Article abstract
Nature Geoscience 1, 625 - 629 (2008)
Published online: 24 August 2008 | doi:10.1038/ngeo281
Subject Categories: Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics | Volcanology, mineralogy and petrology
Re-evaluating plume-induced uplift in the Emeishan large igneous province
Ingrid Ukstins Peate1 & Scott Edward Bryan2,3
Abstract
Numerical and fluid dynamic modelling predicts that mantle plumes should generate a broad domal uplift (>1,000 km wide, 500 to 
1,000 m high) preceding volcanism in large igneous provinces. The Emeishan large igneous province (southwest China) has been offered as the best example of plume-induced uplift, where kilometre-scale pre- and syn-volcanic relief was interpreted to develop in response to the impingement of a plume head. Here, we document voluminous mafic hydromagmatic deposits and submarine extrusions that formed during the initiation and early stages of the Emeishan large igneous province: these deposits were previously interpreted to be alluvial fan sediments shed from a pre-volcanic domal high. The abundance of such deposits—consisting of variable proportions of marine limestone and basaltic fragments—strongly suggests that the bulk of this province was emplaced at sea level. Evidence for dynamic pre-volcanic uplift as predicted by plume models is lacking, and such a lack may be the more general case. Any positive relief that developed was more likely the result of the formation of a volcanic edifice and rapid accumulation of the volcanic pile.
- Department of Geoscience, 121 Trowbridge Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
- Centre for Earth and Environmental Science Research, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE, UK
- WH Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Correspondence to: Ingrid Ukstins Peate1 e-mail: ingrid-peate@uiowa.edu
Correspondence to: Scott Edward Bryan2,3 e-mail: s.bryan@uq.edu.au
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