Plates vs Plumes (eBook)

Gillian Foulger is Professor of Geophysics at the University of Durham where she has worked since 1985 on earthquake seismology and plate tectonics. She lived and researched in Iceland for seven years, where she acquired a mistrust of theories that do not fit practical observations without contortion. She manages the world-famous website www.mantleplumes.org and is widely acclaimed for leading the global debate regarding the existence of mantle plumes. For this she was awarded the prestigious Price Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society in 2005.

Preface, ix

1 From plate tectonics to plumes, and back again, 1

1.1 Volcanoes, and exceptional volcanoes, 1

1.2 Early beginnings: Continental drift and its rejection, 1

1.3 Emergence of the Plume hypothesis, 6

1.4 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 11

1.5 Lists of plumes, 13

1.6 Testing plume predictions, 21

1.7 A quick tour of Hawaii and Iceland, 23

1.8 Moving on: Holism and alternatives, 26

1.9 The Plate hypothesis, 26

1.10 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 35

1.11 Testing the Plate hypothesis, 35

1.12 Revisiting Hawaii and Iceland, 36

1.13 Questions and problems, 37

1.14 Exercises for the student, 37

2 Vertical motions, 38

2.1 Introduction, 38

2.2 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 39

2.3 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 40

2.4 Comparison of the predictions of the Plume and Plate
hypotheses, 43

2.5 Observations, 43

2.6 Plume variants, 73

2.7 Discussion, 74

2.8 Exercises for the student, 76

3 Volcanism, 78

3.1 Introduction, 78

3.2 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 84

3.3 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 86

3.4 Comparison of the predictions of the Plate and Plume
hypotheses, 91

3.5 Observations, 92

3.6 Plume variants, 113

3.7 Discussion, 114

3.8 Exercises for the student, 116

4 Time progressions and relative fi xity of melting
anomalies, 118

4.1 Introduction, 118

4.2 Methods, 120

4.3 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 122

4.4 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 122

4.5 Observations, 123

4.6 Hotspot reference frames, 134

4.7 Plume variants, 1370

4.8 Discussion, 140

4.9 Exercises for the student, 141

5 Seismology, 143

5.1 Introduction, 143

5.2 Seismological techniques, 148

5.3 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 153

5.4 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 154

5.5 Observations, 155

5.6 Global observations, 179

5.7 Plume variants, 184

5.8 Discussion, 185

5.9 Exercises for the student, 188

6 Temperature and heat, 189

6.1 Introduction, 189

6.2 Methods, 195

6.3 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 203

6.4 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 205

6.5 Observations, 206

6.6 Variants of the Plume hypothesis, 222

6.7 Discussion, 223

6.8 Exercises for the student, 225

7 Petrology and geochemistry, 227

7.1 Introduction, 227

7.2 Some basics, 230

7.3 Predictions of the Plume hypothesis, 245

7.4 Predictions of the Plate hypothesis, 246

7.5 Proposed deep-mantle- and coremantle-boundary tracers,
246

7.6 A few highlights from melting anomalies, 252

7.7 Plume variants, 261

7.8 Discussion, 263

7.9 Exercises for the student, 265

8 Synthesis, 267

8.1 Introduction, 267

8.2 Mantle convection, 275

8.3 An unfalsifi able hypothesis, 277

8.4 Diversity: a smoking gun, 284

8.5 The need for joined-up science, 284

8.6 The future, 286

8.7 Exercises for the student, 287

References, 288

Index, 319

Colour plate section (starting after page 180)

"Nevertheless I strongly recommend this book both for
students and researchers. It is ideal for use in classroom
discussion projects, or in "lunch time discussion"
meetings. It is clearly written and well illustrated and includes
hundreds of useful references as recent as 2010."
(Bull Volcanol, 3 April 2012)

"As such, it is a valuable work for advanced undergraduate
and graduate students, but also for researchers from many
specialties in geology, geophysics, geochemistry and
geography." (Pure and Applied Geophysics, 1
April 2013)

"It is highly recommended to all OUGS members, who could
consider reading the first and last chapters, together with one or
two of the main chapters, as a minimum." (Open University
Geological Society Journal, 1 November 2011)
"In general, I found the book crisply and clearly written, easy to
read, and liberally illustrated. It is also a wonderful summary of
a wide range of volcanic provinces in time and space, as well as a
provocative review of what we think we know and don't know of
Planet Earth and deep mantle dynamics. It will be an invaluable
resource for teachers of Earth science, ranging from
geomorphologists to volcanologists." (Geobulletin, 1 March 2011)

"This is knee-deep geophysics, but too fascinating to put down.
As the title says, there are conflicting views of how and why the
earth recycles itself...very strong views. . . It goes to great
lengths to explain the theories of continental drift through plate
tectonics that took half a century to be accepted by mainstream
geology." (Janet Tanaka, 2011)

"This new textbook is ideal for a graduate-level seminar on the
ongoing controversy over plumes." (About.com, 2011)

"I have much pleasure in recommending this book, a distillation
of global geodynamics information and ideas by a true leader in the
field, for the libraries of institutions and individuals." (Current
Science, 1 January 2011)

"At the end I may say that this is must read book for igneous
petrologists and students." (Journal of the Geological Society of
India, 1 March 2011)

"One cannot help being impressed by the breadth of material
presented in this book . . . in concluding this review I have to
admit to being impressed by the book even though my own work comes
in for a fair amount of bashing in it. I was struck by the
parallels between the plume controversy and the granite
controversy, which in various ways dominated igneous petrology in
the first half of the twentieth century." (Mantleplumes, 2011)

"This text is well written and easy to digest for the educated
reader. Bullet points make it easy to skim read and pick the
sections that interest you. It probably best suits advanced
undergraduates and postgraduate students and would make a good text
for courses in petrology, geophysics, or basin analysis." (The
Observatory, 1 April 2011) "This new textbook is ideal for a
graduate-level seminar on the ongoing controversy over plumes."

(Andrew Alden - Andrew's Geology Blog, 18 November 2010)

"This text is well written and easy to digest for the educated
reader. . . it probably best suits advanced undergraduates and
postgraduate students and would make a good text for courses in
petrology, geophysics or basin analysis." (The Observatory -
Newsletter of the Royal Astronomical Society, 29 November 2010)