Volcanoes Along Continental Margins and Ocean Ridges

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2 volcanoes, hotspots, and
plate tectonics
2.1 A package tour of the Earth’s volcanoes 17
2.2 Plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading encapsulated 28
2.3 Basically basalt 33
2.4 Destructive plate margin volcanism 36
2.5 Within-plate volcanoes, ‘hotspots’, and mantle plumes 39
A cup of coffee whitened with the appalling ‘non-dairy those which only might erupt at some unspecified
creamer’ beloved of North Americans is not simply a future date. At one time, the term was formally applied
static volume of liquid. Tiny particles of powdered to volcanoes with documented records of eruptions,
‘creme’ swirl around beneath the surface in startlingly but because so many volcanoes are located in remote
rapid currents. Think about this when confronted regions where there is no recorded history, this is not
with your next Styrofoam cup of coffee. Think also realistic. It is best to regard as potentially active any
about this fact: almost all of the world’s active volca- volcano that preserves geological evidence of eruptions
noes are located either in the oceans, or very close to within the last 10 millennia. In any 1 year, about 50–70
them. These two apparently unrelated facts tell us a lot subaerial (on land) volcanoes erupt (around 20 volca-
about the way that the Earth works as a planet. noes will be erupting on Earth as you read this page).
First, however, a semantic point. While the term Approximately 550 have erupted within historic times,
‘active volcano’ is universally used, it is often not clear and a further 750 are known to have been active within
what is meant, because the term is applied indiscrim- the last 10 000 years (10 kyr). Of course, a few volca-
inately to volcanoes that are actually erupting in a noes may have repose times between eruptions exceed-
business-like way; those that are steaming gently; and ing 10 kyr, but this is a convenient cut-off.
2.1 A package tour of the Earth’s volcanoes
A good atlas will show that volcanoes are found in third, in odd places in the middle of the continents.
three distinct environments: first, along the margins of There are rather few of the last group. There are none
continents, and on strings of islands straggling away at all in Australia or South America, but there are
from them; second, in the middle of the oceans; and some important examples in Africa.
18 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL
For many decades, geologists had to accept this 2.1.1Continental margin and island
erratic distribution at face value. Hints of an under- arc volcanoes
lying pattern came in the nineteenth century when
oceanographers began to survey the ocean floors. Much of the most notorious of this group is the
They found that the volcanic islands dotted along the so-called ‘Ring of Fire’, which loops erratically
length of the Atlantic oceans were outlying pinnacles around the Pacific Ocean (Fig. 2.3). It begins amidst
of a submarine mountain range extending for thou- the monochromatic beauty of the Graham Land
sands of kilometres, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, Peninsula, the long finger of land stretching north-
tracing an outline that curiously mirrors the coast- wards from the Antarctic continent. An eruption of
lines of Africa and South America. For obvious rea- Deception Island there in 1969 wrecked British and
sons, this ridge became known as the Mid-Atlantic Chilean research bases. Hapless penguins still scald
Ridge. Other surveys showed similar ridges beneath their feet in boiling hot springs. From there, the Ring
the other oceans, and rock samples dredged from swings eastwards in an arc of active volcanoes form-
them showed that they were all made of basaltic ing the desolate South Sandwich islands, heading first
lavas. Later studies showed that ocean ridges are not north and then west, describing a great loop through
simple, continuous features, but are interrupted and South Georgia (non-volcanic) before making for
offset by great curving transform faults and fractures the extreme south of the South American continent.
(Fig. 2.1). It became clear that the ocean ridges form Here, in the tangle of islands and fjords that is Patag-
collectively by far the longest system of mountain onia, is Mt Burney, the southernmost volcano on the
ranges on Earth. Increasing knowledge of their Andean continental margin: an obscure volcano,
topography, however, did not resolve the key ques- rarely visited by geologists. Some 600 km further
tion of how they formed. It was not until the 1960s north is Mt Hudson, which erupted on 12 August
that Vine and Matthews’s interpretation of the pat- 1991. A great plume of ash rose to an altitude of
terns of the magnetism of the rocks of the ocean floor 16 km, to be borne away by brisk northwesterly
confirmed what some scientists had long suspected: winds. Ash fall brought misery to ranching areas of
new oceanic crust is generated at ocean ridges, while the Patagonian pampas, taking the lives of a million
‘continental drift’ is the consequence of the widening sheep, 40% of the total in the area. Ash fell as far
of oceans in this way. distant as the Falkland Islands, 1000 km to the
This realization was the core of the ‘Plate Tectonic east. By 20 August, the plume had reached Australia,
Revolution’, which interrupted the scholarly slum- 15 000 km further east. Passengers and aircrew on
bers of distinguished geologists around the world. a flight from Melbourne to Sidney noticed a strange,
The events leading up to the revolution have been hazy cloud with a brownish orange tinge, and
retold many times, so most readers will be familiar detected the acrid smell of sulfur dioxide.
with them. Here, therefore, we merely make a brief From Mt Hudson northwards, volcanoes occur
world tour of the key environments where volcanoes along almost the entire 7000 km length of the Andes
occur, to set some of the phenomena described later as far as the Caribbean. There are thousands of vol-
in a global context (Fig. 2.2). canoes along the cordillera, but only about 100 are
Fig. 2.1 A 25 section of the Mid-

Atlantic Ridge, showing the ridge axis
offset by a multitude of fractures.
Each fracture zone is curved, centred
about a pole of rotation, accommo-
dating differential movements of rigid
lithospheric plates.
A PACKAGE TOUR OF THE EARTH’S VOLCANOES 19
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0° LEGEND
Actively spreading ridges and transform faults
Global tectonic activity map of the earth
Tectonism and Volcanism of the Last 1 Myr Total spreading rate, cm/year
1.4
DTAM-1 Robinson projection
Major active fault or fault zone; dashed where nature,
location, or activity uncertain
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Mainly oceanic crust Normal fault or rift; hachures on down thrown side
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 Mainly continental crust Reverse fault (overthrust, subduction zones); generalized;
barbs on upthrown side
October 2002 Volcanic centers active within the last 1 Myr;
generalized. Minor basaltic centers and seamount somitted.
Fig. 2.2 Tectonics and volcanism of the past 1 Myr with plate motions and major fault zones.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Digital Tectonic Activity Map (DTAM), prepared by
P. Lowman, J. Yates, B. Montgomery, and P. Masuoka [1]. http://core2.gsfc.nasa.gov/dtam/.
potentially active. North Chile, Peru, and Ecuador Rica, extending northwards through the Central
boast the highest volcanoes in the world: dozens American republics of Nicaragua and Guatemala.
exceed 6000 m in height (Fig. 2.4). Chimborazo and One reason that the Panama Canal was built in
Cotopaxi in Ecuador were thought to be the world’s Panama rather than Nicaragua—a better choice
highest mountains until the Himalayas were sur- in some ways—was that contemporary Nicaraguan
veyed in the nineteenth century. They inspired one of postage stamps displayed a volcano. Crafty sup-
mountaineering’s classic works, Edward Whymper’s porters of the Panamanian cause used this to bolster
Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator their argument that Nicaragua was far too unstable
(1891), and their romance ‘stole the soul’ of the poet a place to build the canal. Further north, central
W.J. Turner. In Colombia and Venezuela, the Andean Mexico contains major volcanoes, some burdened
mountain chain and volcanic Ring become geologic- with tortuous Aztec names such as Popocatépetl
ally intricately interwoven. In this previously obscure and Iztaccíhuatl, but the country is chiefly remem-
volcanic region, 24 000 people in the town of bered by volcanologists for another previously
Armero, Colombia, were killed in 1985 by mudflows obscure volcano, El Chichón, which took many
spawned from the ice-capped volcano Nevado del hundreds of lives during its brief but powerful erup-
Ruíz. It remains the world’s most lethal eruption tion in 1982.
since 1902. Continuing northwards, the United States has
After a short gap in the forests of the Isthmus of fewer active volcanoes. Nonetheless, the State of
Panama, the Ring reappears in full vigour in Costa Washington was the site of the most closely observed
Fig. 2.3 Locations of some of the volcanoes of the circum-Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ discussed in the text.
major explosive eruption in history: the May 1980 strongly. Novarupta, on the continental margin near
eruption of Mt St Helens, which startled volcano- Mt Katmai, was, in 1912, the site of the largest
logists by its violence (Fig. 2.5). We shall return to eruption of the last century. Fortunately it is so
Mt St Helens many times in later chapters. Further remote that there were few casualties. Westwards
north still, Canada is not usually thought of as a from Katmai, volcanoes swing out to form the long
volcanic region, but there were many eruptions in Aleutian and Kurile island arcs. These curve north-
prehistoric times. An eruption in northernmost wards towards the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia,
British Colombia in about AD 700 may have caused another highly active volcanic province, and the Ring
wholesale disruption of the Athapaskan Indian com- then sweeps southwards to Japan, a country whose
munity. In Alaska, the Ring of Fire picks up again landscape is so dominated by volcanoes that they
Fig. 2.4 Nevado Ojos del Salado, the world’s highest active volcano, 6885-m high, located in an
hyper-arid part of the Atacama desert on the frontier between Chile and Argentina. Much of
the light-toned material in the photograph is not snow, but a pumice deposit. Base level of the
volcano is 4500 m.
Fig. 2.5 A huge convecting eruption

column developed after Mt St Helen’s
initial violently explosive blast on
18 May 1980. Ash rose more than
20 km, and fell out over much of the
central United States. This view is from
the south.
USGS photograph.
form an integral part of the national culture. One of 2.1.2Volcanoes in the middle
the Japanese works of art best loved in the west
is The Great Wave at Kanagana by the nineteenth
of the oceans
century artist Katushika Hokusai. This picture is Our second volcanic package tour begins nearly at
dominated by a splendidly crested tsunami with the opposite Pole, at Jan Mayen, an ice-gripped island
Mt Fuji diminutive in the background, but it is actu- in the Arctic Ocean, halfway between Greenland
ally only one of a series of no less than 46 views and northernmost Norway (Fig. 2.6). Dominating
devoted to Mt Fuji. In the later, slightly less famous this bleak scrap of land is 2277-m-high Beerenberg
views, the waves have died down and Mt Fuji is volcano, which last erupted in 1985. South-west of
depicted in all its symmetrical elegance. Jan Mayen is Iceland, the largest volcanic island in the
From Japan, volcanoes continue through Taiwan world, and famous for its volcanoes and geysers.
to the Philippines, where Taal and Mayon volcanoes Icelanders christened their finest gusher of boiling
have long and lethal histories, and Pinatubo gave vent water Geysir. This name was applied subsequently to
to the third-largest eruption of the twentieth century those depressing pieces of gas-fired plumbing, which
on 15 June 1991. From there, the volcanic zone con- used to be familiar parts of British bathrooms, as well
tinues on to Sulawesi and south-eastwards through as to other natural jets of ebullient water around the
New Guinea, the New Hebrides, and a scatter of world.
small Melanesian volcanic islands before making an Iceland has 22 active volcanoes. Those on the
abrupt dog’s leg to the Solomon islands and the Westmann Islands, off the southern coast, are best
Tonga-Kermadec Archipelago, and continuing south- known. A new island, Surtsey, was spectacularly
wards again into New Zealand. born in full view of the media during an eruption in
North Island, New Zealand, was the locus of the 1963. In February 1973, another eruption burst out
most violent eruption known to volcanologists, the on the nearby island of Heimaey. For a time it seemed
Taupo paroxysm of about AD 181. There are no that Heimaey, Iceland’s largest fishing port, would
active volcanoes on the South Island, and the Ring of be destroyed. Fortunately, the eruption petered out
Fire that we have been following for 40 000 km in July 1973, after only a part of the town had been
around the Pacific fizzles out there. To find more engulfed (Fig. 2.7).
southerly volcanoes, we must jump to Antarctica, South of Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean stretches out
over 1500 km away. Buckle Island lies just off the devoid of even the smallest of islands for thousands
Antarctic coast, while Mt Erebus fumes persistently of kilometres. On 29 December 1884, Captain Perry
above Scott’s original base camp at McMurdo of the British steamship Bulgarian reported sighting
Sound, from which he set out on his heroic journey to a submarine eruption in the middle of the ocean,
the Pole. Strictly speaking, Erebus is not part of the halfway between Ireland and Newfoundland (49 N,
Ring of Fire—it is more like the exotic volcanoes of 34.5 W). On hearing of this report, the British
Africa—but it does bring us back conveniently to oceanographer Sir John Murray remarked that he
Antarctica, where we started. hoped that it signified the emergence of a new island,
To sum up, throughout all its lethal length, the because the Royal Navy needed a coaling station
Ring of Fire is characterized by tall, conical volca- in that area. Unfortunately for imperial strategic
noes that occur on continental margins or island designs, this eruption, if it was an eruption, came to
arcs, which erupt rather infrequently, but which have nothing, and no new island succeeded in raising its
caused many of the greatest volcanic catastrophes in head above water to be added to Queen Victoria’s
history. If we include the other volcanoes of this already extensive collection.
class, which lie on continental margins or island arcs At the latitude of the Straits of Gibraltar, and
away from the circum-Pacific region, notably those 1300 km from the Portuguese coast, are the Azores, a
in the Mediterranean, we can conclude that these cluster of volcanic islands where eruptions have
volcanoes have caused almost all the most destruct- taken place as recently as 2000 (a submarine eruption
ive eruptions in history.
Fig. 2.6 Volcanoes and volcanic

islands of the Atlantic Ocean. The
Mid-Atlantic Ridge does not break
surface except in Iceland; the widely
spaced active volcanic islands gener-
ally lie slightly off the ridge axis.
on Terceira island). South of the Azores, but hugging Island; then St Helena, site of Napoleon’s second and
the African coast, are the Canary Islands, beloved of terminal exile. Both are young volcanic complexes.
sun-loving tourists from the colder parts of Europe. Further south still is Tristan da Cunha, notorious for
El Teide, whose soaring 3700-m-high cone dominates its eruption in 1962, which precipitated the evacuation
the island of Tenerife, was erupting as Columbus of the island’s tiny, ethnically unique population
passed the island on his epic voyage in 1492. South and (Fig. 2.8). Tristan has two near neighbours, both unin-
west of the Canaries, the Atlantic stretches for thou- habited (Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands) and a
sands of kilometres, broken only by the Cape Verde third, Gough Island, 200 km further south. All three
Islands, again volcanic and recently in eruption, and are the wave-battered remains of volcanoes whose
the St Peter and St Paul rocks. South of this tiny pair are activity was extinguished about 2–3 Myr ago.
a few lonely islands separated from one another by Further south still, the Roaring Forties begin, the
hundreds of kilometres of open sea: first, Ascension latitudes at which the expanses of the Southern
Fig. 2.7 Basaltic lava flows advancing

through the Icelandic port of Heimaey
in April 1973. Although the town was
extensively damaged, lavas did not
advance much further than their posi-
tion here. Fortuitously the lavas
improved the harbour making it more
sheltered. Much of the town is now
supplied with geothermal heat from
the volcano.
Photo: S. Thorarinsson.
Ocean extend emptily right around the world and Loa) rises 4170 m above the ocean. Kı-lauea is much
where unrestrained westerly gales whip the sea lower (1200 m), but is the most continuously active
surface into waves of terrifying scale. Bouvet Island, volcano on Earth; lava streaming into the ocean at a
the last link in our tenuous volcanic chain, lies even steady rate of about 5 m3 s1 for years on end. A third
further south; south of latitude 50. Almost never major volcano, Mauna Kea (4206 m) is inactive, and is
visited, little is known about the desolate, ice-bound the site of the world’s largest cluster of astronomical
780-m-high-volcano, although a minor steam emis- observatories. The gleaming white geometry of their
sion was noted in the 1980s by a passing solo yachts- high-tech domes makes an odd contrast with the
man of extraordinary fortitude. reddish curves of the scoria cones surrounding the
Worlds away, in more senses than one, are the Sand- summit. A short distance off the south coast of
wich (more commonly, but less properly called the Hawai‘i, a submarine volcano, Lo‘ihi, is also active,
Hawaiian) Islands, in the centre of the Pacific Ocean. A but has another 1000 m to go before it breaks surface.
scatter of small scraps of land (Midway Island, Kure
Atoll) marks the western limit of the archipelago,
which extends almost 2000 km eastwards along a
chain of atolls (Laysan Island, French Frigate Shoals), 2.1.3Continental rift valley
until the first substantial island, Kauai, is reached. East- volcanoes
wards from Kauai, the islands get bigger and higher via
Oahu, Moloka‘i and Mau‘i, until Hawai‘i—the Big A glance at a map of Africa shows that its topography
Island as haole residents call it— is reached. Hawai‘i is is different from the other continents: it has no long
the site of two active volcanoes, one of which (Mauna mountain ranges such as the Alps, Andes, or Rockies.
Fig. 2.8 Lava emerging from a small vent on the southern flanks of Tristan da Cunha volcano in
1962. Parts of the active vent are visible at the bottom. Some of the islanders’ fields, boats, and
houses can be seen on the left. The islanders were evacuated, because the eruption threatened
their settlement, but returned later.
Photo: I.G. Gass.
Africa’s highest places are almost all young volcanoes. abruptly drained through a series of fissures. During
They occur in two distinct environments: along the the course of less than an hour on the morning of
East African rift valley system, and, most remarkable 10 January, about 22 106 m3 of lava flooded down
of all, as isolated massifs deep in the heart of the the flanks of Nyiragongo, flowing at up to 60 km h1,
Sahara. On a map, the most obvious features of the and taking the lives of as many as 500 people. In
Rift system are the long, narrow lakes that lie within January 2002, an even more dramatic eruption
its bounding faults (Fig. 2.9). One distinct chain of occurred with extremely fluid lava flows running from
lakes starts at Lake Malawi, a few hundred kilometres vents on the lower flanks of Nyiragongo, and right
from the Indian Ocean, then winds up through Lakes into the densely populated city of Goma.
Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward, and Albert (source of the On the eastern side of Lake Victoria, a second set of
Nile). These lakes lie within the Western Rift. Rising lakes marks the floor of the Eastern Rift, starting in the
above Lake Kivu are some of the most exotic moun- south at Lake Manyara and extending northward via
tains in the world, the Virunga Mountains. They lie Lakes Natron and Naivasha to Lake Turkana. A chain
almost on the equator in the heart of Africa, but rise so of smaller lakes (Ch‘amo, Abaya, Ziway) leads north-
high (4500 m) that they form ecological oases, which eastwards from Lake Turkana through Ethiopia to the
support exotic flora and fauna, including the only Red Sea. Mounts Kilimanjaro and Kenya, both volca-
remaining population of mountain gorillas. Two vol- noes, rise above the eastern walls of the rift valley to
canoes, Nyamuragira (3056 m) and Nyiragongo form the highest points in Africa, 5895 and 5199 m
(3470 m) have been among the most active in the high, respectively. Some of the smaller volcanoes are
world. Nyiragongo contained a lava lake in its crater even better known: the Ngorongoro Crater, for exam-
when the German explorer Von Gotzen reached it in ple, made famous by a plethora of wildlife documen-
1894, and the lake has reappeared several times since. taries. The Eastern Rift is also the site of the unique
Catastrophe struck in 1977, when the lava lake volcano Oldoinyo Lengai (Fig. 1.10).
Fig. 2.9 The main lakes, rift valleys,

and volcanoes of the East African Rift
system. Rifts are shown schematically;
in detail, the faulting is complex. Not
all volcanoes are shown.
In Ethiopia, the Eastern Rift opens out into the harsh Africa is not the only continent to possess rift valley
world of the Danakil Depression, a scorching lowland volcanoes, although they are best developed there. In
containing a few salty playas. These include the lowest Europe, the Eifel region of Germany is the site of
point in Africa, Lake Assal in Djibouti, 156 m below young volcanism on the Rhine Rift. A major eruption
sea level. In the heart of the Depression rises Erta’ Ale took place only 12.9 kyr ago to form the Laacher See,
volcano, which hosts the world’s longest lived lava a 1-km-diameter crater, now containing a picturesque
lake [2]. North of Erta’ Ale, the volcanic axis merges lake. In Asia, volcanism was associated with the
into the Red Sea, remarkable for its rectilinear shape. rift now occupied by Lake Baikal, at 1200-m deep
At its northern end, the Red Sea terminates in a promi- the world’s deepest, and reservoir of one-fifth of the
nent fork; one branch forming the Gulf of Suez, the world’s fresh water. Seismic activity in both regions
other the valley of the River Jordan. It does not take a continues to the present day. In North America, the
great conceptual leap to perceive that the Red Sea and Rio Grande river, best known from Hollywood West-
the African rift valleys are intimately linked. erns, flows in a magnificent rift valley for hundreds of
kilometres of its journey towards the Gulf of Mexico. heat. Three massifs are noteworthy: Jebel Marra in
Many young volcanoes are dotted along its course, Sudan, the Tibesti in Chad, and Ahoggar in Algeria.
but there have been no eruptions in modern times. These massifs are isolated from one another, and
Both the Baikal and the Rio Grande rifts occupy the have little in common except that all three are major
crests of broad topographic swells: gently uplifted volcanic complexes. Half a dozen young volcanoes
domes that developed before and during rifting. rise above 3000 m in the Tibesti. Astronauts report
that one of them, Pic Tousside volcano (3265 m), is
the easiest of all the Earth’s landmarks to identify
from orbit, because its dark massif rises up in such
Volcanoes in the middle of
2.1.4 stark contrast against the ochreous wastes of the
nowhere desert. Paradoxically, it is scarcely known to the
world at large. Jebel Marra in the Sudan is less
North Africa’s Sahara desert is not the endless ‘sand outstanding, but still reaches 3042 m above sea level.
sea’ of popular fiction. Several rugged mountain Its 5-km-diameter caldera was formed by a colossal
massifs reach up thousands of metres into cooler air, eruption about 3500 years ago, an event that may
providing welcome relief from the glaring lowland have showered ash on Pharaonic Egypt (Fig. 2.10).
Fig. 2.10 Oblique aerial photograph of the Deriba Caldera, Darfur Province, western Sudan.
Highest point on the rim (right) is Jebel Marra, which rises 3042 m above sea level. Rarely vis-
ited by geologists, this remote caldera probably formed about 3000 years ago. Age of the younger
cone containing small lake is not known.
2.2Plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading

encapsulated
According to plate tectonic theory, the Earth’s sur- currents swirling in a coffee cup do the same thing in
face is composed of seven large, rigid plates and microcosm.
many smaller ones, which shift around. Three differ-
ent margins separate the plates: constructive plate
margins, where oceanic crust is formed; destructive
margins, where it is consumed again; and conserva- 2.2.1 The mantle
tive or transform margins, where plates slide pas-
sively past one another (Fig. 2.2). The fragmentation There is one essential difference between convection
of the crust into plates, which jostle against one in coffee and in the mantle: convection in the mantle
another on the surface, is an expression of something takes place in the solid state. Although temperatures
much deeper seated: the Earth’s internal heat. in the mantle are higher than the melting point of
A planet as large as the Earth contains tremendous mantle materials at the surface, pressures are so great
amounts of heat, both primordial heat left over that the material remains solid. If the idea of convec-
from its formation, and the heat generated by tion taking place in the solid state seems paradoxical,
decay of radioactive isotopes (Section 1.2). There are recall that the process is infinitely slow in human
three different ways in which this internal heat can terms. Ice, which we can observe flowing in glaciers,
escape, and the various planets we will explore in is a good example of a solid, which behaves as a fluid.
Chapter 15 express different combinations of these Mantle convection accounts for about 80% of the
three. 44 TW global heat flux.
Straightforward conduction through solid rock is Mantle materials convect by creep deformation
the simplest, commonest, and least volcanically (a progressive distortion of crystal structures), and
interesting mechanism of heat loss—there is nothing move only a few centimetres per year. Most of what
to see at the surface. It is the only mechanism that we know about the mantle comes from seismic
small bodies such as the Moon display. A second evidence, which demonstrates that it is indeed
mechanism may operate on planets big enough to solid. The velocities of seismic shock waves propa-
contain enough heat for large amounts of mantle gated by earthquakes through the mantle are con-
peridotite to be melted. Huge volumes of basalt trolled by the physical properties of the material
lavas may then be pumped to the surface of the that they travel through—the denser and more
planet through a few massive volcanoes. Hotspot rigid the material, the higher the seismic wave
volcanism of this sort has been important on several velocities.
bodies in the solar system (including Venus), and it In 1909, the Croatian seismologist Andrija
plays a non-negligible role on Earth. However, the Mohoroviçic identified the boundary between the
Earth conveys most of its heat to the surface via a Earth’s crust and mantle, now called the Mohoroviçic
third mechanism, plate recycling, or plate tectonics. discontinuity, or Moho, which is defined by an
Basalt magmas generated at ocean ridges form abrupt increase in density and seismic velocities. In
oceanic crust, which then cools as heat is absorbed recent years, seismology has progressed rapidly,
by seawater. Millions of years later, the oceanic advancing our knowledge of the mantle enormously.
crust sinks back into the mantle. In this sense, basalt Sophisticated computing techniques such as seismic
magmas and the crust that they generate act like tomography enable seismologists to construct three-
water circulating in an automobile radiator: they dimensional images of the mantle and its convection
form a working fluid which transfers heat from cells, much in the way that modern radiologists use
the hot centre to the outside world. Convection CAT scanners to study the interior of a patient’s
PLATE TECTONICS AND SEA-FLOOR SPREADING ENCAPSULATED 29
skull. Another important source of information on

the stirring of the mantle by convection is provided
by geochemistry of lavas derived by partial melting
of the mantle. However, the two sources of data
sometimes reveal conflicting views: some favouring
whole-mantle convection, others layered convection.
The reconciliation of seismological and geochemical
models of the mantle still has some way to go [3, 4].
2.2.2 Lithosphere
In plate tectonic terms, a ‘plate’ does not consist of a
fragment of crust alone; and neither need it be made
exclusively of oceanic or continental crustal material.
A plate consists of crustal and mantle material as far
down as the asthenosphere, a hot and relatively soft
Fig. 2.11 ‘Plate tectonics’ concerns lithospheric plates,
shell of mantle about 100 km thick. Between the
rather than drifting continents. Within the rigid lithosphere
asthenosphere and the surface is the lithosphere, (upper part of the diagram), heat is transferred to the sur-
the rigid outermost shell of the Earth. ‘Continental face by conduction, and temperature increases progressively
drift’ focuses attention on the continents, but it is with depth. At a depth of about 120 km, the temperature
actually lithospheric plates that shift around in the reaches about 1350C, rocks are no longer rigid, heat is
movements that are expressed in the wanderings of transferred by convection, so temperature increases much
continents. less rapidly with depth. It is convenient to define the bound-
Formally, lithosphere is defined in terms of thermal ary between lithosphere and asthenosphere at the intersec-
gradients. At the Earth’s surface, rocks are cool and tion between the two thermal gradients.
rigid, and they therefore deform elastically under
loads—when stressed, they first give a bit, and then
break abruptly in brittle failure. Earthquakes are one
result of rocks failing under stress. More impor- base of the lithosphere, therefore, is the point of
tantly, heat can be transported through rigid rocks inflexion on a temperature vs depth plot, where the
only by conduction. Thus, temperature increases linear conductive gradient gives way to the convec-
steadily with depth, and thermal gradients are linear. tive gradient (Fig. 2.11). Above the point of inflexion
Different geological provinces are characterized by is the lithosphere, below it, the asthenosphere.
different heat flows, and therefore by different ther- Beneath the continents, the lithosphere is typically
mal gradients. between 100- and 150-km thick, but beneath the
Temperatures cannot increase infinitely without oceans it varies with age, young lithosphere being
something happening. Depending on the thermal as little as 10-km thick, and old lithosphere about
gradient, a depth is ultimately reached where tempera- 100-km thick.
tures are so high that the rocks approach their melting It is the contrast in long-term mechanical proper-
point (≈ 1350C), become ductile, and have lower ties between the rigid lithosphere and the ductile
seismic wave velocities. This is where the asthenos- asthenosphere that permits lithospheric plates to
phere starts. It is easily deformable, and therefore move around on the surface of the Earth. Seismic
convection is the dominant mode of heat flow, and data also reveal a number of other important
because convection tends to stir things up, the tem- boundaries within the mantle [4]. Much the most
perature in the asthenosphere increases much less important zone for plate tectonics is the Low Velocity
with increasing depth. A useful way of defining the Zone (LVZ), roughly between the depths of 50 and
150 km. As its name implies, the LVZ is characterized 2.2.3 Ocean ridge volcanism
by reduced seismic wave velocities, indicating that
the mantle materials there, are much less rigid than Ocean ridges are the essence of plate tectonics.
those above and below, and probably contain some Today, some 18 km3 of new oceanic crust is formed
partially molten mantle material. Because of this, the at ridges every year (anywhere between 8–16 km3 of
term LVZ is often used synonymously (but erro- this—2–4 1013 kg year1—actually erupts as lava
neously) with the term asthenosphere. Below the on the sea bed; rates may have been twice as high
LVZ there is an abrupt change in seismic wave during periods of rapid sea-floor spreading such as
velocities at about 400 km, probably corresponding the one that occurred during the Cretaceous
with an important mineralogical change: the ubiqui- period). It used to be thought that they sat directly
tous olivine of the upper mantle changing to denser above upwelling mantle convection cells, which
spinel. At 660 km, there is another seismic discontinu- were supposed to be the immediate causes of sea-
ity, probably where spinel minerals transform to floor spreading. Work carried out in the 1980s
perovskite. shows that it is more likely that ocean ridges result
Ascending convection
cell beneath ridge
Fig. 2.12 Cartoon views illustrating

the shift in thinking about the forces
driving plate motions. At first (top),
ocean spreading ridges were perceived
as direct expressions of upwelling
mantle convection cells, which drove
sea-floor spreading via ‘ridge push’
forces. Today the same relationships
arc interpreted differently: the ‘slab
mantle pull’ of the cold, dense, descending
isotherms
lithosphere is seen as the dominant
force acting on plates (below). Thin-
Zone of partial ning of the oceanic lithosphere, in
Slab melting response to extension, causes mantle
pull isotherms to rise, so that melting and
force volcanism result.
PLATE TECTONICS AND SEA-FLOOR SPREADING ENCAPSULATED 31
from passive spreading—the oceanic lithosphere is ridges as passive phenomena helps to explain a
thinned by tectonic forces until it splits, stretched number of previously enigmatic features, such as
by the pull of older, denser lithosphere sinking into the absence of consistent gravity anomalies over
the mantle at a subduction zone (Fig. 2.12). them, and the huge fractures that displace ridge
Bruce Heezen, a distinguished marine geologist, axes, sometimes for hundreds of kilometres. It was
aptly likened this passive sea-floor spreading always difficult to envisage how mantle convection
process to a ‘wound that never heals’. It is a contin- cells could be consistent with such vast offsets.
uous process, operating at rates of a few centimetre To see ocean ridge volcanism at work, we need
per year, a similar rate of growth to that of hair or look no further than Iceland, sitting astride the
finger nails. Thinning of the oceanic lithosphere by Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and spreading at a rate of
extension results in mantle material that was stable about 2 cm year1. Because it is above sea level, Ice-
at temperatures and pressures equivalent to more land is not typical of submarine ridge axes, but the
than 100 km finding itself at depths of 50 km or differences are of degree, rather than fundamental.
less. Enough thermal energy is contained in the ris- Volcanic activity on Iceland has been so prolific
ing material to cause widespread melting at the that it has been able to keep itself above sea level.
shallower level (Fig. 2.13). Interpretation of ocean Much of the bleak, beautiful island is covered with
basalt lavas so fresh that they convince even the
geologically innocent that Iceland is a young land-
mass, newly created from the spreading zone that
runs through it from south-west to north. Here, the
land is broken up by innumerable long, straight-
sided fissures and rents, which run for kilometres
(Fig. 2.14). These are the surface expression of
dykes. It is easy to relate mentally this much fis-
sured land surface to the sheeted dyke complexes of
ophiolite terrains (see below). Every few years, a
new dyke breaks the surface at volcanoes such as
Krafla. Lava is sprayed out along a straight, nar-
row fissure many hundreds of metres long, forming
a veritable ‘wall of fire’ before activity focuses on a
single centre, and the fireworks fade away from the
rest of the fissure.
2.2.3.1 Ophiolites—fossils of
the oceanic crust
Ophiolites are chunks of ancient oceanic crust, which
have been pushed up on to continental crust. They
provide unique insights into processes taking place
Fig. 2.13 This diagram is the key to ocean ridge volcanism. below sea level at spreading ridges. Oceanic crust is
It is similar to Fig. 2.11, but has two extra lines. The dashed consistently thin: about 6–7 km. At the bottom of an
line ‘projected mantle adiabat’ shows the temperature that
ophiolite sequence, coarse-grained plutonic rocks
a mass of deep mantle material would have if the pressure
(peridotites) are found, which were once located in
on it were decreased. At a depth of about 50 km, this inter-
sects the peridotite solidus, which expresses the pressure the mantle, below the Moho. Overlying these mantle-
temperature conditions at which solid peridotite begins to derived rocks are rocks that formed the oceanic crust
melt. At depths shallower than 50 km, melting takes place proper, and which were derived by partial melting of
when mantle materials are depressurized, following the mantle peridotites. Ideally, these form a three-layered
adiabat. sequence.
Fig. 2.14 Long, linear fractures and normal faults are prominent in the actively spreading part
of Iceland. These are near þingvellìr, site of Iceland’s ancient parliament.
Lowermost of the three layers are plutonic rocks dyke may be only a metre thick, but a thousand such
of gabbroic composition, sometimes called the dykes represents extension of 1 km.
cumulate sequence. These represent the ‘magma
chambers’ that supplied overlying volcanoes through
the second unit, called sheeted dyke complexes. 2.2.3.2 Oceanic lithosphere away from
Overlying the sheeted dyke complex is the truly the ridge axis
volcanic material: piles of pillow lavas, which were Oceanic lithosphere does not consist only of the few
erupted from the dykes and accumulated to form kilometres thickness of dykes and pillow lavas that
a layer several hundred metres thick (Figs 2.15 form the crust—it incorporates a good deal of mantle
and 2.16). material as well. Recall that the base of the oceanic
Dykes are crucial components of ocean ridge lithosphere is defined as the depth at which rocks
volcanism. Addition of material to the oceanic crust soften as their temperature approaches about 1350C,
in the form of dykes is the mechanism by which and the asthenospheric mantle begins to deform vis-
sea-floor spreading takes place. Sheeted dyke com- cously. Near the ridge axis, the oceanic plate is thin,
plexes consist of nothing but dykes: thin, parallel perhaps 10 km thick—the 1350C isotherm is near
sheets of rock intruded successively into one the surface. As the plate moves further away from the
another; so abundantly that it is often difficult to ridge axis, it loses heat to the ocean, mostly through
match the edges of a single dyke together—half a the circulation of sea-water fluids through cracks and
dozen other dykes may have been intruded subse- fissures within the uppermost kilometre or two.
quently between them (Fig. 2.17). All this dyke Hydrothermal cooling has profound effects:
intrusion at the ridge axis is the consequence of when first formed, the rocks of the oceanic litho-
extension: new material being intruded to fill what sphere are hot and buoyant, but they get denser as
would otherwise be a gaping void. An individual they cool. The lithospheric plate thickens and sags
BASICALLY BASALT 33
Fig. 2.16 A world-famous outcrop of pillow lavas of

Cretaceous age forming part of an ophiolite sequence,
Wadi Jizi, Oman. Photo: courtesy of D.A. Rothery.
into the mantle to maintain isostatic equilibrium.

Old, cold lithosphere reaches a maximum thickness
of about 125 km. As a result of cooling, the depth of
the oceans increases smoothly and progressively
Fig. 2.15 Schematic section through typical oceanic away from ridge axes: the depth at a given distance
crust. Total thickness of crust is less than 8 km, but varying with the square root of the age of the plate
oceanic lithosphere more than 60 Myr old may be as at that point. Heat flow through the plate, a meas-
much as 125-km thick, since it includes both crust and ure of its cooling, also decreases with the square
mantle components. root of the age of the plate.
2.3 Basically basalt

Basalt is a dark igneous rock characterized by small grain basanos, meaning touchstone (which is an entirely different
sizes (less than about 1 mm) and containing roughly rock: a dark flinty stone used to test gold and silver alloys).
equal proportions of plagioclase feldspar and calcium rich Basalt is by far the commonest igneous rock on the surface of
pyroxene, with less than 20 per cent of other minerals the solid Earth, and occurs abundantly on other terrestrial
(typically olivine, calcium poor pyroxene, and iron titanium planets.
oxides). The name is derived indirectly from the Greek
Fig. 2.17 Hundreds of vertical dykes

are exposed in the hills forming the
background of this view of the sheeted
dyke complex of the Oman Ophiolite.
Dykes form 50% of the volume of
rock here; the remainder is gabbro.
Photo: courtesy of D.A. Rothery.
These are the first words of a 4286-page treatise enti- microscope, some mineralogical differences between
tled Basaltic volcanism on the terrestrial planets; basalt types emerge, but many basalts are so fine
a compendium of almost everything known about grained that optical studies are difficult. Geochem-
basalts up until 1981 [5]. Mere existence of such a istry is therefore used to discriminate between
lengthy work is a sure guide to the importance of different basalt types. For our purposes, only two
basalts. As a definition, the paragraph that intro- are essential: tholeiites and alkali basalts. Tholeiitic
duces this rambling, 101-author tome is as informa- basalts (including most MORBs) contain a calcium-
tive as one could devise for this vast group of rocks. poor pyroxene, while alkali basalts lack these
Nearly 70% of the Earth’s surface and 17% of the pyroxenes and usually have olivine. They can be
Moon’s surface are covered by basalt. On the other distinguished on the plot of sodium plus potassium
planets, the proportions are less well-known, but against silica (Fig. 1.9).
most of Venus and large areas of Mars are certainly According to one school of thought, all volcanism
covered by basalt. A few asteroids are covered by is fundamentally basaltic. Because basalts are so
basalt and there are even basalt meteorites, derived crucial to volcanology, it is appropriate to introduce
from asteroids. the main varieties and their origins. In the early days
Much has been written about basalts over the of geology, the ‘bowels of the Earth’ figured promin-
decades, including a great deal on the minutiae of ently in debates about where magmas came from.
basalt petrology. There is a vast literature dealing with Today, we can go further, and discuss more precisely
the nomenclature of basalt types and their derivatives, where in the Earth’s anatomy the source regions of
studded with references to things such as mugearites different basalt types are located. We can also dissect
and benmoreites: obscure varieties of basalt cropping the interiors of other planets in similar terms.
out on dismal moorlands in the Scottish Hebridean
province. While these rocks were important in their
day, when petrologists such as Norman Bowen [6] 2.3.1 The most primitive basalts
were first working out how igneous rocks crystallize,
they are not particularly helpful in understanding It is not difficult to see why basalts are ubiquitous in
basalts in a planetary context. the Solar System. All the terrestrial planets have sili-
One basalt lava looks boringly like another. It cate mantles with compositions similar to chondritic
is hard to distinguish between a lunar and a terres- meteorites, and basalt is the result of partial melting
trial one merely from their appearance. Under the of chondritic silicates. Primitive basalts are those
BASICALLY BASALT 35
formed most directly by partial melting of chondritic spinel peridotites and pyroxenites, which show that
material, the basic raw material of the Solar System. the magma ascended from depths greater than 30 km,
A logical question to ask, therefore, is: what are the without enduring the shallow level processes involved
most primitive basalts on Earth? in the generation of MORB (Table 2.1).
MORBs must have been derived from the mantle: Another way of thinking about the most ‘primi-
they are so voluminous that there is simply no altern- tive’ basalt types is to consider those that formed at
ative, and the plumbing that brings MORB magmas the highest temperatures. All the evidence presented
to the surface is evident. It was supposed for a long in the previous chapter shows that the Earth and
while, therefore, that they are formed by simple, other planets had much more thermal energy in their
single-stage melting of mantle materials, and that they early days than they do now. A natural consequence
are therefore ‘primitive’. This reasonable supposition of this would be higher mantle temperatures and
is now known to be wrong: MORBs form by multi- higher degrees of partial melting, leading to produc-
stage processes and are not primitive at all. The most tion of lavas with compositions closer to bulk mantle
primitive basalts known are rich in magnesium and compositions than those of today. Such lavas do
are frequently referred to as picrites, and can contain indeed exist in the terrestrial geological record.
abundant crystals of the mineral olivine. Compared Rather odd lavas called komatiites (named after a
with other basalts, primitive basalts have high con- locality near the Komati River in South Africa) turn
tents of the trace elements Ni and Cr. Picrites occur up in a number of places around the world, in
very occasionally at mid-ocean ridges and in vary- Canada and Australia as well as southern Africa.
ing amounts in continental flood basalt provinces. A common feature of komatiites is that they contain
Other primitive basalts richer in alkalis than either large blade-like crystals of olivine many centimetres
MORB or continental flood basalts are found on long, forming a sheaf-like spinifex texture (spinifex
ocean islands and in continental rifts. They often is a spiky Australian grass). Their high olivine con-
contain nodules of mantle materials, particularly tent means that komatiites are rich in magnesium,
Table 2.1 Compositions of undepleted mantle and some important basalt types
Undepleted mantle Primitive basalt a MORBb Komatiitec Lunar mared Shergotty meteorite (Mars)e
SiO2 45.1 44.2 50.5 45.2 43.6 50.1

TiO2 0.2 3.7 1.6 0.2 2.6 0.9
Al2O3 3.3 12.1 15.3 3.7 7.9 6.7
FeO 8.0 10.9 10.5 11.0 21.7 18.7
MnO 0.1 0.2 — 0.2 0.3 0.5
MgO 38.1 13.1 7.5 32.2 14.9 9.4
CaO 3.1 10.1 11.5 5.3 8.3 10.0
Na2O 0.4 3.6 2.6 0.4 0.2 1.3
K2O 0.03 1.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2
P2O5 0.8 0.1 0.02 0.7
Cr2O3 0.4 0.1 0.9 0.2
a
Primitive basanite, Ross Island, Antarctica, p. 413.
b
Average basaltic glass from Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean spreading centres, p. 139.
c
Olivine spinifex-textured sample, Barberton, p. 16.
d
Apollo 12 olivine basalt, No. 6, p. 239.
e
Shergotty, p. 221.
Sources: All from [5].
sometimes containing over 30%, indicating that they of previously melted mantle, which was therefore
were as much as 200C hotter than typical basalts already depleted of many basalt-forming elements.
when erupted. As Table 2.1 shows, komatiite com- Furthermore, komatiites are not the only lava types
positions are closer to that of the mantle than basalts. in the Archaean. Far from it. Basalt lavas with
Some may have been formed by as much as 50% par- compositions indistinguishable from modern lavas
tial melting. Komatiites are found on Earth almost are more abundant than komatiites, and they occur
exclusively in Archaean rocks (those more than within the same rock sequences as komatiites. Thus,
2.5 Gyr old), and therefore it might seem logical to the high temperatures and high degrees of partial
conclude that higher mantle temperatures prevailed melting involved in the formation of komatiites were
then. This picture is complicated, however, by the not all-pervasive in the Archaean mantle. Heat
discovery of less than 90 Myr old komatiites on Isle production in the Archaean was undoubtedly greater
of Gorgona in the Pacific. than it is now, but it seems that rapid convection was
However, the situation is actually more complic- able to keep temperatures down, and only occasion-
ated. Komatiite lavas themselves are not truly primi- ally did temperatures rise to yield thermal gradients
tive. Instead, most seem to have formed by remelting sufficient to produce komatiites.
2.4 Destructive plate margin volcanism
Although the Earth is a big place, its surface area is not and dense, and so cools the warm mantle into which
nearly big enough to accommodate all the oceanic litho- it is sinking—mantle isotherms are pushed down-
sphere that has been generated over the last 4.6 Gyr. wards. Correspondingly, the cool slab itself warms
Oceanic lithosphere must be consumed as fast as it is up. Ultimately of course, when it has descended
created. Were this not the case, the Earth would be deep enough into the mantle—several hundred kilo-
constantly expanding—an argument that actually metres—it will reach the same temperature and
finds the occasional passionate advocate. In the early become part of the mantle again. At depths of more
days of Earth history, before there were any continents, than 600 km the earthquakes of the subduction
plate consumption was straightforward: as oceanic zone fade away as the mechanical contrasts between
lithosphere moved away from the ridge axis that gave slab and mantle disappear, but compositional dif-
birth to it, it grew so thick and dense that it could no ferences extend much deeper.
longer ‘float’ on the asthenosphere beneath. It there- At shallow depths, between 50 and 150 km, several
fore sank, diving into the mantle, the descending slab changes that have volcanic implications take place in
pulling the oceanic lithosphere along behind it. (Slab the down-going lithospheric slab. First, recall what
pull is the dominant force behind plate tectonics.) the slab is made of. The lowermost part of it, below
the Moho, is made of mantle material—peridotites,
while the crustal part is made of the cumulate gab-
2.4.1 Island arcs bro/sheeted dyke/pillow lava trinity plus a quantity of
sedimentary material that has accumulated during its
Several things happen when a slab of lithosphere ride along the ocean floor conveyor belt. This con-
descends into the mantle. Most obvious are the sists mostly of fine-grained sticky clays and oozes
sometimes very high magnitude earthquakes that deposited in the abyssal ocean depths.
occur within the descending slab. Indeed, plots of Early hypotheses for volcanism at island arcs
the earthquake foci do a very good job of defining invoked straightforward melting of the basaltic crust
the plate boundaries, and many of the world’s most that was being subducted along the arc. To manufac-
dangerous areas of seismicity are located above ture basalt from basaltic crust would require almost
subduction zones. The descending slab is cool complete melting, but this is difficult to reconcile with
DESTRUCTIVE PLATE MARGIN VOLCANISM 37
geochemical data. It is now thought that as the down- its base may get partially melted themselves, giving
going slab is heated and stewed by its descent into the rise to magmas with more evolved compositions.
mantle, much of the water it contains is driven off, Partial melting is a crucial process in petrology.
rising into the mantle wedge (Fig. 2.18). Introduction Every time a melting process takes place, elements
of water into the overlying wedge of mantle promotes that are incompatible with the source rock composi-
melting, ultimately leading to the eruption of lavas tion are mobilized and escape. Typically, these are
similar to those erupted at ocean ridges. They are still elements with large ionic radii, such as potassium.
basalts, but differ slightly in their chemistry, so they Other elements, such as iron and magnesium, which
are called island arc basalts, or IABs, because island form minerals stable at higher temperature and
arcs are where they are found—in particular, the curv- reluctant to melt (e.g. olivine and pyroxene) tend to
ing archipelagos of volcanic islands that dominate remain in the solid rock. This has the effect of con-
maps of the western Pacific. centrating compounds such as SiO2 in the melt
Island arcs rarely consist of basalt alone. formed. If rocks were wholly melted, then the melt
Although the geochemical differences between IABs would obviously have the same composition as the
and MORBs may seem slight (Table 2.2), they are original rock. In practice, the smaller the extent of
cumulative. Thus, as an island arc matures, and partial melting, the more fractionation takes place
more melt is extracted from the descending slab and between compatible and incompatible elements.
overlying mantle wedge, the bulk composition of the Thus, a kind of distillation process takes place, giv-
island arc moves away from basalt. If the island arc ing rise to magmas richer in silica, potassium, and
gets old and thick enough, the early-formed rocks at other incompatible elements.
Fig. 2.18 Cartoon summarizing subduction zone processes at a continental margin. As the
descending slab sinks into the mantle, it is dehydrated. Upwards migration of fluids promotes
melting in the overlying mantle, ultimately leading to volcanism at the surface. Usually, volcanoes
are sited about 150 km above the top of the descending slab.
Table 2.2 Some important differences in major and not happen in a single stage: throughout the history of
trace elements between MORBs and typical IAB [7] the Earth, island arcs have been accreting, first form-
ing mini-continents, and later full-scale continents.
MORB IAB
From a volcanic point of view, the significant char-
acteristic of a maturing island arc is that relatively
K2O (%) 0.2 0.9
undramatic basaltic volcanism gives way to andesitic
TiO2 (%) 1.4 1.0
and rhyolitic volcanism, with explosive consequences
Rb (ppm) 2 23 for the style of eruptive behaviour. Much of this
Ba (ppm) 20 260 book will be devoted to exploring these vigorous
Zr (ppm) 90 71 types of eruption. One consequence is visibly obvi-
Hf (ppm) 2.4 2.2 ous: whereas mid-ocean volcanoes are topographic-
ally modest, many island arc andesitic volcanoes are
high, sweeping cones; recognizably ‘volcanoes’ to
everyone from kindergarten upwards. Despite this, it
A second process, fractional crystallization, leads is largely unseen oceanic eruptions that volumetri-
to similar results. When crystallization of large cally dominate global volcanism—estimates of the
igneous intrusions commences, minerals such as total eruptive flux of magma from volcanic arcs
olivine, which are stable at higher temperatures, crys- range from 1–5 1012 kg year1, at the very most
tallize first, forming cumulate rocks. By removing only 25% of that from the oceanic ridges, and in all
iron and magnesium from the magma, crystallization likelihood much less [8].
of olivine and pyroxene has the effect of enriching the
remaining liquid in silica and incompatible elements.
Although it rarely happens in a single stage, this 2.4.2 Island arc basalts
process of fractional crystallization, carried to
extremes, can produce rocks of rhyolitic (granitic) Island arc basalts (IABs) are erupted from the numer-
composition. In combination, these igneous processes ous island arc volcanoes around the world. No two
lead ultimately to the formation of the continental arcs are the same, but most contain at least 20%
crust, the real estate on which we live. This does basalt. Figure 2.19 and Table 2.2 show that IABs
Fig. 2.19 Although all basalts may

look the same, they can be finger-
printed by their trace-element chem-
istry. Basalts from mid-ocean ridges,
ocean islands, and island arcs are dis-
tinguished here by their zirconium
and yttrium contents [9].
WITHIN-PLATE VOLCANOES, ‘HOTSPOTS’, AND MANTLE PLUMES 39
have different trace-element compositions from In the central Andes, where the continental crust
MORBs and ocean island basalts (Section 2.5.1). In is more than 60-km thick, basalts are effectively
other respects, IABs have higher and more variable absent. Basaltic andesites, andesites, and dacites are
silica contents than MORBs (48–53 wt %); and dif- widespread. It will surprise no one to learn that
ferent strontium isotope ratios [9]. As described Andean volcanoes are characterized by andesites.
above, dehydration of the subducted slab and intro- Such andesitic volcanoes are comparable in most
duction of fluids into the overlying mantle wedge ways with their counterparts in island arcs. The
play a key part in the manufacture of island arc chief difference between island arc and continental
rocks, but the petrological details need not detain us. margin volcanoes lies in the varying proportions
We need merely note that geochemists interpret the of highly evolved rocks of dacitic or rhyolitic
differences between MORBs and IABs as suggesting compositions.
that the source regions for the IABs were depleted in At a continental margin such as the central
several elements relative to MORB, and hence that Andes, subduction of oceanic lithosphere and gen-
some basalt had already been extracted from the IAB eration of basaltic magmas has been continuous for
sources. many millions of years. This has led to the under-
plating of large amounts of basaltic material at the
base of the crust, and to the introduction of large
2.4.3 Continental margin processes amounts of heat into the lower crust. As heating of
the lower crust continues, the overlying continental
Subduction of oceanic lithosphere takes place beneath crustal material begins to melt. Some may be assim-
continental margins as well as island arcs. Overall, ilated by basaltic magmas, so that the resulting
the process is the same, and starts with new basaltic andesites retain geochemical fingerprints of both
magmas being formed from the descending ocean mantle and crustal source regions. Large amounts
plate and from the intervening wedge of mantle. of melting produce huge volumes of silicic magmas
Recall that these magmas start off enriched in incom- that balloon buoyantly to the surface in great intru-
patible elements. The difference now is that there is sive bodies known as batholiths. If these magma
a large thickness of continental crust between the bodies come close enough to the surface that the
magma source and the surface, and it is difficult for strength of the overlying crustal rocks can no longer
magmas to arrive at the surface without being exten- contain them, volcanic eruptions of great magni-
sively modified on their way. Much of the modifica- tude ensue, ejecting thousands of cubic kilometres
tion takes place through a complex process called of magmatic material in the space of a few hours. To
assimilation–fractional crystallization, the details of replace the huge volumes lost on eruption, the crust
which need not detain us. at the surface founders downwards to form huge
As continental crust thickens, there is less subsidence volcanoes, or calderas, up to 100 km
chance of true basalts being erupted at the surface. across (Chapter 11).
Within-plate volcanoes, ‘hotspots’, and

2.5
mantle plumes
Although it is a considerable over-simplification, it is middle of plates, such as Hawai‘i in the mid-Pacific,

convenient to think of ocean ridges and subduction and Tibesti, in the heart of Africa?
zones as complementary parts of a convective cycle. Taking the oceanic examples first, these volcanoes
How, then, do intraplate volcanoes fit into this neat are now recognized as ‘hotspot volcanoes’; surface
picture; those enigmatic volcanoes sticking up in the expressions of thermal ‘mantle plumes’, which may
be initiated as deep down as the core–mantle bound- Hawai‘i-Emperor chain) extending thousands of kilo-
ary. One instructive example is the Cape Verde vol- metres westwards. The thermal plume has acted as if
cano group, located midway between the coast of it were a blowtorch in the mantle, burning a trace
Africa and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Around the Cape through the overlying Pacific plate as it shifted slowly
Verde Islands, the sea-floor is elevated into a 1500 km above. Even the marked dog’s leg at 33 N, 172 W
wide swell centred around the islands, showing that can be explained in terms of a shift in the movements
it is buoyed up by a plume of warm, low-density of the Pacific plate as a whole (Figs 2.21–2.23). Many
material (Fig. 2.20). Furthermore, the heat flow other hotspot tracks are known, such as the Cook-
measured on the ocean floor is anomalously high, Austral island chain in the South Pacific. J. Tuzo
showing that the mantle beneath must be 100–200C Wilson, who made many seminal contributions to plate
hotter than normal [11]. Iceland is a more compli- tectonic theory, first recognized the age progressions
cated example, where the ‘hotspot’ actually underlies in chains of hotspot volcanoes. In his picturesque
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Abnormally warm mantle words, ‘the islands are in fact arranged like plumes of
beneath Iceland manifests itself again in a topo- smoke . . . carried downwind from their sources’ [14].
graphic swelling: the ocean floor for 1000 km around
Iceland is about a kilometre shallower than normal,
buoyed up by the mushroom-shaped head of a plume 2.5.1 Ocean island basalts
of unusually hot mantle. Seismological evidence sug-
gests that the Icelandic hotspot is indeed sourced Ocean island basalts (OIBs) help to illuminate the
from just above the core–mantle boundary, from a question of whether crust formation depleted the
quite localized region of partially molten mantle, whole mantle, or just a part of it [3]. As their name
some 250 km across and 40 km thick [12]. implies, ocean-island volcanoes are situated in ocean
Where a mantle plume has persisted for geologic- areas, far from any continent, and away from ocean
ally long periods, the overlying lithospheric plate ridges—typical OIBs are found on Hawai‘i, Iceland
may move over it. In the Hawaiian island group, the and the Polyneisan islands. They consist mostly of
currently active hotspot volcano (Kı-lauea) is merely tholeiites but show a wide range of compositions—
the newest-forged link in an 80-Myr-old chain (the many islands are made mainly or completely of alkali
Fig. 2.20 Model of the thermal plume beneath the Cape Verde Island. Isotherms show tempera-
ture anomalies in C relative to the mean asthenosphere temperature. The narrow plume spreads
out into a broad mushroom head beneath the overlying oceanic plate [10].
Fig. 2.21 The Hawai‘i-Emperor seamount and island chain is a beautiful example of a ‘hotspot’
track across a lithospheric plate. Contours are shown for 1 and 2 km depths in the area of the
chain only. Note the prominent dog’s leg at 33 N, 172 W. Only the features east of Midway
Island emerge above the sea level, the remainder are seamounts [13].
basalts. On a global scale, OIBs are volumetrically These differences cannot be easily explained away,
insignificant. As Fig. 2.19 shows, OIBs differ in their for instance by postulating that OIBs and MORBs
trace-element chemistry from the MORBs of the are derived from the same mantle sources merely by
ocean floor surrounding them. different physical means, such as different degrees of
Fig. 2.22 Evolution of the Hawai‘i-Emperor chain. Radiometric ages of samples from the
islands and seamounts in Fig. 2.21 are plotted against their distance from the currently active vol-
cano, Kı-lauea. There is an elegant correlation between age and distance, even across the dog’s leg,
consistent with plate movement of about 8.2 cm year1 over the hotspot. (The solid line repre-
sents a movement of exactly 8.6 cm year1.) After [13].
Fig. 2.23 Mauna Loa from Kı-lauea.

It may seem difficult to credit, but the
gently rising ridge in the background
is actually the 4000-m-high active
volcano Mauna Loa, located at the
youngest end of the Hawai‘i-Emperor
chain. In fact, add on the 5 km ocean
depth, and the volcano’s true height
is around 9 km (or even more if the
flexure of the Pacific Plate due to the
weight of Hawai‘i is taken into
account).
partial melting. Isotopic studies show that they must ence shows that the two source regions must have
have formed from physically separate mantle source been distinct for periods of the order of 2 Gyr. A sub-
regions; the OIB source being enriched in incom- tle but important conclusion follows from this: the
patible elements such as rubidium relative to the mantle, which forms such a large part of the Earth,
MORB source. Furthermore, geochronological evid- cannot be completely homogeneous.
At present, there is no universally accepted expla- composition, prior to formation of the crust, is inferred
nation of these relationships. Many geochemists from the chondritic composition; Section 1.3.1). It is
believe that the mantle contains two layers. According presumed to be relatively enriched in crust-forming
to this hypothesis, the upper mantle is kept convec- elements, more nearly chondritic in composition, and
tively stirred and has been depleted through time of its provides the OIB source region. Other geochemists
incompatible, crust-forming elements: it provides the believe that convection affects the whole mantle, and
MORB source region. Below the 660 km seismic dis- that the source of OIBs may be in thermal plumes ris-
continuity is a lower, more primitive (undepleted) ing from as deep as the core-mantle boundary. In
mantle, which forms a different convective regime both models, the source region for the voluminous
because it is more viscous (the truly primitive mantle MORBs is shallow, depleted mantle (Fig. 2.24).
Fig. 2.24 Cartoon illustrating one model of mantle convection, and the source regions of MORBs
and OIBs. At far left, MORBs and oceanic lithosphere are formed at a spreading centre from a shal-
low, depleted mantle source; to the right, a long-established thermal plume rooted at the core man-
tle boundary feeds an ocean hotspot volcano supplying OIBs; to the right of this are older, extinct
volcanoes in the hotspot track, terminating in an oceanic plateau. This marks the site where the
plume head first reached the surface. Oceanic lithosphere is subducted beneath a continental mar-
gin at centre. Below 650 km, subducted oceanic lithosphere becomes progressively more plastic and
is stretched, thinned, and deformed in the lower mantle but still retains some geochemical identity.
Small fragments of older subducted plates are also present. At far right, a new thermal plume is ris-
ing from the core–mantle boundary, but has not yet risen through the 650 km transition [15].
2.5.2 Continental hotspots its bimodal character—huge quantities of both basalt

and rhyolite (involving melting of continental crust)
Mid-oceanic plate volcanoes are almost exclusively have been erupted.
basaltic—with only mantle sources to draw from, there
is little alternative. And, of course, their lavas appear 2.5.2.1 Continental rift basalts
indistinguishable from ordinary oceanic basalts. Man- Basalts that floor the new oceans, produced by rifting
tle hotspots also operate beneath continental litho- carried to its conclusion, are typical MORB tholei-
sphere, however, producing a wider range of rocks. ites. In the early stages of continental rifting, how-
This is the case with the remote volcanic massifs in the ever, some more exotic rock types are produced.
central Sahara. Unlike the other continents, Africa has Volcanism associated with rifts tends to be geogra-
been almost stationary relative to the mantle for the phically symmetrical about the rift axis, with older,
past 30 Myr or so, such that hotspots in the underlying more alkaline rocks on the flanks, and younger
mantle have been able to construct long-lived volcanic tholeiitic basalts at the centre.
edifices. Africa’s present topography represents an Volcanism associated with rifts is more alkaline than
image of mantle convection where it impinges on the MORB, the higher alkali contents reflecting smaller
under surface of the lithosphere—the volcanic high degrees of partial melting in the underlying mantle
points sit above uprising plumes [16]. Much basalt has probably at greater depths compared with melting
been erupted from such edifices, but because the vol- beneath ocean ridges or island arcs. Continental rifts
canism has been taking place within continental crust, also contain a great variety of volcanic rocks, some of
partial melting and assimilation of continental rocks at which are derived directly from the mantle whereas
different levels have taken place, leading to eruption of others result from the interaction of mantle-derived
rocks with a range of silica and alkali contents. Thus, magmas with the overlying continental lithosphere.
the mid-Saharan volcanoes such as Emi Koussi and For example, in the east African Rift, in addition to
Jebel Marra are sharply different from those of large volumes of alkali rich basalt, other volcanic rocks
basaltic, oceanic hotspots such as Hawai‘i. include diamond-bearing kimberlites derived from
Where a continental plate moves over a hotspot, a depths in excess of 150 km and voluminous trachytes
track will be ‘burned’ through the continent, like the and phonolites which originate from within the crust.
brand scorched into the Pacific plate to form the Of all this volcanic variety, the most bizarre are the
Hawaiian chain. An outstanding example is the Snake lavas that periodically erupt from Oldoinyo Lengai in
River Plain province of North America. Here, a Tanzania—these have the composition of washing
hotspot, which first burned into the west coast 15 Myr soda; sodium and potassium carbonate. Needless to
ago, has blow-torched an 80-km-wide swath across say their origins remain under debate!
450 km of continental crust, erupting huge quantities
of basalt on the way [17] (Fig. 11.11). At present, the
hotspot is located beneath Yellowstone National Park,
Wyoming, but at the overriding plate’s present rate of
Large igneous provinces:
2.5.3
progress of about 3.5 cm year1, it will have burned its Continental flood basalts and
way to the Canadian frontier in 20 Myr. Yellowstone, oceanic plateaux
home of the Old Faithful Geyser, is the site of a huge
silicic caldera, which erupted catastrophically 0.6 Myr Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are huge volumes of
ago, showering ash over much of North America. mostly mafic volcanics and instrusives, formed by
Minor eruptions have continued since then, and processes other than typical sea-floor spreading [18].
others will certainly happen in the future. Today, Yel- Not only do LIPs represent an important dimension
lowstone is the site of by far the largest heat flow to the topography and bathymetry of the Earth, they
recorded in North America, and is arguably the most are implicated in major global change events (Section
important volcanic province in North America, 16.5.2). LIPs include continental flood basalts (CFBs),
although there have been no eruptions in historic oceanic plateaux and ocean basin flood basalts, and a
times. In petrological detail, the province is notable for medley of other submarine features (Fig. 2.25).
60°
30°
0°
–30°
90° 90°
–60°
0°
Fig. 2.25 Global map of LIPs [18].

Courtesy: M.F. Coffin.
CFBs dominate the landscape in places like the basalt plateaux led to their being called collectively
Deccan (northwest India), the Drakensberg (South traps, after an old Swedish word for a staircase. Geo-
Africa), and the Columbia River Plateau (United logists still use the term, commonly talking about the
States) (Fig. 2.26). They are so widespread that they ‘Deccan Traps’ and ‘Siberian Traps’, for example.
are hard to ignore. Although not so spectacular there, Some of the statistics are impressive: India’s
they are also important in the Scottish Hebrides, 65.5-Myr-old Deccan Traps cover 0.5 106 km2
where basalt petrology was born. In 1903, the eminent today, and may have comprised of 1–2 106 km3 of
British geologist Sir Archibald Geikie wrote [19]: lava when first erupted [20]. They have an average
thickness of at least 1 km, and locally two.
There have been periods in the Earth’s history when the Most of their huge volume erupted in less than 1 Myr
crust was rent into innumerable fissures over areas of thou-
([21]; Fig. 2.27). In the Columbia River province
sands of square miles in extent, and when the molten rock
1.8 105 km3 of basalt flooded out 16 Myr ago, in
instead of issuing, as it does in most modern volcanoes, in
narrow streams from a central elevated cone, welled out individual flows 20–30 m thick (Fig. 2.28). The largest
from these vents or from numerous small vents along their of these are of astounding dimensions, having volumes
course and flooded enormous tracts of country without of several hundred cubic kilometre and extending
forming any mountain or conspicuous volcanic cone. hundreds of kilometre.
One of world’s largest and most enigmatic flood
When deeply dissected by erosion, thick piles of basalt basalt provinces is the 250-Myr-old Siberian
lavas give rise to a characteristic ‘stepped’ topography, province, which covers today more than 340 000 km2
the soft, scoriaceous upper parts of each flow eroding of arctic wilderness east of the Yenisey River, and may
more rapidly than the more solid lower parts. The have had an original volume exceeding 2 106 km3
hard lavas therefore tend to form cliff-like ‘risers’ [23]. Some submarine flood basalt provinces are even
while the soft parts form flat ‘treads’. When repeated bigger, such as the 122-Myr-old Ontong-Java Plateau
throughout the thickness of the lava pile, a complete in the western Pacific, which has an estimated volume
‘stair case’ results. This easily recognizable feature of of 5.7 107 km3. Oceanic plateaux are among
(a)
(b)
Fig. 2.26 (a) Plenty of basalt here: in

the foreground is the mighty Colum-
bia River, and behind is part of the
huge sequence of basalt lavas forming
the eponymous flood basalt province.
Stepped topography is typical of
‘basalt traps’. Individual flows range
in thickness from a few metres to tens
of metres. (b) Plenty of basalt here:
basalt lavas total nearly 1 km in thick-
(c)
ness in this deeply dissected escarp-
ment bounding the Drakensberg
Plateau in southern Africa. These
193-Myr-old lavas form part of the
Karoo flood basalt province, which
may originally have covered as much
as 3 106 km2. Photo: K. Cox.
(c) Plenty of basalt here: the Deccan
Traps in the Western Ghats. Although
the details of timing are controversial
most of these basalts are thought to
have erupted 65 Myr ago, at the time
of the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary.
Topographically, the area has much in
common with the Karoo. Photo: A.V.
Murati.
Fig. 2.27 A significant fraction of

India’s land surface is covered by the
outcrop of the 65-Myr-old Deccan
traps, which are more than 1-km thick
in places. Redrawn from [22].
Fig. 2.28 Outcrop of the Columbia

River flood basalt province in
Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Note the difference in scale between
this figure and Fig. 2.27.
the least-well understood features of the ocean floor; nesses of lava which appear to have been erupted
they are extensive elevated regions 2–3 km higher very rapidly, within 5–10 Myr. In Alaska and British
than the surrounding sea-floor, characterized by Columbia, sequences of basalt reaching up to 6 km
crust 20–40 km thick and containing huge thick- thickness are exposed, forming a vast terrain that has
been christened Wrangellia. These flood basalts, which at the core–mantle boundary, triggering a plume
are of Triassic age (about 230-Myr-old), are thought to hundreds of kilometre in diameter, which ascends
have formed originally as a submarine plateau, which right to the lithosphere. When it arrives at the base of
was accreted on to the North American continent the lithosphere, the deep mantle material making up
about 100 Myrago [24]. the plume will be 250–300C hotter than the sur-
Broadly speaking, flood basalts are tholeiitic, sim- rounding upper mantle, so 10–20% melting would
ilar to their ocean floor counterparts. However, their rapidly take place. It is this melting that supplies the
trace-element abundances vary widely, and their basalt lavas that gush out abruptly on to the surface
strontium isotope ratios indicate an input from the of the Earth to form CFB provinces such as the Deccan
continental crust through which the rising magmas and the Columbia River Province.
penetrated. In general, it appears that the mantle There is more, though. Just as the rising globules in
source regions of continental flood basalts are less lava lamps draw out stalks behind them, so it is
depleted in incompatible, crust-forming elements argued, do mantle plumes. After fuelling the copious
than the MORB source, and are broadly similar to Deccan lavas, the ‘tail’ of the plume responsible was
those of the OIBs. Like OIBs, CFBs are probably not completely extinguished, but kept on operating
derived ultimately from mantle source regions in as the Indian subcontinent drifted northwards. It is
thermal plumes rising from the core–mantle bound- still active today, stoking up one of the world’s
ary. Their chemistry thus only incidentally reflects most active volcanoes: Piton de la Fournaise on
the rocks through which they have passed. Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean (Fig. 2.29). An
important implication of this model is that the rates
2.5.3.1 More about mantle plumes of eruption from the plume head and tail should be
How are we to understand the sudden, extraordinary quite different. For instance, the eruption rate was
outpourings of flood basalts that form CFBs and sub- about 1.5 km3 year1 for the Deccan, but only
marine plateaux? This is a challenging problem for 0.04 km3 year1 for the Reunion hotspot track [25].
petrologists and geophysicists. Readers old enough to
recall the vulgar ‘lava lamps’ that were fashionable in
the 1960s, or young enough to have registered their 2.5.4 The relationships between
recent revival, will be well placed to grasp one rifting and continental flood basalts
hypothesis. In these lamps, two immiscible liquids of
different colours and carefully selected densities (such It is a basic tenet of plate tectonics that new oceans
as aniline and water) are contained in a transparent form when continents are rifted apart. On every
cylinder. Gentle heat is applied to the base of the flight of the Space Shuttle, astronauts photograph
cylinder, warming the denser liquid at the bottom, compelling evidence for this when they orbit over the
and reducing its density until it becomes buoyant. An unmistakably rectilinear coastlines of the Red Sea.
instability first forms at the interface between the two Oceanographic studies show that there is a spreading
liquids, then a glutinous spherical blob forms and ridge along the axis of the Sea. In the area of the Red
begins to rise, drawing out a thread-like stalk behind Sea, there are in fact three rifts which meet at a triple
it. Ultimately, it detaches itself from the interface, its point where the Red Sea makes an abrupt dog’s leg
tail breaking up into a series of smaller beads, and bend: the Red Sea itself, the Gulf of Aden, and the
floats to the top of the lamp. After cooling, the blob portion of the African rift system that runs through
sinks downwards again, completing the convective the Danakil Depression into the Ethiopian Rift Val-
cycle. Some volcanologists tolerated these lamps in ley. These three form an evolutionary progression.
their homes long after their unspeakable garishness In the Danakil, rupture of continental lithosphere is
had made them kitsch to more refined tastes. just commencing; in the Red Sea, extension began
A similar process may operate in the mantle on a 20–23 Myr ago, but subsequently slowed. Over the
scale hundreds of times larger [25]. In this model, the last 5 Myr, renewed spreading has been taking place
entire mantle acts as a vast lava lamp: a thermal at about 0.8 cm year1, but the Red Sea is not yet an
instability develops (for reasons not well understood) ocean. In the Gulf of Aden, by contrast, the ruptured
Fig. 2.29 Postulated track of the

Reunion hotspot track from its incep-
tion beneath the Deccan to its present
site at Piton de la Fournaise, offset by
the Central Indian Ridge. From [10].
continental blocks of Africa and Saudi Arabia have arguments on both sides, but it is clear that some
been moving rapidly apart for the last 10 Myr. The rifts are sites of major hotspots and of extraordinar-
active spreading ridge in the Gulf is an extension of ily rapid effusions of lava; others are not. Volumi-
the major spreading ridge in the Indian Ocean, the nous volcanism in some rifts is associated with
Carlsberg Ridge. If astronauts had been around in extension and lithospheric thinning, and with man-
the Cretaceous, 100 Myr ago, the Atlantic Ocean tle that is unusually warm—100–200C warmer
would have looked much the same as the Red Sea than usual. The uplift associated with the upwelling
and Gulf of Aden do today. warm mantle can contribute significantly to exten-
There is a chicken and egg debate about the initi- sional stresses in the continent, but it is unlikely that
ation of rifting [26]. For rifting to take place, there a mantle plume by itself can drive extension. The
has to be extension: the continental crust and litho- main driving force is related to the overall structure
sphere have to be stretched and thinned. Beneath a of the plate, and contributions from forces acting
rift, buoyant mantle material rises towards the sur- at plate boundaries.
face, and the buoyancy of this warm material can A characteristic feature of the volcanism associ-
cause considerable uplift of the surface, perhaps as ated with rifting is that it takes place quickly, often
much as 2 km. This explains why rifts often occupy in less than 1 Myr. Eruptions of flood basalts are
broad topographical rises, like the Rio Grande, often intimately related to rifting. According to
East African, and Baikal Rifts. But the problem is White and McKenzie of Cambridge University,
this: does extension come first, initiating volcanism, there is only one explanation of such rapid volcan-
or is it a thermal anomaly in the mantle that pro- ism. They argue that when rifting takes place, the
motes both volcanism and extension? There are lithosphere is thinned and buoyant mantle material
rises from depth into regions of lower pressure volcano in the world can be dovetailed neatly into its
[10,11]. At shallower levels and lower pressures, own plate tectonic setting. This is not the case. There
the melting point of mantle materials is lower, and are many anomalies around the world. Outstanding
the hot material rising to the surface cannot lose among these are many small—and some not so
heat sufficiently by conduction to remain solid, small—volcanic centres of the Basin and Range
so decompression melting begins at depths of about province of western North America (eastern
70 km. Taken to the extreme, rapid decompression California, Nevada, and Arizona). The tectonics of
melting can act like a volcanic fire-hydrant pumping this area merit an essay in themselves, but for now it
out colossal volumes of lava. According to White will be adequate to think of the region as being one
and McKenzie, the difference between rift volcan- where the crustal lithosphere has been thinned by
ism and CFBs is merely one of scale, and is the result almost a half, as though rifting had been distributed
of anomalously hot mantle beneath CFB source over an enormously wide zone. Thinning of the
regions. They suggested that mantle ‘hotspots’ crustal part of the lithosphere brings mantle
about 150C hotter than ‘normal’ mantle tempera- isotherms to shallow levels, so it is relatively easy for
tures of 1340C are required to start the basalt fire- basaltic magmas to rise into the crust and erupt there.
hydrant gushing. There are also major young volcanoes on the Tibet
Plateau, the roof of the world, far from any modern
plate margin. These little-studied volcanoes present
2.5.5 Problem areas such wonderfully stimulating problems that discus-
sion of them had better be deferred, perhaps thereby
The natural world is rarely straightforward. This tantalizing the reader into seeking fresh insights into
chapter may have given the impression that any volcanism and tectonics.
FURTHER RESEARCH
The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Faure, G., 2000, Origin of igneous rocks: the isotopic
Program is a tremendous resource for evidence, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
information on Holocene (and present-day) Young, D.A., 2003, Mind over magma: the story of
volcanic eruptions. www.volcano.si.edu/gvp/ igneous petrology, Princeton University Press,
Best, M.G., 2002, Igneous and metamorphic petrology, Princeton.
Blackwell, Oxford.
Condie, K.C., 2001, Mantle plumes and their record in
Earth history, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
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2.1 A package tour of the Earth’s volcanoes 17

2.2 Plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading encapsulated 28

2.3 Basically basalt 33

2.4 Destructive plate margin volcanism 36

2.5 Within-plate volcanoes, ‘hotspots’, and mantle plumes 39

2.1 A package tour of the Earth’s volcanoes

18 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.1 A 25 section of the Mid-

A PACKAGE TOUR OF THE EARTH’S VOLCANOES 19

15.1 Nazca hi 4.4

20 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

A PACKAGE TOUR OF THE EARTH’S VOLCANOES 21

Fig. 2.5 A huge convecting eruption

22 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

A PACKAGE TOUR OF THE EARTH’S VOLCANOES 23

Fig. 2.6 Volcanoes and volcanic

24 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.7 Basaltic lava flows advancing

A PACKAGE TOUR OF THE EARTH’S VOLCANOES 25

26 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.9 The main lakes, rift valleys,

A PACKAGE TOUR OF THE EARTH’S VOLCANOES 27

28 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

2.2Plate tectonics and sea-floor spreading

PLATE TECTONICS AND SEA-FLOOR SPREADING ENCAPSULATED 29

skull. Another important source of information on

30 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.12 Cartoon views illustrating

PLATE TECTONICS AND SEA-FLOOR SPREADING ENCAPSULATED 31

32 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.16 A world-famous outcrop of pillow lavas of

into the mantle to maintain isostatic equilibrium.

2.3 Basically basalt

34 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.17 Hundreds of vertical dykes

SiO2 45.1 44.2 50.5 45.2 43.6 50.1

36 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

2.4 Destructive plate margin volcanism

DESTRUCTIVE PLATE MARGIN VOLCANISM 37

38 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.19 Although all basalts may

WITHIN-PLATE VOLCANOES, ‘HOTSPOTS’, AND MANTLE PLUMES 39

Within-plate volcanoes, ‘hotspots’, and

Although it is a considerable over-simplification, it is middle of plates, such as Hawai‘i in the mid-Pacific,

40 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

WITHIN-PLATE VOLCANOES, ‘HOTSPOTS’, AND MANTLE PLUMES 41

42 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.23 Mauna Loa from Kı-lauea.

WITHIN-PLATE VOLCANOES, ‘HOTSPOTS’, AND MANTLE PLUMES 43

44 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

2.5.2 Continental hotspots its bimodal character—huge quantities of both basalt

WITHIN-PLATE VOLCANOES, ‘HOTSPOTS’, AND MANTLE PLUMES 45

Fig. 2.25 Global map of LIPs [18].

46 2: KEEPING PLANETS COOL

Fig. 2.26 (a) Plenty of basalt here: in

WITHIN-PLATE VOLCANOES, ‘HOTSPOTS’, AND MANTLE PLUMES 47

Fig. 2.27 A significant fraction of

Fig. 2.28 Outcrop of the Columbia