The origin of the Canary Island Seamount Province-New ages of old seamounts

Abstract

The Canary Island Seamount Province forms a scattered hotspot track on the Atlantic ocean floor ∼1300km long and ∼350km wide, perpendicular to lithospheric fractures, and parallel to the NW African continental margin. New 40 Ar/39 Ar datings show that seamount ages vary from 133Ma to 0.2Ma in the central archipelago, and from 142Ma to 91Ma in the southwest. Combining 40 Ar/39 Ar ages with plate tectonic reconstructions, I find that the temporal and spatial distribution of seamounts is irreconcilable with a deep fixed mantle plume origin, or derivation from passive mantle upwelling beneath a mid-ocean ridge. I conclude that shallow mantle upwelling beneath the Atlantic Ocean basin off the NW African continental lithosphere flanks produced recurrent melting anomalies and seamounts from the Late Jurassic to Recent, nominating the Canary Island Seamount Province as oldest hotspot track in the Atlantic Ocean, and most long-lived preserved on earth.