Natkusiak flood basalts
Encyclopedia
The Natkusiak flood basalts are a sequence of Neoproterozoic
continent
al flood basalt
s of the Franklin Large Igneous Province
on Victoria Island, Canada
. The flood basalts were erupted about 720 million years ago after uplift began three to five million years prior to the flood basalt volcanism. This uplift and flood basalt volcanism was caused by a mantle plume
. This flood basalt sequence is related to the Franklin magmatic event.
Neoproterozoic
The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...
continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
al flood basalt
Flood basalt
A flood basalt or trap basalt is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that coats large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Flood basalts have occurred on continental scales in prehistory, creating great plateaus and mountain ranges...
s of the Franklin Large Igneous Province
Franklin Large Igneous Province
The Franklin Large Igneous Province is a Neoproterozoic large igneous province in the Canadian Arctic of Northern Canada. It represents one of the largest large igneous provinces in Canada and it consists of the Natkusiak flood basalts on Victoria Island, the Coronation sills on the southern shore...
on Victoria Island, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The flood basalts were erupted about 720 million years ago after uplift began three to five million years prior to the flood basalt volcanism. This uplift and flood basalt volcanism was caused by a mantle plume
Mantle plume
A mantle plume is a hypothetical thermal diapir of abnormally hot rock that nucleates at the core-mantle boundary and rises through the Earth's mantle. Such plumes were invoked in 1971 to explain volcanic regions that were not thought to be explicable by the then-new theory of plate tectonics. Some...
. This flood basalt sequence is related to the Franklin magmatic event.
See also
- Volcanism of Canada
- Volcanism of Northern CanadaVolcanism of Northern CanadaVolcanism of Northern Canada has led to the formation of hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations across Northern Canada, indicating volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface...