MORDEN VIEWS ON MANTLE

PLUME AND AFFILIATED

MINERALIZATION

Introduction-

Theory of mantle plume is initially used to explain mid-plate (hot spot)

volcanisms or linear chains of volcanoes that grow older in direction of plate
motion, erupting far from the usual site along plate boundaries(ridge
volcanism). as This was proposed, initially to explain string of volcanic
islands exhibiting a trend of age progression, such as the Hawaii-
Emperor chain in the Pacific Ocean (mid-Pacific plate) and
subsequently applied to explain the Chagos–Laccadive–Reunion chain
in the Indian Ocean (Indian Plate). mantle plumes are columns of hot,
solid material that originate deep in the mantle, probably at the core–
mantle boundary New mantle plumes are predicted to consist of a
large head, 1000 km in diameter, followed by a narrower tail. Initial
eruption of basalt from a plume head should be preceded by ~1000 m
of domal uplift. Studies of Mesozoic and Cenozoic igneous provinces
some of the best opportunity for detail characterization of mantle
plumes and related geological event.

Content-
1) Brief history
2) Hot spots
3) Large igneous provinces
4) Mantle plumes
a) Generation
b) Ascent
c) Entrainment
d) Eruption
5) Evidence for the theory
a) Linear volcanic tracks
b) Noble gas and other isotopes
c) Geophysical anomalies
d) Geochemistry
6) Ore deposit association
7) Opponent of mantle plume theory

Brief history-

hot spots-

Hotspots are topographic swells with a relief of 500-1000m and typical width
1000-2000km.it capped by active or volcanism recently active volcanism with
extinct volcanic chain.

Hot, solid rock rises to the hot spot from greater depths. Due to the
lower pressure at the shallower depth, the rock begins to melt, forming
magma. The magma rises through the Pacific Plate to supply the active
volcanoes. The older islands were once located above the stationary hot spot
but were carried away as the Pacific Plate drifted to the northwest.
 Some examples of hot spots-

• Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain (Hawaii hotspot)

• Louisville seamount chain (Louisville hotspot)
• Walvis Ridge (Gough and Tristan hotspot)
• Kodiak-Bowie Seamount chain (Bowie hotspot)
• Cobb-Eickelberg Seamount chain (Cobb hotspot)
• New England Seamount chain (New England hotspot)
• Anahim Volcanic Belt (Anahim hotspot)
• Mackenzie dike swarm (Mackenzie hotspot)
• Great Meteor hotspot track (New England hotspot)
• St. Helena Seamount Chain - Cameroon Volcanic Line (Saint Helena hotspot)

3 Large igneous provinces –

LIP’s are voluminous occurrence of dominantly mafic igneous rock not

directly related to plate tectonic process and dominated by thick, laterally
extensive basalt flows, some which have areal distribution of more than 105
 km2 and volume greater than or equal to 106 km3.they are found on earth in
form of –

a. Oceanic plateau
b. Continental flood basalt
c. Passive margin volcanic
d. Ocean-basin flood basalt
e. Submarine ridges
f. Giant dyke(and sill) swarms
g. Some large layered intrusions.

Distribution- LIP occurs in both continental and oceanic setting in interplate

location, on present and former plate boundaries, and within and along the edge of
continents.

Fig. distribution of large igneous provinces formed in last 250 Myr. After Coffin and Eldolin
(1994)

LIP’s Duration (Ma) Age (Ma)

1 Siberien trap 9 250
2 Karoo 17 178-195
3 Parana Etendeca 11 127-138
4 Deccan 1 64.5-65.5
5 Ontong Java 30 88-93, 120-124
6 Columbia river 3 14.5-17.5
7 North Atlantic 20 40-61
8 Iceland 15 0-15
9 Ethopia / East Africa 15 15-23 , 28-32
10 Kergulene 4 110-114
11 Bushveld complex 0.06 20-60

Table showing Age, Duration, Large igneous provinces compared with Oceanic
crust

4) Mantle plume-

Mantle plumes are columns of hot, solid material that originate deepin the mantle,
probably at the core–mantle boundary. Laboratory and numerical models replicating
conditions appropriate to the mantle show that mantle plumes have a regular and
predictable shape that allows a number of testable predictions to be made. New
mantle plumes are predicted to consist of a large head, 1000 km in diameter,
followed by a narrower tail. Initial eruption of basalt from a plume head should be
preceded by ~1000 m of domal uplift. High-temperature magmas are expected to
dominate the first eruptive products of a new plume and should be concentrated
near the centre of the volcanic province. All of these predictions are confirmed by
observations.

a) Generation-

We generally considered that mantle is a Newtonian fluid, which is a material

whose rate of deformation is proportional to applied force.

Convection in fluids is driven by buoyancy anomalies that originate in thermal

boundary layers. Earth’s mantle has two boundary layers. The upper boundary layer
is the lithosphere, which cools through its upper surface. It eventually becomes
denser than the underlying mantle and sinks back into it, driving plate tectonics.
The lower boundary layer is the contact between the Earth’s molten iron–nickel
outer core and the mantle. High-pressure experimental studies of the melting point
of iron–nickel alloys show that the core is several hundred degrees hotter than the
overlying mantle. A temperature difference of this magnitude is expected to
produce an unstable boundary layer above the core which, in turn, should produce
plumes of hot, solid material that rise through the mantle, driven by their thermal
buoyancy. Therefore, from theoretical considerations, mantle plumes are the
inevitable consequence of a hot core
Fig. Convection model of Earth a thick zone deep in the mantle that is
convectively isolated from middle and upper mantle. Mantle plume may be
produced in D’ layer at the Core mantle-interface and at the upper boundary
of deep mantle layer at local high spots. Modified after Kellogg et al.(1999)

b) Ascent-

After generation mantle plume rises. The material in the lower boundary
layer will be lighter than the overlying mantle, but before it can rise at a
significant rate, it must gather enough buoyancy to overcome the viscosity of
the mantle that opposes its rise. As a consequence, new plumes have a large
head followed by a relatively narrow tail.

Experimental study show that the viscosity of injected fluid

determine the diameter of conduit required to carry a give plume flux,
whereas viscosity of surrounding determine the rate of rise and size of plume
head. When plume head reaches the top, it is nearly symmetric and spread
horizontally beneath the surface layer (analogous to the lithosphere in earth.
 Photograph of a laboratory model of a starting thermal plume (A) mid-way through its ascent and (B) after the
head flattens at the top of its ascent. The dark fluid represents hot material from the plume source and the lighter
fluid is cooler entrained material. White arrows show motion within the plume and black arrows the direction of
motion in the boundary layer adjacent to the plume; the boundary layer has been heated by conduction so that its
density is approximately the same as that of the plume (after Griffiths and Campbell

c) Entrainment in mantle plume-

Both experimental and numerical modeling of plume shows that they entrain
material from the surrounding mantle as they rise. this is because hot, buoyant
plumes transfer some of their heat surrounding ambient mantle, which increases its
buoyancy and lower its viscosity, hence , plumes may sample not only the source
material in D” layer but also other mantle geochemical domain as they rise to the
base of lithosphere

Plume consisting of material in which viscosity is strongly

temperature dependent, the plum head grow as it become mushroom shaped. As
the plume rise it entrain surrounding mantle in head, but very little mixing occur in
the plume tail. This indicates that geochemical signature coming from head may be
contaminated with ambient mantle, where as plume tail should carry a source
signature. Thus flood basalt should reflect mixed mantle source and oceanic islands,
relatively pure sample from plume source.

The amount of entrainment is critically dependent on the ratio of plume viscosity

to ambient mantle viscosity. As expected the closer the viscosity of the plume is to that of surrounding
mantle, the greater the degree of entrainment.

d) Eruption-

the continental lithosphere is thinned by extension, the surface subsides to

maintain isostatic balance.
 It is now widely agreed that melting in mantle plume result from adiabatic decompression
during their rise neat the base of the lithosphere. A numerical plume melting modle by
Ribe and Christensen suggest that meltig occure at two depth levels in a plume; major
melting occure in primary melting zone in plume head or at shallow level in the plume
tail, and secondary melting occure in plume tail at a depth of 300-500 km with the two
melting zone separated by a region of no melting.begins in the hottest, central part of the
plume, and the temperature continues to rise. This high temperature lead to large degree
of melting, produsing picrite and high Mg theolite magmas.

Most of magma will collect in central part of a plume and, upon eruption, will form
shield volcanoes (small volume of magma) or oceanic plateaus and flood basalt (large
volume of magma).

5) Evidence for theory-

a) LINEAR VOLCANIC TRACKS-

The apparent linear, age-progressive distribution of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is explained in
this context as a result of a fixed, deep-mantle plume impinging into the upper mantle, partly melting, and
causing a "track" as the plate moves with respect to the plume source.

Smaller plumes, arguably called petitspots, are also common within intraplate areas. For instance, tracks
of ocean island basalts are found within the Indian Plate, namely the Marshall Islands hotspot.

Continental flood basalt in Oregon and Washington and the Yellowstone caldera-forming event are also
used as evidence for mantle plumes, with the voluminous flood basalt envisaged as a product of the
vigorous mantle plume head, and the hot 'tail' to the plume driving a progressively younger series of
caldera events as the North American continental mass tracks above it.

Smaller series of intracontinental volcanic rocks are also ascribed to small plumes or petitspots. These are
notably the Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland (Cohen et al. 2004), which are the oldest Tertiary (25
Ma) members of a progressively younger trend of basaltic and intraplate volcanic cones and plugs
culminating in the maars and small peridotitic basalts of the Newer Volcanics in Victoria of 40,000 years
ago, far to the southeast.

It is notable that these volcanic features become younger in the same vector as the motion of the
Indo-Australian Plate, and matching the trend of the intraplate ocean island basalts in the Indian
Ocean.

b) NOBLE GAS AND OTHER ISOTOPES-

 One of the most important observations in oceanic basalt is that

their helium isotopic ratio differs according to tectonic setting.
There are two isotopes of Helium; He3, which is primordial isotopes
 that was incorporated in the earth as it accreted, and He4, an
isotope produced by radioactive decay of Uranium and thorium
isotopes. Plume related basalt in oceanic areas have relatively high
He3\He4 ratio often more than 20 times that of air (R\RA=20),
whereas MORB generality has R\RA value of 7-9.
 Two classes of model have been suggested to explain high He3\ He4
reservoir in the mantle. Some investigator interprets the high ratio
of reflected recycled oceanic lithosphere in the deep mantle. Such
lithosphere should have high He3\ He4 ratio partial melting at
oceanic ridges extract almost all the U and Th from the mantle
source. Because these elements are responsible for accumulation
of He4 over time, causing the He3\He4 ratio to decrease in the
source. Without U and Th the depleted oceanic lithosphere would
acquired a high He3\He4 ratio. Alternative model call upon primitive,
unfractionated sources deep in the mantle that still retain their
original high He3\He4 ratio

a) GEOPHYSICAL ANOMALIES-

Diagram showing a cross section though the Earth's lithosphere (in yellow)
with magma rising from the mantle (in red). The crust may translate relative
to the plume, creating a track.

Geophysical anomalies associated with hotspots and plumes include thermal,

seismic, and geodetic. Thermal anomalies are inherent in the term "hotspot."
Thermal anomalies are reflected in high heat flow values at the Earth's surface and
excess volcanism. Thermal anomalies also produce anomalies in the travel times of
seismic waves.

Seismic anomalies are identified by measuring spatial variations in the time it takes
seismic waves to travel through the earth. A fluid body with a lower density (e.g., a
hot mantle plume or wetter mantle) exhibits lower seismic velocity compared to
surrounding mantle. Observations of regions where seismic waves take longer to
arrive are used as evidence for regions of anomalously hot mantle, as is observed
underneath Hawaii. Other indicators of plumes would be from the dynamic uplift of
the surface and an elevated heat flow.

By deploying a dense network of seismometers and a technique known as seismic

tomography, scientists can construct 3-d images of seismic velocities to try and
identify vertical plume like structures. This is referred to as seismic tomography
because it uses techniques similar to medical tomography

. Seismic waves generated by large earthquakes are used to determine structure

below the Earth’s surface because they can be detected far from the earthquake
epicenter. Far-travelled seismic waves (also called teleseismic waves) are especially
useful for seismic tomography because they have steep travel paths that sample
smaller longitudinal domains. Density differences between a mantle plume and
cooler material that surrounds it enable researchers to distinguish between the two.
Seismic waves slow down when they travel through low-density (hotter) material,
and speed up when traveling through denser (cooler) material. Density differences
may also arise from compositional differences between the plume material and the
surrounding mantle.

By analyzing pressure pulses, or P-waves, a group of scientists at Princeton have

identified 32 regions throughout the world where P-waves travel slower than
average. They conclude that these areas are mantle plumes. The team used
analysis of S-waves, another type of seismic wave generated by earthquakes, to
determine that those plumes extend to the core-mantle boundary.

Geodetic anomalies are reflected in topographic bulges above the plume location,
and in positive geoid anomalies. The geoid is a potential surface that reflects the
theoretical height to sealevel if mass was distributed uniformly within the Earth.
Positive geoid anomalies reflect excess mass associated with uplift and doming over
a thermal plume. The Yellowstone plume has a positive geoid anomaly of around
+15 meters at its center, and over 1000 km in diameter.

Computer modeling of the mantle plume theory shows that changes of temperature
and chemical composition of rising plumes can lead to plumes of varying contours
as opposed to the early conceptualization that plumes developed as a
homogeneous mushroom shape.

b) GEOCHEMISTRY-

Basalts associated with hotspots or mantle plumes are geochemically distinct

from mid-ocean ridge basalts and from lavas associated with island arc
volcanoes. In major elements, hotspot basalts are typically higher in iron (Fe)
and titanium (Ti) than mid-ocean ridge basalts at similar magnesium (Mg)
contents, reflecting their higher temperatures of formation. In trace elements,
 hotspot basalts are typically more enriched in the light rare earth elements than
mid-ocean ridge basalts. Compared to island arc basalts, hotspot basalts are
lower in alumina (Al2O3) and much higher in the immobile trace elements (e.g.,
Ti, Nb, Ta).

The significance of these differences among ocean island basalts

(hotspots), mid-ocean ridge basalts, and island arc basalts rests on
processes that occur during subduction of oceanic crust and mantle
lithosphere. Oceanic crust (and to a lesser extent, the underlying mantle)
typically becomes hydrated to varying degrees on the seafloor, partly as the
result of seafloor weathering, and partly in response to hydrothermal
circulation near the ridge crest. As oceanic crust-lithosphere subduct, water
is released by dehydration reactions, along with water-soluble chemical
elements and trace elements. This enriched fluid rises to metasomatize the
overlying mantle wedge and leads to the formation of island arc basalts. The
subducting slab is depleted in these water-mobile elements (e.g., K, Rb, Th,
Pb) and thus relatively enriched in elements that are not water-mobile (e.g.,
Ti, Nb, Ta) compared to both mid-ocean ridge and island arc basalts.

Ocean island basalts, which represent the volcanic product of mantle

plumes, are also relatively enriched in the immobile elements relative to the
water-mobile elements, leading to the conclusion that subducted oceanic
crust plays a major role in their origin.

Superplume event and continental growth-

 Super plume is large mantle plume that spread at the base of lithosphere, flatting the
plume head to 1500 to 3000 km in diameter.
 Single superplume typically give rise to large erupted volume of mafic magma
(>500000km³ ) in period of time less than 3 Ma.
 superplume event is event (<100 Myr) during which many mantle super- plume as
well as smaller plumes bombard the base of lithosphere.

In earth history, there have been two major and few minor superplume events, each event
involved avalanching of slab through the 660 discontinuity, consequent production of mantle
plume in the D” layer, and enhanced production of juvenile crust.

Major events are-

Superplume event at 2.7 Ga

Superplume event at 1.9 Ga

Minor events are-

• Late proterozoic (≈280 Ma)

• Mid Cretaceous (≈100 Ma)
• Ordovician (≈480 Ma)

Equal area projection of the continental showing the distribution of juvenile continental crust
produced in four time window Modified after Condie.
  Islay and arbbott(1990) have used the distribution of Komatite flood basalt, mafic
dyke swarm, and layered mafic intrusion in the geological record to identity superplume
event in the Precambrian.

 Time series analysis of data shows major superplume event at 2.75, 2.70, 2.45,and 2.0,
1.9 Ga and several minor or possible event between 2.5 and 1.75 Ga.

Frequency distribution of juvenile Continental crust. After Condie (1998)

Time series global distribution of global mantle plume related igneous rocks in the geological
record . After Isley and Abbott (1999)
 6) Ore deposit association
Magmatism and crustal rifting associated with the ascent of anomalously
hot and chemically distinctive material from the deep mantle are potentially
important ore forming processes and are of obvious interest to economic
geologist.

• Coffin and Eldholm propose that some Ophiolites are the product of
mantle plume related large igneous provinces.
• One implication is that associated with Alpine Peridotites is may be
plume generated.
• Schissel and small Endorse previously proposed link between mantle
plume and Noil’sk Copper-Nickel-PGE deposit and Kimberliteic diamond
field.
• These authors also consider link between a mantle plume and Carlin
gold deposit; and also briefly consider the Kidd Creek massive sulphide
deposit of the Abitibi belt and nickel copper deposit of Yilgarn craton
but mainly from the perspective that the deposit constitute evidence
for specific Archean mantle plume.

8) Opponent of mantle plume theory-

a. Large volume of melt, considered typical of plume

magmatism, is also now questioned. In terms of lateral
spread, volume and duration of eruption as well as from fluid
dynamical calculations for athermal mechanisms for
magmatism8, the magnitude of plate boundary volcanism
(ridges and island arc basins) arising from mantle upwelling
far exceeds plume eruptions. High volume of melt can also
arise at normal mantle temperature under the oceanic crust
and such melts with lower mantle geochemistry, considered
typical of plume derivation, can be generated at much
shallower depths in the upper mantle itself from the melting
of recycled crust
b. One of the basic tenets for basaltic flooding by mantle
plume heads is their rapid eruption. Yet, this fails in the case
of the Deccan eruption, one of the largest CFBs, which lasted
for 8–9 million years, barring a few minor flows erupting for a
short 0.5–1 million years; also, the eruptions forming the
Kerguelen Plateau, the second largest oceanic flood basalt
 formation, lasted for 130 million years.Removal of blockages
to the upward progress of magma, plate reorganization,
mantle convection changes, partially molten asthenosphere,
midplate mantle melting due to continental insulation can
also lead to sudden expulsion of large volume of magma8. In
the same token, Reunion plume dynamics for the uplift of the
west coast of India (Western Ghats) is dismissed as the latter
is now ascribed to combined surface erosion and magmatic
underplating processes12. The Yellowstone (USA) example is
now ascribed to mantle convection and regional tectonics.
c. Even though all LIPs are claimed to be products of plume heads, opponents of
plume model have drawn attention to absence of such plumes for Ontong-Java, Fiji
or Siberian Traps and they also doubt the suggested genetic links to remote
Louisville hotspot (for Ontong-Java, Fiji LIPs) and Hawaii and Jan Mayen hot spots
(for the Siberian Traps). Likewise, several hundred seamounts distributed in the
Pacific Ocean having hot spot derived chemistry do not have hot spots beneath
them and are more likely to have shallow level melt-source in lithosphere
d. The observed bend midway in the Hawaii- Emperor chain in
the Pacific Plate and the shift in the Chagos–Lacccadive–
Reunion chain in the Indian Plate. According to the plume
model, these changes reflect the shift in direction of
movement of the concerned plate with respect to the hot
spot fixed in the mantle below. But plume opponents explain
that forces on plates arise from combined effects of all
driving and resisting forces and hence changes to plate
motion are bound to be too slow for the abrupt shifts
noticed. On the other hand, local stresses inside the plate,
influenced by the subduction geometry, can rapidly alter
fracture trends in the plate thereby shifting the eruption
along the new direction. Such fracture tectonics operating in
the Pacific plate, around 43 m.y. ago, resulted in Hawaii-
Emperor chain bend8. Likewise, the Reunion plume
connection is rejected for the shift of Chagos-Lacadive-
Reunion Island track, which instead is attributed to the
southward deviation of crack propagation through oceanic
lithosphere.
e. Another bastion of plume theorists to come under the
onslaught of plume opponents is the elevated 3He/4He ratios
cited as strong evidence for the origin of several plume
derived rocks from an undegassed 3He-rich lower mantle
reservoir retaining primordial composition. The opponents
consider this improbable as earth’s pre- and post core-
formation periods were noted for high incidence of bolide
impacts, including a major one that formed the moon, all of
which would have extended early earth’s hot magma ocean
phase long enough for the escape of primordial gases.
 Secondly, it is now argued that such high ratios can result
also from the helium present in CO2 fluid inclusions in
olivines and from U, Th retained in the mantle melt. They
may also be contributed from old caught up olivine-gabbroic
rocks in the upper mantle involved in partial melting or
during shallow-mantle partial melting of recycled, radiogenic
and nonradiogenic regions of different ages8
f. Superplume triggered continental breakup and development of new ocean
basins6, especially during the last one billion years, are also discredited in
view of the earth’s decreasing mantle potential (Raleigh number).
Superplume tectonics do not seem to have operated during the growth of
Rodinia and Gondwana, two major supercontinents in earth’s history, judged
from volumetrically minor juvenile crust production during Grenvillian
(Rodinia) and Pan-African (Gondwana) periods14. Likewise, superplume
events were absent also when Australia and Antarctica separated from
Gondwana. Alternatively, non-plume agencies like plate boundary driving
forces, ‘top-down’ plate tectonic dynamics or combination of latter and
mantle upwelling could as well have brought about these episodes8
g. Though plume model has been extensively applied for explaining midplate
magmatism, recent seismological and other studies have come up with
alternate nonplume models. Anderson, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, rejects the idea of the ascent of magma plumes from CMB on the
grounds that the pressure, viscosity, coefficient of thermal expansion,
thermal conductivity, interatomic distances at these depths forbid such a
mechanism of magmatism8. He argues that the. high pressure and viscosity
here suppresses heat flow from the core and slows down generation of
mantle convection cells at the thermal boundary near CMB, which in turn
impedes buoyancy effects for initiating plumes. Further, the high mantle
temperature theorized for plume involvement for the Precambrian
komatiites, picrites and other rocks are not supported by heat flow data or
petrology and in fact, calculations indicate that the early mantle was merely
120°C hotter than now (1300°C) and hence these rocks could as well have
formed by partial melting of upwelling mantle accompanying passive rifting.

References-
1. Armstrong, R. L., Philos. Trans. R. Soc., London, 1981, A301, 443–472.

2. Taylor, S. R. and McLennan, S. M., Rev. Geophys., 1995, 33, 241–265.

3. Condie, K. C., Tectonophysics, 2000, 322, 153–162.

4. Stein, M. and Hoffmann, A. W., Nature, 1994, 372, 63–68.

5. McCulloch, T. M. and Bennet, V. C., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1994, 58,

4717–4738.

6. Sylvester, P. J., Campbell, I. H. and Bowyer, D. A., Science, 1997, 275, 521–

523.

7. Condie, K. C., Des Marais, D. J. and Abbot, D., Precambrian Res., 2001, 106,

239–260.

8. Condie, K. C., J. African Earth Sci., 2002, 35, 179–183.

9. Condie, K. C., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1998, 163, 97–108.

10. Rogers, J. J. W. and Santosh, M., Gondwana Res., 2003, 6, 357–368.

11. Rogers, J. J. W., J. Geol., 1996, 104, 91– 107.

12. Rogers, J. J. W. and Santosh, M., Gondwana Res., 2002, 5, 5–22.

13. Zhao, G., Cawood, P. A., Wilde, S. A. and Sun, M., Earth Sci. Rev., 2002, 59,

125–162; Zhao, G., Suna, M. and Wildeb,S. A., Precambrian Res., 2003, 122, 201–233;
Piper, J. D. A., Mallik, S. B.,Bandyopadhyay, G., Mondal, S. and Das,A. K., Precambrian
Res., 2003, 121,185–219; Rosen, O. M., Russian J. Earth Sci., 2002, 4, 1–6. 14. Mishra, D.
C., Chandrasekhar, D. Ch., Venkata Raju, V. and Vijaya Kumar, V., Earth Planet. Sci.
Lett., 1999, 172, 287– 300.

15. Dalziel, I. W. D., Geology, 1991, 19, 598–601.

16. Sankaran, A. V., Curr. Sci., 1997, 73, 901–903.