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A mantle plume is a proposed mechanism of convection within the Earth's mantle, hypothesized to explain anomalous volcanism. [2] Because the plume head partially melts on reaching shallow depths, a plume is often invoked as the cause of volcanic hotspots, such as Hawaii or Iceland, and large igneous provinces such as the Deccan and Siberian Traps.
The Iceland plume is a postulated upwelling of anomalously hot rock in the Earth's mantle beneath Iceland.Its origin is thought to lie deep in the mantle, perhaps at the boundary between the core and the mantle at about 2,880 km (1,790 mi) depth.
Mantle plumes were first proposed by J. Tuzo Wilson in 1963 [4] [non-primary source needed] and further developed by W. Jason Morgan in 1971. A mantle plume is posited to exist where hot rock nucleates [clarification needed] at the core-mantle boundary and rises through the Earth's mantle becoming a diapir in the Earth's crust. [5]
Directly above the core–mantle boundary is a 200-kilometer (120 mi) thick layer of the lower mantle. This layer is known as the D″ ("D double-prime" or "D prime prime") or degree two structure. [6] LLSVPs were discovered in full mantle seismic tomographic models of shear velocity as slow features at the D″ layer beneath Africa and the ...
The volcanism often attributed to deep mantle plumes is alternatively explained by passive extension of the crust, permitting magma to leak to the surface: the plate hypothesis. [24] The convection of the Earth's mantle is a chaotic process (in the sense of fluid dynamics), which is
It was later postulated that hotspots are fed by streams of hot mantle rising from the Earth's core–mantle boundary in a structure called a mantle plume. [6] Whether or not such mantle plumes exist has been the subject of a major controversy in Earth science, [4] [7] but seismic images consistent with evolving theory now exist. [8]
The volcanism is caused by the African plate moving slowly over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle. A hotspot (the Canary hotspot) is the explanation accepted by most geologists who study the Canary Islands. [34] [35] A relatively hot mantle plume associated with this hotspot is thought to be rising through the mantle under La Palma and El Hierro ...
Diapirs also form in the Earth's mantle when a sufficient mass of hot, less dense magma assembles. Diapirism in the mantle is thought to be associated with the development of large igneous provinces and some mantle plumes. Explosive, hot volatile rich magma or volcanic eruptions are referred to generally as diatremes. Diatremes are not usually ...