-ocean ridges, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9504, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9504, 2024.

Mantle plumes play major role in modifying the continental lithosphere producing rifts and massive amounts of basaltic volcanism as the anomalously hot mantle undergoes decompressive melting. If conditions are favourable the rift may widen and a new ocean is formed. During the break up of Eastern Gondwana at ~ 130 Ma, the Kerguelen mantle plume influenced the separation of India from Antarctic and Australian plates and generation of the Eastern Indian Ocean. Eastern India-Bangladesh region (83-94ºE, 21-26ºN) carries imprints of the plume activity in the form of the Rajmahal and Sylhet traps and their subsurface expression in Bengal basin and extensive lamproytes. Existing geophysical studies of the region are mainly crustal scale and do not explicitly refer to the Kerguelen plume activity providing geophysical evidence for the same. We present here lithospheric shear velocity structure of the region up to a depth of ~ 175 km by trans-dimensional Baysian inversion of Rayleigh group velocity dispersion data (7-100s at 1º X 1º resolution). Using the same, we investigate the influence of the Kerguelen plume on the lithosphere of the Eastern India-Bangladesh region that comprises the Eastern India craton, the Bengal basin, the Bhrahmaputra basin, Bangladesh and the Shillong- Mikir plateau.

How to cite: Mullick, N., Kumar, V., Saha, G., Rai, S. S., and Bodin, T.: Influence of the Kerguelen hotspot on eastern Indian lithosphere by trans-dimensional Bayesian inversion of Rayleigh wave dispersion data, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9647, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9647, 2024.

Melt inclusions hosted in highly magnesian olivine crystals have proven invaluable for probing the composition of the mantle through time since their geochemical signature is reflecting that of parental melt. Additionally, the geochemical study of melt inclusions has shown to be more suited to identify the heterogeneity in the magma from which they crystallized, particularly the chemically depleted domains [1, 2]. Here, we will present new major, minor & trace elements, H₂O contents and Sr-isotope signature of more than 300 olivine-hosted naturally quenched melt inclusions from Pu’u Wahi (910 yr-old) and Puʻu Mahana (ca. 50 kyr-old), two ash cones associated with Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano of the Hawai’ian seamount chain. In order to have a high degree of confidence in the geochemical proxies, Sr-isotope and trace elements analyses were conducted through laser ablation split stream (LASS) protocol on top of EPMA and Raman (for H₂O contents) analytical spots. Preliminary results in our new set of inclusions show the presence of high (Sr/Ce)_N inclusions, previously interpreted as indicating either gabbro influence in the source of the plume [3] or interactions between plagioclase-rich cumulates and percolating mantle-derived melts [4]. Further, “ultra-depleted melts”, UDM, indicated by K₂O contents < 0.1 wt.% identified in [1], have also been re-identified in this new set of inclusions (not analyzed for Sr-isotope yet). ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of non-UDM inclusions ranges from 0.70361±0.00025 to 0.70427±0.00025, i.e. analogous to the most recent TIMS values [4, 5]. Additional LASS analyses will be conducted before the meeting. The full set of analyses will be confronted to published results on the same volcano [1, 3-6] and integrated in a larger framework of interactions between mantle plume and consequences for plate tectonic.

References:

• Sobolev, A.V., et al., Nature, 2011. 476(7361).
• Stracke, A., et al., Nature Geoscience, 2019. 12(10).
• Sobolev, A.V., et al., Nature, 2000. 404(6781).
• Anderson, O.E., et al., Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2021. 22(4).
• Reinhard, A., et al., Chemical Geology, 2018. 495.
• Sobolev, A.V., et al., Nature, 2005. 434(7033).

How to cite: Vezinet, A., Barbera, B., Sobolev, A. V., Batanova, V. G., Kazzy, C., and Chugunov, A. V.: Heterogeneous mantle source of Mauna Loa volcano (Hawai’ian plume) revealed by Sr-isotope and trace elements signatures of olivine-hosted melt inclusions, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10288, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10288, 2024.

Pyroxenites are generated by the subduction of sediments and oceanic basalts into the deep mantle. These rocks, together with the larger volume fraction of their surrounding mantle peridotites make up a lithologically heterogeneous two-component mantle, sometimes called a ‘marble-cake’ or ‘plum-pudding’ mantle. Geochemical and petrological observations have shown that pyroxenites play a significant role in the genesis of oceanic island basalts (OIB). However, the consequences of preferential pyroxenite melting on bulk mantle properties have yet to be systematically explored. For example, how does the plume melting process modify a plum-pudding mantle’s bulk density and viscosity? This question could be very important, in particular if the asthenosphere is formed by material from upwelling, melting plumes.

To explore the above questions, we use the thermodynamic software Perple_X to determine densities for different degrees of depleted (i.e. partially melted) peridotites and pyroxenites. We then include these relations into a one-dimensional numerical simulation code for the upwelling and pressure-release melting of a potentially wet multi-component mantle. We investigate the density changes associated with the melting of this idealized mantle’s pyroxenites and peridodites, and also the viscosity change by assuming that the reference viscosity of pyroxenite is 10-100 times that of dry peridotite at similar P-T conditions, since the peridotite’s olivines are the weakest large volume-fraction minerals in the upper mantle. We have explored the effects of mantle temperature, initial water contents, initial fractions of pyroxenites and peridotite, peridotite solidi, and the thickness of the overlying lithosphere which will affect the depth-interval of upwelling and melting. Preliminary results show that significant density and viscosity changes should take place during plume upwelling and melting. ~30% partial melting of pyroxenite would lead to a net bulk density reduction of 0.3%, comparable to the thermal buoyancy associated with a ~100° temperature increase. As long as the surrounding peridotites do not melt, the mixture’s aggregate viscosity will remain that of wet peridotitic mantle; after the peridotites have melted a percent or so, the aggregate viscosity will increase 10-100-fold to that of dry peridotite. This could lead to the formation of a 10-100x asthenospheric viscosity restitic hotspot swell root. Eventual peridotitic melting will reduce the density of the more depleted peridotites relative to fertile peridotite as originally noted by Oxburgh and Parmentier (1977), but to a lesser degree than the density reduction associated with the preferential removal of pyroxenites by their partial melting. A dynamical consequence is that the asthenosphere is likely to be strongly stratified by density, with its most pyroxenite-depleted materials likely to rise to form a layer along the base of the overlying oceanic lithosphere. 

How to cite: Shao, J. and Morgan, J.: The density and viscosity of a bilithologic plume-fed asthenosphere, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10507, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10507, 2024.

The evolution of modern plate tectonics is described by the Wilson cycle, which portrays the dynamics of the supercontinental cycle through the interaction of the oceanic plate with the continental plate over periods of hundreds of millions of years. This cycle is characterized by a phase of supercontinent assembly and enhanced orogenic collision, followed by a phase of supercontinent fragmentation and dispersal, as shown by the geological record. The dynamics of the Wilson cycle is intrinsically linked to mantle convection and subduction dynamics. While the assembly phase appears to follow a degree-2 mantle convection style, the mechanism responsible for supercontinent fragmentation is still debated. We hypothesize that the dispersal phase is mostly governed by trench roll-back from subductions and mantle plumes. To test this hypothesis, we have built a series of 2D and 3D geodynamic models of the Earth on a global scale using the ASPECT code. We have tested different scenarios in which we prescribe the distribution of the supercontinent Rodinia at 1Ga or Pangea at 250 Ma and let the models evolve self-consistently.  In some model variants, the strength of the supercontinent and that of the surrounding oceanic area is changed. We will present our preliminary results and discuss the dynamics of continental dispersal and its link to subduction and mantle dynamics. In particular, 3D models will demonstrate how regional plume-induced retreating subduction zones evolve into a global network of subduction zones and tectonics plate boundaries which ultimately leads to the break-up of the supercontinent.

How to cite: Pons, M., V. Sobolev, S., Jain, C., and Kendall, E.: From plumes to subduction network formation and supercontinent break-up, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10967, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10967, 2024.

While the temperature drop across the thermal boundary layer (TBL) at the base of the mantle is likely > 1000 K, the temperature anomaly of plumes, which are believed to rise from that TBL is only up to a few hundred K. Reasons for that discrepancy are still poorly understood. It could be due to a combination of (1) the adiabat inside the plume being steeper than in the ambient mantle, (2) the plume cooling due to heat diffusing into the surrounding mantle as it rises, (3) the hottest plume temperature representing a mix of temperatures in the TBL, and not the temperature at the core-mantle boundary (CMB), (4) plumes not directly rising from the CMB due to chemically distinct material at the base of the mantle, (5) a plume-fed asthenosphere which is on average warmer than the mantle adiabat, reducing the temperature difference between plumes and asthenospheric average. Here we use the ASPECT software to model plumes from the lowermost mantle and study their excess temperatures. We use a mantle viscosity that depends on temperature and depth with a strong viscosity increase from below the lithosphere towards the lower mantle, reaching about 10²³ Pas above the basal TBL, consistent with geoid modelling and slow motion of mantle plumes. With a mineral physics-derived pyrolite material model, the difference between a plume adiabat and an ambient mantle adiabat just below the lithosphere is about two thirds of that at the base of the mantle, e.g. 1280 K temperature difference at the CMB reduces to about 835 K at 200 km depth. In 2-D cartesian models, plume temperature drops more strongly and is rather time variable due to pulses rising along plume conduits. In contrast, 3-D models of isolated plumes are more steady and, after about 10-20 Myr after the plume head has reached the surface, their temperatures remain rather constant, with excess temperature drop compared to an adiabat for material directly from the CMB usually less than 100 K. This extra temperature drop is small because plume buoyancy flux is high. Hence the above points (2) and (3) do not contribute much to reduce temperature of isolated 3-D plumes. In our models, the asthenosphere is on average about 200-400 K hotter than the mantle beneath, due to plume material feeding into it. While this appears to reduce the plume temperature anomaly, a resulting cooler mantle adiabat also corresponds to an even stronger temperature drop in the basal TBL, offsetting that effect. In the Earth, plumes are likely triggered by slabs and probably rise preferrably above the margins of chemically distinct piles. This could lead to reduced excess temperatures, if plumes are more sheet-like, as the 2-D models, or temperature at their source depth is less than at the CMB.

How to cite: Steinberger, B. and Roy, P.: Why are plume excess temperatures much less than the temperature drop across the core-mantle boundary?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11566, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11566, 2024.

Much has been learned about the deep Earth through a combination of geophysical constraints, theories of Earth’s formation, and seismic measurements. However, such methods alone cannot directly resolve the full structure of the inner Earth, e.g. in terms of matter density, composition and temperature distributions.

Complementary information about Earth’s interior can be provided by small, nearly massless elementary particles called neutrinos that propagate through the Earth. Neutrinos exist in different flavours and are known to experience a quantum phenomenon of flavour oscillation as they propagate. With an extremely small chance of interacting with matter, neutrinos can travel long distances through very dense materials (e.g., the Earth’s core). For atmospheric neutrinos of energy ~GeV crossing the Earth, the flavour oscillation patterns are distorted due to coherent forward scattering on electrons along their path. Measuring the flavour, energy and angular distributions of such neutrinos therefore provides sensitivity to a new observable of geophysical interest: the electron number density in the layers of matter traversed.

After a short introduction to the concepts of neutrino oscillation tomography, we will discuss the potential of this method to address open questions concerning inner Earth's structure and composition (such as the amount of light elements in the core and the nature of LLSVPs), the status of sensitivity studies, and the perspectives opened by the next generation of atmospheric neutrino detectors.

How to cite: Van Elewyck, V., Coelho, J., Deniz Hernandez, Y. A., Durand, S., Fuji, N., Kaminski, E., Maderer, L., Mittelstaedt, E., and Pestes, R.: Prospects of Neutrino Oscillation Tomography of the Earth , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11719, 2024.

The Rajmahal Traps is one of the two major Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) that erupted in the Indian subcontinent in the Mesozoic. The trap was the product of activity at the Kerguelen hotspot, located in the Indian Ocean, that initiated around 117 Ma. Earlier studies on the eruption location of the Rajmahal trap show that its location does not coincide with the present-day location of the Kerguelen Hotspot. This difference in the paleo-locations could be the result of mantle dynamics beneath the Indian Ocean during the Cretaceous and has been explained with concepts such as the multiple diapir-single plume model, the migration pathway of the hotspot beneath the mantle, and the complex plume-ridge interaction.

In this study, we use paleogeographic reconstruction software GPlates to reconstruct the paleogeography of the Rajmahal Traps on the Indian subcontinent plate in an Antarctica fixed reference frame since 117 Ma to pin-point the paleo-location of the Kerguelen hotspot and eruption location of the Rajmahal trap along with the tectonic changes that the Indian Ocean was encountering. The mantle structure below the Indian Ocean was further studied using publicly available P-wave tomography data. The paleogeographic reconstruction linked to the mantle structure hints towards the presence of a tree-like hotspot-plume structure beneath the Kerguelen hotspot where a deep-seated single plume feeds into various fissures at the surface which are active at different points in time.

Our kinematic analysis for the Indian Plate reveals significant changes in the velocity of the plate since the Cretaceous at specific points in time in response to tectonic activities initiated by the plumes present in the Indian Ocean. These activities that link to changes in the velocity include interactions with the Morondova plume (velocity increase at 90 Ma) and Reunion hotspot (velocity increase between 78 – 62 Ma), and other processes like continental collision (velocity decrease at 56 Ma and between 50-43 Ma) and slab pull (velocity increase at 56 Ma). Using this new velocity profile, we have developed a revised velocity model for the drift of the Indian subcontinent since the Cretaceous.

How to cite: Guleriya, S., Beniest, A., and Tiwari, S. K.: Change in eruption location in Kerguelen hotspot and Kinematic Reconstruction of Rajmahal Trap:  Implications for Cretaceous to present day Geodynamics of Indian plate, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11883, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11883, 2024.

W. Jason Morgan’s seminal development of plate tectonic theory set the foundation for current investigations of mantle convection and the nature of deep mantle plumes. More recently, hotspots have been proposed to occur at the edges of stationary African and Pacific large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) and that this has a special significance in terms of plume/hotspot generation. The basis for this proposed global correlation has in turn been challenged, and whether LLSVPs edges are the sites of initial mantle plume formation debated. A different approach is to consider hotspots with the greatest buoyancy flux because to be successful, any global model should be able to explain their origin. In all analyses of buoyancy flux, the Pacific’s Hawaiian hotspot, which figured prominently in Jason’s early papers, stands out above all others. However, paleomagnetic and age-distance relationships indicate that the Hawaiian hotspot originated >1500 km N of the Pacific LLSVP and subsequently drifted to its edge where it may have become anchored. The hotspot with the highest buoyancy flux in the Atlantic is Iceland, which is far from the African LLSVP. Iceland represents the youngest of three past episodes of extraordinary volcanism affecting the North Atlantic-Arctic region, namely the North Atlantic Tertiary Volcanic Province, the High Arctic Large Igneous Province, and the Siberian Traps. This recurrent volcanism spanning more than 250 million years requires either drift of a single pulsing plume, or separate plumes, generated far from the edge of the proposed stationary African LLSVP. Thus, the nature and histories of these robust hotspots in the Pacific and Atlantic imply an origin distinct from stationary LLSVPs.  

How to cite: Tarduno, J.: Robust hotspot origin far from LLSVP margins, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12584, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12584, 2024.

The rate of ocean-crust production exerts control over mantle heat loss, sea level, seawater chemistry, and climate. Reconstructing ocean-crust production rates back in time relies heavily on the distribution of present-day seafloor age. Different strategies to account for the incomplete preservation of older seafloor have led to differing conclusions about how much production rates have changed since the Cretaceous, if at all. We have constructed a new global synthesis of ocean-crust production rates along 18 mid-ocean ridges for the past 19 Myr at high temporal resolution.  We find that the global ocean-crust production rate decreased by ~37% from its maximum during 19-15 Ma to its minimum during 6-4 Ma. Our ability to resolve these changes at a statistically significant level is due to the availability of many new plate reconstructions at high temporal resolution and our use of an astronomically calibrated magnetic time scale with small uncertainties in reversal ages. We show that the reduction in crust production occurred because spreading rates slowed down along almost all ridge systems. While the total ridge length has varied little since 19 Ma, some fast-spreading ridges have grown shorter and slow-spreading ridges grown longer, amplifying the spreading-rate changes. The change in crust production rate skews the seafloor area-age distribution toward older crust, and we estimate that sea level may have fallen by as much as 32-37 m and oceanic heat flow may have been reduced by 6%. We also show, using a simple model of the carbon cycle, that the inferred changes in tectonic degassing resulting from the crust-production changes can account for the majority of long-term surface-temperature evolution since 19 Ma.

How to cite: Dalton, C., Herbert, T., Wilson, D., and Si, W.: Changes in the Rate of Ocean Crust Production Over the Past 19 Myr: Implications for Sea Level, Mantle Heat Loss, and Climate, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13570, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13570, 2024.

Laboratory and numerical experiments and boundary layer analysis of the entrainment of buoyant asthenosphere by subducting oceanic lithosphere (cf. Morgan et al., Terra Nova, 2007) implies that slab entrainment is likely to be relatively inefficient at removing a buoyant and lower viscosity asthenosphere layer. Such asthenosphere would instead be mostly removed by accretion into overlying oceanic lithosphere, both at mid-ocean ridges where a ~60-km compositional lithosphere forms due to the melt-induced dehydration of upwelling peridotitic mantle, and later with the thermal growth of  overlying oceanic lithosphere. When an oceanic plate subducts, the lower (hot) side of a subducting slab entrains a 10– 30 km-thick downdragged layer, whose thickness depends upon the subduction rate and the density contrast and viscosity of the asthenosphere, while the upper (cold) side of the slab may entrain as much by thermal ‘freezing’ onto the slab as by mechanical downdragging.  

Here we use 2-D numerical experiments to investigate the dynamics of entrainment and counterflow at subduction zones. We explore situations with both stable subduction geometries and slab rollback. Due to its low viscosity, a plume-fed asthenosphere is particularly likely to be stratified in its internal density, with variable amounts of plume melt-extraction leading to variable pyroxenite fractions and associated vertical density stratification within a bilithologic ~80-90% peridotite, ~10-20% pyroxenite asthenosphere. While this type of vertical density stratification appears to lead to similar predicted entrainment by subducting slabs, it will generate more complex patterns of asthenospheric counterflow that involve shallower and time-dependent counterflow behind the subducting slab.

How to cite: Li, X., Shao, J., Wang, G., Shi, Y., and Morgan, J.: Counterflow and entrainment within a buoyant plume-fed asthenosphere, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13786, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13786, 2024.

Nickel-Copper (Ni-Cu) sulphide deposits are a diverse class of deposits, formed during the cooling and crystallisation of metal-rich mafic to ultramafic magmas. Despite sharing several key ore-forming processes, many of these deposits form in contrasting geologic environments and periods. The objective of this research project is to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of Ni-Cu sulphide deposits in a mantle convection and plate tectonic context, and to explore the influence of different mantle and tectonic parameters on their origins and occurrence. We first determine the location of these deposits in relation to relevant geologic and tectonic features through time, including subduction zones, large igneous provinces (LIPs), and mantle plumes. Using a 1 billion year plate model we extract key parameters relating to subduction, as well as the spatio-temporal distribution of LIPs through time. Employing an associated geodynamic model, we identify model mantle plumes and quantify their key properties. Preliminary findings indicate that certain mantle plumes associated with deposits exhibit increased plume flux in the upper mantle preceding deposit formation, and that many deposits are spatially associated with LIPs throughout their formation history. For several deposits located in convergent margin settings, we have identified a notable spike in subduction volume and convergence rate during a 50-100 million year period prior to the onset of mineralisation. While the angle of the subducting slab is highly variable throughout the evolution of these deposits, several deposits are associated with a distinct steepening of the subducting plate in the lead-up to deposit formation. The findings of this study aim to contribute new insights into the dynamic processes governing the genesis of magmatic Ni-Cu sulphide deposits. These insights aid in our understanding of the interplay between mantle dynamics, plate tectonics, and deposit formation, and hold implications for future critical mineral exploration.

How to cite: Page, I., Mather, B. R., Januszczak, N., Anthony, M., and Muller, R. D.: Understanding Ni-Cu Sulphide Deposits in a Plate Tectonic and Mantle Convection Context, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13826, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13826, 2024.

The plate ‘interface’ at subduction zones has often been idealized as a single fault with ‘asperities’, however there is increasing evidence that plate boundary motions typically occur across a ~100-1000m channel or shear zone. Here we investigate the dynamics of slip in a mechanically heterogeneous plate boundary shear zone, and will typically use periodic boundary conditions to model the channel at a ~m-scale.  In contrast to most previous numerical studies, we imagine that this shear zone is embedded within finite strength wall-rock associated with the downgoing and overriding plates that themselves are capable of subduction-related deformation, for example during bend-faulting of the lower-plate or a forearc deformation event. We first look at how stress-concentrations can form by the clogging of strong blocks in a channel with a weaker matrix. We find that the strength of the surrounding wall-rock will play a key role in the channel’s response to a clogging event. In general, a clogging event can be mitigated by failure of surrounding relatively weak wallrock along the edges of a subduction channel in the conceptual process put forward by von Huene et al. (2004) to drive basal erosion of the forearc. We also consider cases where metamorphic transitions have led to the existence of weaker blocks within a stronger matrix. In this case, frequent tremor-like failure of the weak blocks can coexist with rarer earthquake failure of the stronger surrounding matrix.  Finally we explore the mechanical effects of channel widening and narrowing events that will invariably lead to a component of local pressure-driven flow within a subduction shear channel. Numerical snapshots and videos are used to visualize these potential modes of subduction shear zone deformation.

How to cite: Wang, G., P. Morgan, J., and Vannucchi, P.: Numerical exploration of the dynamics of the subduction plate boundary channel , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13939, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13939, 2024.

Both dynamic topography and seismic tomography have played crucial roles in providing invaluable insights into the Earth's interior structure and geological processes. Here we explore to what degree dynamic topography within ocean and back-arc basins can be correlated with the upper mantle seismic structure that has been imaged in recent high-resolution global models.

To explore the global ocean dynamic topography associated with subsurface mantle convection, we need to remove the influences of known contributing factors to seafloor relief such as the cooling of the ocean floor and the thickness of the ocean crust and sediments. We developed a series of scripts in PyGMT and MATLAB to do this, based on seafloor ages in GPLATES and sediment/crust information in CRUST1.0. With these corrections for near-surface structure, we obtained global average residual-depth values that serve as a basis for analyzing global subsurface structures linked to the asthenosphere and upper mantle, which we then compare to the vertically averaged shear-wave seismic structure above the transition zone. Our preliminary study highlights that the significant ~km-difference in dynamic topography between the Philippine back-arc basin and the Lau-Tonga backarc appear to be linked to a major difference in asthenosphere thickness and density beneath these two regions.

How to cite: Qiu, J., Padavini, N., Vannucchi, P., and Morgan, J.: Using Dynamic Topography and Seismic Tomography to explore the compensation of seafloor in oceanic and back-arc basins, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14528, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14528, 2024.

Chemical diffusion in the mantle has typically been viewed to play a negligible role in geodynamic processes.  However, diffusion rates for water (H) and helium (He) are large enough that they lead to observable differences between pyroxenite-rich melting associated with ocean island volcanism (OIB) and more peridotite-rich melting associated with mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). Laboratory measurements of diffusion rates of H and He at ambient mantle temperatures in olivine are of order ~10 km/1.7Gyr for He and ~250 km/1.7 Gyr for H. If the mantle is an interlayered mixture of recycled oceanic basalts and sediments surrounded by a much larger volume of residual peridotites, then chemical diffusion can shape the mantle in two important ways.  Hydrogen will tend to migrate from peridotites into adjacent pyroxenites, because clinopyroxene has a much stronger affinity for water than the olivine and orthopyroxene that form the bulk of mantle peridotites. Therefore pyroxenite lithologies will typically have twice or more the water content of their surrounding damp peridotites. This will strongly favor the enhanced melting of pyroxenites that is now mostly agreed to be a common feature of the OIB source. Radiogenic ⁴He will have the opposite behaviour — it will tend to migrate from where it is produced in recycled incompatible-element-rich (e.g. U and Th-rich) pyroxenites into nearby, larger volume fraction, but U+Th-poorer peridotites, while the radioisotopes of Ar and Ne that are also produced by the decay of the incompatible elements K, U, and Th will diffuse much less, and thus remain within their original pyroxenite source.  This effect leads to lower ⁴He/²¹Ne and ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar ratios in OIB in comparison to the predicted values based on the mantle’s bulk geochemistry, and complementary higher ⁴He/²¹Ne and ⁴He/⁴⁰Ar ratios in the MORB source that is formed by the plume-fed asthenospheric residues to OIB melt extraction at plumes.

 The recent observation of a 150-km-deep positive shear velocity gradient (PVG) beneath non-cratonic lithosphere (Hua et al., 2023) is further evidence for the initiation of pyroxenitic melting at this depth within the asthenosphere. It also implies that lateral temperature variations at this depth are quite small, of order +/- 75°C. This near uniformity of temperatures near both mantle plumes and mid-ocean ridges is, in turn, strong evidence in favor of the hypothesis that the asthenosphere is fed by mantle plumes. We propose that two filtering effects occur as plumes feed the asthenosphere, removing both the hottest and coldest parts of upwelling plume material. First, the peridotite fraction in the hottest part of upwelling plume material melts enough for it to dehydrate, thereby transforming this fraction into a more viscous and buoyant hotspot swell root that moves with the overlying plate, not as asthenosphere. Second, since plume material is warmer than average mantle, it is more buoyant, creating a natural density filter that prevents any cooler underlying mantle from upwelling through it. These rheological and density filters make the asthenosphere sampled by melting at mid-ocean ridges have a more uniform temperature than its typical underlying mantle.

How to cite: Morgan, J. P. and Morgan, W. J.: H, He, and seismic evidence for a bilithologic plume-fed asthenosphere , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-16479, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16479, 2024.

Meimechite (i.e., rare high MgO and TiO₂ ultramafic rocks) concluded the Permo-Triassic Trap magmatism ca. 250 Ma-ago, known as a Siberian Large Igneous Province (SLIP) in the Meimecha-Kotui region, northern Siberia (e.g. [1]). In addition to their elevated MgO contents, meimechite’s melts display almost no crustal contamination, making them ideally suited to investigate the mantle source of the SLIP. Formerly, two opposing models were evoked for the origination of the meimechite: i) the hottest phanerozoic mantle plume [1] or ii) water fluxing of the asthenospheric mantle in a long-lived subduction zone [2]. Based on an extended analytical workflow we will shed new light on the source of these unusual rocks.

Here we present new results for more than 300 olivine-hosted homogenized melt inclusions from Siberian meimechite including major, minor and trace elements, water and Sr-isotopes contents (EPMA, LA-ICP-MS and Raman spectrometry) along with the chemical composition of their host olivine (EPMA, LA-ICP-MS). When encountered, spinel inclusions were analysed by EPMA for major element abundances.

We show that the Siberian meimechite crystallised from a highly magnesian (MgO > 22 wt%) parental melt deficient in H₂O compared to Ce and K concentrations, which was degassed of most of its CO₂ and likely part of its H₂O while rising to shallower depths. Three independent geothermometers (Mg-Fe and Sc-Y olivine melt and Al olivine-spinel) confirm the high crystallisation temperature of the Siberian meimechite, ca. 1400^oC. Furthermore, the calculated potential temperatures (over 1500^oC) imply a mantle plume origin of the Siberian meimechite and, consequently, of the SLIP.

Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of melt inclusions reveal heterogeneous populations ranging from 0.7022±0.0002 to 0.7039±0.0004 suggesting mixing between at least two depleted mantle components. The less depleted group has an average Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) model age of 876±88 Ma, whereas the more depleted group is significantly older with an average model age of 1716±76 Ma. All source components display significantly fractionated proxies of continental crust extraction (Nb/U, Th/U and Ce/Pb [3]), indicating major events of continental crustal formation and deep recycling of residual lithosphere before the Proterozoic Eon.

References:

[1] – Sobolev, A.V., et al., Russ. Geol. Geophys., 2009 and references therein. [2] – Ivanov, A.V., et al., Chem. Geol., 2018. [3]- Hofmann, A.W. et al. EPSL, 1986.

How to cite: Esteban, M., Sobolev, A., Batanova, V., Vezinet, A., Asafov, E., and Krasheninnikov, S.: Insight into the formation of the Siberian Large Igneous Province: A study of olivine-hosted melt inclusion in meimechite, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17078, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17078, 2024.

Our understanding of plate tectonics and mantle convection has made significant progress in recent decades, yet the specific impact of mantle plumes on plate tectonics remains a topic of controversy. The motions of the Earth’s lithosphere serves as a powerful lens into the dynamic behavior of the asthenosphere and deeper mantle, helping to untangle such controversies. Surface observations, therefore, provide important constraints on mantle convection patterns through space/time. Among these observations, the record of plate motion changes stands out, as it enables the geographical identification of torque sources. Consequently, surface observations provide essential constraints for theoretical models and numerical simulations.

The analytical Poiseuille flow model applied to upper mantle flux in the asthenosphere offers a robust and testable prediction: Poiseuille flow induced plate motion changes should coincide with regional scale mantle convection induced elevation changes. Mantle plumes can generate such pressure driven flows, along with intraplate magmatism and induce buoyancy-driven uplift that leaves an imprint in the sedimentary record.

Here, I will present a synthesis of geological and geophysical observations, supported by analytical calculations, to illustrate that a significant number of plate motion changes can be attributed primarily to torques originating from mantle plumes.

How to cite: Stotz, I. L., Vilacís, B., Hayek, J. N., Carena, S., Friedrich, A., and Bunge, H.-P.: The Influence of Mantle Plumes on Plate Tectonics, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17341, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17341, 2024.

Models depicting the plate kinematic development of the Indian Ocean have a range of applications including in paleogeographic studies and in formulating and testing ideas about plume/plate interactions. Until now, these applications have been forced to tolerate egregious model/observation inconsistencies concerning the relative motion history of India and Madagascar. Whilst the Phanerozoic record of these motions begins with ∼90 Ma basalts that erupted along a narrow rift basin, all modern plate kinematic models for the Indian Ocean predict hundreds of kilometres of relative motions, in diverse and conflicting senses, over several tens of millions of years prior to the eruptions. The diversity of these predicted motions suggests they are artefacts that arise from differing approaches taken to modelling the development of the eastern and western parts of the ocean, rather than a reflection of insufficient or absent geological observations. In this contribution, I present a new model for the early plate kinematic development of the Indian Ocean that is constrained by observational evidence for relative plate motion azimuths in the Enderby and western Bay of Bengal basins and by explicitly maintaining a rigid mid- and early Cretaceous Indo-Malagasy body. This approach requires the model to feature two small tectonic plates between the continental margins of eastern India and East Antarctica. The older of the two, Mandara, is an intraoceanic plate in the Enderby Basin that may have formed in relation to delivery of excess melt from the Kerguelen plume to the basin's mid-ocean ridge. The younger plate, Vasuki, in the western Bay of Bengal Basin, also accommodated plume-related melt at its boundaries, in its case from the Marion and possibly also the Crozet plume. The model shows this plate transporting Sri Lanka ∼800 km southwards along the eastern Indian continental margin to its present location. The model also requires the presence of around half a million square kilometres of continental crust beneath the Kerguelen Plateau, which lies within the range of published observation-led estimates of its extent. Neither the absence of evidence for relative motions between India and Madagascar prior to ∼90 Ma, nor the modelled Euler rotation pole's location afterwards, are consistent with suggestions that traction forces related to the ascent of the Marion plume drove the mid-Cretaceous onset of subduction in the western Neotethys.

How to cite: Eagles, G.: A new model of plate kinematics describing the early development of the Indian Ocean, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17862, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17862, 2024.

Most volcanic activity on Earth is linked to well-known processes like plate tectonics and mantle plumes, typically through mechanisms such as flux-melting in subduction zones and decompression-melting at ridges and mantle plumes. However, recent discoveries point to a different origin for some intraplate volcanism, a key example being 'Petit-Spots'—small volcanic mounds that erupt on incoming plates near subduction zones. Here we propose that flexural pumping, occurring as the subducting slab unbends, transports fluids released by intra-slab dehydration to the slab's base where these fluids induce flux-melting in the warm slab base and asthenosphere beneath the slab. Counterflow in the buoyant asthenosphere beneath the subducting plate further expands the region of petit-spot volcanism. This mechanism not only explains the origin of petit-spot volcanism but also suggests a broader conceptual model for generating low-degree melts in the oceanic asthenosphere.

How to cite: Vannucchi, P., Shi, Y., Yang, T., Fujie, G., and Morgan, J. P.: Flexural Pumping and the Origins of Petit-Spot Volcanism, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18017, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18017, 2024.

The extensive Paleocene magmatism of the British and Irish Tertiary Igneous Province (BITIP)—a part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP)—was accompanied by significant uplift and exhumation, as evidenced by geothermochronological and other data. The enigmatic origins of the volcanism and uplift are debated. The Iceland Hotspot reached the North Atlantic at that time and could probably supply anomalously hot asthenospheric material to the volcanic areas of NAIP, but they were scattered over a broad area thousands of kilometres across. This motivates alternative, non-plume explanations.

Here, we obtain a map of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) depth in the region using thermodynamic inversion of seismic surface-wave data. Love and Rayleigh phase velocity maps in broad period ranges were computed using optimal resolution tomography with direct model error estimation and supplied the data for the inversion.

Our results reveal a consistently thinner-than-average lithosphere beneath the Irish Sea and surroundings, encompassing northern Ireland and western Scotland and Wales. The Paleocene uplift, BITIP volcanism and crustal underplating are all located in the same regions, which are underlain, consistently, by anomalously thin lithosphere.

The previously unknown lithospheric anomalies we discover yield a new insight into how the Iceland Plume could cause volcanism scattered over the vast NAIP. Plume material is likely to have flowed into pre-existing areas of thin continental lithosphere, whose thickness was then reduced further by the erosion by the hot asthenosphere. The thinning of the lithosphere and the presence of hot asthenosphere beneath it can account for the uplift, volcanism and crustal underplating. The localisation of the plume material in scattered thin-lithosphere areas, such as the circum-Irish-Sea region, can explain the wide scatter of the volcanic fields of NAIP.

How to cite: Bonadio, R., Lebedev, S., Chew, D., Xu, Y., and Fullea, J.: How could a single Iceland Plume produce the widely scattered North Atlantic Igneous Province volcanism? New clues from Britain and Ireland., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18296, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18296, 2024.

The X-discontinuity at 300 km beneath the Hawaiian hotspot has been hypothesized to require at least 40% basalt, a figure that would far exceed the plume's buoyancy and thus be irreconcilable with initial entrainments.
We had previously explored the potential for large basalt accumulations to form over time by simulating a section of the plume conduit, with known quantities of basaltic material flowing in as discrete heterogeneities. For entrainments of 10-20%, we had estimated average accumulations of 20-25% at ~300 km depth.
While this simplified setting recreated segregation of the denser material, it did not feature a realistic plume. On the other hand, employing mechanical mixture compositions hamper quantitative analyses of the recycled basalt.

I have overcome this issue by developing a novel implementation to the ASPECT code.
My advancement features a mechanical mixture composition (82% harzburgite — 18% basalt) for both the background mantle and the plume. The recycled material is then added to the self-consistent rising plume in the form of compositionally distinct basaltic heterogeneities. By combining these two approaches, I was able to successfully reproduce and quantify material segregation while keeping an accurate plume composition.

Preliminary results, conducted in a 2000 km * 1000 km 2D domain, with entrainments of 10-20%, and a maximum resolution of 0.98 km in the heterogeneities, show average basalt accumulations of 20-22% around 300 km depth. Occasional, transient peaks at 31% and 35% can be observed for plumes incorporating 15% basalt. Over the model time (20 Ma), the denser material tends to sink between 360-660 km depth, generating large average accumulations of 35-40%. 

This new strategy not only opens promising scenarios by overcoming long-standing model limitations, but also reinforces the potential for mantle plumes to accumulate more denser material than classically thought, shedding further light on the controversial link between the X-discontinuity and the Hawaiian plume activity.

How to cite: Monaco, M.: A Novel Implementation to Simulate Basalt Segregation in the Hawaiian Mantle Plume Overcomes Model Limitations and Elucidates the Origin of the X-discontinuity, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18845, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18845, 2024.

Classic models of continental rifting predict that after continental break-up, the extended lithosphere returns to its original thermal state (McKenzie, 1978). At this time, the heat-flow should decrease from the proximal margin sectors, where the radiogenic crust is still relatively thick, towards its distal sectors, where the crust has extensively thin and the thermal lithosphere thickness approximates that of the adjacent untinned continental lithosphere. This should occur after approximately ~50 Myr for 120 km thick continental lithosphere (McKenzie, 1978). Although, good quality heat flow data is very scarce along margins, some of them, such as the Voring basin, show instead increasing heat flow towards the distal margin sectors ~60 Myr after break-up (Cunha et al., 2021). Recent numerical models have suggested, instead, that the lithosphere under the hyper-extended continental margins, does actually not return towards its original thermal thickness, instead it acquires a thickness which is similar to that of the adjacent plate, resulting in higher heat-flow towards the distal margins at ~80-100 Myr after break-up (Perez-Gussinye et al., 2023). In those models, the delay in thermal relaxation under the hyper-extended margins is caused by small-scale convections cells, a process which also prevents the oceanic lithosphere to infinitely cool and is responsible for the flattening of the oceanic bathymetry at old ages. Interestingly, the models show that the delay in thermal relaxation under both the hyper-extended rifted margins and the old oceanic crust increases with decreasing rifting and spreading velocity, such that is most obvious in ultra-slow margins and adjacent oceanic basins (Perez-Gussinye et al., 2023). Here we use updated 2D numerical models which include the thermal consequences of serpentinisation, melting and melt emplacement to understand the thermal evolution of oceanic plates and compare the resulting plate structure, heat-flow and bathymetry with the observations from seismic LAB structure, and global heat-flow and bathymetry databases.

References

Cunha, T.A., Rasmussen, H., Villinger, H. and Akinwumiju, A.A., 2021. Burial and Heat Flux Modelling along a Southern Vøring Basin Transect: Implications for the Petroleum Systems and Thermal Regimes in the Deep Mid-Norwegian Sea. Geosciences, 11(5), p.190.

McKenzie, D., 1978. Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins. Earth and Planetary science letters, 40(1), pp.25-32.

Pérez-Gussinyé, M., Xin, Y., Cunha, T., Ram, R., Andrés-Martínez, M., Dong, D. and García-Pintado, J., 2024. Synrift and postrift thermal evolution of rifted margins: a re-evaluation of classic models of extension. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 547(1), pp.SP547-2023.

How to cite: Gudipati, R. R., Pérez-Gussinyé, M., and García-Pintado, J.: Influence of small-scale convection on the cooling of oceanic lithosphere at slow and fast spreading ridges, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19459, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19459, 2024.

The western North American margin records multiple phases of rifting and convergence, resulting from the interaction between western Laurentia, rifted continental fragments, and intra-oceanic terranes originating in the Panthalassa and Pacific oceanic plates. Quantitative plate reconstructions of this margin have prioritised diverging interpretations regarding the subduction polarities of eastern Panthalassa terranes during Jurassic to Cretaceous times. These discrepancies arise from the reliance on either seismic tomography or surface geology as the first-order constraint for determining subduction polarity. We present an updated tectonic reconstruction for western North America from the Devonian to present day. In this new model, we reconcile geological histories based on surface geology, geochronology, paleomagnetism and isotopic data, with interpretations of seismic tomography. The new reconstructions account for the tectonic evolution of the Alaska orocline, western Canada and western United States (US) and south-western (SW) North America, which have not been implemented in detail in previous tectonic models. Our model suggests that most of the terranes of western North America were rifted off Laurentia and Baltica during Devonian to Triassic extension and trench-retreat. Following back-arc rifting and opening, many of the terranes (e.g. Insular, Intermontane, Angayucham) experienced an intra-oceanic phase before accreting to the continental margin of North America at different times, between Early Triassic to Late Cretaceous times. The model illustrates the collision of the Angayucham Terrane, counterclockwise rotation and orocline formation in Alaska during the middle Jurassic. In western US and SW North America, the model showcases Jurassic to Cretaceous extension and rifting. Extension starts first in western US (170-145 Ma) and is then propagated south, causing the opening of the Bisbee Basin (161-105 Ma). The model also captures the Late Cretaceous collision of the Insular Terrane, which triggered transpression, terrane translation for thousands of kilometers and clockwise rotation in western US during Late Cretaceous to Paleogene times. Our updated model highlights the importance of surface geology in constraining the polarity of ancient subduction zones interpreted from seismic tomography.

How to cite: Rodriguez Corcho, A. F., Zahirovic, S., Anthony, M., Tarkyth, D., Alfonso, C., Seton, M., Muller, D., Eglington, B., and Tikoff, B.: The tectonic evolution of the western North American margin since the Devonian, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19570, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19570, 2024.

Geodynamicists have long proposed that mantle convection creates dynamic topography — a long-wavelength, low-amplitude signal extending beyond plate tectonics. This predicts transient vertical Earth surface movement of 1–2 km across thousands of horizontal kilometers at any location, including continental interiors. Despite these claims, experts working on local observations, using the multitude of high-resolution geological, sedimentological, and geomorphological data, face challenges in finding clear evidence to unequivocally support dynamic models of whole mantle convection, including the plume mode. Moreover, regional-scale stratigraphic techniques, such as sequence stratigraphy, which enabled hydrocarbon exploration, invoke unconformities on multiple scales but, from their far-field perspective, render correlation to distinct geodynamic events difficult.

To circumvent this scaling and correlation problem, I propose to reverse the stratigraphic perspective to an outwards-directed view. This approach requires a theoretical geodynamic framework and the identification of tectonic events (center, near field), such as magmatic arcs, flood basalts, or uplifted domes, followed by outward-directed geological mapping of regional-scale stratigraphic unconformities —predicted by theory— to distal regions. This approach is analogous to the way in which paleoseismologists examine so-called event horizons, i.e., unconformities in the stratigraphic record adjacent to fault scarps that preserve a record of the Earth's surface at the time of earthquake rupture.

This event-based stratigraphic mapping method (EVENT-STRAT) enables analysis of geological events on geological maps compiled at regional to continental scales. The technique connects local work into a continent-scale framework, allowing identification of transient patterns related to dynamic mantle-derived events. The EVENT-STRAT mapping method is designed to visualize geological effects resulting from both the plate and the plume mode of mantle convection. The toolbox consists of the hiatus mapping method (Friedrich 2019, Geological Magazine) and the event-based stratigraphic framework mapping (e.g., Friedrich et al. 2018, Gondwana Research). The upcoming EVENT-STRAT mapping method involves multiple polygonal stacking to analyze various stratigraphic event horizons, such as hiatus surfaces and unconformities. The most significant current challenge is to add the high-precision stratigraphic data compiled on local chronostratigraphic charts to continent-scale geological maps. This effort requires the attention of geological surveys on international scales seeking to compile theory-based geodynamic-stratigraphic parameters on the next generation of global and continent-scale geological maps.

How to cite: Friedrich, A. M.: Geodynamic Stratigraphy — Defining the Need for Mapping Strategies to link Models of Mantle Dynamics to Surface Processes on Geological Scales, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19837, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19837, 2024.

Redox state of parental magma would have undergone significant changes from partial melting in the mantle to emplacement in the shallow crust, which might play a critical role in the genesis of magmatic Ni-Cu sulfide deposits in convergent tectonic settings. In this study, we present mineralogy, petrology, and fO₂ calculations of the Xiarihamu Ni-Cu deposit and the Shitoukengde non-mineralized intrusion in the East Kunlun orogenic belt. Olivine-spinel pairs in different magmatic stages were chosen to estimate the magma fO₂ (olivine-spinel oxybarometer), track the changes in oxygen fugacity during magmatic evolution, and reveal its influence on the metallogenic mechanism of the Ni-Cu sulfide deposit. Spinel Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios determined by a secondary standard calibration method using electron microprobe. Those ratios of the Xiarihamu Ni-Cu deposit vary from 0.32±0.09 to 0.12±0.01, corresponding to magma fO₂ values ranging from ΔQFM+2.2±1.0 to ΔQFM-0.6±0.2. By contrast, those of the Shitoukengde mafic-ultramafic intrusion increase from 0.07±0.02 to 0.23±0.04, corresponding to magma fO₂ varying from ΔQFM-1.3±0.3 to ΔQFM+1.0±0.5. A positive correlation between fO₂ and Cr-spinel Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios suggests that the Cr-spinel Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios can be used as an indicator for magma fO₂. The high fO₂ (QFM+2.2) of the harzburgite in the Xiarihamu Ni-Cu deposit suggests that the most primitive magma was characterized by relatively oxidized conditions, and then became reduced during magmatic evolution, causing S saturation and sulfide segregation to form the Xiarihamu Ni-Cu deposit. The evolution trend of the magma fO₂ can be reasonably explained by metasomatism in mantle source by subduction-related fluid and addition of external reduced sulfur from country gneisses (1.08–1.14 wt.% S) during crustal processes. Conversely, the primitive magma of the Shitoukengde intrusion was reduced and gradually became oxidized (from QFM-1.3 to QFM+1.0) during crystallization. Fractional crystallization of large amounts of Cr-spinel can reasonably explain the increasing magma fO₂ during magmatic evolution, which would hamper sulfide precipitation in the Shitoukengde intrusion. We propose that the temporal evolution of oxygen fugacity of the mantle-derived magma can be used as one of the indicators for evaluating metallogenic potential of Ni-Cu sulfide deposits, and reduction processes from mantle source to shallow crust play an important role in the genesis of magmatic Ni-Cu sulfide deposits.

How to cite: Jia, L., Chen, Y., Su, B., Mao, Q., and Zhang, D.:  Oxygen-fugacity evolution of magmatic Ni-Cu sulfide deposits in East Kunlun: Insights from Cr-spinel composition , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-103, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-103, 2024.

Petrological investigations of large alkaline provinces with carbonatites are very important to understanding the generation and evolution of alkaline melts, as well as processes provided generation of related ore deposits. Most often, generation of large alkaline massifs with carbonatites accompanied by intrusion of related ultramafic alkaline and related alkaline-ultramafic melts as dykes swarms and explosive pipes. These melts could be generated on the initial stages of magmatic activities of alkaline province magmatism, or fix the final stages of alkaline magmatism, after the formation of large alkaline massifs with carbonatites. Studying of these melts could provide insights into the composition of primary melts for large alkaline province, as well as understanding their evolution during magmatic activities. Moreover, the latest melts forming dykes and explosive pipes could provide information about the evolution of the mantle source of these rocks including of processes of lithospheric mantle transformations (enrichment, depleting, mantle metasomatism etc.).

The Kola alkaline province (KAP) with carbonatites is a good natural laboratory for investigation petrology of alkaline melts and their evolutions. KAP includes large alkaline massifs with carbonatites, the early dyke swarms of ultramafic and alkaline lamprophyres and late explosive pipes of the alkaline rocks (Arzamastsev et al., 2005). To investigate the composition of alkaline melts at the late stages of the province's magmatic activity, we have studied the petrography and mineralogy (olivine composition) of the Namuaiv pipe rocks.

The Namuaiv pipe (363 ± 3 Ma; Arzamastsev et al., 2005) erupted the alkaline rocks of the north part Khibiny massif (377± 3 Ma). The detailed petrographical studied suggested, that the pipe breccia was formed during mixing of two portions of alkaline melts close in composition to alkaline picrite and melanephelinite.

The Namuaiv rocks contain several types of olivine grains: (1) picritic melt phenocrysts; (2) antecrysts of ultramafic lamprophyres of the Kandalaksha Bay (Vozniak et al., 2023) that traced the first stages of the province magmatism; and (3) disintegrated fragments of the lithospheric mantle peridotites (mantle xenocrysts). The composition of olivine phenocrysts suggests that in the final stage of KAP activity, the alkaline melts have not fractionated in deep magmatic chambers and their composition is close to primary melts. That is in contrast to the first stages of KAP magmatism, where lamprophyre dikes were formed as fractionated melts (Vozniak et al., 2023). The present of the olivine antecrysts assumes that the Namuaiv melts ascent trough magmatic channels modified by previous portions of alkaline melts, that consistent with the presence metasomatic clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths within the pipe.

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under Grant No 23-77-01052.

Arzamastsev A.A., Belyatsky B.V., Travin A.V. et al. 2005. Dyke rocks in the Khibiny massif: relation to plutonic series, age, and characterization of mantle sources // Petrology. V.42. N3. P.1-23.

Vozniak A.A., Kopylova M.G., Peresetskaya E.V. et al. 2023. Olivine in lamprophyres of the Kola Alkaline Province and the magmatic evolution of olivine in carbonate melts // Lithos 448–449, 107149. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2023.107149

How to cite: Shaikhutdinova, D., Kargin, A., Sazonova, L., Lebedeva, N., Nosova, A., and Vasiliy, Y.: The Namuaiv picrite-melanephelinite pipe, Kola alkaline province, Russia: petrography and evolution of late alkaline melts during forming large alkaline province with carbonatites., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-616, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-616, 2024.

The lower crust and Moho pyroxenites and xenocrysts from Cenozoic volcanoes studied with the EPMA, SEM and LA ICP MS for trace elements evidence about the structure and composition of the transitional zone from the crust to mantle in Cenozoic volcanic regions In Vitim (picrite basalts), Dzhida, (Bartoy volcanoes) and Tunka valley (Karierny volcano). For the comparisons the lower crust xenocrysts from the Angara Vitim batholite were studied. The calculated PT conditions show the PT estimates are localizing within the Moho –and just beneath giving the vast range of temperatures. Lower they trace 90 mw/m2 geotherm. Within the crust the variation of temperature regime are varying from the conductive to advective. Xenocrysts and pyroxenite xenoliths mainly trace 90 mw/m2  SEA plume geotherm the area of the intrusions is over heated to 1350oC.

Fig.1 PT diagram for the xenoliths from Vitim Miocene  Picrite basalts

Fig.2 PT diagram for the xenoliths from Bartoy Pleistocene basalts

Fig.3 PT diagram for the xenoliths from Tunka Pliocene basalts

Fig.4 PT diagram for the xenocrysts from  Magmas of Angara-Vitim batholite

The granulites are typically represent the more colder conditions than SEA geotherm.  Xenocrysts from Angara Vitim batholith magmas reveal more depleted material of lower crust than those found in Cenozoic lavas and possibly are skialites. The xenocrysts and granulate xenoliths in Cenozoic lavas are mainly basic cumulates. The lower crust became more acid to the upper part. The lateral variations in the lower crust sampled material show enrichment in K2O at the boundary with the Siberian craton in Tunka, more metasomatic and hydrous nature in Dzhida zone and more basic and CaO rich characteristic in Vitim area.  These data give the evidence for the conditions of the creation of magmas of Angara-Vitim Batholiths.  It was created by the hot spot created kimberlites and basalts in north and Center of Yakutia in Silurian- Devonian time and Ingashi lamproites,  than it turned in Transbaikalia and after returned to central and Northern Siberia.   

 Supported by Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Supported by Russian Science Foundation (23-17-00030). Work is done on state assignment of IGM SB RAS, Geological institute SB RAS Ulan Ude and Institute of Earth crust SB RAS, Irkutsk

How to cite: Ashchepkov, I., Tsygankov, A., Burmakina, G., Rasskazov, S., Ailow, Y., and Karmanov, N.: Thermal state and nature of the low crust in the Baikal Rift zone according to the lower crust xenoliths of Cenozoic volcanics and Paleozoic magmas. , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-1231, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-1231, 2024.

Finding of the giant diamond in Ebelyakh of CLIPPIR type of IIa type (Moor, 2014) suggest that similar diamonds should be found in the source kimberlites in Anabar basing and nearest Northern fields located within collision Khapchan terrain. To predict the finding authors are using the method of 5E diagrams based on the principle of analogy of the compositions Fe/(Fe+Mg) – Cr/(Cr+Al) – (Mn,Na) (Mitchell, 1986) for satellite minerals (Gar, Cpx, Chr and Ilmenites) of diamond (DSM) comparing with the etalon diagram for Karowe pipe (reference) and any other pipe. The forecast is quantified by the probability of convergence of these compositions using the division to the cluster groups. It was shown that the convergence of the DSM compositions of the Karowe and Grib pipes is 74%, which can be regarded as an indicator of the possible presence of diamonds in the predicted CLIPPIR pipe (Zinchenko et al., 2021).

 The application of this technique to two weakly diamondiferous kimberlite pipes of the Anabar region is demonstrated that the Leningrad pipe (Lower Devonian) have probability (75%) and Malokuonamskaya (Lower Triassic) (20%). Methods of constructing 5E diagrams and complementary PTXfO₂ diagrams by I.V. Ashchepkov (2010-2023) of reconstructed lithospheric mantle sections (SCLM) to predict the crystallization of CLIPPIR diamonds. The petrological meaning of such characteristic suggest diamond formation in pipe in permeable mantle within protokimberlite magmatic chamber located near the lithosphere boundary and  connected with the asthenospheric source supplying by low oxidized magma, sulfides and extra pressure. The pipe should be surrounded by the low oxidized mantle eclogites rich C and dunites with the high pressure-temperature and Mg-rich ilmenite-chromite metasomatites.