Electromagnetic evidence for volatile-rich upwelling beneath the society hotspot, French Polynesia

We have conducted a seafloor magnetotelluric survey that images, for the first time, three-dimensional electrical conductivity structure in the upper mantle beneath the Society hotspot. A striking feature in our model is a high-conductivity anomaly a few hundred kilometers in diameter, which is continuous from the lowest part of the upper mantle to a depth of approximately 50km below sea level. Using theoretical and experimental results from mineral physics, we interpret the high-conductivity anomaly as evidence of the melt fraction up to 2.2vol.%, which is robust regardless of assumed temperature, and the existence of carbonated silicate melt beneath the hotspot. Our results suggest that the Society hotspot is a pathway for ascending volatiles from the deeper part of the upper mantle to the surface.

Keyword(s)

hotspot, marine magnetotellurics, three-dimensional inversion, volatiles, partial melt

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Tada Noriko, Tarits Pascal, Baba Kiyoshi, Utada Hisashi, Kasaya Takafumi, Suetsugu Daisuke (2016). Electromagnetic evidence for volatile-rich upwelling beneath the society hotspot, French Polynesia. Geophysical Research Letters. 43 (23). 12021-12026. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071331, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00638/75054/

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