” These large volcanoes were active for approximately seven million years,” Dr. Tapu stated.
” The volcanoes formed as the continent moved over a stationary hotspot inside the planet, melting the land above it so magma might exude upward.
” This left a bonanza of volcanic landmarks in its wake, forming the longest chain of continental hotspot volcanoes on Earth– along Australias eastern side.
” As you cast your eye along this huge chain, youll find Queensland volcanoes such as the Glass House Mountains and Tweed Volcano, which are shield volcanoes checked out by many residents and tourists every year.”
Microscopic image of frozen lavas from an east Australian volcano (Nandewar, NSW). Credit: Dr. Al-Tamini Tapu
Huge, long-lived lava profusions in the Tweed volcano may have weakened the hotspot and triggered the more youthful volcanoes to the south to end up being smaller and shorter-lived.
” This shows the changes triggered as the continent shifted over the weakening hotspot,” Dr. Tapu said.
Associate Professor Teresa Ubide said that, as the lava production waned, the volcanoes became internally more complex, appearing lavas full of complex crystals.
” These little heroes hold the tricks of how the volcano works inside and tell us that the late Australian volcanoes had plenty of lava pockets, or tanks,” Dr. Ubide stated.
” As these cooled down and ended up being more viscous, it became more tough to create eruptions, which may have been more explosive.
” We discovered that the arrival of brand-new, hotter, and gas-rich magma acts like a shaken bottle of carbonated beverage, triggering an accumulation of pressure in the magma, and, eventually, an eruption.”
Dr. Ubide stated Australias extinct hotspot volcanoes supply a special laboratory for scientists to examine processes causing volcanic eruptions around the world.
” The result of disintegration over tens of millions of years allows us to access total series of lava that can be tough to access in more current volcanoes,” she said.
” It then makes it possible to reconstruct the inner structure of the volcanoes, sort of like opening a dolls house, which provides us a better understanding of hotspot activity worldwide.
” This is particularly essential, given there are many active hotspots in the world, including in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and in other continents, such as the United States Yellowstone volcano.
” Volcanoes in these locations produce big volumes of lava and have an important role in the evolution of our world and environment– so having a real-world dolls home to play around in and observe variations with time and lava supply is really handy.
” Our research study reveals the basic role of the strength of heat abnormalities inside the Earth in the advancement of our planet and its landscape over countless years.
” Reconstruction of these extinct volcanoes can help to better understand active continental hotspot volcanoes globally.”
Reference: “Increasing intricacy in magmatic architecture of volcanoes along a waning hotspot” by A. T. Tapu, T. Ubide and P. M. Vasconcelos, 23 March 2023, Nature Geoscience.DOI: 10.1038/ s41561-023-01156-9.
Sawn Rock– Nandewar Volcanic Range, NSW, one of the studied volcanoes from the east Australian volcanic chain. Credit: Dr. Tracey Crossingham
Remnants of volcanoes scattered throughout Australia act as a map of the northward motion of the continent over an underlying “hotspot” within the Earths interior over the previous 35 million years.
Dr. Tamini Tapu, Associate Professor Teresa Ubide, and Professor Paulo Vasconcelos, researchers from the University of Queensland, have unveiled that these residues offer insights into the intricate internal structure of the Australian volcanoes, which progressively progressed as the lava production from the hotspot minimized.
Dr. Al-Tamini Tapu, whose Ph.D. job at UQs School of Earth and Environmental Sciences formed the basis of this study, stated the hotspot was exceptionally strong in its early stages, generating some of eastern Australias most beloved natural destinations.