SELF-ORGANIZED BREAKUP OF GONDWANA:AN ARGUMENT AGAINST THE DEEP MANTLE

PLUME PARADIGM

Jim SearsUniversity of Montana, USA

HEARD ISLAND HOT SPOT

THE DEEP MANTLE PLUME PARADIGM AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF PLATE TECTONICS SINCE J.T. WILSON (1963) AND W.J. MORGAN (1981)

STATIONARY HOT SPOT VOLCANOES REPRESENT TAILS OF DEEP MANTLE PLUMES

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES (LIPS) REPRESENT HEADS OF DEEP MANTLE PLUMES

IN SOME CASES HEADS AND TAILS ARE LINKED BY HOT SPOT TRACKS

PLUMES ARE RANDOMLY GENERATED ALONG THE CORE-MANTLE BOUNDARY

PLUME OUTBREAKS INITIATE CONTINENTAL BREAKUP

SUCH ASGONDWANA

1999 UTIG

LAWVER ET AL. 1999

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

1999 UTIG

AFRICA

SOUTHAMERICA

INDIA

ARABIA

ANTARCTICA

AUSTRALI

A

N Z

HOWEVER, BREAKUP OF GONDWANA WAS NOT

RANDOM - IT WAS HIGHLY ORGANIZED AND SELF-

ORGANIZED

FLO

RIDA

AFRICA

SOUTHAMERICA

INDIA

ARABIA

ANTARCTICA

AUSTRALI

A

N Z

THESE MAJOR GONDWANA

FRACTURE POLYGONS RIGOROUSLY OBEY EULER’S THEOREM

FOR CONVEX POLYTOPES

FLO

RIDA

AFRICA

INDIA

ARABIA

AUSTRALI

A

N Z

FLOR

IDA

NAMELY, TO TILE A SPHERE WITH 12 OR MORE PLATES, 12 MUST HAVE 5-

FOLD SYMMETRY AT VERTICES OF

ICOSAHEDRON

REMAINING (N-12) PLATES HAVE 6-

FOLD SYMMETRY

Euler’s formula relating faces (F), vertices (V ), and edges (E) of a convex polytope (F + V = E + 2)

ICOSAHEDRAL ARRANGEMENTS

Zandi & Reguera, 2005

ICOSAHEDRAL VIRUS

HERPES SIMPLEX

Zandi & Reguera, 2005

FINITE ELEMENT SOLUTION FOR

THOMSON PROBLEM WITH 912

CHARGES ON SPHERE

(Altschuler et al., 1997)

EDGE LENGTHS AND CENTERS

ARE RIGOROUSLY DEFINEDEACH EDGE = 2600 KM AT

EARTH SCALE

ANTARCTICA

PENTAGONRIFT EDGES ~

2600 KM

2600

KM

2600 KM 2600 KM

PENTAGONS AND HEXAGONS IN EXACT

ARRANGEMENT

PP

H

H

HH

H

P

PATTERN MINIMIZES TOTAL FRACTURE LENGTHAND THEREFORE MINIMIZES WORK

FUNCTION OF STRENGTH OF GONDWANA SHELL

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

CAMP 205 Ma

KAROO 183 Ma

FERRAR 183 Ma

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

205 Ma

N Z

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

GT 144 Ma

183 Ma

183 Ma

205 Ma

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

PARANA 134 Ma

144 Ma183 Ma

183 Ma

205 Ma

RAJMAHAL

110 Ma

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

134 Ma

144 Ma183 Ma

183 Ma

205 Ma

DECCAN65 Ma

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

110 Ma

134 Ma

144 Ma183 Ma

183 Ma

205 Ma

ETHIOPIAN

38 Ma

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES

DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?

65 Ma

110 Ma

134 Ma

144 Ma183 Ma

183 Ma

205 Ma

~2000 KM DOMES

AFRICA

SOUTHAMERICA

ARABIA

ANTARCTICA

AUSTRALI

A

N Z

FLOR

IDA

INDIA

3-ARMED RIFTSMANY ARE 2600 KM

2600 KM

16 EDGES,>20,000 KM

PP

H

H

HH

H

P

LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES ERUPT DIACHRONOUSLY ALONG FRACTURE

PATTERN

DEPEND ON PLATE TECTONICS TO OPENFRACTURES TO INDUCE DECOMPRESSION

MELTING

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

1999 UTIG

BEST FIT OF HOT SPOT

TESSELLATION

CONCORDANCE OF A FAMILY OF HOT SPOTS WITH FRACTURE TESSELLATION IMPLIES PLATE

WAS STATIONARY DURING THEIR FORMATION

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

YELLOW STRESS TESSELLATION IS DUAL OF FRACTURE TESSELLATION:

THEY CROSS ONE ANOTHER ORTHOGONALLY

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

HOOP STRESS ALONG NORTHERN GONDWANA MARGIN

NOTE RADIAL FRACTURES AT MARGIN

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

NOTE PERFECT SYMMETRY OF STRESS TESSELLATION ACROSS

GONDWANA

HOTSPOTS FAVOR CENTERS

EXPANSION OF GONDWANA LEADS TO FRACTURES

FRACTURE SYSTEM INDICATES THE GONDWANA WAS UNDER UNIFORM TENSION

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

NOTE PERFECT SYMMETRY OF STRESS TESSELLATION ACROSS

GONDWANA

HOTSPOTS FAVOR CENTERS

INITIAL GEOMETRY OF GONDWANA DETERMINED BEST ORIENTATION OF TESSELLATION TO

ACHIEVE MINIMUM FRACTURE LENGTH

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

AFRICAN GEOID ANOMALYSYMMETRICAL TO FRACTURES

WHEN GONDWANA IS RESTORED TO TRIASSIC POSITION

HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION

GONDWANA SPREAD OUTWARD DOWN GEOID GRADIENT

SEE ANDERSON, 1982

GONDWANA STALLED ON MANTLE FRAMEWORKINSULATED UNDERLYING MANTLE

THERMAL EXPANSION OF MANTLE DROVE UPLIFT AND UNIFORM TENSION IN GONDWANA

FRACTURE TESSELLATION OCCURRED AT CLIMAX OF UPLIFT, IN EARLY TRIASSIC

FRACTURES LATER SEPARATED AS REQUIRED BY PLATE TECTONICS, DRIVING DECOMPRESSION

MELTING