Supercontinent Breakup and the Deep Earth

Abstract:

As many as five supercontinents have been proposed and the deep Earth probably holds the key to understand their breakup. The African and Pacific large low shear-wave velocity provinces (LLSVPs) have been stable for the entire Phanerozoic and possibly much longer. Their edges are the dominant source of deep plumes which travel from the base of the mantle to the surface where episodic large igneous province (LIP) activity has punctuated plate tectonics by creating and modifying plate boundaries. Pangea, the best-documented supercontinent, formed at the end of the Carboniferous (320 Ma) by fusing Gondwana and Laurussia. The Panjal Traps (289 Ma) probably assisted in an early Pangea breakup phase (opening of the Neotethys) but the most important phase of breakup started when the Central Atlantic Ocean opened at around 195 Ma. Perhaps not coincidentally, the region where the Atlantic spreading started was preceded by the emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (201 Ma), one of the largest LIPs. The Karoo LIP (183 Ma) heralded the Jurassic breakup of Pangea (separation of East and West Gondwana) whereas Paraná-Etendeka LIP activity (134 Ma) preceded South Atlantic break-up by a few million years. The North Atlantic realm experienced prolonged Late Palaeozoic to Cenozoic extension and sedimentary basin formation but the final Early Eocene break-up occurred shortly after a massive episode of volcanism and LIP formation (North Atlantic Igneous Province, 62 Ma) as in most Pangea breakup examples. All LIPs assisting Pangea breakup were sourced by plumes from the margin of the African LLSVP.