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Ocean circulation and mantle melting controlled by radial flow of hot pulses in the Iceland plume

Nature Geoscience volume 4, pages 558–561 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Convection of the mantle influences elevation at the Earth’s surface. For example, in the North Atlantic Ocean, V-shaped ridges of thickened oceanic crust that straddle the mid-ocean ridge are thought to arise from variations in the underlying mantle properties1. However, the detailed relationship between these V-shaped ridges and convective circulation is uncertain. Here we use measurements of residual water depth—a proxy for crustal thickness—and basaltic geochemistry to assess factors responsible for ridge formation. We find a correlation between basalt composition and crustal thickness that is best explained if V-shaped ridges are formed by the passage of unusually hot pulses of mantle away from Iceland. We also show that ocean circulation patterns over the past 7 million years, recorded by flow of the Northern Component Water2,3,4 from the Norwegian Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and the accumulation of thick drifts of sediment5, are controlled by variations in the elevation of sea floor between Greenland and Iceland. We suggest that pulses of hot mantle also drove periodic uplift of the sea floor, and moderated the export of water and sediment into the North Atlantic Ocean. Diverse observations can therefore be explained if blobs of mantle, 25 °C hotter than the background plume temperature, travelled up the conduit beneath Iceland and spread out radially at velocities of 40 cm yr−1.

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Figure 1: Map of the Icelandic Plume.
Figure 2: Vertical motions, overflow and drifts.
Figure 3: Geochemical modelling.
Figure 4: Cutaway cartoon showing the geometry of the Iceland Plume.

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Acknowledgements

H.P. was supported by a NERC PhD studentship. We are grateful to G. Fitton, S. Jones, D. Lyness, D. McKenzie, B. Murton, J. Paul, R. Parnell-Turner, G. Roberts and R. Searle for their help. Cambridge Earth Sciences contribution esc. 2063.

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge, Madingley Rise, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK

    Heather Poore, Nicky White & John Maclennan

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  1. Heather Poore
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Contributions

This project was planned by N.W. Data compilation, analysis, and modelling was carried out by H.P. with guidance from N.W. and J.M. The paper was written by N.W. and J.M. and the figures were drafted by H.P. and J.M.

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Correspondence to Nicky White.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Poore, H., White, N. & Maclennan, J. Ocean circulation and mantle melting controlled by radial flow of hot pulses in the Iceland plume. Nature Geosci 4, 558–561 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1161

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