Large igneous province

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Only a few of the largest large igneous provinces appear (coloured dark purple) on this geologic map, which depicts crustal geologic provinces as seen in seismic refraction data. Flood Basalt Map.jpg
Only a few of the largest large igneous provinces appear (coloured dark purple) on this geologic map, which depicts crustal geologic provinces as seen in seismic refraction data.

A large igneous province (LIP) is an extremely large accumulation of igneous rocks, including intrusive (sills, dikes) and extrusive (lava flows, tephra deposits), arising when magma travels through the crust towards the surface. The formation of LIPs is variously attributed to mantle plumes or to processes associated with divergent plate tectonics. [1] The formation of some of the LIPs in the past 500 million years coincide in time with mass extinctions and rapid climatic changes, which has led to numerous hypotheses about causal relationships. LIPs are fundamentally different from any other currently active volcanoes or volcanic systems.

Contents

Overview

Definition

In 1992, Coffin and Eldholm initially defined the term "large igneous province" as representing a variety of mafic igneous provinces with areal extent greater than 100,000 km2 that represented "massive crustal emplacements of predominantly mafic (magnesium- and iron-rich) extrusive and intrusive rock, and originated via processes other than 'normal' seafloor spreading." [2] [3] [4] That original definition included continental flood basalts, oceanic plateaus, large dike swarms (the eroded roots of a volcanic province), and volcanic rifted margins. Mafic basalt sea floors and other geological products of 'normal' plate tectonics were not included in the definition. [5] Most of these LIPs consist of basalt, but some contain large volumes of associated rhyolite (e.g. the Columbia River Basalt Group in the western United States); the rhyolite is typically very dry compared to island arc rhyolites, with much higher eruption temperatures (850 °C to 1000 °C) than normal rhyolites. Some LIPs are geographically intact, such as the basaltic Deccan Traps in India, while others have been fragmented and separated by plate movements, like the Central Atlantic magmatic province—parts of which are found in Brazil, eastern North America, and northwestern Africa. [6]

In 2008, Bryan and Ernst refined the definition to narrow it somewhat: "Large Igneous Provinces are magmatic provinces with areal extents >1×105 km2, igneous volumes >1×105 km3 and maximum lifespans of ~50 Myr that have intraplate tectonic settings or geochemical affinities, and are characterised by igneous pulse(s) of short duration (~1–5 Myr), during which a large proportion (>75%) of the total igneous volume has been emplaced. They are dominantly mafic, but also can have significant ultramafic and silicic components, and some are dominated by silicic magmatism." This definition places emphasis on the high magma emplacement rate characteristics of the LIP event and excludes seamounts, seamount groups, submarine ridges and anomalous seafloor crust. [7]

The definition has since been expanded and refined, and remains a work in progress. Some new definitions of LIP include large granitic provinces such as those found in the Andes Mountains of South America and in western North America. Comprehensive taxonomies have been developed to focus technical discussions. Sub-categorization of LIPs into large volcanic provinces (LVP) and large plutonic provinces (LPP), and including rocks produced by normal plate tectonic processes, have been proposed, but these modifications are not generally accepted. [8] LIP is now frequently used to also describe voluminous areas of, not just mafic, but all types of igneous rocks. Further, the minimum threshold to be included as a LIP has been lowered to 50,000 km2. [8] The working taxonomy, focused heavily on geochemistry, is:

Study

Because large igneous provinces are created during short-lived igneous events resulting in relatively rapid and high-volume accumulations of volcanic and intrusive igneous rock, they warrant study. LIPs present possible links to mass extinctions and global environmental and climatic changes. Michael Rampino and Richard Stothers cite 11 distinct flood basalt episodes—occurring in the past 250 million years—which created volcanic provinces and oceanic plateaus and coincided with mass extinctions. [9] This theme has developed into a broad field of research, bridging geoscience disciplines such as biostratigraphy, volcanology, metamorphic petrology, and Earth System Modelling.

The study of LIPs has economic implications. Some workers associate them with trapped hydrocarbons.[ citation needed ] They are associated with economic concentrations of copper–nickel and iron. [10] They are also associated with formation of major mineral provinces including platinum group element deposits and, in the silicic LIPs, silver and gold deposits. [5] Titanium and vanadium deposits are also found in association with LIPs. [11]

LIPs in the geological record have marked major changes in the hydrosphere and atmosphere, leading to major climate shifts and maybe mass extinctions of species. [5] Some of these changes were related to rapid release of greenhouse gases from the lithosphere to the atmosphere. Thus the LIP-triggered changes may be used as cases to understand current and future environmental changes.

Plate tectonic theory explains topography using interactions between the tectonic plates, as influenced by viscous stresses created by flow within the underlying mantle. Since the mantle is extremely viscous, the mantle flow rate varies in pulses which are reflected in the lithosphere by small amplitude, long wavelength undulations. Understanding how the interaction between mantle flow and lithosphere elevation influences formation of LIPs is important to gaining insights into past mantle dynamics. [12] LIPs have played a major role in the cycles of continental breakup, continental formation, new crustal additions from the upper mantle, and supercontinent cycles. [12]

Formation

Three Devils Grade in Moses Coulee, Washington is part of the Columbia River Basalt Group LIP. 3-Devils-grade-Moses-Coulee-Cattle-Feed-Lot-PB110016.JPG
Three Devils Grade in Moses Coulee, Washington is part of the Columbia River Basalt Group LIP.

Earth has an outer shell made of discrete, moving tectonic plates floating on a solid convective mantle above a liquid core. The mantle's flow is driven by the descent of cold tectonic plates during subduction and the complementary ascent of mantle plumes of hot material from lower levels. The surface of the Earth reflects stretching, thickening and bending of the tectonic plates as they interact. [13]

Ocean-plate creation at upwellings, spreading and subduction are well accepted fundamentals of plate tectonics, with the upwelling of hot mantle materials and the sinking of the cooler ocean plates driving the mantle convection. In this model, tectonic plates diverge at mid-ocean ridges, where hot mantle rock flows upward to fill the space. Plate-tectonic processes account for the vast majority of Earth's volcanism. [14]

Beyond the effects of convectively driven motion, deep processes have other influences on the surface topography. The convective circulation drives up-wellings and down-wellings in Earth's mantle that are reflected in local surface levels. Hot mantle materials rising up in a plume can spread out radially beneath the tectonic plate causing regions of uplift. [13] These ascending plumes play an important role in LIP formation.

When created, LIPs often have an areal extent of a few million square kilometers and volumes on the order of 1 million cubic kilometers. In most cases, the majority of a basaltic LIP's volume is emplaced in less than 1 million years. One of the conundra of such LIPs' origins is to understand how enormous volumes of basaltic magma are formed and erupted over such short time scales, with effusion rates up to an order of magnitude greater than mid-ocean ridge basalts. The source of many or all LIPs are variously attributed to mantle plumes, to processes associated with plate tectonics or to meteorite impacts.

Hotspots

Although most volcanic activity on Earth is associated with subduction zones or mid-oceanic ridges, there are significant regions of long-lived, extensive volcanism, known as hotspots, which are only indirectly related to plate tectonics. The Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, located on the Pacific Plate, is one example, tracing millions of years of relative motion as the plate moves over the Hawaii hotspot. Numerous hotspots of varying size and age have been identified across the world. These hotspots move slowly with respect to one another but move an order of magnitude more quickly with respect to tectonic plates, providing evidence that they are not directly linked to tectonic plates. [14]

The origin of hotspots remains controversial. Hotspots that reach the Earth's surface may have three distinct origins. The deepest probably originate from the boundary between the lower mantle and the core; roughly 15–20% have characteristics such as presence of a linear chain of sea mounts with increasing ages, LIPs at the point of origin of the track, low shear wave velocity indicating high temperatures below the current location of the track, and ratios of 3He to 4He which are judged consistent with a deep origin. Others such as the Pitcairn, Samoan and Tahitian hotspots appear to originate at the top of large, transient, hot lava domes (termed superswells) in the mantle. The remainder appear to originate in the upper mantle and have been suggested to result from the breakup of subducting lithosphere. [15]

Recent imaging of the region below known hotspots (for example, Yellowstone and Hawaii) using seismic-wave tomography has produced mounting evidence that supports relatively narrow, deep-origin, convective plumes that are limited in region compared to the large-scale plate tectonic circulation in which they are imbedded. Images reveal continuous but convoluted vertical paths with varying quantities of hotter material, even at depths where crystallographic transformations are predicted to occur. [16] [ clarification needed ]

Plate ruptures

A major alternative to the plume model is a model in which ruptures are caused by plate-related stresses that fractured the lithosphere, allowing melt to reach the surface from shallow heterogeneous sources. The high volumes of molten material that form the LIPs is postulated to be caused by convection in the upper mantle, which is secondary to the convection driving tectonic plate motion. [17]

Early formed reservoir outpourings

It has been proposed that geochemical evidence supports an early-formed reservoir that survived in the Earth's mantle for about 4.5 billion years. Molten material is postulated to have originated from this reservoir, contributing the Baffin Island flood basalt about 60 million years ago. Basalts from the Ontong Java Plateau show similar isotopic and trace element signatures proposed for the early-Earth reservoir. [18]

Meteorites

Seven pairs of hotspots and LIPs located on opposite sides of the earth have been noted; analyses indicate this coincident antipodal location is highly unlikely to be random. The hotspot pairs include a large igneous province with continental volcanism opposite an oceanic hotspot. Oceanic impacts of large meteorites are expected to have high efficiency in converting energy into seismic waves. These waves would propagate around the world and reconverge close to the antipodal position; small variations are expected as the seismic velocity varies depending upon the route characteristics along which the waves propagate. As the waves focus on the antipodal position, they put the crust at the focal point under significant stress and are proposed to rupture it, creating antipodal pairs. When the meteorite impacts a continent, the lower efficiency of kinetic energy conversion into seismic energy is not expected to create an antipodal hotspot. [17]

A second impact-related model of hotspot and LIP formation has been suggested in which minor hotspot volcanism was generated at large-body impact sites and flood basalt volcanism was triggered antipodally by focused seismic energy. This model has been challenged because impacts are generally considered seismically too inefficient, and the Deccan Traps of India were not antipodal to (and began erupting several Myr before) the Chicxulub impact in Mexico. In addition, no clear example of impact-induced volcanism, unrelated to melt sheets, has been confirmed at any known terrestrial crater. [17]

Correlations with LIP formation

Illustration showing a vertical dike and a horizontal sill. The difference between a sill and a dike.jpg
Illustration showing a vertical dike and a horizontal sill.

Aerally extensive dike swarms, sill provinces, and large layered ultramafic intrusions are indicators of LIPs, even when other evidence is not now observable. The upper basalt layers of older LIPs may have been removed by erosion or deformed by tectonic plate collisions occurring after the layer is formed. This is especially likely for earlier periods such as the Paleozoic and Proterozoic. [7]

Dike swarms

Giant dyke swarms having lengths over 300 km [19] are a common record of severely eroded LIPs. Both radial and linear dyke swarm configurations exist. Radial swarms with an areal extent over 2,000 km and linear swarms extending over 1,000 km are known. The linear dyke swarms often have a high proportion of dykes relative to country rocks, particularly when the width of the linear field is less than 100 km. The dykes have a typical width of 20–100 m, although ultramafic dykes with widths greater than 1 km have been reported. [7]

Dykes are typically sub-vertical to vertical. When upward flowing (dyke-forming) magma encounters horizontal boundaries or weaknesses, such as between layers in a sedimentary deposit, the magma can flow horizontally creating a sill. Some sill provinces have areal extents >1000 km. [7]

Sills

A series of related sills that were formed essentially contemporaneously (within several million years) from related dikes comprise a LIP if their area is sufficiently large. Examples include:

Volcanic rifted margins

Extension thins the crust. Magma reaches the surface through radiating sills and dikes, forming basalt flows, as well as deep and shallow magma chambers below the surface. The crust gradually thins due to thermal subsidence, and originally horizontal basalt flows are rotated to become seaward dipping reflectors. Mantleplume.png
Extension thins the crust. Magma reaches the surface through radiating sills and dikes, forming basalt flows, as well as deep and shallow magma chambers below the surface. The crust gradually thins due to thermal subsidence, and originally horizontal basalt flows are rotated to become seaward dipping reflectors.

Volcanic rifted margins are found on the boundary of large igneous provinces. Volcanic margins form when rifting is accompanied by significant mantle melting, with volcanism occurring before and/or during continental breakup. Volcanic rifted margins are characterized by: a transitional crust composed of basaltic igneous rocks, including lava flows, sills, dikes, and gabbros, high volume basalt flows, seaward-dipping reflector sequences of basalt flows that were rotated during the early stages of breakup, limited passive-margin subsidence during and after breakup, and the presence of a lower crust with anomalously high seismic P-wave velocities in lower crustal bodies, indicative of lower temperature, dense media.

Hotspots

The early volcanic activity of major hotspots, postulated to result from deep mantle plumes, is frequently accompanied by flood basalts. These flood basalt eruptions have resulted in large accumulations of basaltic lavas emplaced at a rate greatly exceeding that seen in contemporary volcanic processes. Continental rifting commonly follows flood basalt volcanism. Flood basalt provinces may also occur as a consequence of the initial hot-spot activity in ocean basins as well as on continents. It is possible to track the hot spot back to the flood basalts of a large igneous province; the table below correlates large igneous provinces with the track of a specific hot spot. [20] [21]

ProvinceRegionHotspotReference
Columbia River Basalt Northwestern US Yellowstone hotspot [20] [22]
Ethiopia-Yemen Flood Basalts Ethiopia, Yemen [20]
North Atlantic Igneous Province Northern Canada, Greenland, the Faeroe Islands, Norway, Ireland and Scotland Iceland hotspot [20]
Deccan Traps India Réunion hotspot [20]
Rajmahal Traps Eastern India Ninety East Ridge [23] [24]
Kerguelen Plateau Indian Ocean Kerguelen hotspot [23]
Ontong Java Plateau Pacific Ocean Louisville hotspot [20] [21]
Paraná and Etendeka traps Brazil–Namibia Tristan hotspot [20]
Karoo-Ferrar Province South Africa, Antarctica, Australia & New Zealand Marion Island [20]
Caribbean large igneous province Caribbean-Colombian oceanic plateau Galápagos hotspot [25] [26]
Mackenzie Large Igneous Province Canadian Shield Mackenzie hotspot [27]

Relationship to extinction events

Eruptions or emplacements of LIPs appear to have, in some cases, occurred simultaneously with oceanic anoxic events and extinction events. The most important examples are the Deccan Traps (Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event), the Karoo-Ferrar (Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction), the Central Atlantic magmatic province (Triassic-Jurassic extinction event), and the Siberian Traps (Permian-Triassic extinction event).

Several mechanisms are proposed to explain the association of LIPs with extinction events. The eruption of basaltic LIPs onto the earth's surface releases large volumes of sulfate gas, which forms sulfuric acid in the atmosphere; this absorbs heat and causes substantial cooling (e.g., the Laki eruption in Iceland, 1783). Oceanic LIPs can reduce oxygen in seawater by either direct oxidation reactions with metals in hydrothermal fluids or by causing algal blooms that consume large amounts of oxygen. [28]

Ore deposits

Large igneous provinces are associated with a handful of ore deposit types including:

Examples

ProvinceRegionAge (million years)Area (million km2)Volume (million km3)Also known as or includesReference
Agulhas Plateau Southwest Indian Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean140–950.31.2Southeast African LIP
Mozambique Ridge, Northeast Georgia Rise, Maud Rise, Astrid Ridge 		[29]
Columbia River Basalt Northwestern US17–60.160.175 [22] [30]
Ethiopia-Yemen Flood Basalts Yemen, Ethiopia31–250.60.35Ethiopia [30]
North Atlantic Igneous Province Northern Canada, Greenland, the Faeroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Scotland62–551.36.6

Jameson Land Thulean Plateau

[30]
Deccan Traps India660.5–0.80.5–1.0 [30]
Madagascar 88 [31]
Rajmahal Traps India116 [23] [24]
Ontong Java Plateau Pacific Oceanc. 1221.868.4 Manihiki Plateau and Hikurangi Plateau [30]
High Arctic Large Igneous Province Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Sverdrup Basin, Amerasian Basin, and northern Greenland 130-60> 1.0 [32]
Paraná and Etendeka traps Brazil, Namibia134–1291.5> 1Equatorial Atlantic Magmatic Province

Brazilian Highlands

[30]
Karoo-Ferrar Province South Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand183–1800.15–20.3 [30]
Central Atlantic magmatic province Northern South America, Northwest Africa, Iberia, Eastern North America199–197112.5 (2.0–3.0) [33] [34]
Siberian Traps Russia2501.5–3.90.9–2.0 [30]
Emeishan Traps Southwestern China253–2500.25c. 0.3 [30]
Warakurna large igneous province Australia1078–10731.5 Eastern Pilbara [35]

Large rhyolitic provinces

These LIPs are composed dominantly of felsic materials. Examples include:

Large andesitic provinces

These LIPs are comprised dominantly of andesitic materials. Examples include:

Large basaltic provinces

This subcategory includes most of the provinces included in the original LIP classifications. It is composed of continental flood basalts, oceanic flood basalts, and diffuse provinces.

Continental flood basalts

Oceanic flood basalts

Large basaltic–rhyolitic provinces

Large plutonic provinces

Large granitic provinces

  • Patagonia
  • Peru–Chile Batholith
  • Coast Range Batholith (northwestern US)

Silicic-dominated Large Igneous Province

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantle plume</span> Upwelling of abnormally hot rock within Earths mantle

A mantle plume is a proposed mechanism of convection within the Earth's mantle, hypothesized to explain anomalous volcanism. Because the plume head partially melts on reaching shallow depths, a plume is often invoked as the cause of volcanic hotspots, such as Hawaii or Iceland, and large igneous provinces such as the Deccan and Siberian Traps. Some such volcanic regions lie far from tectonic plate boundaries, while others represent unusually large-volume volcanism near plate boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian Traps</span> Large region of volcanic rock in Russia

The Siberian Traps is a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in Siberia, Russia. The massive eruptive event that formed the traps is one of the largest known volcanic events in the last 500 million years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flood basalt</span> Very large volume eruption of basalt lava

A flood basalt is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that covers large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Many flood basalts have been attributed to the onset of a hotspot reaching the surface of the Earth via a mantle plume. Flood basalt provinces such as the Deccan Traps of India are often called traps, after the Swedish word trappa, due to the characteristic stairstep geomorphology of many associated landscapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iceland hotspot</span> Hotspot partly responsible for volcanic activity forming the Iceland Plateau and island

The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot which is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity which has formed the Iceland Plateau and the island of Iceland.

The Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) is a massive oceanic plateau located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of the Solomon Islands. The OJP was formed around 116 million years ago (Ma), with a much smaller volcanic event around 90 Ma. Two other southwestern Pacific plateaus, Manihiki and Hikurangi, now separated from the OJP by Cretaceous oceanic basins, are of similar age and composition and probably formed as a single plateau and a contiguous large igneous province together with the OJP. When eruption of lava had finished, the Ontong Java–Manihiki–Hikurangi plateau covered 1% of Earth's surface and represented a volume of 80 million km3 (19 million cu mi) of basaltic magma. This "Ontong Java event", first proposed in 1991, represents the largest volcanic event of the past 200 million years, with a magma eruption rate estimated at up to 22 km3 (5.3 cu mi) per year over 3 million years, several times larger than the Deccan Traps. The smooth surface of the OJP is punctuated by seamounts such as the Ontong Java Atoll, one of the largest atolls in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magmatism</span> Emplacement of magma on the outer layers of a terrestrial planet, which solidifies as igneous rocks

Magmatism is the emplacement of magma within and at the surface of the outer layers of a terrestrial planet, which solidifies as igneous rocks. It does so through magmatic activity or igneous activity, the production, intrusion and extrusion of magma or lava. Volcanism is the surface expression of magmatism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Australia hotspot</span>

The East Australia hotspot is a volcanic province in southeast Australia which includes the Peak Range in central Queensland, the Main Range on the Queensland-New South Wales border, Tweed Volcano in New South Wales, and the Newer Volcanics Province (NVP) in Victoria and South Australia. A number of the volcanoes in the province have erupted since Aboriginal settlement. The most recent eruptions were about 5,600 years ago, and memories of them survive in Aboriginal folklore. These eruptions formed the volcanoes Mount Schank and Mount Gambier in the NVP. There have been no eruptions on the Australian mainland since European settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanic belt</span> Large volcanically active region

A volcanic belt is a large volcanically active region. Other terms are used for smaller areas of activity, such as volcanic fields or volcanic systems. Volcanic belts are found above zones of unusually high temperature where magma is created by partial melting of solid material in the Earth's crust and upper mantle. These areas usually form along tectonic plate boundaries at depths of 10 to 50 kilometres. For example, volcanoes in Mexico and western North America are mostly in volcanic belts, such as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt that extends 900 kilometres (560 mi) from west to east across central-southern Mexico and the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province in western Canada. In the case of Iceland, the geologist G.G. Bárdarson in 1929 identified clusters of volcanic belts while studying the Reykjanes Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paraná and Etendeka traps</span> Large igneous province in South America and Africa

The Paraná-Etendeka Large Igneous Province (PE-LIP) (or Paraná and Etendeka Plateau; or Paraná and Etendeka Province) is a large igneous province that includes both the main Paraná traps (in Paraná Basin, a South American geological basin) as well as the smaller severed portions of the flood basalts at the Etendeka traps (in northwest Namibia and southwest Angola). The original basalt flows occurred 136 to 132 million years ago. The province had a post-flow surface area of 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi) and an original volume projected to be in excess of 2.3 x 106 km³.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean large igneous province</span> Accumulation of igneous rocks

The Caribbean large igneous province (CLIP) consists of a major flood basalt, which created this large igneous province (LIP). It is the source of the current large eastern Pacific oceanic plateau, of which the Caribbean-Colombian oceanic plateau is the tectonized remnant. The deeper levels of the plateau have been exposed on its margins at the North and South American plates. The volcanism took place between 139 and 69 million years ago, with the majority of activity appearing to lie between 95 and 88 Ma. The plateau volume has been estimated as on the order of 4 x 106 km³. It has been linked to the Galápagos hotspot.

The High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) is a Cretaceous large igneous province in the Arctic. The region is divided into several smaller magmatic provinces. Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Sverdrup Basin, Amerasian Basin, and northern Greenland are some of the larger divisions. Today, HALIP covers an area greater than 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi), making it one of the largest and most intense magmatic complexes on the planet. However, eroded volcanic sediments in sedimentary strata in Svalbard and Franz Josef Land suggest that an extremely large portion of HALIP volcanics have already been eroded away.

The Emeishan Traps constitute a flood basalt volcanic province, or large igneous province, in south-western China, centred in Sichuan province. It is sometimes referred to as the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province or Emeishan Flood Basalts. Like other volcanic provinces or "traps", the Emeishan Traps are multiple layers of igneous rock laid down by large mantle plume volcanic eruptions. The Emeishan Traps eruptions were serious enough to have global ecological and paleontological impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tristan hotspot</span> Volcanic hotspot in the Atlantic Ocean

The Tristan hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which is responsible for the volcanic activity which forms the volcanoes in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is thought to have formed the island of Tristan da Cunha and the Walvis Ridge on the African Plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Atlantic Igneous Province</span> Large igneous province in the North Atlantic, centered on Iceland

The North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) is a large igneous province in the North Atlantic, centered on Iceland. In the Paleogene, the province formed the Thulean Plateau, a large basaltic lava plain, which extended over at least 1.3 million km2 (500 thousand sq mi) in area and 6.6 million km3 (1.6 million cu mi) in volume. The plateau was broken up during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean leaving remnants preserved in north Ireland, west Scotland, the Faroe Islands, northwest Iceland, east Greenland, western Norway and many of the islands located in the north eastern portion of the North Atlantic Ocean. The igneous province is the origin of the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave. The province is also known as Brito–Arctic province and the portion of the province in the British Isles is also called the British Tertiary Volcanic Province or British Tertiary Igneous Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanism of Northern Canada</span> History of volcanic activity in Northern Canada

Volcanism of Northern Canada has produced hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations across Northern Canada. The region's different volcano and lava types originate from different tectonic settings and types of volcanic eruptions, ranging from passive lava eruptions to violent explosive eruptions. Northern Canada has a record of very large volumes of magmatic rock called large igneous provinces. They are represented by deep-level plumbing systems consisting of giant dike swarms, sill provinces and layered intrusions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackenzie Large Igneous Province</span>

The Mackenzie Large Igneous Province (MLIP) is a major Mesoproterozoic large igneous province of the southwestern, western and northwestern Canadian Shield in Canada. It consists of a group of related igneous rocks that were formed during a massive igneous event starting about 1,270 million years ago. The large igneous province extends from the Arctic in Nunavut to near the Great Lakes in Northwestern Ontario where it meets with the smaller Matachewan dike swarm. Included in the Mackenzie Large Igneous Province are the large Muskox layered intrusion, the Coppermine River flood basalt sequence and the massive northwesterly trending Mackenzie dike swarm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opening of the North Atlantic Ocean</span> Breakup of Pangea

The opening of the North Atlantic Ocean is a geological event that has occurred over millions of years, during which the supercontinent Pangea broke up. As modern-day Europe and North America separated during the final breakup of Pangea in the early Cenozoic Era, they formed the North Atlantic Ocean. Geologists believe the breakup occurred either due to primary processes of the Iceland plume or secondary processes of lithospheric extension from plate tectonics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okavango Dyke Swarm</span> Giant dyke swarm in northeast Botswana

The Okavango Dyke Swarm is a giant dyke swarm of the Karoo Large Igneous Province in northeast Botswana, southern Africa. It consists of a group of Proterozoic and Jurassic dykes, trending east-southeast across Botswana, spanning a region nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) long and 110 kilometres (68 mi) wide. The Jurassic dykes were formed approximately 179 million years ago, composed of mainly tholeiitic mafic rocks. The formation is related to the magmatism at the Karoo triple junction, induced by the plate tectonic break up of the Gondwana supercontinent in the early Jurassic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plate theory (volcanism)</span>

The plate theory is a model of volcanism that attributes all volcanic activity on Earth, even that which appears superficially to be anomalous, to the operation of plate tectonics. According to the plate theory, the principal cause of volcanism is extension of the lithosphere. Extension of the lithosphere is a function of the lithospheric stress field. The global distribution of volcanic activity at a given time reflects the contemporaneous lithospheric stress field, and changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of volcanoes reflect changes in the stress field. The main factors governing the evolution of the stress field are:

  1. Changes in the configuration of plate boundaries.
  2. Vertical motions.
  3. Thermal contraction.

Intraplate volcanism is volcanism that takes place away from the margins of tectonic plates. Most volcanic activity takes place on plate margins, and there is broad consensus among geologists that this activity is explained well by the theory of plate tectonics. However, the origins of volcanic activity within plates remains controversial.

References

  1. ↑ Foulger, G. R. (2010). Plates vs. Plumes: A Geological Controversy. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   978-1-4051-6148-0.
  2. ↑ Coffin, M.F., Eldholm, O. (Eds.), 1991. Large Igneous Provinces: JOI/USSAC workshop report. The University of Texas at Austin Institute for Geophysics Technical Report, p. 114.
  3. ↑ Coffin, M.F., Eldholm, O., 1992. Volcanism and continental break-up: a global compilation of large igneous provinces. In: Storey, B.C., Alabaster, T., Pankhurst, R.J. (Eds.), Magmatism and the Causes of Continental Break-up. Geological Society of London Special Publication, vol. 68, pp. 17–30.
  4. ↑ Coffin, M.F., Eldholm, O., 1994. Large igneous provinces: crustal structure, dimensions, and external consequences. Reviews of Geophysics Vol. 32, pp. 1–36.
  5. 1 2 3 Bryan, Scott; Ernst, Richard (2007). "Proposed Revision to Large Igneous Province Classification". Earth-Science Reviews. 86 (1): 175–202. Bibcode:2008ESRv...86..175B. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.08.008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
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  31. ↑ TH Torsvik, RD Tucker, LD Ashwal, EA Eide, NA Rakotosolofo, MJ de Wit. "Late Cretaceous magmatism in Madagascar: palaeomagnetic evidence for a stationary Marion hotspot." Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 164, Issues 1–2, 15 December 1998, Pages 221–232
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  34. ↑ Blackburn, Terrence J.; Olsen, Paul E.; Bowring, Samuel A.; McLean, Noah M.; Kent, Dennis V.; Puffer, John; McHone, Greg; Rasbury, Troy; Et-Touhami, Mohammed (2013). "Zircon U–Pb Geochronology Links the End-Triassic Extinction with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province". Science. 340 (6135): 941–945. Bibcode:2013Sci...340..941B. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.1019.4042 . doi:10.1126/science.1234204. PMID   23519213. S2CID   15895416.
  35. ↑ Wingate, MTD; Pirajno, F; Morris, PA (2004). "Warakurna large igneous province: A new Mesoproterozoic large igneous province in west-central Australia". Geology. 32 (2): 105–108. Bibcode:2004Geo....32..105W. doi:10.1130/G20171.1.
  36. 1 2 Sheth, H.C. (2007). "LIP classification". www.mantleplumes.org. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  37. ↑ Agangi, Andrea (2011). Magmatic and volcanic evolution of a silicic large igneous province (SLIP): the Gawler Range Volcanics and Hiltaba Suite, South Australia (PhD). University of Tasmania . Retrieved 9 January 2022. PDF

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