Abstract
Existing models assume that the thickened crust beneath seamounts is the result of a surface volcanic load flexing an elastic plate. New results suggest that flexed oceanic crust beneath the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is underlain by a 4-km thick deep crustal body. We intepret the body as a deep crustal sill complex associated with the tholeiitic stage of volcano building along the chain.
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Watts, A., ten Brink, U., Buhl, P. et al. A multichannel seismic study of lithospheric flexure across the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. Nature 315, 105–111 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/315105a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/315105a0
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