Mantle Plumes

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Basic Properties of Mantle Plumes

   1. Fluid Dynamics of Mantle Plumes

      • Neil Ribe, Anne Davaille, Ulrich Christensen

      Pages 1-48

3. Case studies

   1. Tracing the Hawaiian Mantle Plume by Converted Seismic Waves

      • Xiaohui Yuan, Xueqing Li, Ingo Wölbern, Rainer Kind

      Pages 49-69

   2. Iceland: The current picture of a ridge-centred mantle plume

      • Thomas Ruedas, Gabriele Marquart, Harro Schmeling

      Pages 71-126

   3. Combined Gas-geochemical and Receiver Function Studies of the Vogtland/NW Bohemia Intraplate Mantle Degassing Field, Central Europe

      • Horst Kämpf, Wolfram H. Geissler, Karin Bräuer

      Pages 127-158

   4. Crustal and Upper Mantle Structure of the French Massif Central Plume

      • Andreas Barth, Michael Jordan, Joachim R. R. Ritter

      Pages 159-184

4. Eifel Region

   1. Geodynamic Setting of the Tertiary Hocheifel Volcanism (Germany), Part I: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

      • Zuzana Fekiacova, Dieter F. Mertz, Paul R. Renne

      Pages 185-206

   2. Geodynamic Setting of the Tertiary Hocheifel Volcanism (Germany), Part II: Geochemistry and Sr, Nd and Pb Isotopic Compositions

      • Zuzana Fekiacova, Dieter F. Mertz, Albrecht W. Hofmann

      Pages 207-239

   3. The Quaternary Volcanic Fields of the East and West Eifel (Germany)

      • Hans-Ulrich Schmincke

      Pages 241-322

   4. Thermal and Geochemical Evolution of the Shallow Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle Beneath the Eifel: Constraints from Mantle Xenoliths, a Review

      • Gudrun Witt-Eickschen

      Pages 323-337

   5. He-Ne-Ar Isotope Systematics of Eifel and Pannonian Basin Mantle Xenoliths Trace Deep Mantle Plume-Lithosphere Interaction Beneath the European Continent

      • Mario Trieloff, Rainer Altherr

      Pages 339-367

   6. Quaternary Uplift in the Eifel Area

      • Wilhelm Meyer, Johannes Stets

      Pages 369-378

   7. The Seismic Signature of the Eifel Plume

      • Joachim R. R. Ritter

      Pages 379-404

   8. Upper Mantle Structure Beneath the Eifel from Receiver Functions

      • Michael Weber, Günter Bock, Martin Budweg

      Pages 405-415

   9. Rayleigh Wave Dispersion in the Eifel Region

      • Jan P. Mathar, Wolfgang Friederich, Joachim R. R. Ritter

      Pages 417-437

   10. Seismic Anisotropy in the Asthenosphere Beneath the Eifel Region, Western Germany

       • Kristoffer T. Walker, Götz H. R. Bokelmann, Simon L. Klemperer, Günter Bock, The Eifel Plume Team

       Pages 439-464

   11. Gravity Observations in the Western Rhenish Massif and Forward Modelling of the Eifel Plume Bouguer Anomaly

       • Joachim R. R. Ritter, Jan P. Mathar, Michael Jordan, Gerald Gabriel

       Pages 465-476

5. Back Matter

   Pages 477-501

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The concept of mantle plumes, originally suggested by Morgan (1971), is widely but not unequivocally accepted as the cause for hotspot volcanism. Plumes are thought of as deep-rooted, approximately cylindrical regions of hot rising mantle rock with a typical diameter of 100-200 km. Pressure-release melting near the b- tom of the lithosphere produces magmas that rise to the surface and lead, when the plate moves relative to the plume, to a chain of volcanic edifices whose age p- gresses with increasing distance from the plume. For a long time, the evidence for mantle plumes has been largely circumstantial. Laboratory and computer models of mantle convection show that under certain conditions plume-like structures can be found, and these simulations have been used to characterise their properties. Geodetic signals, such as topographic swells and associated geoid anomalies which surround the volcanic hotspots, support the plume hypothesis. They are best identified in an oceanic environment where the plume signal is usually less s- ceptible to be masked by effects of crustal or lithospheric heterogeneities. The i- topic and trace element composition of hotspot lavas differs from those of m- oceanic ridge basalts which is interpreted as indication for a source reservoir d- ferent from average upper mantle rock. The idea of mantle plumes has gained widespread popularity in various disciplines of Earth science and has been used, sometimes perhaps excessively, to explain volcanic and other phenomena.

• Geodynamics
• Volcanism
• geochemistry
• plate tectonics
• satellite

From the reviews:

"This book, with 16 chapters and color plates, covers a diversity of topics dealing with the recognition and characterization of mantle plumes. … There is a wide range in the depth of coverage and quality of the papers in the book. Some chapters are review papers and some are papers presenting new data. The book presents a good balance between geophysical and geochemical topics. … The intended audience of the book are primarily geophysicists and geochemists interested in the mantle." (Kent C. Condie, Eos, Vol. 89 (11), 2008)

"The book comprises 16 individual papers, each focusing on a particular volcanic region or geological discipline. … This means that the papers will be useful to a wider range of people … . As well as appealing to experts due to the inclusion of research at the forefront of the field, this book is accessible to non-experts thanks to the comprehensive background summaries and method explanations. Each paper is written as a self-contained unit making it easy for readers to dip in … ." (Bryony Youngs, Geological Magazine, Vol. 145 (4), 2008)

"The mantle plumes, a term coined by J. Tuzo Wilson in 1963, are still controversial issue, particularly in terms of their depth of origin, their morphology, their longevity, even their existence. … this book aims to bring some order to the discussion on this topic. … This volume will be interesting to geologists and geophysicists from various disciplines of the Earth sciences, particularly geodynamics, geochemistry, and seismic tomography. It also will be very useful for recent graduated students at geological and geophysical faculties." (Marek Lewandowski, Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 166, 2009)

• Geophysical Institute, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

  Joachim R. R. Ritter

• Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

  Ulrich R. Christensen

Joachim R. R. Ritter is an expert in seismological experiments and seismic tomography. He has conducted research at volcanic fields in East Africa, California and Central Europe to reveal the deep roots of the magmatic processes. He is working at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Karlsruhe.

Ulrich R. Christensen is a director at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau Katlenburg. He applies fluid dynamics to study the dynamic processes in planets.

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