Record of massive upwellings from the Pacific large low shear velocity province.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27824054.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13309 and PMC identifier 5105175.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Large igneous provinces, as the surface expression of deep mantle processes, play a key role in the evolution of the planet. Here we analyse the geochemical record and timing of the Pacific Ocean Large Igneous Provinces and preserved accreted terranes to reconstruct the history of pulses of mantle plume upwellings and their relation with a deep-rooted source like the Pacific large low-shear velocity Province during the Mid-Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous. Petrological modelling and geochemical data suggest the need of interaction between these deep-rooted upwellings and mid-ocean ridges in pulses separated by ∼10-20 Ma, to generate the massive volumes of melt preserved today as oceanic plateaus. These pulses impacted the marine biota resulting in episodes of anoxia and mass extinctions shortly after their eruption.