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IODP Expedition 330 : drilling the Louisville Seamount Trail in the SW Pacific

Koppers, Anthony A.P.; Yamazaki, Toshitsugu; Geldmacher, Jörg; Anderson, Louise; Beier, Christoph; Buchs, David M.; Chen, Li Hui; Cohen, Benjamin E.; Deschamps, Fabien; Dorais, Michael J.; Ebuna, Daniel; Ehmann, Sebastian; Fitton, J. Godfrey; Fulton, Patrick M.; Ganbat, Erdenesaikhan; Gee, Jeffrey S.; Hamelin, Cedric; Hanyu, Takeshi; Hoshi, Hiroyuki; Kalnins, Lara; Kell, Johnathon; Machida, Shiki; Mahoney, John J.; Moriya, Kazuyoshi; Nichols, Alexander R.L.; Pressling, Nicola; Rausch, Svenja; Sano, Shin Ichi; Sylvan, Jason B.; Williams, Rebecca

Authors

Anthony A.P. Koppers

Toshitsugu Yamazaki

Jörg Geldmacher

Louise Anderson

Christoph Beier

David M. Buchs

Li Hui Chen

Benjamin E. Cohen

Fabien Deschamps

Michael J. Dorais

Daniel Ebuna

Sebastian Ehmann

J. Godfrey Fitton

Patrick M. Fulton

Erdenesaikhan Ganbat

Jeffrey S. Gee

Cedric Hamelin

Takeshi Hanyu

Hiroyuki Hoshi

Lara Kalnins

Johnathon Kell

Shiki Machida

John J. Mahoney

Kazuyoshi Moriya

Alexander R.L. Nichols

Nicola Pressling

Svenja Rausch

Shin Ichi Sano

Jason B. Sylvan



Abstract

Deep-Earth convection can be understood by studying hotspot volcanoes that form where mantle plumes rise up and intersect the lithosphere, the Earth's rigid outer layer. Hotspots characteristically leave age-progressive trails of volcanoes and seamounts on top of oceanic lithosphere, which in turn allow us to decipher the motion of these plates relative to "fixed" deep-mantle plumes, and their (isotope) geochemistry provides insights into the long-term evolution of mantle source regions. However, it is strongly suggested that the Hawaiian mantle plume moved ~15° south between 80 and 50 million years ago. This raises a fundamental question about other hotspot systems in the Pacific, whether or not their mantle plumes experienced a similar amount and direction of motion. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 330 to the Louisville Seamounts showed that the Louisville hotspot in the South Pacific behaved in a different manner, as its mantle plume remained more or less fixed around 48°S latitude during that same time period. Our findings demonstrate that the Pacific hotspots move independently and that their trajectories may be controlled by differences in subduction zone geometry. Additionally, shipboard geochemistry data shows that, in contrast to Hawaiian volcanoes, the construction of the Louisville Seamounts doesn't involve a shield-building phase dominated by tholeiitic lavas, and trace elements confirm the rather homogenous nature of the Louisville mantle source. Both observations set Louisville apart from the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount trail, whereby the latter has been erupting abundant tholeiites (characteristically up to 95% in volume) and which exhibit a large variability in (isotope) geochemistry and their mantle source components.

Citation

Koppers, A. A., Yamazaki, T., Geldmacher, J., Anderson, L., Beier, C., Buchs, D. M., Chen, L. H., Cohen, B. E., Deschamps, F., Dorais, M. J., Ebuna, D., Ehmann, S., Fitton, J. G., Fulton, P. M., Ganbat, E., Gee, J. S., Hamelin, C., Hanyu, T., Hoshi, H., Kalnins, L., …Williams, R. (2013). IODP Expedition 330 : drilling the Louisville Seamount Trail in the SW Pacific. Scientific Drilling, 11-22. https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-15-11-2013

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Mar 1, 2013
Publication Date 2013-03
Deposit Date Dec 15, 2020
Publicly Available Date Feb 18, 2021
Journal Scientific Drilling
Print ISSN 1816-8957
Electronic ISSN 1816-3459
Publisher Copernicus Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Issue 15
Pages 11-22
DOI https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-15-11-2013
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3634765

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