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Diapir (Mantle)

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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

Definition

A less dense body of rock uplifted by buoyant isostatic forces through more dense rock. This entry focuses on diapirs ascending through the Earth’s mantle, i.e., mantle diapirs. The buoyancy can arise from thermal or compositional causes, and the buoyant mass can be tailless or have a tail connecting it to the source region which continues to supply buoyant material at a slower rate for a longer period of time. Decompression melting of the diapir at shallow mantle levels produces magmatic provinces of mainly mafic composition.

Related Terms

Mantle diapirs; Mantle plumes

Description

At the largest scale, as recognized on Earth, Venus and Mars, mantle plumes (mantle diapirs with tails) can produce major magmatic provinces (large igneous provinces, LIPs). On Earth these consist of flood basalts, minor volcanic edifies, and a plumbing system of regional radiating and linear dike swarms, sill complexes, mafic-ultramafic intrusions, associated silicic magmatism (due to partial...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Richard E. Ernst

Authors
  1. Richard E. Ernst
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Correspondence to Richard E. Ernst .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Ames Research Center/NPP, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    Henrik Hargitai

  2. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

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Ernst, R.E. (2015). Diapir (Mantle). In: Hargitai, H., Kereszturi, Á. (eds) Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_127

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