Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada
Abstract High‐temperature melting in mantle plumes produces voluminous eruptions that are often temporally coincident with mass extinctions. Paleocene Baffin Island lavas—products of early Iceland mantle plume activity—are exceptionally well characterized geochemically but have poorly constrained st...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6150442fb2a440269ca1a07e89ce9ef0 2023-12-03T10:19:51+01:00 Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada Joseph Biasi Paul Asimow Forrest Horton Xenia Boyes 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC010172 https://doaj.org/article/6150442fb2a440269ca1a07e89ce9ef0 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC010172 https://doaj.org/toc/1525-2027 1525-2027 doi:10.1029/2021GC010172 https://doaj.org/article/6150442fb2a440269ca1a07e89ce9ef0 Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol 23, Iss 9, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) Baffin island North Atlantic flood basalt paleomagnetism volcanology secular variation Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC010172 2023-11-05T01:35:55Z Abstract High‐temperature melting in mantle plumes produces voluminous eruptions that are often temporally coincident with mass extinctions. Paleocene Baffin Island lavas—products of early Iceland mantle plume activity—are exceptionally well characterized geochemically but have poorly constrained stratigraphy, geochronology, and eruptive tempos. To provide better geologic context, we measured seven stratigraphic sections of the volcanic deposits and collected paleomagnetic data from 38 sites in the lavas and underlying Cretaceous sediments (Quqaluit Fm.). The average paleomagnetic pole from this study does not overlap with the expected pole for a stable North American locality at 60 Ma, yet the data have sufficient dispersion to average out secular variation. After ruling out other possibilities, we find that the picrites were probably erupted during a polarity transition, over less than 5 kyr. If so, the average eruption interval was ∼67 years per flow for the thickest sequence of exposed lavas. We also calculate that the flood basalts had a minimum total volume of ∼176 km3 (excluding submerged lavas in Baffin Bay). This implies a minimum eruption rate of ∼0.035 km3 yr−1, which is similar to rates found in West Greenland lavas but less than rates found in larger flood basalts. Despite this, the Baffin and West Greenland lavas temporally correlate with the “End C27n event” (a period of ∼2°C global warming) and may be its underlying cause. Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Island Baffin Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Baffin Bay Baffin Island Canada Greenland Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 23 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Baffin island North Atlantic flood basalt paleomagnetism volcanology secular variation Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Baffin island North Atlantic flood basalt paleomagnetism volcanology secular variation Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Geology QE1-996.5 Joseph Biasi Paul Asimow Forrest Horton Xenia Boyes Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada |
topic_facet |
Baffin island North Atlantic flood basalt paleomagnetism volcanology secular variation Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Abstract High‐temperature melting in mantle plumes produces voluminous eruptions that are often temporally coincident with mass extinctions. Paleocene Baffin Island lavas—products of early Iceland mantle plume activity—are exceptionally well characterized geochemically but have poorly constrained stratigraphy, geochronology, and eruptive tempos. To provide better geologic context, we measured seven stratigraphic sections of the volcanic deposits and collected paleomagnetic data from 38 sites in the lavas and underlying Cretaceous sediments (Quqaluit Fm.). The average paleomagnetic pole from this study does not overlap with the expected pole for a stable North American locality at 60 Ma, yet the data have sufficient dispersion to average out secular variation. After ruling out other possibilities, we find that the picrites were probably erupted during a polarity transition, over less than 5 kyr. If so, the average eruption interval was ∼67 years per flow for the thickest sequence of exposed lavas. We also calculate that the flood basalts had a minimum total volume of ∼176 km3 (excluding submerged lavas in Baffin Bay). This implies a minimum eruption rate of ∼0.035 km3 yr−1, which is similar to rates found in West Greenland lavas but less than rates found in larger flood basalts. Despite this, the Baffin and West Greenland lavas temporally correlate with the “End C27n event” (a period of ∼2°C global warming) and may be its underlying cause. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Joseph Biasi Paul Asimow Forrest Horton Xenia Boyes |
author_facet |
Joseph Biasi Paul Asimow Forrest Horton Xenia Boyes |
author_sort |
Joseph Biasi |
title |
Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada |
title_short |
Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada |
title_full |
Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eruption Rates, Tempo, and Stratigraphy of Paleocene Flood Basalts on Baffin Island, Canada |
title_sort |
eruption rates, tempo, and stratigraphy of paleocene flood basalts on baffin island, canada |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC010172 https://doaj.org/article/6150442fb2a440269ca1a07e89ce9ef0 |
geographic |
Baffin Bay Baffin Island Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Baffin Bay Baffin Island Canada Greenland |
genre |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Island Baffin Greenland Iceland North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Island Baffin Greenland Iceland North Atlantic |
op_source |
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol 23, Iss 9, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC010172 https://doaj.org/toc/1525-2027 1525-2027 doi:10.1029/2021GC010172 https://doaj.org/article/6150442fb2a440269ca1a07e89ce9ef0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC010172 |
container_title |
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
9 |
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1784267251612909568 |