How do oceanic plateaus form? Clues from drilling at Shatsky Rise

Oceanic plateaus are huge basaltic constructions whose eruptions may briefly outstrip even global mid-ocean ridge magma production. Although they form great undersea mountains, their origins are poorly understood. A widely accepted explanation is that oceanic plateaus are built by massive eruptions from the head of nascent thermal mantle plumes that rise from deep in the mantle to the surface [e.g., Duncan and Richards, 1991]. An alternative is that plateaus erupt by decompression melting of fusible patches in the upper mantle at plate edges or zones of extension [Foulger, 2007]

IODP Expedition 324: Ocean Drilling at Shatsky Rise Gives Clues about Oceanic Plateau Formation

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 324 cored Shatsky Rise at five sites (U1346–U1350) to study processes of oceanic plateau formation and evolution. Site penetrations ranged from 191.8 m to 324.1 m with coring of 52.6 m to 172.7 m into igneous basement at four of the sites. Average recovery in basement was 38.7%–67.4%. Cored igneous sections consist mainly of variably evolved tholeiitic basalts emplaced as pillows or massive flows. Massive flows are thickest and make up the largest percentage of section on the largest and oldest volcano, late Jurassic age Tamu Massif; thus, it may have formed at high effusion rates. Such massive flows are characteristic of flood basalts, and similar flows were cored at Ontong Java Plateau. Indeed, the similarity of igneous sections at Site U1347 with that cored on Ontong Java Plateau implies similar volcanic styles for these two plateaus. On younger, smaller Shatsky Rise volcanoes, pillow flows are common and massive flows thinner and fewer, which might mean volcanism waned with time. Cored sediments from summit sites contain fossils and structures implying shallow water depths or emergence at the time of eruption and normal subsidence since. Summit sites also show pervasive alteration that could be due to high fluid fluxes. A thick section of volcaniclastics cored on Tamu Massif suggests that shallow, explosive submarine volcanism played a significant role in the geologic development of the plateau summit. Expedition 324 results imply that Shatsky Rise began with massive eruptions forming a huge volcano and that subsequent eruptions waned in intensity, forming volcanoes that are large, but which did not erupt with unusually high effusion rates. Similarities of cored sections on Tamu Massif with those of Ontong Java Plateau indicate that these oceanic plateaus formed in similar fashion

Formation and evolution of Shatsky Rise oceanic plateau: Insights from IODP Expedition 324 and recent geophysical cruises

Recent research from the Shatsky Rise in the western Pacific Ocean provides new insights on the formation and evolution of this oceanic plateau as well as tests of mantle models to explain anomalous large igneous province (LIP) volcanism. Recent Shatsky Rise studies cored the igneous pile (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 324), imaged the interior with seismic refraction and multichannel seismic reflection data, and mapped magnetic anomalies adjacent to the plateau to provide new constraints on its tectonic history. Coring data show that Tamu Massif, the largest edifice within Shatsky Rise, is characterized by massive sheet flows, similar to flows caused by voluminous eruptions in continental flood basalts. Core data also indicate that the massive eruptions waned as the plateau evolved and smaller edifices were built. Seismic data show intrabasement reflectors within Tamu Massif that indicate volcanism from its center, indicating that this is an enormous shield volcano with abnormally low flank slopes and thick crust (~ 30 km). Paleomagnetic data record minimal geomagnetic field variations, consistent with the inference of massive, rapid volcanism. Altogether, the physical picture indicates that Shatsky Rise was built by massive, rapid eruptions that formed enormous volcanoes. Geochronologic data support the previously inferred age progression, with the volcanic massifs formed along the trace of a triple junction starting from Tamu Massif and becoming progressively younger to the northeast. These data weaken support for rapid emplacement because they show that the last eruptions atop Tamu Massif encompassed several million years between the final massive flows as well as a long hiatus of ~ 15 Myr until late stage eruptions that formed a summit ridge. They may also indicate that the last eruptions on Tamu and Ori massifs occurred while the triple junction was hundreds of kilometers distant. Furthermore, magnetic anomaly data indicate that the plate boundary reorganization associated with Shatsky Rise formation occurred several million years prior to the first Tamu Massif eruptions, suggesting plate boundary control of Shatsky Rise initiation. Geochemical and isotopic data show that Shatsky Rise rocks are variably enriched, with the majority of lavas being similar to mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). However, the data indicate deeper (> 30 km) and higher partial degree of melting (15–23%) as compared with normal MORB. Melting models indicate that the magma experienced a mantle temperature anomaly, albeit only a small one (~ 50 °C). Some lava compositions suggest the involvement of recycled subducted slab material. Recent investigations of Shatsky Rise initially envisaged a competition between two end-member models: the thermal plume head and the fertile mantle melting beneath plate extension (aka, plate model). Both hypotheses find support from new data and interpretations, but both do not fit some data. As a result, neither model can be supported without reservation. Noting that most basaltic oceanic plateaus have formed at triple junctions or divergent plate boundaries, we suggest that this dichotomy is artificial. Oceanic plateau volcanism is anomalous and focused at spreading ridges for reasons that are still poorly understood, mainly owing to uncertainties about mantle convection and geochemical reservoirs. Shatsky Rise investigations have vastly improved our understanding of the formation of this oceanic plateau, but highlight that important work remains to understand the underlying nature of this volcanism

Non-Newtonian gravity or gravity anomalies?

Geophysical measurements of G differ from laboratory values, indicating that gravity may be non-Newtonian. A spherical harmonic formulation is presented for the variation of (Newtonian) gravity inside the Earth. Using the GEM-10B Earth Gravitational Field Model, it is shown that long-wavelength gravity anomalies, if not corrected, may masquerade as non-Newtonian gravity by providing significant influences on experimental observation of delta g/delta r and G. An apparent contradiction in other studies is also resolved: i.e., local densities appear in equations when average densities of layers seem to be called for

Nature of the Jurassic Magnetic Quiet Zone

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 42 (2015): 8367–8372, doi:10.1002/2015GL065394.The nature of the Jurassic Quiet Zone (JQZ), a region of low-amplitude oceanic magnetic anomalies, has been a long-standing debate with implications for the history and behavior of the Earth's geomagnetic field and plate tectonics. To understand the origin of the JQZ, we studied high-resolution sea surface magnetic anomalies from the Hawaiian magnetic lineations and correlated them with the Japanese magnetic lineations. The comparison shows the following: (i) excellent correlation of anomaly shapes from M29 to M42; (ii) remarkable similarity of anomaly amplitude envelope, which decreases back in time from M19 to M38, with a minimum at M41, then increases back in time from M42; and (iii) refined locations of pre-M25 lineations in the Hawaiian lineation set. Based on these correlations, our study presents evidence of regionally and possibly globally coherent pre-M29 magnetic anomalies in the JQZ and a robust extension of Hawaiian isochrons back to M42 in the Pacific crust.National Science Foundation Grant Numbers: OCE-1029965, OCE-1233000, OCE-10295732016-04-2

A new middle to late Jurassic Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS) from a multiscale marine magnetic anomaly survey of the Pacific Jurassic Quiet Zone

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 126(3), (2021): e2020JB021136, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021136.The Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS) provides a basis for the geological timescale, quantifies geomagnetic field behavior, and gives a time framework for geologic studies. We build a revised Middle to Late Jurassic GPTS by using a new multiscale magnetic profile, combining sea surface, midwater, and autonomous underwater vehicle near-bottom magnetic anomaly data from the Hawaiian lineation set in the Pacific Jurassic Quiet Zone (JQZ). We correlate the new profile with a previously published contemporaneous magnetic sequence from the Japanese lineation set. We then establish geomagnetic polarity block models as a basis for our interpretation of the origin and nature of JQZ magnetic anomalies and a GPTS. A significant level of coherency between short-wavelength anomalies for both the Japanese and Hawaiian lineation magnetic anomaly sequences suggests the existence of a regionally coherent field during this period of rapid geomagnetic reversals. Our study implies the rapid onset of the Mesozoic Dipole Low from M42 through M39 and then a subsequent gradual recovery in field strength into the Cenozoic. The new GPTS, together with the Japanese sequence, extends the magnetic reversal history from M29 back in time to M44. We identify a zone of varying, difficult-to-correlate anomalies termed the Hawaiian Disturbed Zone, which is similar to the zone of low amplitude, difficult-to-correlate anomalies in the Japanese sequence termed the Low Amplitude Zone (LAZ). We suggest that the LAZ, bounded by M39–M41 isochrons, may in fact represent the core of what is more commonly known as the JQZ crust.This study is funded by National Science Foundation grants OCE-1029965 (Tominaga, Tivey, and Lizarralde) and OCE-1233000 (Tominaga and Tivey) and OCE-1029573 (Sager).2021-07-2

Geochemistry and Age of Shatsky, Hess, and Ojin Rise seamounts: Implications for a connection between the Shatsky and Hess Rises

Shatsky Rise in the Northwest Pacific is the best example so far of an oceanic plateau with two potential hotspot tracks emanating from it: the linear Papanin volcanic ridge and the seamounts comprising Ojin Rise. Arguably, these hotspot tracks also project toward the direction of Hess Rise, located ∼1200 km away, leading to speculations that the two plateaus are connected. Dredging was conducted on the massifs and seamounts around Shatsky Rise in an effort to understand the relationship between these plateaus and associated seamounts. Here, we present new 40Ar/39Ar ages and trace element and Nd, Pb, and Hf isotopic data for the recovered dredged rocks and new trace elements and isotopic data for a few drill core samples from Hess Rise. Chemically, the samples can be subdivided into plateau basalt-like tholeiites and trachytic to alkalic ocean-island basalt compositions, indicating at least two types of volcanic activity. Tholeiites from the northern Hess Rise (DSDP Site 464) and the trachytes from Toronto Ridge on Shatsky’s TAMU massif have isotopic compositions that overlap with those of the drilled Shatsky Rise plateau basalts, suggesting that both Rises formed from the same mantle source. In contrast, trachytes from the southern Hess Rise (DSDP Site 465A) have more radiogenic Pb isotopic ratios that are shifted toward a high time-integrated U/Pb (HIMU-type mantle) composition. The compositions of the dredged seamount samples show two trends relative to Shatsky Rise data: one toward lower 143Nd/144Nd but similar 206Pb/204Pb ratios, the other toward similar 143Nd/144Nd but more radiogenic 206Pb/204Pb ratios. These trends can be attributed to lower degrees of melting either from lower mantle material during hotspot-related transition to plume tail or from less refractory shallow mantle components tapped during intermittent deformation-related volcanism induced by local tectonic extension between and after the main volcanic-edifice building episodes on Shatsky Rise. The ocean-island-basalt-like chemistry and isotopic composition of the Shatsky and Hess rise seamounts contrast with those formed by purely deformation-related shallow mantle-derived volcanism, favoring the role of a long-lived mantle anomaly in their origin. Finally, new 40Ar/39Ar evidence indicates that Shatsky Rise edifices may have been formed in multiple-stages and over a longer duration than previously believed

Origin of the smooth zone in early Cretaceous North Atlantic magnetic anomalies

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 37 (2010): L01304, doi:10.1029/2009GL040984.Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous marine magnetic anomalies observed in the North Atlantic exhibit an abrupt change in character in M5-M15 crust. The anomalies are smoother with low amplitudes, and are difficult to correlate among nearby profiles. The accepted explanation for the origin of this smooth zone is diminished resolution and anomaly interference due to slow spreading rates, which narrows the widths of polarity reversals in the crust and causes interference among sea-surface anomalies. Magnetic modeling of these anomalies indicates that neither slow spreading rates alone nor slow spreading rates in combination with a decrease in geomagnetic field intensity can explain the basic character of the smooth zone. Combined with other geophysical evidence, our study suggests that one consequence of slow spreading rates that is responsible for the magnetic “smooth zone” is a thinned crustal basalt layer or a non-basaltic magnetic source layer resulting from low melt supply during a period of ultra-slow spreading.This work was supported by the Jane & R. Ken Williams '45 Chair of Ocean Drilling Science and Technology

Revised Pacific M-anomaly geomagnetic polarity timescale

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 182 (2010): 203-232, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04619.x.The current M-anomaly geomagnetic polarity timescale (GPTS) is mainly based on the Hawaiian magnetic lineations in the Pacific Ocean. M-anomaly GPTS studies to date have relied on a small number of magnetic profiles, a situation that is not ideal because any one profile contains an uncertain amount of geologic 'noise' that perturbs the magnetic field signal. Compiling a polarity sequence from a larger array of magnetic profiles is desirable to provide greater consistency and repeatability. We present a new compilation of the M-anomaly GPTS constructed from polarity models derived from magnetic profiles crossing the three lineation sets (Hawaiian, Japanese and Phoenix) in the western Pacific. Polarity reversal boundary locations were estimated with a combination of inverse and forward modelling of the magnetic profiles. Separate GPTS were established for each of the three Pacific lineation sets, to allow examination of variability among the different lineation sets, and these were also combined to give a composite timescale. Owing to a paucity of reliable direct dates of the M-anomalies on ocean crust, the composite model was time calibrated with only two ages; one at each end of the sequence. These two dates are 125.0 Ma for the base of M0r and 155.7 Ma for the base of M26r. Relative polarity block widths from the three lineation sets are similar, indicating a consistent Pacific-wide spreading regime. The new GPTS model shows slightly different spacings of polarity blocks, as compared with previous GPTS, with less variation in block width. It appears that the greater polarity chron irregularity in older models is mostly an artifact of modelling a small number of magnetic profiles. The greater averaging of polarity chron boundaries in our model gives a GPTS that is statistically more robust than prior GPTS models and a superior foundation for Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous geomagnetic and chronologic studies.This work was supported by the Jane & R. Ken Williams'45 Chair of Ocean Drilling Science and Technology