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A continuous 55-million-year record of transient mantle plume activity beneath Iceland

A continuous 55-million-year record of transient mantle plume activity beneath Iceland
A continuous 55-million-year record of transient mantle plume activity beneath Iceland
In the North Atlantic Ocean, a mid-ocean ridge bisects the Icelandic mantle plume, and provides a window into its temporal evolution1, 2, 3. V-shaped ridges of thick oceanic crust observed south of Iceland are thought to record pulses of upwelling within the plume4, 5, 6, 7. Specifically, excess crust is thought to form during the quasi-periodic generation of hot solitary waves triggered by thermal instabilities in the mantle8. Here we use seismic reflection data to show that V-shaped ridges have formed over the past 55 million years—providing the longest record of plume periodicity of its kind. We find evidence for minor, but systematic, asymmetric formation of crust, due to migration of the mid-ocean ridge with respect to the underlying plume. We also find changes in periodicity: from 55 to 35 million years ago, the V-shaped ridges form every 3 million years or so and reflect small fluctuations in plume temperature of about 5–10 °C. From 35 million years ago, the periodicity changes to about 8 million years and reflects changes in mantle temperature of 25–30 °C. We suggest that this change in periodicity is probably caused by perturbations in the thermal state at the plume source, either at the mantle-transition zone or core–mantle boundary.
1752-0894
914-919
Parnell-Turner, Ross
c36e10be-a5dd-4052-b57c-6fe887f66540
White, Nicky
e2df0d62-aa85-491e-bb99-ec0aff13b94e
Henstock, Tim
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Murton, Bramley
9076d07f-a3c1-4f90-a5d5-99b27fe2cb12
Maclennan, John
c7e5c171-3bed-4e71-8ba8-7f1047184e83
Jones, Stephen M.
ea872e90-f80c-4cb6-9edd-4c2b4cc4867a
Parnell-Turner, Ross
c36e10be-a5dd-4052-b57c-6fe887f66540
White, Nicky
e2df0d62-aa85-491e-bb99-ec0aff13b94e
Henstock, Tim
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Murton, Bramley
9076d07f-a3c1-4f90-a5d5-99b27fe2cb12
Maclennan, John
c7e5c171-3bed-4e71-8ba8-7f1047184e83
Jones, Stephen M.
ea872e90-f80c-4cb6-9edd-4c2b4cc4867a

Parnell-Turner, Ross, White, Nicky, Henstock, Tim, Murton, Bramley, Maclennan, John and Jones, Stephen M. (2014) A continuous 55-million-year record of transient mantle plume activity beneath Iceland. Nature Geoscience, 7, 914-919. (doi:10.1038/ngeo2281).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In the North Atlantic Ocean, a mid-ocean ridge bisects the Icelandic mantle plume, and provides a window into its temporal evolution1, 2, 3. V-shaped ridges of thick oceanic crust observed south of Iceland are thought to record pulses of upwelling within the plume4, 5, 6, 7. Specifically, excess crust is thought to form during the quasi-periodic generation of hot solitary waves triggered by thermal instabilities in the mantle8. Here we use seismic reflection data to show that V-shaped ridges have formed over the past 55 million years—providing the longest record of plume periodicity of its kind. We find evidence for minor, but systematic, asymmetric formation of crust, due to migration of the mid-ocean ridge with respect to the underlying plume. We also find changes in periodicity: from 55 to 35 million years ago, the V-shaped ridges form every 3 million years or so and reflect small fluctuations in plume temperature of about 5–10 °C. From 35 million years ago, the periodicity changes to about 8 million years and reflects changes in mantle temperature of 25–30 °C. We suggest that this change in periodicity is probably caused by perturbations in the thermal state at the plume source, either at the mantle-transition zone or core–mantle boundary.

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parnell-turner-et-al-2014-final-5.pdf - Accepted Manuscript
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Published date: November 2014
Organisations: Geology & Geophysics, Marine Geoscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 372213
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372213
ISSN: 1752-0894
PURE UUID: d0b16490-7745-40e1-a73e-67085bd5b59a
ORCID for Tim Henstock: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-2514

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Date deposited: 27 Nov 2014 13:12
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:04

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Contributors

Author: Ross Parnell-Turner
Author: Nicky White
Author: Tim Henstock ORCID iD
Author: Bramley Murton
Author: John Maclennan
Author: Stephen M. Jones

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