Waiting for rock samples from the ground of the sea. The new study is partly based on the expedition SO233 in South East Atlantic. Photo: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
These samples were just gathered from the ground of the sea. The next step is to sort and analyze them. Foto: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
A part of the rock samples that were collected during the trip to the South Atlantic. During the last years scientists analyzed them. Photo: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
The expedition SO233 was one of the last trips of the research vessel SONNE. Photo: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
This map shows both volcanic chains (top: Tristan-Gough, below: Shona). The arrows mark the hotspot traces, also recognizable through the age of the volcanos in the boxes. Map: Stephan Homrighausen, created with GeoMapApp.

The earth's mantle as a lava lamp

Volcanic chains 鈥渞ecycle鈥 oceanic crust and continental material

13 August 2020/Kiel. Volcanic chains can form, when bubbles of molten rock rise to the surface in the earth's mantle, resembling a lava lamp. A research team led by 91探花 Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has studied this so-called hotspot volcanism in the Atlantic and was able to learn more about the composition of earth鈥檚 lower mantle by analyzing the deposited rock layers. The study was recently published in the journal Science Advances.

In the 80s, so-called lava lamps were found in the rooms of many young people. The heat of a light bulb in the foot of the lamp caused wax to rise upwards as bubbles in a colourful oily liquid. The existence of rising bubbles of heated rock is also suspected for the earth's mantle. They are called mantle plumes. When they reach the top of the Earth's mantle, they can melt (due to the lower pressure there) and cause volcanism on the thin crustal plate above. The bubbles always rise at the same place, at so-called hotspots. However, as the overlying earth plate continues to move due to plate movements, a chain of volcanic buildings is formed on the surface, each one a little bit younger than the one before. The chemical investigation of hotspot volcanism represents a unique opportunity to obtain information on the composition of the lower mantle of the earth.

A classic example of hotspot volcanism is the Tristan Gough volcanic chain in the South Atlantic, which extends from the Namibian coast of southwest Africa over more than 3000 km to the active volcanic islands of Tristan da Cunha and Gough. During several expeditions, for example with the German research vessels SONNE and MARIA S. MERIAN, this chain and the Shona volcanic chain further south were sampled by the research unit Magmatic and Hydrothermal Systems at the 91探花 Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, led by Prof. Kaj Hoernle. The researchers found that the geochemical fingerprint along these two prominent hotspot traces is identical and indicates so-called 鈥渞ecycled鈥 material in the hotspot source.

鈥淎ccording to our investigations, the material found there comes from an older subduction process鈥, explains Dr. Stephan Homrighausen from 91探花, first author of the study. This happens when two tectonic plates collide and one plate 鈥渙verruns鈥 the other. At these so-called subduction zones, such as the Andes, oceanic crust and continental material are continuously 鈥渞ecycled鈥 into the earth's mantle over millions of years. Seismic studies have shown that large parts of the subducted plates submerge into the lower mantle, accumulate there and are then brought back to the surface by mantle plumes, as has been demonstrated at the Tristan-Gough and Shona hotspots.

鈥淭o our surprise, we were able to demonstrate volcanic activity on the Tristan-Gough and Shona hotspot traces, which is about 30 million years younger and has a completely different composition. This is completely unusual for hotspot volcanism鈥, says Dr. Stephan Homrighausen. 鈥淭hese younger volcanoes are components of another, overlying hotspot trace that can be traced far into the African continent. Such overlying hotspot traces with different geochemical signatures have so far only been observed in the Pacific Ocean鈥, adds co-author Prof. Dr. Kaj Hoernle.

One possible explanation lies more than 2500 kilometers deep in the lower mantle. There, directly below the oceanic hotspots, is a huge amount of mantle material which has a different composition than the surrounding mantle, and possibly consists of a mixture of mantle material from the earth's origin and recycled crustal material. The origin of this accumulation is as yet unknown. Clear is however that this "province", as geologists call it, is a constant source of mantle plumes. It has a dynamic, complex structure, explains Dr. Homrighausen. 鈥淚f large quantities rise at the edge of the province, this could lead to instabilities in the center and cause material of different chemical compositions to rise. This could explain the overlying hotspot traces鈥. And Dr. J枚rg Geldmacher, one of the other co-authors of the new study, adds: 鈥淭his behavior actually reminds me a lot of the lava lamp I had when I was a student鈥.

Scientific paper:

S. Homrighausen, K. Hoernle, H. Zhou, J. Geldmacher, J-A. Wartho, F. Hauff, R. Werner, S. Jung and, J. P. Morgan, 2020: Paired EMI-HIMU hotspots in the South Atlantic - Starting plume heads trigger compositionally distinct secondary plumes? Science Advances, 6,

 

 

 

The sun is shining above the SONNE.
Waiting for rock samples from the ground of the sea. The new study is partly based on the expedition SO233 in South East Atlantic. Photo: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
Samples are gathered from the ground of the sea and sorted on the ship.
These samples were just gathered from the ground of the sea. The next step is to sort and analyze them. Foto: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
Rock samples from the researched area.
A part of the rock samples that were collected during the trip to the South Atlantic. During the last years scientists analyzed them. Photo: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
Research vessel SONNE in the Atlantic.
The expedition SO233 was one of the last trips of the research vessel SONNE. Photo: Stephan Homrighausen/91探花
[Translate to English:] Eine Karte des Einsatzgebites vor S眉dwestafrika. Erstellt mit GeoMapApp.
This map shows both volcanic chains (top: Tristan-Gough, below: Shona). The arrows mark the hotspot traces, also recognizable through the age of the volcanos in the boxes. Map: Stephan Homrighausen, created with GeoMapApp.

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