The role of subduction in the formation of Pangaean oceanic large igneous provinces

Abstract

Large igneous provinces (LIPs) have been linked to both surface and deep mantle processes. During the formation, tenure, and breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, there is an increase in emplacement events for both continental and oceanic LIPs. There is currently no clear consensus on the origin of LIPs, but a hypothesis relates their formation to crustal emplacement of hot plume material originating in the deep mantle. The interaction of subducted slabs with the lowermost mantle thermal boundary and subsequent return-flow is a key control on such plume generation. This mechanism has been explored for LIPs below the interior of a supercontinent (i.e., continental LIPs). However, a number of LIPs formed exterior to Pangea (e.g., Ontong Java Plateau), with no consensus on their formation mechanism. Here, we consider the dynamics of supercontinent processes as predicted by numerical models of mantle convection, and analyse whether circum-supercontinent subduction could generate both interior (continental) and exterior (oceanic) deep-mantle plumes. Our numerical models show that subduction related to the supercontinent cycle can reproduce the location and timing of the Ontong Java Plateau, Caribbean LIP, and potentially the Shatsky Rise, by linking the origin of these LIPs to the return-flow that generated deep mantle exterior plumes.