Tasmantid Guyots, the Age of the Tasman Basin, and Motion between the Australia Plate and the Mantle

Research Article| September 01, 1971 Tasmantid Guyots, the Age of the Tasman Basin, and Motion between the Australia Plate and the Mantle PETER R VOGT; PETER R VOGT U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Chesapeake Beach, Maryland 20732 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar JOHN R CONOLLY JOHN R CONOLLY Geology Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information PETER R VOGT U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Chesapeake Beach, Maryland 20732 JOHN R CONOLLY Geology Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208 Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 05 Apr 1971 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1971, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1971) 82 (9): 2577–2584. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1971)82[2577:TGTAOT]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 05 Apr 1971 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation PETER R VOGT, JOHN R CONOLLY; Tasmantid Guyots, the Age of the Tasman Basin, and Motion between the Australia Plate and the Mantle. GSA Bulletin 1971;; 82 (9): 2577–2584. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1971)82[2577:TGTAOT]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The age of the Tasman Sea basement can be roughly estimated from the 50 m.y. time constant associated with subsidence of sea floor generated by the mid-oceanic ridge. Present basement depths suggest Cretaceous age, as does sediment thickness. It is further argued that the Tasmantid Guyots, whose tops deepen systematically northward, were formed during Tertiary times by northward movement of the Australia plate over a fixed magma source in the mantle. As Antarctica was also approximately fixed with respect to the mantle, sea-floor spreading between the two continents implies that the guyots increase in age at a rate of 5.6 yr/cm from south to north. Their northward deepening then yields an average subsidence rate of 18 m per m.y. for the Tasman basement on which the seamounts were extruded. This rate again yields a Cretaceous age for the basement.Great circles constructed normal to the Tasmantid Seamount chain, and other probable volcanic lineaments reflecting movement of the Australia plate over mantle magma sources, pass near Ethiopia, not far from the Antarctica-Australia spreading pole. This result supports the hypothesis that the mantle sources are approximately fixed with respect to Antarctica. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.