Linking Earth’s Deep Interior with its Surface Evolution: Constraints from Galápagos Volcanoes

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• Dr Sally A Gibson (University of Cambridge)
• Monday 29 February 2016, 17:00-18:00
• Harker Room 1, Department of Earth Sciences.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Matouš Ptáček.

Galápagos is one of the world’s most volcanically active regions, with eruptions of basalt occurring every ~5 years (the last was in May 2015). Our recent research has shown that the locations of the volcanic islands and diversity of magmas erupted in Galápagos is a manifestation of complex physical and chemical processes in the underlying mantle and crust. I will outline how some of our new research [1-3] — that combines geochemical data for Galápagos volcanoes with high-resolution seismic databases — is enhancing our understanding of the relationship between deep Earth processes and volcanic, oceanographic and biological systems, and explore how Galápagos acts as a unique natural laboratory in which to explore these connections.

1. Gibson, S. A. & Geist, D. J. Geochemical and geophysical mapping of lithospheric thickness variations beneath Galápagos. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 300, 275–286 (2010).
2. Gibson, S. A., Geist, D. J. & Richards, M. A. Mantle plume capture and outflow during Galapagos plume-ridge interaction. Geochem. Geophys. Geosystems (2015). doi:10.1002/2015GC005723
3. Gibson, S. A., Geist, D. J., Day, J. A. & Dale, C. W. Short wavelength heterogeneity in the Galápagos plume: evidence from compositionally-diverse basalts on Isla Santiago. Geochem. Geophys. Geosystems (2012). doi:10.1029/2012GC004244

This talk is part of the Sedgwick Club talks series.

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• Department of Earth Sciences seminars
• Harker Room 1, Department of Earth Sciences
• Sedgwick Club talks

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