Location: Washington, D.C., USA
Web: https://fallmeeting.agu.org/2018/
Includes the following sessions:
T011. Current understanding of large igneous provinces, hotspot tracks, and mantle plumes
Convenors: William Sager (wwsager@central.uh.edu), Anthony Koppers (akoppers@coas.oregonstate.edu), Cornelia Class (class@ldeo.columbia.edu), Trond Torsvik (t.h.torsvik@geo.uio.no)
Hotspot tracks and large igneous provinces (LIPs) are surface features often attributed to focused mantle upwellings (mantle plumes). As observations conflicted with early, purely thermal plume models, more complex models were developed, including variations in time and chemical composition. Plume upwellings may originate at several levels in the mantle and many likely have a link to large low shear-wave velocity provinces (LLSVPs) near the core-mantle boundary. However, the role of plumes in some LIPs is a matter of debate. Hotspot volcanic chains display complexities in age progression, plume motion, geochemistry and tectonic evolution that imply modulation of volcanism by mantle convection and plate tectonic processes. We seek contributions from various perspectives, including geochronology, geochemistry, geophysics, and volcanology that present new data, models, or interpretations about LIPs, hotspot tracks and mantle plumes.