Experts stunned by massive underwater structure expanding since Jurassic era 1

Scientists have discovered an undersea plateau, larger than the western Indian state of Gujarat and located in the Pacific Ocean, has been growing in size since the dinosaur age or Cretaceous period (145 to 66 million years ago). Published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the research has found that the Melanesian Border Plateau was formed through four separate pulses of volcanism, all with different root causes. The Melanesian Border Plateau is located east of the Solomon Islands.

According to study leader Kevin Konrad, a geoscientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studying the timeline of the formation of the plateau is important, “because giant volcanic features under the ocean are often poorly understood.”
 
“There are some features in the Pacific basin where [scientists] have only a single sample, and it looks like a very large massive single event,” Konrad was quoted as saying by Live Science.

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“Sometimes when we sample these features in detail, we realize they’re actually built over multiple pulses over tens of millions of years and wouldn’t have significant environmental impacts,” he added.  

In 2013, Konrad and his team extensively explored the Melanesian Border Plateau, utilising a sophisticated chain contraption to extract rocks from the undersea mountains and volcanoes comprising the plateau. 

Plateau’s formation: A detailed timeline

Upon analysing the ages and chemistry of these rocks, scientists revealed that the plateau’s formation started around 120 million years ago. Robbie Ridge, a substrate rock layer, likely formed during a massive basaltic lava flood, creating a substantial undersea plateau.

Approximately 45 million years ago, this plateau section, known as Robbie Ridge, drifted over a mantle hotspot—zones with heated material causing volcanic activity. 

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The Rurutu-Arago hotspot, persisting beneath French Polynesia, transformed the plateau into an undersea mountain chain, or seamount, with islands emerging above the ocean surface. Despite erosion, the seamount eventually shifted over another hotspot, the Samoa hotspot, currently shaping the Samoan Islands since around 13 million years ago.

“All those same conduits that magma used to go through 45 million years ago, they’re now preexisting weaknesses that magma can start moving through 13 million years ago,” Konrad said.

 

NOTE – This article was originally published in wionews and can be viewed here

Tags: #climate, #climatechange, #earth, #environment, #getgreengetgrowing, #gngagritech, #greenstories, #Jurassicera, #massive, #ocean, #underwater