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Volcanology

Magma giant

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 902–903 (2013)Cite this article

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Episodes of excessive magmatism have repeatedly formed large volcanic provinces on Earth. Seismic data from the Shatsky Rise in the northwestern Pacific Ocean reveal that such oceanic plateaux can be built from individual, giant volcanoes.

Voluminous outpourings of magma have occurred both on the continents and in the oceans during Earth's history. The formation processes for these large igneous provinces are still debated, but their relevance and environmental impact are obvious. The magmatism associated with the formation of all large igneous provinces, taken together over geological time, is thought to have transferred about 10% of the mass and energy from the Earth's deep interior to the surface1. The eruption of such large volumes of magma has released enormous amounts of heat and volatile gases, and could have triggered methane release from seafloor gas hydrates, thus significantly altering Earth's climate in the past2,3,4. It is therefore important to understand the chronological, petrological and geodynamic development of large igneous provinces. Writing in Nature Geoscience, Sager et al.5 report that the Tamu Massif, part of the Shatsky Rise large igneous province in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, was formed by a single, massive pulse of magmatism about 145 million years ago.

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Figure 1: Global distribution of large igneous provinces.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben is at the Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben

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  1. Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben
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Correspondence to Gabriele Uenzelmann-Neben.

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Uenzelmann-Neben, G. Magma giant. Nature Geosci 6, 902–903 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1958

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