EGU24-12578, updated on 09 Mar 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12578
EGU General Assembly 2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

The influence of the lithosphere on deep-origin volcanism

Lara M Kalnins1, Amelia K Douglas1, Benjamin E Cohen2, J Godfrey Fitton1, and Darren F Mark2
Lara M Kalnins et al.
  • 1School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • 2SUERC, University of Glasgow, East Kilbride, United Kingdom

Eastern Australia and the neighbouring Tasman and Coral Seas are home to extensive age-progressive volcanism spanning from ~55 Ma in the north to ~6 Ma in the south. This volcanism forms two offshore seamount trails, the Lord Howe and the Tasmantid Chains, as well as the onshore central volcanoes and leucitites of the East Australian Chain. The three volcanic chains are an average of just 500 km apart, erupted contemporaneously from 35-6 Ma, and share a common age-distance relationship, strongly suggesting a common source, most likely a deep-origin plume. However, they have erupted through lithosphere ranging from oceanic with well-developed seafloor spreading to drowned continental fragments to mainland Australia. How do these diverse settings influence the chemical and physical properties of the resulting mafic volcanism? The East Australian Chain has more fractionated mafic samples, reflecting more complex magmatic plumbing and longer magma residence times in the thick continental lithosphere. However, the most striking result is that the trace element and isotopic ratios remain remarkably similar across the three suites, showing little evidence of crustal or lithospheric assimilation affecting the mafic magmas. 

How to cite: Kalnins, L. M., Douglas, A. K., Cohen, B. E., Fitton, J. G., and Mark, D. F.: The influence of the lithosphere on deep-origin volcanism, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12578, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12578, 2024.