Monday, July 18, 2011

Re: [Geology2] Re: Volcano Activity - Iceland ...Not due to a "mantle plume"



Well. That theory would go a long way in explaining why the Unaka Mountains that border a small area on the Northeastern tip of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee have highly metamorphosed mafic lava. 

Much to consider.

Lin

On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 11:37 AM, mstreman53 <mstreman53@yahoo.com> wrote:
 



--- In geology2@yahoogroups.com, Kim Noyes <kimnoyes@...> wrote:
>
> It's also probably/nearly certainly a Hot Spot/Mantle Plume ...

Hotspot iffy and "mantle plume" afraid not and none associated with the mid-oceanic ridge of the Atlantic ocean even though much of the magma is derived from the mantle. The last "active" mantle plume in the Atlantic basin,( and this is a debated topic amongst earth scientist if it was in fact a mantle plume), formed the island of Bermuda --as a short-lived, last sputter of a minor plume which has arose mid-North American Plate and traveled deeply under the Appalachian chain during the Cretaceous. Iceland has the happenstance and owes its existence to the mid-oceanic rift and past lower sea-levels. Iceland is one of the few spots on earth where a divergent boundary lies above sea level.

We there a "mantle plume" under Iceland there would be highly mafic( vs felsic) lava like what is found in Hawaii. Instead, the Icelandic lava has a high component of hydrated crustal rock in the melt leading to the high ash ryolitic-trending eruptions we see today.

Eman




--
Got Penguins? 

Penguin News Today
The Science of Penguins
Gentoo Penguins of Gars O'Higgins Station, Antarctica

Wolves & Werewolves/Science, Myth & News

http://canislupus101.blogspot.com/ 
http://dances-with-werewolves.blogspot.com/
http://throughgoldeneyes.blogspot.com/





__._,_.___


Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

No comments:

Post a Comment