Role of Large Igneous Provinces in continental break-up varying from “Shirker” to “Producer”

Abstract

Traditionally, the emplacement of the Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) is considered to have caused continental break-up. However, this does not always seem to be the case, as illustrated by, for example, the Siberian Traps, one of the most voluminous flood basalt events in Earth history, which was not followed by lithospheric rupture. Moreover, the classical model of purely active (plume-induced) rifting and continental break-up often fails to do justice to widely varying tectonic impacts of Phanerozoic LIPs. Here, we show that the role of the LIPs in rupture of the lithosphere ranges from initial dominance (e.g., Deccan LIP) to activation (e.g., Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, CAMP) or alignment (e.g., Afar LIP). A special case is the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP), formed due to the “re-awakening” of the Iceland plume by the lateral propagation of the spreading ridge and the simultaneous approach of the plume conduit to adjacent segments of the thinner overlying lithosphere. The proposed new classification of LIPs may provide useful guidance for future research, particularly with respect to some inherent limitations of the common paradigm of purely passive continental break-up and the assumption of a direct link between internal mantle dynamics and the timing of near-surface magmatism.