Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Geochemistry pp 1–5Cite as

Oceanic Island Basalts

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definitions

Ocean island basalts (generally referred to as OIBs) are a type of basalt erupted within the oceans, mainly in intraplate settings. Thus, OIB volcanism contrasts with the other principal types of volcanism in the ocean basins that occur along plate boundaries: mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) volcanism , where basalt is erupted at divergent plate boundaries, and subduction zone (or arc) volcanism, where lavas are formed in association with subduction at convergent plate boundaries. OIBs are erupted at volcanic hotspots, which correspond to the surface location of upwelling mantle plumes. Mantle plumes are buoyantly upwelling regions of the mantle that are thought to have unusually high mantle temperatures.

OIB, Hotspots, and Mantle Plumes

Many hotspots are located in intraplate settings in the oceans. However, some hotspots are colocated with mid-ocean ridges (e.g., Iceland hotspot), and at least one hotspot is located near a subduction zone, and complicated plume-trench...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Cabral, R. A., Jackson, M. G., Rose-Koga, E. F., Koga, K. T., Whitehouse, M. J., Antonelli, M. A., Farquhar, J., Day, J. M. D., and Hauri, E. H., 2013. Anomalous sulphur isotopes in plume lavas reveal deep mantle storage of Archaean crust. Nature, 496, 490–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courtillot, V., Davaille, A., Besse, J., and Stock, J., 2003. Three distinct types of hotspots in the Earth’s mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 205, 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, R., Jackson, M. G., and Lee, C.-T. A., 2010. Major element chemistry of ocean island basalts – conditions of mantle melting and heterogeneity of mantle source. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 289, 377–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Druken, K. A., Kincaid, C., Griffiths, R. W., Stegman, D. R., and Hart, S. R., 2014. Plume–slab interaction: the Samoa–Tonga system. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 232, 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eiler, J. M., Farley, K. A., Valley, J. W., Hauri, E., Craig, H., Hart, S. R., and Stolper, E. M., 1997. Oxygen isotope variations in ocean island basalt phenocrysts. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 2281–2293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, S. W., and Romanowicz, B., 2015. Broad plumes rooted at the base of the Earth’s mantle beneath major hotspots. Nature, 525, 95–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, F. A., Coffin, M., Wallace, P., Weis, D., Zhao, X., Wise, S., Wähnert, V., Teagle, D. A. H., Saccocia, P. J., Reusch, D. N., Pringle, M. S., Nicolaysen, K. E., Neal, C. R., Müller, R. D., Moore, C. L., Mahoney, J. J., Keszthelyi, L., Inokuchi, H., Duncan, R. A., Delius, H., Damuth, J. E., Damasceno, D., Coxall, H. K., Borre, M. K., Boehm, F., Barling, J., Arndt, N. T., and Antretter, M., 2000. Origin and evolution of a submarine large igneous province: the Kerguelen Plateau and Broken Ridge, southern Indian Ocean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 176, 73–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gale, A., Dalton, C. A., Langmuir, C. H., Su, Y., and Shilling, J.-G., 2013. The mean composition of ocean ridge basalts. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 14, doi:10.1029/2012GC004334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gast, P. W., Tilton, G. R., and Hedge, C., 1964. Isotopic composition of lead and strontium from Ascension and Gough Islands. Science, 145, 1181–1185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herzberg, C., Asimow, P. D., Arndt, N., Niu, Y., Lesher, C. M., Fitton, J. G., Cheadle, M. J., and Saunders, A. D. 2007. Temperatures in ambient mantle and plumes: constraints from basalts, picrites, and komatiites. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 8, doi:10.1029/2006gc001390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, A. W. 2003. Sampling mantle heterogeneity through oceanic basalts: isotopes and trace elements. In Carlson, R. W. (ed.), Executive Editors: Holland, H. D., Turekian, K. K. p. 568. Treatise on Geochemistry, Vol. 2. Elsevier, pp. 61–101. ISBN 0-08-043751-6, doi:10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/02123-X.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, A. W., and White, W. M., 1982. Mantle plumes from ancient oceanic crust. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 57, 421–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janney, P. E., Macdougall, J. D., Natland, J. H., and Lynch, M. A., 2000. Geochemical evidence from the Pukapuka volcanic ridge system for a shallow enriched mantle domain beneath the South Pacific Superswell. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 181, 47–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koppers, A. A. P., Staudigel, H., Pringle, M. S., and Wijbrans, J. R. 2003. Short-lived and discontinuous intraplate volcanism in the South Pacific: hot spots or extensional volcanism? Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 4, doi:10.1029/2003GC000533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koppers, A. A. P., Yamazaki, T., Geldmacher, J., Gee, J. S., Pressling, N., Hoshi, H., Anderson, L., Beier, C., Buchs, D. M., Chen, L.-H., Cohen, B. E., Deschamps, F., Dorais, M. J., Ebuna, D., Ehmann, S., Fitton, J. G., Fulton, P. M., Ganbat, E., Hamelin, C., Hanyu, T., Kalnins, L., Kell, J., Machida, S., Mahoney, J. J., Moriya, K., Nichols, A. R. L., Rausch, S., Sano, S.-I., Sylvan, J. B., and Williams, R., 2012. Limited latitudinal mantle plume motion for the Louisville hotspot. Nature Geoscience, 5, 911–917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, M., McNamara, A. K., and Garnero, E. J., 2014. Chemical complexity of hotspots caused by cycling oceanic crust through mantle reservoirs. Nature Geoscience, 7, 366–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mukhopadhyay, S., 2012. Early differentiation and volatile accretion recorded in deep-mantle neon and xenon. Nature, 486, 101–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putirka, K. D., Perfit, M., Ryerson, F. J., and Jackson, M. G., 2007. Ambient and excess mantle temperatures, olivine thermometry, and active vs. passive upwelling. Chemical Geology, 241, 177–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandwell, D. T., Winterer, E. L., Mammerickx, J., Duncan, R. A., Lynch, M. A., Levitt, D. A., and Johnson, C. L., 1995. Evidence for diffuse extension of the Pacific plate from Pukapuka ridges and cross-grain gravity lineations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100, 15087–15099.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schilling, J.-G., and Winchester, J. W., 1967. Rare-earth fractionation and magmatic processes. In Runcorn, S. K. (ed.), Mantles of the Earth and Terrestrial Planets. New York: Wiley, pp. 267–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staudigel, H., and Koppers, A. A. P. 2015. Seamounts and Island building. In Sigurdsson, H., Houghton, B., Rymer, H., Stix, J., and McNutt, S. (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. Academic Press, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385938-9.00022-5, pp. 405–421, ISBN: 9780123859389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weis, D., Garcia, M. O., Rhodes, J. M., Jellinek, A. M., and Scoates, J. S., 2011. Role of the deep mantle in generating the compositional asymmetry of the Hawaiian mantle plume. Nature Geoscience, 4, 831–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, W. M., 2013. Geochemistry. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, W. M., 2014. Hot spots and mantle plumes. In Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., and Thiede, J. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. The Netherlands: Springer, pp. 1–20.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • White, W. M., and Hofmann, A. W., 1982. Sr and Nd isotope geochemistry of oceanic basalts and mantle evolution. Nature, 296, 821–825.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodhead, J. D., 1996. Extreme HIMU in an oceanic setting: the geochemistry of Mangaia Island (Polynesia), and temporal evolution of the Cool-Austral hotspot. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 72, 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Matthew Gerard Jackson

Authors
  1. Matthew Gerard Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew Gerard Jackson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Jackson, M.G. (2016). Oceanic Island Basalts. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_248-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_248-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation