The origin of the Agulhas Plateau at the African-Southern Ocean gateway: Planned research on igneous rocks from Exp. 392

• Main Authors: Geldmacher, Joerg, Davidson, Peter C, Liu, Jia, Ichiyama, Yuji, Hoernle, Kaj, Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele, Bohaty, Steven M, Childress, Laurel B
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Indian; Maud Rise; Georgia Rise; Northeast Georgia Rise; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/57041/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.4814dfbc-ed94-491e-a318-d371a980f1d3

The opening of the Southern Ocean gateways has been debated as a key element in the emergence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), crucial for the onset of global Cenozoic cooling (e.g., Sijp et al., 2014, Glob. Planet. Change 119; Voigt et al., 2013, EPSL 369/370). South of Africa, the opening was associated with the formation of several large igneous provinces (LIPs) including the Mozambique Ridge, Agulhas Plateau and the smaller Northeast Georgia Rise and Maud Rise. Plate tectonic reconstructions imply that the latter two were once part of the much greater Agulhas Plateau and were separated by subsequent rifting (Parsaglia et al., 2008, Geophys. J. Int. 174). It is debated whether and to what extent the emplacement of these large volcanic features obstructed the exchange of water masses between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean thereby delaying the onset of the ACC. The Agulhas Plateau was drilled during recent IODP Expedition 392 (Uenzelmann-Neben, Bohaty, Childress, et al., IODP Exp. 392 Preliminary Report, 2022, in press). Igneous rocks were recovered at two sites on the southern part of the plateau (Sites U1579, U1580) and at one site near its northern edge (U1582). Preliminary (shipboard) data indicate that all sites returned tholeiitic basalts, formed by low pressure (shallow magma chamber) fractionation of mainly olivine and plagioclase (as typical for mid-ocean ridge basalts and many LIP lavas). 40Ar/39Ar dating will help to answer fundamental questions regarding the emplacement age of the plateau and its temporal-spatial evolution. Geochemical investigations of the recovered rocks will reveal the nature and source of the magmatism. The proposed project will focus on the determination of radiogenic (Sr, Nd, Hf, Pb) isotope compositions to further constrain the magma source composition for comparison with other regional and global LIP magmatism. In particular, we want to address the open question whether the Agulhas Plateau, Northeast Georgia Rise and Maud Rise magmatism can all be attributed to ...