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1. Expedition 391 Scientific Prospectus: Walvis Ridge Hotspot

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.sp.391.2020  

   Sager, W.; Hoernle, K.; Petronotis, K. (April 2020, Scientific prospectus)

   null (Ed.)

   Walvis Ridge (WR) is a long-lived hotspot track that began with a continental flood basalt event at ~132 Ma during the initial opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. WR stretches ~3300 km to the active volcanic islands of Tristan da Cunha and Gough, and it was originally paired with Rio Grande Rise (RGR) oceanic plateau. Because of the duration of its volcanism and the length of its track, the Tristan-Gough hotspot forms the most pronounced bathymetric anomaly of all Atlantic hotspots. Its age progression, chemistry, and connection to flood basalts point to a lower mantle plume source, projected to be the hypothesized plume generation zone at the margin of the African large low shear-wave velocity province. The hotspot interacted with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) during its early history, producing WR and RGR through plume-ridge interaction. Valdivia Bank, a WR plateau paired with the main part of RGR, represents heightened hotspot output and may have formed with RGR around a microplate, disrupting the expected hotspot age progression. After producing a relatively uniform composition from ~120 to ~70 Ma, WR split into three seamount chains with distinct isotopic compositions at about the time that the plume and MAR separated. With ~70 My spatial zonation, the hotspot displays the longest-lived geochemical zonation known. Currently at ~400 km width with young volcanic islands at both ends, the hotspot track is far wider than other major hotspot tracks. Thus, WR displays global extremes with respect to (1) width of its hotspot track, (2) longevity of zonation, (3) division into separate chains, and (4) plume-ridge interaction involving a microplate, raising questions about the geodynamic evolution of this hotspot track. Understanding WR is critical for knowledge of the global spectrum of plume systems. To test hypotheses about mantle plume zonation, plume activity around a microplate, and hotspot drift, we propose coring at six locations along the older ridge to recover successions of basaltic lava flows ranging in age from ~59 to 104 Ma. Samples will help us trace the evolution of geochemical and isotopic signatures as the hotspot track became zoned, offering vital clues about compositional changes of the plume source and important implications for understanding the origin of hotspot zonation. Dating will show the age progression of volcanism both at individual sites and along the ridge, testing whether WR formed as a strictly age-progressive hotspot track and whether Valdivia Bank formed as a plume pulse, extended volcanism around a microplate, or possibly even a continental fragment. Paleomagnetic data will track paleolatitude changes of the hotspot, testing whether hotspot drift or true polar wander, or both, explain changes in paleolatitude. 

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2. Nature and Origin of Magnetic Lineations Within Valdivia Bank: Ocean Plateau Formation by Complex Seafloor Spreading

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103415  

   Thoram, S.; Sager, W_W; Gaastra, K.; Tikoo, S_M; Carvallo, C.; Avery, A.; Del_Gaudio, Arianna_V; Huang, Y.; Hoernle, K.; Höfig, T_W; et al (July 2023, Geophysical Research Letters)

   Abstract Valdivia Bank (VB) is a Late Cretaceous oceanic plateau formed by volcanism from the Tristan‐Gough hotspot at the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (MAR). To better understand its origin and evolution, magnetic data were used to generate a magnetic anomaly grid, which was inverted to determine crustal magnetization. The magnetization model reveals quasi‐linear polarity zones crossing the plateau and following expected MAR paleo‐locations, implying formation by seafloor spreading over ∼4 Myr during the formation of anomalies C34n‐C33r. Paleomagnetism and biostratigraphy data from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 391 confirm the magnetic interpretation. Anomaly C33r is split into two negative bands, likely by a westward ridge jump. One of these negative anomalies coincides with deep rift valleys, indicating their age and mechanism of formation. These findings imply that VB originated by seafloor spreading‐type volcanism during a plate reorganization, not from a vertical stack of lava flows as expected for a large volcano. 

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3. Longest continuously erupting large igneous province driven by plume-ridge interaction

   https://doi.org/10.1130/G47850.1  

   Jiang, Qiang; Jourdan, Fred; Olierook, Hugo K.H.; Merle, Renaud E.; Whittaker, Joanne M. (October 2020, Geology)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Large igneous provinces (LIPs) typically form in one short pulse of ∼1–5 Ma or several punctuated ∼1–5 Ma pulses. Here, our 25 new 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages for the main construct of the Kerguelen LIP—the Cretaceous Southern and Central Kerguelen Plateau, Elan Bank, and Broken Ridge—show continuous volcanic activity from ca. 122 to 90 Ma, a long lifespan of >32 Ma. This suggests that the Kerguelen LIP records the longest, continuous high-magma-flux emplacement interval of any LIP. Distinct from both short-lived and multiple-pulsed LIPs, we propose that Kerguelen is a different type of LIP that formed through long-term interactions between a mantle plume and mid-ocean ridge, which is enabled by multiple ridge jumps, slow spreading, and migration of the ridge. Such processes allow the transport of magma products away from the eruption center and result in long-lived, continuous magmatic activity. 

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4. Izanagi-Pacific ridge subduction revealed by a 56 to 46 Ma magmatic gap along the northeast Asian margin

   https://doi.org/10.1130/G46778.1  

   Tsung-Jui Wu, Jeremy; Wu, Jonny (August 2019, Geology)

   Abstract Recent studies have debated the timing and spatial configuration of a possible intersection between the Pacific-Izanagi spreading ridge and the northeast Asian continental margin during Cretaceous or early Cenozoic times. Here we examine a newly compiled magmatic catalog of ∼900 published Cretaceous to Miocene igneous rock radioisotopic values and ages from the northeast Asian margin for ridge subduction evidence. Our synthesis reveals that a near-synchronous 56–46 Ma magmatic gap occurred across ∼1500 km of the Eurasian continental margin between Japan and Sikhote-Alin, Russian Far East. The magmatic gap separated two distinct phases of igneous activity: (1) an older, Cretaceous to Paleocene pre–56 Ma episode that had relatively lower εNd(t) (−15 to + 2), elevated (87Sr/86Sr)0 (initial ratio, 0.704–0.714), and relatively higher magmatic fluxes (∼1090 km2/m.y.); and (2) a younger, late Eocene to Miocene post–46 Ma phase that had relatively elevated εNd(t) (−2 to + 10), lower (87Sr/86Sr)0 (0.702–0.707), and a lower 390 km2/m.y. magmatic flux. The 56–46 Ma magmatic gap links other geological evidence across northeast Asia to constrain an early Cenozoic, low-angle ridge-trench intersection that had profound consequences for the Eurasian continental margin, and possibly led to the ca. 53–47 Ma Pacific plate reorganization. 

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5. Walvis Ridge Hotspot

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.391.2023  

   Sager, W; Hoernle, K; Höfig, TW; Blum, P (October 2023, International Ocean Discovery Program)

   Hotspot tracks (chains of seamounts, ridges, and other volcanic structures) provide important records of plate motions, as well as mantle geodynamics, magma flux, and mantle source compositions. The Tristan-Gough-Walvis Ridge (TGW) hotspot track, extending from the active volcanic islands of Tristan da Cunha and Gough through a province of guyots and then along Walvis Ridge to the Etendeka flood basalt province, forms one of the most prominent and complex global hotspot tracks. The TGW hotspot track displays a tight linear age progression in which ages increase from the islands to the flood basalts (covering ~135 My). Unlike Pacific tracks, which are often simple, nearly linear chains of seamounts, the TGW track is alternately a steep-sided narrow ridge, an oceanic plateau, subparallel linear ridges and chains of seamounts (most are flat-topped guyots). The track displays isotopic zonation over the last ~70 My. The zonation appears near the middle of the track just before it splits into two to three chains of ridge- and guyot-type seamounts. Walvis Ridge, forming the older part of the track, is also overprinted with age-progressive late-stage volcanism, which was emplaced ~30–40 My after the initial eruptions and has a distinct isotopic composition. The plan for Expedition 391 was to drill at six sites, three along Walvis Ridge and three in the seamounts of the Guyot Province, to collect igneous rocks to better understand the formation of volcanic edifices, the temporal and geochemical evolution of the hotspot, and the variation in paleolatitudes at which the volcanic edifices formed. After a delay of 18 days to address a shipboard Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Expedition 391 proceeded to drill at four of the proposed sites: three sites on Walvis Ridge around Valdivia Bank, an ocean plateau within the ridge, and one site on the lower flank of a guyot in the Center track of the Guyot Province, a ridge located between the Tristan subtrack (which extends from the end of Walvis Ridge to the islands of Tristan da Cunha) and the Gough subtrack (which extends from Walvis Ridge to Gough Island). The first hole was drilled at Site U1575, located on a low portion of the northeastern Walvis Ridge just north of Valdivia Bank. At this location, 209.9 m of sediments and 122.4 m of igneous basement were cored. The sediments ranged in age from Late Pleistocene (~0.43–1.24 Ma) to Late Cretaceous (Campanian; 72–78 Ma). The igneous basement comprised 10 submarine lava units consisting of pillow, lobate, sheet, and massive lava flows, the thickest of which was ~21 m. Most lavas are tholeiitic, but some alkalic basalts were recovered. A portion of the igneous succession consists of low-Ti basalts, which are unusual because they appear in the Etendeka flood basalts but have not been previously found on Walvis Ridge. Two holes were drilled at Site U1576 on the west flank of Valdivia Bank. The first of these holes was terminated because a bit jammed shortly after entering the igneous basement. Hole U1576A recovered a remarkable ~380 m thick sedimentary section consisting mostly of chalk covering a nearly complete sequence from Late Pleistocene (~0.43–1.24 Ma) to Late Cretaceous (Campanian; ~79–81.38 Ma). These sediments display short and long cyclic color changes that imply astronomically forced and longer term paleoenvironmental changes. The igneous basement recovered in Hole U1576B yielded 11 submarine lava units (total thickness = ~65 m). The flows range from pillows to massive flows with compositions varying from tholeiitic basalt to basaltic andesite, only the second occurrence of the latter composition recovered from the TGW track thus far. These units are separated by seven sedimentary chalk units that range 0.1–11.6 m in thickness, implying a long-term interplay of sedimentation and lava eruptions. These intercalated sediments revealed Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) ages of ~77–79 Ma for the upper two interbeds and ~79–81.38 Ma for the lower beds. Coring at Site U1577, on the extreme eastern flank of Valdivia Bank, penetrated a 154.8 m thick sedimentary section ranging from the Paleocene (Thanetian; ~58.8 Ma) to Upper Cretaceous (Campanian; ~81.43–83.20 Ma). Igneous basement coring progressed only 39.1 m below the sediment/basalt contact, recovering three massive submarine tholeiitic basalt lava flows that are 4.1, 15.5, and >19.1 m thick, respectively. Paleomagnetic data from Sites U1577 and U1576 indicate that the former volcanic basement formed just before the end of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron and the latter during Chron 33r, shortly afterward. Biostratigraphic and paleomagnetic data suggest that Valdivia Bank becomes younger from east to west. Site U1578, located on a Center track guyot, provided a long and varied igneous section. After coring through 184.3 m of pelagic carbonate sediments mainly consisting of Eocene and Paleocene chalk (~55.64–63.5 Ma), Hole U1578A cored 302.1 m of igneous basement. Basement lavas are largely pillows but are interspersed with sheet and massive flows. Lava compositions are mostly alkalic basalts with some hawaiite. Several intervals contain abundant olivine (some fresh), and some of the pillow stacks consist of basalt with remarkably high Ti content. The igneous sequence is interrupted by 10 sedimentary interbeds consisting of chalk and volcaniclastics and ranging 0.46–10.19 m in thickness. Investigations of toothpick samples from the intercalated sediments were examined, each revealing the same age range of ~63.5–64.81 Ma (lower Paleocene; Danian). Paleomagnetic data display a change in basement magnetic polarity ~100 m above the base of the hole. Combining magnetic stratigraphy with biostratigraphic data, the igneous section is inferred to span >1 My. Nearly 7 months after Expedition 391, JOIDES Resolution transited from Cape Town to the north Atlantic. During this transit (Expedition 397T), 7.9 days of ship time were used to drill two holes (U1584A and U1585A) at sites on the Gough and Tristan tracks that had been omitted because of COVID-19–related time loss on the earlier cruise. For both, coring was begun only a short distance above the igneous basement to save time. The 75.2 m thick section drilled in Hole U1584A contains two sedimentary units: clay-rich carbonate sediments overlie a pumice-dominated volcaniclastic deposit containing basalt fragments. Because the goal was to core basalt and the base of the volcaniclastic deposit was not imaged in the seismic profile, the hole was terminated early to save operation time for the next site. In Hole U1585A, coring penetrated a 273.5 m thick sediment section overlying an 81.2 m thick pile of massive basalt flows. The sediment section is divided into four units: The uppermost unit consists of nannofossil chalk; The two intermediate units contain alternating chalk and volcaniclastic sediments containing several breccia units; and The lowermost unit consists of volcanic breccia containing juvenile blocks, bombs, and accretionary lapilli. This thick sedimentary section documents a transition from shallow-water volcanism to open-ocean sedimentation as the seamount subsided. The thick underlying basalt section is made up of four sparsely to highly phyric massive flows, the thickest of which is >43 m thick. Samples of these units are mostly basalt with a few trachybasalts and one trachyandesite. Although the igneous penetration was less than planned, coring during Expeditions 391 and 397T obtained samples that clearly will lead to an improved understanding of the evolution of the TGW hotspot and its track. Reasonable recovery of fresh basalt in some holes provides ample samples for geochemical, geochronologic, and paleomagnetic studies. Good recovery of Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic chalk successions provides samples for paleoenvironmental study. 

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