The Timing, Duration and Correlation of North Atlantic Igneous Province Magmatism

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9903056DuncanWe will participate in an international collaborative investigation of the timing, genesis and evolution of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP), a classic volcanic rifted margin. It has been proposed that this large igneous province was constructed at the initiation of Iceland mantle plume activity, remnants of which include the West and East Greenland margin basalts, the Faeroe Islands, the British Tertiary Province, and extensive sequences of lava flows and sills that form most of the continental margins of the North Atlantic (seaward-dipping reflectors). We will contribute radiometric age determinations by the 40Ar-39Ar incremental heating method, for whole rock and mineral separates to define the timing and duration of volcanism, and in support of correlating volcanic stratigraphy across the province. Precise age determinations are required to establish the timeframe of widely separated volcanic and intrusive remnants, determine magma production rates through the volcanic history, describe the sequence and duration of magmatic phases in different tectonic settings, and correlate peak volcanic phases with the sedimentary record of environmental response to this large igneous province. The first order goal of the program is to use the record of magmatism and tectonism throughout the province to assess "active" (plume head) vs "passive" (plume incubation) models of continental rifting in the presence of a mantle plume.