Publication Date:
2016-05-29
Description:
A Neogene magmatic reactivation of the Manihiki Plateau, a large igneous province (LIP) in the central Pacific, is studied using seismic reflection data. Igneous diapirs have been identified exclusively within a narrow WNW–ESE striking corridor in the southern High Plateau (HP), which is parallel to the Neogene Pacific Plate motion and overlaps with an extrapolation of the Society Islands Hotspot (SIH) path. The igneous diapirs are characterized by a narrow width (〉5 km), penetration of the Neogene sediments, and they become progressively younger towards the East (23–10 Ma). The magmatic source appears to be of small lateral extent, which leads to the conclusion that the diapirs represent Neogene hotspot volcanism within a LIP, and thus may be an older, previously unknown extension of the SIH track (〉4.5 Ma). Comparing hotspot volcanism within oceanic and continental lithosphere, we further conclude that hotspot volcanism within LIP crust has similarities to tectonically faulted continental crust.
Keywords:
Geodynamics and Tectonics
Print ISSN:
0956-540X
Electronic ISSN:
1365-246X
Topics:
Geosciences
Published by
Oxford University Press
on behalf of
The Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft (DGG) and the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).
