Description: Shatsky Rise in the Northwest Pacific is the best example so far of an oceanic plateau with two potential hotspot tracks emanating from it: the linear Papanin volcanic ridge and the seamounts comprising Ojin Rise. Arguably, these hotspot tracks also project toward the direction of Hess Rise, located ∼1200 km away, leading to speculations that the two plateaus are connected. Dredging was conducted on the massifs and seamounts around Shatsky Rise in an effort to understand the relationship between these plateaus and associated seamounts. Here, we present new 40Ar/39Ar ages and trace element and Nd, Pb, and Hf isotopic data for the recovered dredged rocks and new trace elements and isotopic data for a few drill core samples from Hess Rise. Chemically, the samples can be subdivided into plateau basalt-like tholeiites and trachytic to alkalic ocean-island basalt compositions, indicating at least two types of volcanic activity. Tholeiites from the northern Hess Rise (DSDP Site 464) and the trachytes from Toronto Ridge on Shatsky’s TAMU massif have isotopic compositions that overlap with those of the drilled Shatsky Rise plateau basalts, suggesting that both Rises formed from the same mantle source. In contrast, trachytes from the southern Hess Rise (DSDP Site 465A) have more radiogenic Pb isotopic ratios that are shifted toward a high time-integrated U/Pb (HIMU-type mantle) composition. The compositions of the dredged seamount samples show two trends relative to Shatsky Rise data: one toward lower 143Nd/144Nd but similar 206Pb/204Pb ratios, the other toward similar 143Nd/144Nd but more radiogenic 206Pb/204Pb ratios. These trends can be attributed to lower degrees of melting either from lower mantle material during hotspot-related transition to plume tail or from less refractory shallow mantle components tapped during intermittent deformation-related volcanism induced by local tectonic extension between and after the main volcanic-edifice building episodes on Shatsky Rise. The ocean-island-basalt-like chemistry and isotopic composition of the Shatsky and Hess rise seamounts contrast with those formed by purely deformation-related shallow mantle-derived volcanism, favoring the role of a long-lived mantle anomaly in their origin. Finally, new 40Ar/39Ar evidence indicates that Shatsky Rise edifices may have been formed in multiple-stages and over a longer duration than previously believed.

Description: Ultraslow spreading ridges are poorly understood plate boundaries consisting of magmatic and amagmatic segments that expose mostly mantle peridotite and only traces of basalt and gabbro. The slowest part of the global spreading system is represented by the eastern Gakkel Ridge in the Central Arctic Ocean, where crustal accretion is characterized by extreme focusing of melt to discrete magmatic centers. Close to its eastern tip lies the unusual 5,310 m deep Gakkel Rift Deep (GRD) with limited sediment infill, which is in strong contrast to the broader sediment‐filled rift valleys to the east and west. Here, we report an 40Ar/39Ar age of 3.65±0.01 Ma for a pillow basalt from a seamount located on the rim the GRD confirming ultraslow spreading rates of ~7 mm/yr close to the Laptev Sea as suggested from aeromagnetic data. Its geochemistry points to an alkaline lava, attributed to partial melting of a source that underwent prior geochemical enrichment. We note that the GRD extracts compositionally similar melts as the sparsely magmatic zone further west but at much slower spreading velocities of only ~6‐7 mm/yr, indicating the widespread occurrence of similarly fertile mantle in the High Arctic. This enriched source differs from sub‐continental lithospheric mantle that influences magmatism along the Western Volcanic Zone (Goldstein et al. 2008) and is similar to metasomatized mantle ‐ shown to influence melt genesis along the Eastern Volcanic Zone.

Description: William’s Ridge, a ~300-km-long salient extending southeast from the Central Kerguelen Plateau, and Broken Ridge are conjugate divergent margins in the southern Indian Ocean that separated at ~43 Ma. In early 2020, scientists aboard Australia’s Marine National Facility, RV Investigator, acquired multichannel seismic reflection (MCS), sub-bottom profiling, multibeam bathymetry, and gravity data on these margins, as well as dredged rock samples, on a 57-day voyage. The research project constitutes the first-ever case study of conjugate oceanic plateau end-member tectonic plates, with the goal of advancing knowledge of lithospheric rifting, breakup, and initial plate separation processes. The first-ever dedicated multibeam mapping of William’s and Broken ridges encompassed ~52,000 km2 and ~43,000 km2, respectively. Four new RV Investigator MCS profiles (500 line-km) across William’s Ridge complement one legacy RV Rig Seismic and three new RV Sonne MCS profiles; five new RV Investigator MCS profiles (603 line-km) across the conjugate portion of Broken Ridge are the first to be acquired on that feature. Multibeam bathymetry and MCS transects of William’s Ridge show multiple linear ridges and troughs interpreted as horst and graben. In contrast, multibeam bathymetry and MCS transects of Broken Ridge show a prominent E-W scarp (Diamantina Escarpment) with a complex morphology of emanating en echelon crustal blocks and depressions at the base of the scarp. Prominent angular unconformities (middle Eocene hiatus?) characterize the sedimentary section on some ridges, and dipping reflection sequences within interpreted igneous basement suggest subaerial basalt flows. Rock dredges on the facing conjugate margin fault scarps targeted all stratigraphic levels exposing basement rocks. Nine on William’s Ridge yielded both oceanic and (in situ?) continental rocks; eight on Broken Ridge yielded solely oceanic rocks. The new geophysical data and geological samples may justify a new or revised submission to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend Australia’s marine jurisdiction on and around William’s Ridge under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Description: Estimates of the relative motion between the Hawaiian and Louisville hot spots have consequences for understanding the role and character of deep Pacific-mantle return flow. The relative motion between these primary hot spots can be inferred by comparing the age records for their seamount trails. We report 40Ar/39Ar ages for 18 lavas from 10 seamounts along the Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain (HESC), showing that volcanism started in the sharp portion of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend (HEB) at ≥47.5 Ma and continued for ≥5 Myr. The slope of the along-track distance from the currently active Hawaiian hot spot plotted versus age is constant (57 ± 2 km/Myr) between ∼57 and 25 Ma in the central ∼1900 km of the seamount chain, including the HEB. This model predicts an age for the oldest Emperor Seamounts that matches published ages, implying that a linear age-distance relationship might extend back to at least 82 Ma. In contrast, Hawaiian age progression was much faster since at least ∼15 Ma and possibly as early as ∼27 Ma. Linear age-distance relations for the Hawaii-Emperor and Louisville seamount chains predict ∼300 km overall hot spot relative motion between 80 and 47.5 Ma, in broad agreement with numerical models of plumes in a convecting mantle, and paleomagnetic data. We show that a change in hot spot relative motion may also have occurred between ∼55 Ma and ∼50 Ma. We interpret this change in hot spot motion as evidence that the HEB reflects a combination of hot spot and plate motion changes driven by the same plate/mantle reorganization.

Description: The Alpha–Mendeleev ridge complex is a prominent physiographic and geological feature of the Arctic Amerasia Basin. The Alpha and Mendeleev ridges are, respectively, the eastern and western components of a continuous seafloor high that is approximately 2000 km long and 200–400 km wide. A surge of interest in the tectonic evolution of Arctic submarine features has led to a wealth of new geophysical data collected from the Alpha Ridge. Current interpretations of its origin vary but there is compelling evidence that the Alpha Ridge may have formed as an oceanic plateau during the Late Cretaceous. Geological samples are rare but most samples recovered indicate a genetic link with the High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP). In August 2016, Canada’s Extended Continental Margin-United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Program dredged approximately 100 kg of volcanic rocks from the Alpha Ridge. The large size and pristine state of the samples enabled the first comprehensive study of a single eruptive event in the volcanic record of the Alpha Ridge. The dredge sample is a lapilli tuff containing vitric and basaltic clasts. Textural evidence and the coexistence of juvenile and cognate clasts suggest a phreatomagmatic eruption. The vitric fragments consist of sideromelane glass with abundant plagioclase microlites. Texturally, these basaltic glass lapilli display a fresh glassy core surrounded by Fe- and Ti-rich zones and a palagonite rim. Major and trace element analyses of glassy cores indicate remarkably uniform, mildly alkaline basaltic compositions. The plagioclase-bearing glass yielded a 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of 90.40±0.26 Ma (2σ error) which included 89% of 39 Ar released. We interpret this result to represent the eruption age of the plagioclase microlites and consequently, of the host basaltic glass lapilli in the tuff. Volatile species analyses by infrared spectroscopy on the fresh basaltic glass suggests that the melt was effectively degassed to shallow level. Assuming equilibrium degassing, the homogeneous resulting values of H2O total in the range 0.1 to 0.19 wt.% (1σ error) indicate subaerial or shallow eruption (surface to 80 m). The new 40Ar/39Ar age for the sample is consistent with a 40 Ar/39Ar age of 89±1 Ma obtained for a sample of tholeiitic basalt dredged from the central part of the Alpha Ridge, and with the range of ages reported for HALIP igneous rocks exposed onshore in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (130-80 Ma). Our new data provide evidence for local emergence of the Alpha Ridge in the Late Cretaceous. A comparison the Alpha Ridge and Kerguelen Plateau–Broken Ridge Large Igneous Province (LIP) provides new insights on the episodic nature of LIP magmatism and variations in eruptive style through time.

Description: Seismological findings show a complex scenario of plume upwellings from a deep thermo-chemical anomaly (superplume) beneath the East African Rift System (EARS). It is unclear if these geophysical observations represent a true picture of the superplume and its influence on magmatism along the EARS. Thus, it is essential to find a geochemical tracer to establish where upwellings are connected to the deep-seated thermo-chemical anomaly. Here we identify a unique non-volatile superplume isotopic signature (‘C’) in the youngest (after 10 Ma) phase of widespread EARS rift-related magmatism where it extends into the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. This is the first sound evidence that the superplume influences the EARS far from the low seismic velocities in the magma-rich northern half. Our finding shows for the first time that superplume mantle exists beneath the rift the length of Africa from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean offshore southern Mozambique

Description: Ultraslow spreading ridges are poorly understood plate boundaries consisting of magmatic and amagmatic segments that expose mostly mantle peridotite and only traces of basalt and gabbro. The slowest part of the global spreading system is represented by the eastern Gakkel Ridge in the Central Arctic Ocean, where crustal accretion is characterized by extreme focusing of melt to discrete magmatic centers. Close to its eastern tip lies the unusual 5,310 m deep Gakkel Rift Deep (GRD) with limited sediment infill, which is in strong contrast to the broader sediment-filled rift valleys to the east and west. Here, we report an 40Ar/39Ar age of 3.65±0.01 Ma for a pillow basalt from a seamount located on the rim the GRD confirming ultraslow spreading rates of ~7 mm/yr close to the Laptev Sea as suggested from aeromagnetic data. Its geochemistry points to an alkaline lava, attributed to partial melting of a source that underwent prior geochemical enrichment. We note that the GRD extracts compositionally similar melts as the sparsely magmatic zone further west but at much slower spreading velocities of only ~6-7 mm/yr, indicating the widespread occurrence of similarly fertile mantle in the High Arctic. This enriched source differs from sub-continental lithospheric mantle that influences magmatism along the Western Volcanic Zone (Goldstein et al. 2008) and is similar to metasomatized mantle - shown to influence melt genesis along the Eastern Volcanic Zone.

Description: Despite progress in understanding seafloor accretion at ultraslow spreading ridges, the ultimate driving force is still unknown. Here we use 40Ar/39Ar isotopic dating of mid-ocean ridge basalts recovered at variable distances from the axis of the Gakkel Ridge to provide new constraints on the spatial and temporal distribution of volcanic eruptions at various sections of an ultraslow spreading ridge. Our age data show that magmatic-dominated sections of the Gakkel Ridge spread at a steady rate of ~11.1 ± 0.9 mm/yr whereas amagmatic sections have a more widely distributed melt supply yielding ambiguous spreading rate information. These variations in spreading rate and crustal accretion correlate with locations of hotter thermo-chemical anomalies in the asthenosphere beneath the ridge. We conclude therefore that seafloor generation in ultra-slow spreading centres broadly reflects the distribution of thermochemical anomalies in the upper mantle.