Skip to main content
Log in

Tectonic-Sedimentary System of the Atlantis‒Meteor Seamounts (North Atlantic): Volcanism and Sedimentation in the Late Miocene‒Pliocene and Position in the Atlantic‒Arctic Rift System

  • Published:
Lithology and Mineral Resources Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paper analyzes original data obtained on the Atlantis‒Meteor seamount system during Cruise 33 of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov in the eastern North Atlantic. This system is a volcanic rise formed on the Canary abyssal plate and represents one of the key objects for understanding the geological history of opening of the central segment of the Atlantic Ocean. Basalts, tephrites, and organogenic terrigenous lagoonal marine sediments dredged from the Atlantis, Plato, and Cruiser seamounts are considered. Petrography and compositions of the Atlantis and Cruiser basalts reflect significant differences in settings of their eruptions. Well-crystallized vesicle-free olivine basalts from the Atlantis Seamount were ejected under deep-water conditions. Glassy vesicular basalts of the Cruiser Seamount are typical of shallow subaerial eruptions. Evidence for the accumulation of tuff breccias and tuff gravelstones of the Plato Seamount in subaerial settings are obtained. Tendencies were revealed in the lithogenetic transformations of organogenic‒terrigenous sediments of the Cruiser Seamount, which were subjected to the high-temperature impact of subaerial lava flows. During the volcanosedimentary lithogenesis, the plant lignite-like matter lost its primary structure and was transformed into anisotropic coke with the wide development of fusinite and pyrofusinite. The studied volcanic occurrences are thought to be related to the final (Late Miocene‒Pliocene) volcanic stage in the seamount system, which predated the destruction of the system, its prograde subsidence, and transformation of islands into guyots.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Avetisov, G.P., Seismoaktivnye zony Arktiki (Seismoactive Zones in the Arctic), St. Petersburg: VNIOG, 1996.

  2. Bebeshev, I.I., Zolotarev, B.P., Eroshchev-Shak, V.A., et al., Vulkanicheskie podnyatiya i glubokovodnye osadki vostoka Tsentral’noi Atlantiki (Volcanic Rises and Deep-Water Sediments in the Central Atlantic), Moscow: Nauka, 1989.

  3. Chamov, N.P., Sokolov, S.Yu., Kostyleva, V.V., et al., Structure and composition of the sedimentary cover in the Knipovich Rift Valley and Molloy Deep (Norwegian–Greenland Basin), Lithol. Miner. Resour., 2010, no. 6, pp. 532–554.

  4. Duin, E.J.Th., Some geophysical characteristics of the lower southwest flank of the Cruiser-Hyers seamount group, eastern North Atlantic, Mededel. Rijks Geol. Dienst, 1984, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 39–49.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gaina, C., Medvedev, S., Torsvik, T.H., et al., 4d Arctic: A glimpse into the structure and evolution of the Arctic in the light of new geophysical maps, plate tectonics and tomographic models, Surv. Geophys., 2014, vol. 35, pp. 1095–1122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-013-9254-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Gente, P., Dyment, J., Maia, M., and Goslin, J., Interaction between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Azores hot spot during the last 85 Myr: Emplacement and rifting of the hot spot-derived plateaus, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2003, vol. 4, no. 10, pp. 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Georgen, J.E., Lithospheric control on the spatial pattern of Azores hotspot seafloor anomalies: Constraints from a model of plume-triple junction interaction, Geophys. Rev. Lett., 2011, vol. 38, L19305, pp. 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Golovina, L.A., Shipunov, S.V., Muzylev, N.G., and Shmidt, O.A., Stratigraphy based on nannoplankton and paleomagnetism of bottom sediments in the Eastern Atlantic, in Vulkanicheskie podnyatiya i glubokovodnye osadki vostoka Tsentral’noi Atlantiki (Volcanic Rises and Deep-Water Sediments in the Eastern Central Atlantic), Moscow: Nauka, 1989, pp. 76–89.

  9. Heaman, L.M. and Kjarsgaard, B.A., Timing of eastern North American kimberlite magmatism: continental extension of the Great Meteor hotspot track?, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2000, vol. 178, pp. 253–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Irvine, T.N. and Baragar, W.R.A., A guide to the chemical classification of the common volcanic rocks, Can. J. Earth Sci., 1971, vol. 8, pp. 523–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. LeBas, M.J., LeMaitre, R.W., Streckeisen, A., and Zanettin, B., A chemical classification of volcanic rocks based on the total alkali-silica diagram, J. Petrol., 1986, vol. 27, pp. 745–750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lundin, E.R., Dore, A.G., and Redfield, T.F., Magmatism and extension rates at rifted margins, Petrol. Geosci., 2018, vol. 24, pp. 379–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Mironov, A.N. and Krylova, E.M., Origin of the fauna of the Meteor Seamounts, north-eastern Atlantic, in Biogeography of the North Atlantic Seamounts, Mironov, A.N., Gebruck, A.V., and Southward, A.J., Eds., Moscow: KMK Sci. Press, 2006, pp. 22–57.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Morato, T., Kvile, K.Ø., Taranto, G.H., et al., Seamount physiography and biology in the north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, Biogeosciences, 2013, vol. 10, pp. 3039–3054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Peive, A.A. and Chamov, N.P., Basic tectonic features of the Knipovich Ridge (North Atlantic) and its neotectonic evolution, Geotectonics, 2008, no. 1, pp. 31–47.

  16. Petrova, V.V., Stukalova, I.E., and Sulerzhitskii, L.D., Humic organic matter transformation during the interaction with pyroclastic material, Lithol. Miner. Resour., 1998, no. 4, pp. 380–386.

  17. Ribeiro, L.P., Martins, S., Hildenbrand, A., et al., The genetic link between the Azores Archipelago and the Southern Azores Seamount Chain (SASC): The elemental, isotopic and chronological evidences, Lithos, 2017, vol. 294/295. pp. 133–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Roest, W.R., Daiñobeitia, J.J., Verhoef, J., and Collette, B.J., Magnetic anomalies in the Canary Basin and the Mesozoic evolution of the Central North Atlantic, Mar. Geoph. Res., 1992, vol. 14, pp. 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Stach, E., Mackowsky, M.-Th., Teichmüller, M., Taylor G.H., et al., Coal Petrology, Berlin, 1975. Translated under the title Petrologiya uglei, Moscow: Mir, 1978.

  20. Sokolov, S.Yu., Tektonika i geodinamika Ekvatorial’nogo segmenta Atlantiki (Tectonics and Geodynamics of the Equatorial Atlantic segment), Moscow: Nauchn. Mir, 2017.

  21. Stukalova, I.E., Rusinova, O.V., and Syngaevskii, E.D., Thermal alteration of coals in the Khasyn deposit (Magadan region), in Geologiya ugol’nykh mestorozhdenii (Geology of Coal Fields), Yekaterinburg: UGGU, 2004, iss. 14, pp. 199–208.

  22. Tucholke, B.E. and Smoot, N.C., Evidence for age and evolution of Comer seamounts and Great Meteor seamount chain from multibeam bathymetry, J. Geophys. Res., 1990, vol. 95, no. B11, pp. 17555–17569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Verhoef, J., A geophysical study of the Atlantis-Meteor seamount complex, Geol. Ultraiectina, 1984, vol. 38, pp. 1–151.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Wendt, I., Kreuzer, H., Muller, P., et al., K-Ar age of basalts from Great Meteor and Josephine seamounts (eastern North Atlantic), Deep-Sea Res., 1976, vol. 23, pp. 849–862.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Willians, C.A., Verhoef, J., and Collette, B.J., Magnetic analysis of some large seamounts in the North Atlantic, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1983, vol. 63, no. 3, p. 399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Zolotarev, B.P., Eroshchev-Shak, V.A., Gutsaki, V.A., and Rikhter, A.A., Volcanism in the Cruiser and Krylov seamounts and hydrothermal alterations of rocks in them, in Vulkanicheskie podnyatiya i glubokovodnye osadki vostoka Tsentral’noi Atlantiki (Volcanic Rises and Deep-Water Sediments in the Central Atlantic), Moscow: Nauka, 1989, pp. 95–111.

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the team of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov for help in the performance of studies.

We thank G.N. Aleksandrova (Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences), N.V. Pronina, and A.E. Terent’eva (Moscow State University) for valuable comments.

Funding

This work was supported by the State Task of the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, project nos. 0135-2018-0034 and 0135-2019-0069 (Tectonosedimentation Analysis), 0135-2019-0070 (Study of Organic Matter), and AAAA-A17-117030610119-6 (Paleontological Analysis). The position of tectonovolcanic rises within the Atlantic‒Arctic Rift System was analyzed with support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 18-05-70040 (Arctic Resources).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. P. Chamov.

Additional information

Translated by M. Bogina

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chamov, N.P., Stukalova, I.E., Sokolov, S.Y. et al. Tectonic-Sedimentary System of the Atlantis‒Meteor Seamounts (North Atlantic): Volcanism and Sedimentation in the Late Miocene‒Pliocene and Position in the Atlantic‒Arctic Rift System. Lithol Miner Resour 54, 374–389 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0024490219050043

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0024490219050043

Keywords:

Navigation