The Cretaceous submarine Ontong Java Plateau, in the westernPacific Ocean, is the most volumnous of the world's large igneousprovinces(LIPs), and represents the largest known magmatic eventon Earth. LIPs are the products of basaltic volcanism on a scaleand at an effusion rate not seen on Earth at the present time,and their formation may have had significant effects on theEarth's climate and biosphere. The currently favoured explanationfor LIP formation is the rapid decompression and melting ofanomalously hot mantle in the heads of newly ascended mantleplumes. This volume summarizes the results of research aimedprincipally at testing the plume-head hypothesis for the formationof the Ontong Java Plateau, and presents the results of integratedstudies following recent basement drilling on the plateau bythe Ocean Drilling Program Nineteen papers cover topics as diverseas petrology, geochemistry, tectonics, volcanology, paleomagnatismand biostratigraphy.
