Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different

Nearly 80% of the seafloor extension has not been covered by high-resolution bathymetry, impeding direct observation of seamounts. Nevertheless, lists of seamount location and height at a global scale have been produced using different techniques. In this work four of such databases (publicly availa...

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Main Author: Edgardo Cañón-Tapia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-11-01
Series:Geoscience Frontiers
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987123001263
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author Edgardo Cañón-Tapia
author_facet Edgardo Cañón-Tapia
author_sort Edgardo Cañón-Tapia
collection DOAJ
description Nearly 80% of the seafloor extension has not been covered by high-resolution bathymetry, impeding direct observation of seamounts. Nevertheless, lists of seamount location and height at a global scale have been produced using different techniques. In this work four of such databases (publicly available) are compared with each other to assess their differences. Results identify large differences among databases that could have exerted strong influences on models of seamount production and associated geodynamic processes. Despite those differences, it is shown that all databases allow the identification of seamount lines both along the present-day Mid Ocean Ridge (MOR) system and on intraplate settings. Notably, those seamount lines do not coincide with the so-called hotspot tracks that commonly were defined by selectively focusing attention on the larger seamounts. Examination of all the databases also shows that distinction based only on seamount size between seamounts produced at Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR) environments from those associated with mantle-plum fed-hotspot activity has been overestimated. This, combined with the fact that most seamount lines defined by the available databases can be traced back to past locations of MOR indicates that most of the present-day intraplate linear arrays of seamounts, which include some large seamounts, were not produced by the action of underlying mantle anomalies envisaged in the form of mantle plumes. The evidence presented here calls for a reassessment of the form in which volcanic and tectonic activities are conceptually related to each other.
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spelling doaj.art-26f72893f21c4a45a0f26ecd3b5bae5a2023-10-15T04:37:19ZengElsevierGeoscience Frontiers1674-98712023-11-01146101659Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply differentEdgardo Cañón-Tapia0División de Ciencias de la Tierra, CICESE. Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana # 3985, Ensenada Baja California, CP 22860, MexicoNearly 80% of the seafloor extension has not been covered by high-resolution bathymetry, impeding direct observation of seamounts. Nevertheless, lists of seamount location and height at a global scale have been produced using different techniques. In this work four of such databases (publicly available) are compared with each other to assess their differences. Results identify large differences among databases that could have exerted strong influences on models of seamount production and associated geodynamic processes. Despite those differences, it is shown that all databases allow the identification of seamount lines both along the present-day Mid Ocean Ridge (MOR) system and on intraplate settings. Notably, those seamount lines do not coincide with the so-called hotspot tracks that commonly were defined by selectively focusing attention on the larger seamounts. Examination of all the databases also shows that distinction based only on seamount size between seamounts produced at Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR) environments from those associated with mantle-plum fed-hotspot activity has been overestimated. This, combined with the fact that most seamount lines defined by the available databases can be traced back to past locations of MOR indicates that most of the present-day intraplate linear arrays of seamounts, which include some large seamounts, were not produced by the action of underlying mantle anomalies envisaged in the form of mantle plumes. The evidence presented here calls for a reassessment of the form in which volcanic and tectonic activities are conceptually related to each other.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987123001263Seamount originChains of seamountsSpatial distribution of volcanismIntraplate volcanismMid Ocean Ridge volcanism
spellingShingle Edgardo Cañón-Tapia
Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different
Geoscience Frontiers
Seamount origin
Chains of seamounts
Spatial distribution of volcanism
Intraplate volcanism
Mid Ocean Ridge volcanism
title Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different
title_full Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different
title_fullStr Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different
title_full_unstemmed Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different
title_short Seamount chains and hotspot tracks: Superficially similar, deeply different
title_sort seamount chains and hotspot tracks superficially similar deeply different
topic Seamount origin
Chains of seamounts
Spatial distribution of volcanism
Intraplate volcanism
Mid Ocean Ridge volcanism
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987123001263
work_keys_str_mv AT edgardocanontapia seamountchainsandhotspottrackssuperficiallysimilardeeplydifferent