Paleomagnetic paleolatitude of Early Cretaceous Ontong Java Plateau basalts: implications for Pacific apparent and true polar wander

The age and origin of the Pacific islands: a geological overview

“…Recent palaeomagnetic studies have cast doubt on this hot spot being responsible for the formation of the Ontong Java Plateau in the Early Cretaceous (Riisager et al 2003).…”

Expedition 330 summary

“…Determine whether the Ontong Java Plateau formed from the plume head of the Louisville mantle plume around 120 Ma One hypothesis states that the Ontong Java Plateau formed from massive volcanism around 120 Ma, when the plume head of the Louisville mantle upwelling initially reached the base of the Pacific lithosphere and started extensive partial melting (e.g., Richards and Griffiths, 1989;Mahoney and Spencer, 1991). If the Louisville Seamount Trail corresponds to the plume tail stage of the Louisville mantle plume and the Ontong Java Plateau to the plume head, the new paleolatitude estimates, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages, and geochemical data obtained from the recovered drill cores will help us to decide whether the oldest seamounts in the Louisville Seamount Trail were formed close to the 18°-28°S paleolatitude determined from ODP Leg 192 basalt for the Ontong Java Plateau (Riisager et al, 2003) and whether they are genetically linked or not. The outcome of this hypothesis test will have significant implications for the origin of the Ontong Java Plateau and large igneous provinces in general.…”

Site U1373

“…Another important objective of Expedition 330 at Site U1373 was to use new paleolatitude estimates, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages, and geochemical data to decide whether the oldest seamounts in the Louisville Seamount Trail were formed close to the 18°-28°S paleolatitude determined from ODP Leg 192 basalt for the Ontong Java Plateau (Riisager et al, 2003) and whether this large igneous province was genetically linked to the Louisville hotspot or not. Such a determination would prove or disprove the hypothesis that the Ontong Java Plateau formed from massive large igneous province volcanism at ~120 Ma, when the preceding plume head of the Louisville mantle upwelling reached the base of the Pacific lithosphere and started extensive partial melting (e.g., Richards and Griffiths, 1989;Mahoney and Spencer, 1991).…”