Publication: Age and composition of the Amanay Seamount, Canary Islands
Loading...
Full text at PDC
Publication Date
2004
Advisors (or tutors)
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Citations
Exportar
Abstract
A number of samples have been dredged from the upper parts of Amanay and El Banquete Seamounts, yet volcanic
materials have been collected only in Amanay. Based on the textural features and the presence or absence of
kaersutite, two main types of olivine pyroxene basaltic rocks have been identified. From a compositional point
of view, they are basanites with high enrichment in the most incompatible elements, similar to that displayed by
Ocean Island Basalts. Samples from Amanay seamount would have been formed due to a low degree of melting
of an enriched mantle, very similar to that which probably caused the Miocene volcanic activity of Fuerteventura.
The age of Amanay volcanic rocks, 15.3 ± 0.4 and 13.1 ± 0.3 Ma, is similar to those of the old volcanic units
exposed in the nearby islands (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote). This proves the formation of a separate
submarine volcanic edifice coeval with the other edifices of the Eastern Canarian Volcanic Ridge. Volcanic activity
on the submarine edifice is thought to have ceased at about 13 Ma, simultaneous with the adjacent main volcanic
construction.