How Iceland’s fiery mantle plume scattered ancient volcanoes across the North Atlantic (IMAGE)
Caption
About sixty million years ago, the Icelandic mantle plume—a fountain of hot rock that rises from Earth’s core-mantle boundary—unleashed volcanic activity across a vast area of the North Atlantic, extending from Scotland and Ireland to Greenland.
For decades, scientists have puzzled over why this burst of volcanism was so extensive. Now, research led by the University of Cambridge has found that differences in the thickness of tectonic plates around the North Atlantic might explain the widespread volcanism.
The researchers compiled seismic and temperature maps of Earth’s interior, finding that patches of thinner tectonic plate acted like conduits, funnelling the plume’s molten rock over a wide area.
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University of Cambridge
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