Web: https://www.agu.org/fall-meeting
Includes the following sessions:
Cretaceous-Paleogene Large Igneous Province emplacement and ocean history: impacts on crustal structure, climate, and circulation
Convenors: Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben (Gabriele.Uenzelmann-Neben@awi.de), Steven Bohaty (Steve.Bohaty@geow.uni-heidelberg.de), William Sager (wwsager@uh.edu), Kaj Hoernle (khoernle@geomar.de), Peter Davidson (peter.davidson@oregonstate.edu)
The Late Cretaceous‒Paleogene (~100‒34 Ma) was characterized by the opening/deepening of several ocean gateways (African‒Southern Ocean, South Atlantic, Equatorial Atlantic, northern North Atlantic), which modified oceanic circulation and influenced long-term climate evolution. In addition to seafloor spreading, the opening of these gateways was accompanied by extensive volcanic activity and emplacement of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), including the Agulhas Plateau, Walvis Ridge/Rio Grande Rise, and the North Atlantic Volcanic Province. Recent expeditions of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP; numbered 391/397T, 392, 395, and 396) recovered new igneous and sedimentary cores from these LIPs. Samples from these expeditions will lend new insight to the chronology and nature of LIPs, including emplacement/volcanism, magmatic sources and mantle plume/hotspot processes, structural development of key ocean gateways, and subsequent modulation of ocean circulation and climatic repercussions.
We welcome contributions from IODP expeditions investigating both igneous and sedimentary histories of Cretaceous‒Paleogene LIPs in any ocean basin.
Volcanic rifted margin formation and environmental consequences
Convenors: Christian Berndt (cberndt@geomar.de), Sverre Planke (sverre.planke@geo.uio.no), Ritske Huismans (Ritske.Huismans@uib.no), Carlos Alvarez Zarikian (zarikian@iodp.tamu.edu)
Continental breakup is commonly associated with the formation of Large Igneous Provinces and major environmental and climatic disturbances. The recent IODP Expedition 396 on the mid-Norwegian continental margin in 2021 provided a major push for the research field, recovering both sedimentary and basaltic deposits associated with the North Atlantic Igneous Province. Initial results suggest a firm link between the magmatism and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
In this session, we invite geoscientists and modelers to present their most recent results on the tectono-magmatic processes that control excess magma production and how such igneous events may trigger hydrothermal venting and rapid climate change. We encourage submission of case studies, integrated interpretations, and models of volcanic rifted margins globally.
Also, contributions on the consequences such as the knock-on effects of break-up volcanism on oceanic gateway opening or the suitability of the breakup-related basalt formation for carbon capture and storage are very much welcome.
Chemistry and evolution of Earth’s interior as recorded by mantle plumes
Convenors: Nicole Williamson (nwilliam@mail.ubc.ca), Val Finlayson (vfinlays@umd.edu), Lauren Harrison (lauren.n.harrison@colostate.edu)
The Earth’s mantle is an important chemical reservoir with a complex history. Exchanges between the mantle and other Earth reservoirs, such as the atmosphere, crust, core, and hydrosphere, have fundamentally influenced the evolution of the entire Earth system. “Primary” mantle plumes originate from the mid to lower mantle and produce intraplate lavas that carry geochemical tracers of their deep mantle sources. The geochemistry of plume-formed rocks can help constrain Earth’s initial composition, the formation and preservation of ancient chemical reservoirs and continental crust, the onset of subduction and recycling, and the dynamic mixing of heterogeneities through time. This session will focus on the geochemistry of Earth’s mantle as recorded by mantle plume melts, with an emphasis on ocean island basalts and large igneous provinces. We welcome submissions using geochemical, geochronological, geodynamic, and isotopic tools to explore the origin, scale, extent, and preservation of mantle chemical heterogeneity over Earth’s entire history.