Bransfield Basin is an actively extending marginal basin separating the inactive South Shetland arc from the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Rift-related volcanism is widespread throughout the central Bransfield Basin, but the wider eastern Bransfield Basin was previously unsampled. Lavas recovered from the eastern subbasin form three distinct groups: (1) Bransfield Group...
Volcanic rocks from hotspots and island arcs/backarcs typically have enriched trace
element and isotopic compositions that contain a contribution from subducted oceanic crust.
Isotopic and trace element data suggest that the enriched components in hotspot volcanism
are ancient subducted sediment and crust, and the enriched components in arc/backarc
volcanism are...
Full-coverage multibeam bathymetric mapping of twelve seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska reveals that
they are characterized by flat-topped summits (rarely with summit craters) and by terraced, or step-bench,
flanks. These summit plateaus contain relict volcanic features (e.g., flow levees, late-stage cones, and
collapse craters) and as such must have...
Bransfield Strait is a Quaternary, ensialic back arc basin at the transition from rifting
to spreading. Fresh volcanic rocks occur on numerous submarine features distributed
along the rift axis, including a discontinuous neovolcanic ridge similar to the nascent
spreading centers seen in some other back arc basins. Smaller edifices near...
The Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain is the ‘‘type’’ example of an age-progressive, hot spotgenerated intraplate volcanic lineament. However, our current knowledge of the age distribution within this province is based largely on radiometric ages determined several decades ago. Improvements in instrumentation, sample preparation methods, and new material obtained by recent drilling...