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[[File:Portion of the New England hotspot.png|400px|thumb|A portion of the track of the New England hotspot. The westernmost white dot is [[Mont Royal]] in [[Montreal]]. The white dot just off the continental shelf is the [[Bear seamount]].]] |
[[File:Portion of the New England hotspot.png|400px|thumb|A portion of the track of the New England hotspot. The westernmost white dot is [[Mont Royal]] in [[Montreal]]. The white dot just off the continental shelf is the [[Bear seamount]].]] |
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The '''New England hotspot''', also referred to as the '''Great Meteor hotspot''' and sometimes the '''Monteregian hotspot''' is a large [[volcano|volcanic]] province in north-eastern [[North America]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. It encompasses the [[Monteregian Hills]] in [[Montreal]] and [[Montérégie]], the [[White Mountains]] in [[New Hampshire]], the [[New England Seamounts|New England]] and [[Corner Rise Seamounts|Corner Rise]] [[seamount]]s off the coast of North America, and the [[Seewarte Seamounts]] east of the [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]] on the [[African Plate]], the latter of which include its most recent eruptive center, the [[Great Meteor Seamount]].<ref name=”Sleep1990”>{{cite journal |last1=Sleep |first1=N.H. |date=1990 |title=Monteregian hotspot track: A long‐lived mantle plume |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/JB095iB13p21983 |journal=JGR: Solid Earth |volume=95 |issue=B13 |pages=21983-21990 |doi=10.1029/JB095iB13p21983}}</ref><ref name=”Tucholke1990”>{{cite journal |last1=Tucholke |first1=B.E. |last2=Smoot |first2=N.C. |date=1990 |title=Evidence for age and evolution of Corner Seamounts and Great Meteor Seamount Chain from multibeam bathymetry |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB095iB11p17555 |journal= |volume=95 |issue=B11 |pages=17555-17569 |doi=10.1029/JB095iB11p17555}}</ref> |
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The '''New England hotspot''', also referred to as the '''Great Meteor hotspot''', is a long-lived [[volcano|volcanic]] [[hotspot (geology)|hotspot]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The hotspot's most recent eruptive center is the [[Great Meteor Seamount]], and it probably created a short line of mid to late-[[Cenozoic]] age [[seamount]]s on the [[African Plate]] but appears to be currently inactive.<ref name="SE">[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1984JGR....89.9980D Age Progressive Volcanism in the New England Seamounts and the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean] Retrieved on 2007-10-05</ref> |
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The New England, [[Great Meteor hotspot track|Great Meteor]], or Monteregian [[hotspot track]] has been used to estimate the movement of the [[North American Plate]] away from the [[African Plate]] from early [[Cretaceous]] period to the present using the fixed hotspot reference frame,<ref name=”Duncan1984”>{{cite journal |last1=Duncan |first1=R.A. |date=1984 |title=Age progressive volcanism in the New England Seamounts and the opening of the central Atlantic Ocean |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB089iB12p09980 |journal=JGR: Solid Earth |volume=89 |issue=B12 |pages=9980-9990 |doi=10.1029/JB089iB12p09980}}</ref> though the reliability of this reference frame is disputed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mantleplumes.org/Hotspots.html |title=The hotspot reference frame and the westward drift of the lithosphere |last1=Doglioni |first1=C.|last2=Cuffaro |first2=M |date=2005 |website=www.mantleplumes.org |access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> |
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The New England [[hotspot track]] is used to estimate the movement of the [[North American Plate]] away from the [[African Plate]] from early [[Cretaceous]] period to the present.<ref name="SE"/> |
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The New England hotspot has been overridden by the [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]]. |
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==Geologic history== |
==Geologic history== |
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The geologic history of the New England hotspot is the subject of intense debate among geoscientists. There are essentially two competing positions. One view is that volcanic activity associated with the hotspot is a result of movement of the [[North American Plate]] over a fixed [[mantle plume]] – the “plume hypothesis”.<ref>{{cite book |last=Condie |first=K.C. |date=2001 |title=Mantle plumes and their record in Earth history |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0 521 80604 6}}</ref> The other is that it results from passive, shallow melting brought about by reactivation of [[lithosphere|lithospheric]] structures due to intraplate stresses caused by [[plate tectonics|tectonic]] changes in the Atlantic Ocean – the “plate hypothesis”.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foulger |first=G.R. |date= 2010 |title=Plates vs. plumes: A geological controversy |location=Oxford |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4443-3679-5}}</ref> |
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About 200 million years ago, just as the Atlantic Ocean was starting to form, the area northwest of [[Hudson Bay]] was over the New England hotspot. About 50 million years later, as the Atlantic Ocean opened slightly, the plume was under present-day [[Ontario]], creating numerous [[kimberlite]] fields. About 125 million years ago, the hotspot created the [[magma]] [[intrusion]]s of the [[Monteregian Hills]] in southern [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]. The lack of an obvious track west of the Monteregian Hills may be due either to failure of the plume to penetrate the [[Canadian Shield]], to the lack of recognizable intrusions, or to strengthening of the plume when it approached the Monteregian Hills. About 25 million years later, the hotspot created the magma intrusions of the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains]] in [[New Hampshire]]. As the [[North American Plate]] moved westward, it created the [[New England Seamounts]] between 80 and 100 million years ago. When the hotspot created the New England Seamount chain, it might have been the seventh or eighth most active hotspot of the period. The hotspot declined in activity after it made [[Nashville Seamount]] about 83 million years ago. The hotspot created the [[Corner Rise Seamounts]] about 75 million years ago. Renewed volcanic activity formed the [[Seewarte Seamounts]] 10–20 million years ago.<ref name="SI">[http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05stepstones/background/geologic_history/geologic_history.html A Hundred-Million Year History of the Corner Rise and New England Seamounts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503173640/http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05stepstones/background/geologic_history/geologic_history.html |date=2006-05-03 }} Retrieved on 2007-08-05</ref> |
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According to the plume hypothesis, volcanic activity began around 214-192 [[megaannum|Ma]] when the plume was under [[Rankin Inlet]] to the northwest of [[Hudson Bay]]. As the North American Plate moved over the plume, it created [[kimberlite]] fields at various locations in [[Ontario]] and [[New York (state)|New York]] between 180 and 134 Ma<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heaman |first1=L.M. |last2=Kjarsgaard |first2=B.A. |date=2000 |title=Timing of eastern North American kimberlite magmatism: continental extension of the Great Meteor hotspot track? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X00000790 |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |volume=178 |issue=3-4 |pages=253-268 |doi=10.1016/S0012-821X(00)00079-0}}</ref> before forming the [[Intrusive rock|igneous intrusions]] of the [[Monteregian Hills]] in southern [[Quebec]] and the younger set of intrusions of the [[White Mountains]] in [[New Hampshire]] around 124-100 Ma. As the plate moved further west over the plume, it formed the [[New England Seamounts]] between 103 and 83 Ma. After the formation of the Nashville Seamount around 83 Ma, there was a pause in volcanic activity and the volcanic center shifted north, creating the Corner Rise Seamounts around 80-76 Ma. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge passed over the plume around 76 Ma and renewed volcanic activity produced the Seewarte Seamounts on the African Plate between 26 and 10 Ma.<ref name=”Duncan1984”/><ref name=”Sleep1990”/><ref name=”Tucholke1990”/> |
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There are several problems with the plume hypothesis, some of which have been accommodated by its advocates. The lack of a clear hotspot track west of Montreal, for example, has been ascribed to failure of the plume to penetrate the [[Canadian Shield]], a lack of recognizable intrusions, or strengthening of the plume when it approached the Monteregian Hills.<ref name=”Sleep1990”/> Several further difficulties remain, however. The seamounts, for example, are not in line with the New England-Quebec volcanic province. Evidence of age progression along much of the New England-Quebec volcanic province is lacking, and ages of the seamounts do not all follow a linear, time-progressive trend. There is little evidence of precursory uplift and no “plume head” flood basalt at the beginning of the chain. [[Geochemistry|Geochemical]] signatures do not require a deep-mantle source.<ref name=”McHoneND”>{{cite web |url=http://www.mantleplumes.org/CAMP.html |title=Igneous features and geodynamic models of rifting and magmatism around the Central Atlantic Ocean |last1=McHone |first1=J.G. |website=MantlePlumes.org |access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref><ref name=”McHone1996”>{{cite journal |last1=McHone |first1=J.G. |date=1996 |title=Constraints on the mantle plume model for Mesozoic alkaline intrusions in northeastern North America |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/canmin/article-abstract/34/2/325/12749/Constraints-on-the-mantle-plume-model-for-Mesozoic?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=The Canadian Mineralogist |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=325-334}}</ref> And geochemical and [[Isotope|isotopic]] evidence in the Monteregian igneous province indicate a shallow, lithospheric source.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roulleau |first1=E. |last2=Stevenson |first2=R. |date=2013 |title=Geochemical and isotopic (Nd–Sr–Hf–Pb) evidence for a lithospheric mantle source in the formation of the Monteregian Province (Quebec) |url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjes-2012-0145 |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=50 |issue=6 |pages=650-666 |doi=10.1139/cjes-2012-0145}}</ref> |
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These and other difficulties have led a number of geoscientists to reject the plume hypothesis and to posit a tectonic cause – the plate hypothesis. On this view, the various kimberlite fields, volcanic provinces, and seamounts result from passive melting of lithospheric mantle due to intraplate stresses related to the tectonic evolution of the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name=”McHoneND”/><ref name=”McHone1996”/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Faure |first1=S. |last2=Tremblay |first2=A. |last3=Angelier |first3=J. |date=1996 |title=State of intraplate stress and tectonism of northeastern America since Cretaceous times, with particular emphasis on the New England-Quebec igneous province |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0040195195001131 |journal=Tectonophysics |volume=255 |issue=1-2 |pages=111-134 |doi=10.1016/0040-1951(95)00113-1}}</ref><ref name=”Matton2009”>{{cite journal |last1= Matton|first1=G. |last2= Jébrak |first2=M. |date=2009 |title=The Cretaceous Peri-Atlantic Alkaline Pulse (PAAP): Deep mantle plume origin or shallow lithospheric break-up? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040195109000092?casa_token=kf4q48TwaMYAAAAA:MUmsMKTOI21CS9W8yjPHsxeSPSAcsOqHLpF2ZOBMfFLxt2_xAJnwJT3MjJTbU1W6HIQjxH4#bib82 |journal=Tectonophysics |volume=469 |issue=1-4 |pages=1-12 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2009.01.001}}</ref> The New England-Quebec volcanic province is located on a pre-existing zone of lithospheric weakness related to the opening of the [[Iapetus Ocean]] in late [[Proterozoic]] and early [[Cambrian]] time, and volcanic activity here is strongly correlated with the opening of the South Atlantic and a consequent reorganisation of plate motion and reorientation of stress fields.<ref name=”Matton2009”/> The related seamounts, moreover, appear to mark discreet episodes of volcanic activity along different lines or segments of the same structural trend.<ref name=”McHoneND”/><ref name=”McHone1996”/> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
Revision as of 17:20, 13 November 2020
The New England hotspot, also referred to as the Great Meteor hotspot and sometimes the Monteregian hotspot is a large volcanic province in north-eastern North America and the Atlantic Ocean. It encompasses the Monteregian Hills in Montreal and Montérégie, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the New England and Corner Rise seamounts off the coast of North America, and the Seewarte Seamounts east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on the African Plate, the latter of which include its most recent eruptive center, the Great Meteor Seamount.[1][2]
The New England, Great Meteor, or Monteregian hotspot track has been used to estimate the movement of the North American Plate away from the African Plate from early Cretaceous period to the present using the fixed hotspot reference frame,[3] though the reliability of this reference frame is disputed.[4]
Geologic history
The geologic history of the New England hotspot is the subject of intense debate among geoscientists. There are essentially two competing positions. One view is that volcanic activity associated with the hotspot is a result of movement of the North American Plate over a fixed mantle plume – the “plume hypothesis”.[5] The other is that it results from passive, shallow melting brought about by reactivation of lithospheric structures due to intraplate stresses caused by tectonic changes in the Atlantic Ocean – the “plate hypothesis”.[6]
According to the plume hypothesis, volcanic activity began around 214-192 Ma when the plume was under Rankin Inlet to the northwest of Hudson Bay. As the North American Plate moved over the plume, it created kimberlite fields at various locations in Ontario and New York between 180 and 134 Ma[7] before forming the igneous intrusions of the Monteregian Hills in southern Quebec and the younger set of intrusions of the White Mountains in New Hampshire around 124-100 Ma. As the plate moved further west over the plume, it formed the New England Seamounts between 103 and 83 Ma. After the formation of the Nashville Seamount around 83 Ma, there was a pause in volcanic activity and the volcanic center shifted north, creating the Corner Rise Seamounts around 80-76 Ma. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge passed over the plume around 76 Ma and renewed volcanic activity produced the Seewarte Seamounts on the African Plate between 26 and 10 Ma.[3][1][2]
There are several problems with the plume hypothesis, some of which have been accommodated by its advocates. The lack of a clear hotspot track west of Montreal, for example, has been ascribed to failure of the plume to penetrate the Canadian Shield, a lack of recognizable intrusions, or strengthening of the plume when it approached the Monteregian Hills.[1] Several further difficulties remain, however. The seamounts, for example, are not in line with the New England-Quebec volcanic province. Evidence of age progression along much of the New England-Quebec volcanic province is lacking, and ages of the seamounts do not all follow a linear, time-progressive trend. There is little evidence of precursory uplift and no “plume head” flood basalt at the beginning of the chain. Geochemical signatures do not require a deep-mantle source.[8][9] And geochemical and isotopic evidence in the Monteregian igneous province indicate a shallow, lithospheric source.[10]
These and other difficulties have led a number of geoscientists to reject the plume hypothesis and to posit a tectonic cause – the plate hypothesis. On this view, the various kimberlite fields, volcanic provinces, and seamounts result from passive melting of lithospheric mantle due to intraplate stresses related to the tectonic evolution of the Atlantic Ocean.[8][9][11][12] The New England-Quebec volcanic province is located on a pre-existing zone of lithospheric weakness related to the opening of the Iapetus Ocean in late Proterozoic and early Cambrian time, and volcanic activity here is strongly correlated with the opening of the South Atlantic and a consequent reorganisation of plate motion and reorientation of stress fields.[12] The related seamounts, moreover, appear to mark discreet episodes of volcanic activity along different lines or segments of the same structural trend.[8][9]
See also
- Great Meteor hotspot track
- Volcanology of Northern Canada
- Volcanology of Eastern Canada
- Volcanology of Canada
References
- ^ a b c Sleep, N.H. (1990). "Monteregian hotspot track: A long‐lived mantle plume". JGR: Solid Earth. 95 (B13): 21983–21990. doi:10.1029/JB095iB13p21983.
- ^ a b Tucholke, B.E.; Smoot, N.C. (1990). "Evidence for age and evolution of Corner Seamounts and Great Meteor Seamount Chain from multibeam bathymetry". 95 (B11): 17555–17569. doi:10.1029/JB095iB11p17555.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b Duncan, R.A. (1984). "Age progressive volcanism in the New England Seamounts and the opening of the central Atlantic Ocean". JGR: Solid Earth. 89 (B12): 9980–9990. doi:10.1029/JB089iB12p09980.
- ^ Doglioni, C.; Cuffaro, M (2005). "The hotspot reference frame and the westward drift of the lithosphere". www.mantleplumes.org. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ Condie, K.C. (2001). Mantle plumes and their record in Earth history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 80604 6.
- ^ Foulger, G.R. (2010). Plates vs. plumes: A geological controversy. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4443-3679-5.
- ^ Heaman, L.M.; Kjarsgaard, B.A. (2000). "Timing of eastern North American kimberlite magmatism: continental extension of the Great Meteor hotspot track?". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 178 (3–4): 253–268. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(00)00079-0.
- ^ a b c McHone, J.G. "Igneous features and geodynamic models of rifting and magmatism around the Central Atlantic Ocean". MantlePlumes.org. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ a b c McHone, J.G. (1996). "Constraints on the mantle plume model for Mesozoic alkaline intrusions in northeastern North America". The Canadian Mineralogist. 34 (2): 325–334.
- ^ Roulleau, E.; Stevenson, R. (2013). "Geochemical and isotopic (Nd–Sr–Hf–Pb) evidence for a lithospheric mantle source in the formation of the Monteregian Province (Quebec)". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 50 (6): 650–666. doi:10.1139/cjes-2012-0145.
- ^ Faure, S.; Tremblay, A.; Angelier, J. (1996). "State of intraplate stress and tectonism of northeastern America since Cretaceous times, with particular emphasis on the New England-Quebec igneous province". Tectonophysics. 255 (1–2): 111–134. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(95)00113-1.
- ^ a b Matton, G.; Jébrak, M. (2009). "The Cretaceous Peri-Atlantic Alkaline Pulse (PAAP): Deep mantle plume origin or shallow lithospheric break-up?". Tectonophysics. 469 (1–4): 1–12. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2009.01.001.