The submarine Azores Plateau : Evidence for a waning mantle plume?

• Published in: Marine Geology
• Main Authors: Shipboard Scientific Party R/V Meteor M128, M128 Azores Plateau Shipboard Scientific Party, Beier, Christoph, Genske, Felix, Hübscher, Christian, Haase, Karsten M., Bach, Wolfgang, Nomikou, Paraskevi
• Other Authors: Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Petrology and Geochemistry, Department of Geosciences and Geography
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V. 2022
• Subjects: 1171 Geosciences; Azores Plateau; Large igneous provinces; North Atlantic Ocean; Plate tectonics; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/349656

The submarine Azores Plateau in the Central Northern Atlantic has generally been considered to represent a large igneous plateau formed some 10 Ma by widespread volcanism, however a lack of age progression amongst the younger submarine and subaerial volcanism, an irregular distribution of platform-related magmas east and west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a strong tectonic stress regime, and a lack of abundant tholeiitic compositions that reflect initial, high degrees of melting is not easily explainable in the framework of a classic, long-lived mantle plume model. Here, we present new bathymetric and seismic data from the submarine Azores Plateau obtained during cruises M113/1 and M128 with the German R/V Meteor. Our new data combined with prior geochemical and petrological studies indicate that the majority of the western Azores Plateau may indeed have formed during the arrival of a short-lived mantle melting anomaly at 10 Ma. However, our new data also indicate that volcanism Peer reviewed