Bermuda and Appalachian-Labrador rises: Common non-hotspot processes

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Geology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<0041:BAALRC>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:5572756

Vogt, P R ^[1]

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1. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC (USA)

Other than the Corner Rise-New England seamounts and associated White Mountains, most postbreakup intraplate igneous activity and topographic uplift in the western North Atlantic and eastern North America do not readily conform to simple hotspot models. For examples, the Bermuda Rise trends normal to its predicted hotspot trace. On continental crust, Cretaceous-Eocene igneous activity is scattered along a northeast-trending belt {approximately}500-1,000 km west of and paralleling the continent-ocean boundary. Corresponding activity in the western Atlantic generated seamounts preferentially clustered in a belt {approximately}1,000 km east of the boundary. The Eocene volcanism on Bermuda is paired with coeval magmatism of the Shenandoah igneous province, and both magmatic belts are associated with northeast-trending topographic bulges - the Appalachian-Labrador Rise to the west and the Bermuda Rise (Eocene ) to the east. The above observations suggest the existence of paired asthenosphere upwelling, paralleling and controlled by the deep thermal contrast across the northeast-trending continental margin. Such convection geometry, apparently fixed to the North American plate rather than to hotspots, is consistent with recent convection models by B. Hager. The additional importance of plate-kinematic reorganizations (causing midplate stress enhancement) is suggested by episodic igneous activity ca. 90-100 Ma and 40-45 Ma.

• OSTI ID: 5572756
• Journal Information: Geology; (USA), Vol. 19:1; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
VOLCANISM
NORTH AMERICA
GEOLOGIC MODELS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CONTINENTAL CRUST
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
EOCENE EPOCH
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GROUND UPLIFT
HOT SPOTS
MAGMATISM
OCEANIC CRUST
PLATE TECTONICS
TOPOGRAPHY
CENOZOIC ERA
EARTH CRUST
GEOLOGIC AGES
MESOZOIC ERA
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
580000* - Geosciences