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July 27 2006
IGPP post-doctoral researcher Dr. Naoto Hirano discovers new volcano type in the Pacific ocean
A new type of volcano has been found in the western Pacific ocean by a team of
scientists led by IGPP researcher Dr. Naoto Hirano. The group of small volcanoes,
named "petit spot volcanoes" was discovered near the Japan Trench, but distant from any
typical location of volcanism, such as a mid-ocean ridges (e.g. the Mid-Atlantic Ridge), island-arcs
(e.g. the Aleutian-Alaska Arc) and hot spots (e.g. the Hawaiian-Emperor island chain).
The volcanism on the 135 million-year-old Pacific Plate does not fit into any of these previously
documented categories, and their trace element geochemistry and noble gas isotopic compositions
suggests that the volcanoes erupted along lithospheric fractures in response to plate flexure during
subduction.
The article abstract can be downloaded by clicking here.
The full article text can be downloaded here.
Dr. Naoto Hirano is a visiting researcher from
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
Figure 1. Map of the northwestern Pacific Ocean with surveyed areas noted in the
black boxes. A, site A; B, site B; C, site C. The outer rise (<5500 m below sea level) is shaded.
(Copyright © AAAS)
Further information:
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