A hot-spot model for early Tertiary volcanism in the N Atlantic
Open Access
- 1 January 1988
- journal article
- Published by Geological Society of London in Geological Society, London, Special Publications
- Vol. 39 (1) , 3-13
- https://doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.1988.039.01.02
Abstract
Summary: The initial stages of rifting of the N Atlantic were accompanied by massive extrusion of volcanic rocks and the accretion to the lower crust of even greater volumes of igneous rock. Emplacement of the bulk of the igneous rocks along the 2000 km long continental rift occurred in as little as 2–3 My. The pattern and timing of magmatic activity can be explained by partial melting of anomalously hot asthenosphere as it welled up to fill the space left by the stretched and thinned continental lithosphere. Asthenosphere temperatures were elevated regionally by 100–150°C over a 2000 km diameter region by the mushroom-shaped head of hot material fed by a mantle plume, which at present is centred beneath Iceland.Keywords
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- An explosion seismology investigation of the continental margin west of the Hebrides, Scotland, at 58°NPublished by Elsevier ,2003
- Time and duration of activity in the British Tertiary Igneous ProvinceGeological Society, London, Special Publications, 1988
- A palaeomagnetic study of lower Tertiary lavas in E Greenland and comparison with other lower Tertiary observations in the northern AtlanticGeological Society, London, Special Publications, 1988
- Distribution, crustal properties and significance of seawards-dipping sub-basement reflectors off E GreenlandGeological Society, London, Special Publications, 1988
- Magmatism at rifted continental marginsNature, 1987
- Tectonic evolution of the North Sea basin: crustal stretching and subsidenceGeophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1984
- Evolution of Volcanic Rifted Margins: Synthesis of Leg 81 Results on the West Margin of Rockall PlateauPublished by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) ,1984
- Atlantic oceanic crust: seismic structure of a slow-spreading ridgeGeological Society, London, Special Publications, 1984
- The ocean-continent transition in the uniform lithospheric stretching model: role of partial melting in the mantlePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 1982
- Gravity, bathymetry and convection in the earthEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 1973