Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • All volumes
    • All collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
  • Alert sign up
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
  • Propose
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Geological Society, London, Special Publications

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • All volumes
    • All collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
  • Alert sign up
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
  • Propose

Plume heads, continental lithosphere, flood basalts and tomography

Don L. Anderson, Yu-Shen Zhang and Toshiro Tanimoto
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 68, 99-124, 1 January 1992, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1992.068.01.07
Don L. Anderson
1Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
Yu-Shen Zhang
2Institute of Tectonics, University of California at Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
Toshiro Tanimoto
1Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

High-resolution uppermantle tomographic models are interpreted in terms of plate tectonics, hotspots and plume theories. Ridges correlate with very low velocity areas to a depth of 100 km, probably a result of passively induced upwelling and partial melting. Past positions of ridges also exhibit very low seismic velocities in the uppermantle. At depths greater than 100 km, some low velocity anomalies (LVA) may record past positions of migrating ridges. Buoyant upwellings induced by spreading do not track the migration of surface ridges; they lag behind.

At depths greater than about 150 km many LVA (Atlantic and Indian oceans) are more closely related to hotspots, and past positions of ridges than to current ridge locations. In the upper 200 km of the mantle, back-arc and continental extension areas are generally slower than hotspot mantle, possibly reflecting partially molten and/or hydrous mantle. The Pacific ocean ridges tend to be LVA, and probably hot, to about 400 km depth.

The surface locations of hotspots, ridges and continental basaltic magmatism seem to require a combination of hot uppermantle and suitable lithospheric conditions, presumably the existence of tensile stresses. The high-velocity regions of the upper 200 km of the mantle correlate with Archaean cratons. Below 300 km the regions of generally fast seismic velocity, and therefore cold mantle, correlate with regions probably underlain by ancient slabs, where the uppermantle may be cooled from below. A moving plate, overriding a hot region, and being put into tension, will behave as if it were being impacted from below by a giant plume head.

At sublithospheric depths there are very large LVA (VLVA) in the Pacific and Indian oceans and in the North and South Atlantics. The large continental and oceanic flood basalt provinces seem to have formed over these large, presumably hot, regions. These VLVA do not appear to be plume heads nor is there any obvious damage to the lithosphere under the present locations of flood and plateau basalt provinces. The uppermantle does not appear to be isothermal; the LVA are not restricted to hotspot locations.

We suggest that LVA are hotcells in the uppermantle which reflect, in part, the absence of subduction cooling. Plate tectonic induced rifting causes massive magmatism if the break occurs over hotcells, i.e. low-seismic velocity regions. Flood basalts (CFB) may result from the upwellings of already hot, even partially molten, mantle. In contrast to plume heads and plume tails, hotcells are robust features which are fixed relative to one another. They are most pronounced in parts of the mantle that have not been cooled by subduction. There is a close relationship between CFB initiation sites, LVA and ridges and, we believe, hotcells.

  • © The Geological Society 1992

Please note that if you are logged into the Lyell Collection and attempt to access content that is outside of your subscription entitlement you will be presented with a new login screen. You have the option to pay to view this content if you choose. Please see the relevant links below for further assistance.

INDIVIDUALS

Log in using your username and password

– GSL fellows: log in with your Lyell username and password. (Please check your access entitlements at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/fellowsaccess)
– Other users: log in with the username and password you created when you registered. Help for other users is at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/lyellcollection_faqs
Forgot your username or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article for 24 hours and download the PDF within the access period. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one. To download the PDF, click the 'Purchased Content' link in the receipt email.

LIBRARY USERS

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
If you think you should have access, please contact your librarian or email [email protected]

LIBRARIANS

Administer your subscription.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about the Lyell Collection publications website, please see the access help page or contact [email protected]

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this volume

Geological Society, London, Special Publications: 68 (1)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Volume 68
1992
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

Plume heads, continental lithosphere, flood basalts and tomography

Don L. Anderson, Yu-Shen Zhang and Toshiro Tanimoto
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 68, 99-124, 1 January 1992, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1992.068.01.07
Don L. Anderson
1Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Yu-Shen Zhang
2Institute of Tectonics, University of California at Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Toshiro Tanimoto
1Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

Plume heads, continental lithosphere, flood basalts and tomography

Don L. Anderson, Yu-Shen Zhang and Toshiro Tanimoto
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 68, 99-124, 1 January 1992, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1992.068.01.07
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Geological Society, London, Special Publications article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Plume heads, continental lithosphere, flood basalts and tomography
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Geological Society, London, Special Publications
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Geological Society, London, Special Publications.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Bookmark this article
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • The history of the European oil and gas industry (1600s–2000s)
  • Himalayan earthquakes: a review of historical seismicity and early 21st century slip potential
  • Introduction to Himalayan tectonics: a modern synthesis
  • Seismic characterization of carbonate platforms and reservoirs: an introduction and review
  • An introduction to forensic soil science and forensic geology: a synthesis
More...

Special Publications

  • About the series
  • Books Editorial Committee
  • Submit a book proposal
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • Lyell Collection Sponsors
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
0305-8719
Online ISSN 
2041-4927

Copyright © 2022 Geological Society of London