Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Patterns of intraplate volcanism controlled by asthenospheric shear

Nature Geoscience volume 4, pages 317–321 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Most of Earth’s volcanism occurs at plate boundaries, in association with subduction or rifting. A few high-volume volcanic fields are observed both at plate boundaries and within plates, fed by plumes upwelling from the deep mantle1. The remaining volcanism is observed away from plate boundaries. It is typically basaltic, effusive and low volume, occurring within continental interiors2,3,4,5,6,7 or creating seamounts on the ocean floor8,9,10,11. This intraplate volcanism has been attributed to various localized processes12 such as cracking of the lithosphere8,13,14, small-scale convection in the mantle beneath the lithosphere15,16,17 or shear-induced melting of low-viscosity pockets of asthenospheric mantle that have become embedded along the base of the lithosphere18. Here we compare the locations of observed intraplate volcanism with global patterns of mantle flow from a numerical model. We find a correlation between recent continental and oceanic intraplate volcanism and areas of the asthenosphere that are experiencing rapid shear due to mantle convection. We detect particularly high correlations in the interior of the continents of western North America, eastern Australia, southern Europe and Antarctica, as well as west of the East Pacific Rise in the Pacific Ocean. We conclude that intraplate volcanism associated with mantle convection is best explained by melting caused by shear flow within the asthenosphere, whereas other localized processes are less important.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Spatial correlation between asthenospheric shear and continental intraplate volcanism.
Figure 2: Spatial correlation between asthenospheric shear and seamount volcanism.
Figure 3: Temporal correlation between seamount density and spreading rate for the Pacific Basin.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Courtillot, V., Davaille, A., Besse, J. & Stock, J. Three distinct types of hotspots in the Earth’s mantle. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 205, 295–308 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Valentine, G. A. & Hirano, N. Mechanisms of low-flux intraplate volcanic fields—Basin and Range (North America) and northwest Pacific Ocean. Geology 38, 55–58 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Demidjuk, Z. et al. U-series isotope and geodynamic constraints on mantle melting processes beneath the Newer Volcanic Province in South Australia. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 261, 517–533 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Johnson, R. W. Intraplate Volcanism in Eastern Australia and New Zealand (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gans, P. B. & Bohrson, W. A. Suppression of volcanism during rapid extension in the Basin and Range Province, United States. Science 279, 66–68 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Faccenna, C. & Becker, T. W. Shaping mobile belts by small-scale convection. Nature 465, 602–605 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ebinger, C. J. & Sleep, N. H. Cenozoic magmatism throughout east Africa resulting from impact of a single plume. Nature 395, 788–791 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Forsyth, D. W., Harmon, N., Scheirer, D. S. & Duncan, R. A. Distribution of recent volcanism and the morphology of seamounts and ridges in the GLIMPSE study area: Implications for the lithospheric cracking hypothesis for the origin of intraplate, non-hot spot volcanic chains. J. Geophys. Res. 111, B11407 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Scheirer, D. S., Forsyth, D. W., Cormier, H-M. & Macdonald, K. C. Shipboard geophysical indications of asymmetry and melt production beneath the East Pacific Rise near the MELT Experiment. Science 280, 1221–1224 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Conder, J. A., Forsyth, D. W. & Parmentier, E. M. Asthenospheric flow and asymmetry of the East Pacific Rise, MELT area. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 2344 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Davis, E. E. & Karsten, J. L. On the cause of the asymmetric distribution of seamounts about the Juan de Fuca ridge: Ridge-crest migration over a heterogeneous asthenosphere. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 79, 385–396 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Raddick, M. J., Parmentier, E. M. & Scheirer, D. S. Buoyant decompression melting: A possible mechanism for intraplate volcanism. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 2228 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Turcotte, D. L. & Oxburgh, E. R. Intra-plate volcanism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 288, 561–579 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. McKenzie, D. & Bickle, M. J. The volume and composition of melt generated by extension of the lithosphere. J. Petrol. 29, 625–679 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. King, S. D. & Ritsema, J. African hot spot volcanism: Small-scale convection in the upper mantle beneath cratons. Science 290, 1137–1140 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Elkins-Tanton, L. T. Continental magmatism, volatile recycling, and a heterogeneous mantle caused by lithospheric gravitational instabilities. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B03405 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ballmer, M. D., van Hunen, J., Ito, G., Bianco, T. A. & Tackley, P. J. Intraplate volcanism with complex age–distance patterns: A case for small-scale sublithospheric convection. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 10, Q06015 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Conrad, C. P., Wu, B., Smith, E. I., Bianco, T. A. & Tibbetts, A. Shear-driven upwelling induced by lateral viscosity variations and asthenospheric shear: A mechanism for intraplate volcanism. Phys. Earth Planet. Int. 178, 162–175 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Naliboff, J. B., Conrad, C. P. & Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. Modification of the lithospheric stress field by lateral variations in plate-mantle coupling. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L22307 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Molnar, P., Houseman, G. A. & Conrad, C. P. Rayleigh–Taylor instability and convective thinning of mechanically thickened lithosphere: Effects of non-linear viscosity decreasing exponentially with depth and of horizontal shortening of the layer. Geophys. J. Int. 133, 568–584 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Conrad, C. P. & Behn, M. D. Constraints on lithosphere net rotation and asthenospheric viscosity from global mantle flow models and seismic anisotropy. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 11, Q05W05 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Debayle, E., Kennett, B. & Priestley, K. Global azimuthal seismic anisotropy and the unique plate-motion deformation of Australia. Nature 433, 509–512 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Becker, T. W., Schulte-Pelkum, V., Blackman, D. K., Kellogg, J. B. & O’Connell, R. J. Mantle flow under the western United States from shear wave splitting. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 247, 235–251 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Wessel, P. Global distribution of seamounts inferred from gridded Geosat/ERS-1 altimetry. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 19431–19441 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Hillier, J. K. Pacific seamount volcanism in space and time. Geophys. J. Int. 168, 877–889 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Ito, G. & Mahoney, J. J. Flow and melting of a heterogeneous mantle: 2. Implications for a chemically non-layered mantle. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 230, 47–63 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Fishwick, S., Heintz, M., Kennett, B. L. N., Reading, A.M. & Yoshizawa, K. Steps in lithospheric thickness within eastern Australia, evidence from surface wave tomography. Tectonics 27, TC4009 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Dixon, J. E., Dixon, T. H., Bell, D. R. & Malservisi, R. Lateral variation in upper mantle viscosity: Role of water. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 222, 451–567 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hirth, G. & Kohlstedt, D. L. in Inside the Subduction Factory (ed. Eiler, J.) 83–105 (Geophys. Monogr., Vol. 138, American Geophysical Union, 2003).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. Müller, R. D., Sdrolias, M., Gaina, C, Steinberger, B. & Heine, C. Long-term sea-level fluctuations driven by ocean basin dynamics. Science 319, 1357–1362 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank S. King and J. Hillier for comments that improved the manuscript. This work was supported by NSF grant OCE-0937319, the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects and the Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning, Nuclear Waste Division. This is SOEST contribution 8081.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Clinton P. Conrad

    Present address: Present address: Center for Advanced Studies, Norwegian Academy of Letters and Sciences, NO-0271, Oslo, Norway,

  2. Todd A. Bianco

    Present address: Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology & Geophysics, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA

    Clinton P. Conrad, Todd A. Bianco & Paul Wessel

  2. Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Neveda 89154, USA

    Eugene I. Smith

Authors
  1. Clinton P. Conrad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Todd A. Bianco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eugene I. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Paul Wessel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

C.P.C., T.A.B. and E.I.S. developed the statistical comparisons between continental volcanism and asthenospheric shear; C.P.C. and P.W. developed the statistical comparisons between seamount databases, asthenospheric shear and seafloor spreading rates; C.P.C. prepared the manuscript with input, comments and review from all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Clinton P. Conrad or Todd A. Bianco.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 1978 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Conrad, C., Bianco, T., Smith, E. et al. Patterns of intraplate volcanism controlled by asthenospheric shear. Nature Geosci 4, 317–321 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1111

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1111

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing