Record of massive upwellings from the Pacific large low shear velocity province.
Large igneous provinces, as the surface expression of deep mantle processes, play a key role in the evolution of the planet. Here we analyse the geochemical record and timing of the Pacific Ocean Large Igneous Provinces and preserved accreted terranes to reconstruct the history of pulses of mantle plume upwellings and their relation with a deep-rooted source like the Pacific large low-shear velocity Province during the Mid-Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous. Petrological modelling and geochemical data suggest the need of interaction between these deep-rooted upwellings and mid-ocean ridges in pulses separated by ∼10-20 Ma, to generate the massive volumes of melt preserved today as oceanic plateaus. These pulses impacted the marine biota resulting in episodes of anoxia and mass extinctions shortly after their eruption.
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
Pilar
P
Madrigal
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
Esteban
E
Gazel
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York 11210, USA.|Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024, USA.
Kennet E
KE
Flores
Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.
Michael
M
Bizimis
Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Brian
B
Jicha