The Balleny hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the Southern Ocean. The hotspot created the Balleny Islands, which forms a chain that extends for about 160 km (99 mi) in a northwest-southeast direction. [1] Due to plate tectonics the hot spot was under different parts of the ocean bed in the past, and this has resulted in a chain of seamounts extending from the East Tasman Plateau. [1] Isotopes and trace elements in the volcanic rocks indicated a high U/Pb mantle source. The same pattern is seen in basalt from Tasmania, but not from Victoria. [1]
References
- ^ a b c Lanyon, Ruth; Rick Varne; Anthony J. Crawford (June 1993). "Tasmanian Tertiary basalts, the Balleny plume, and opening of the Tasman Sea (southwest Pacific Ocean)". Geology. 21 (6). Geological Society of America: 555–558. Bibcode: 1993Geo....21..555L. doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<0555:TTBTBP>2.3.CO;2. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
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