Do mantle plumes preserve the heterogeneous structure of their deep-mantle source?

Constraining the source of mantle plumes

In order to link the geochemical signature of hot spot basalts to Earth’s deep interior, it is first necessary to understand how plumes sample di↵erent regions of the mantle. Here, we investigate the relative amounts of deep and shallow mantle material that are entrained by an ascending plume and constrain its source region. The plumes are generated in a viscous syrup using an isolated heater f...

Mantle plumes persevere

A recent census suggests that seamounts1 — typically extinct underwater volcanoes — are numerous. It has been estimated that about 125,000 seamounts with a height of more than one kilometre exist on our ocean floors. Most of these are postulated to form at volcanic hotspots that are the surface expressions of mantle plumes — hot material upwelling from Earth’s interior. Yet, many seamounts do n...

Corn syrup mantle plumes.

In the dark, microscopic plastic beads in the 200-gallon tank of corn syrup glow and sparkle when light from a projector shines at them in geophysical fluid dynamicist Christopher Kincaid’s laboratory at the University of Rhode Island. Experiments with this goo could help explain whether columns of magma rising up from near the Earth’s core might explain supervolcanic activity. Scientists have ...

Mantle dynamics. Sea-floor study gives plumes from the deep mantle a boost.

Earth’s interior is like a pot of boiling water— very viscous, very slowly churning water. The great debate about how Earth’s interior operates to shed internal heat and shape the surface began with disagreements over whether two layers in the pot—the upper and lower mantle—always remain separate, like oil and water. That debate ended when seismologists imaged Earth’s cold, brittle surface scum...

Deep mantle plumes and convective upwelling beneath the Pacific Ocean