SELF-ORGANIZED BREAKUP OF GONDWANA:

1
SELF-ORGANIZED BREAKUP OF GONDWANA AN ARGUMENT
AGAINST THE DEEP MANTLE PLUME PARADIGM Jim
Sears University of Montana, USA
HEARD ISLAND HOT SPOT
2
THE DEEP MANTLE PLUME PARADIGM AN INTEGRAL
COMPONENT OF PLATE TECTONICS SINCE J.T. WILSON
(1963) AND W.J. MORGAN (1981)
3
STATIONARY HOT SPOT VOLCANOES REPRESENT TAILS OF
DEEP MANTLE PLUMES
4
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES (LIPS) REPRESENT HEADS OF
DEEP MANTLE PLUMES
5
IN SOME CASES HEADS AND TAILS ARE LINKED BY HOT
SPOT TRACKS
6

• PLUMES ARE RANDOMLY GENERATED ALONG THE
  CORE-MANTLE BOUNDARY
• PLUME OUTBREAKS INITIATE CONTINENTAL BREAKUP

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SUCH AS GONDWANA
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LAWVER ET AL. 1999
?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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?1999 UTIG
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ARABIA
INDIA
AFRICA
AUSTRALIA
ANTARCTICA
FLORIDA
SOUTH AMERICA
N Z

HOWEVER, BREAKUP OF GONDWANA WAS NOT RANDOM - IT
WAS HIGHLY ORGANIZED AND SELF-ORGANIZED
33
ARABIA
INDIA
AFRICA
AUSTRALIA
ANTARCTICA
FLORIDA
SOUTH AMERICA
N Z
THESE MAJOR GONDWANA FRACTURE POLYGONS RIGOROUSLY
OBEY EULERS THEOREM FOR CONVEX POLYTOPES
34
ARABIA
INDIA
AFRICA
AUSTRALIA
FLORIDA
N Z
NAMELY, TO TILE A SPHERE WITH 12 OR MORE PLATES,
12 MUST HAVE 5-FOLD SYMMETRY AT VERTICES OF
ICOSAHEDRON
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REMAINING (N-12) PLATES HAVE 6-FOLD SYMMETRY
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ICOSAHEDRAL ARRANGEMENTS
Eulers formula relating faces (F), vertices (V
), and edges (E) of a convex polytope (F V E
2)
Zandi Reguera, 2005
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ICOSAHEDRAL VIRUS HERPES SIMPLEX
Zandi Reguera, 2005
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FINITE ELEMENT SOLUTION FOR THOMSON PROBLEM WITH
912 CHARGES ON SPHERE (Altschuler et al., 1997)
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EDGE LENGTHS AND CENTERS ARE RIGOROUSLY
DEFINED EACH EDGE 2600 KM AT EARTH SCALE
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ANTARCTICA
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PENTAGON RIFT EDGES 2600 KM
2600 KM
2600 KM
2600 KM
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P
H
H
H
P
H
P
H
PENTAGONS AND HEXAGONS IN EXACT ARRANGEMENT
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PATTERN MINIMIZES TOTAL FRACTURE LENGTH AND
THEREFORE MINIMIZES WORK FUNCTION OF STRENGTH OF
GONDWANA SHELL
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CAMP 205 Ma
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
45
205 Ma
KAROO 183 Ma
FERRAR 183 Ma
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
46
205 Ma
GT 144 Ma
183 Ma
183 Ma
N Z
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
47
205 Ma
144 Ma
PARANA 134 Ma
183 Ma
183 Ma
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
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RAJMAHAL 110 Ma
205 Ma
144 Ma
134 Ma
183 Ma
183 Ma
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
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DECCAN 65 Ma
110 Ma
205 Ma
144 Ma
134 Ma
183 Ma
183 Ma
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
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ETHIOPIAN 38 Ma
65 Ma
110 Ma
205 Ma
144 Ma
134 Ma
183 Ma
183 Ma
LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES DEEP MANTLE PLUMES?
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2000 KM DOMES
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P
ARABIA
H
H
INDIA
H
AFRICA
P
AUSTRALIA
H
ANTARCTICA
FLORIDA
2600 KM
P
SOUTH AMERICA
H
N Z
3-ARMED RIFTS MANY ARE 2600 KM
16 EDGES, gt20,000 KM
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• LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCES
• ERUPT DIACHRONOUSLY ALONG FRACTURE PATTERN
• DEPEND ON PLATE TECTONICS TO OPEN
• FRACTURES TO INDUCE DECOMPRESSION MELTING

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HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
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BEST FIT OF HOT SPOT TESSELLATION
?1999 UTIG
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• CONCORDANCE OF A FAMILY OF HOT SPOTS WITH
  FRACTURE TESSELLATION IMPLIES PLATE WAS
  STATIONARY DURING THEIR FORMATION

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YELLOW STRESS TESSELLATION IS DUAL OF FRACTURE
TESSELLATION THEY CROSS ONE ANOTHER
ORTHOGONALLY
HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
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HOOP STRESS ALONG NORTHERN GONDWANA MARGIN NOTE
RADIAL FRACTURES AT MARGIN
HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
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NOTE PERFECT SYMMETRY OF STRESS TESSELLATION
ACROSS GONDWANA HOTSPOTS FAVOR CENTERS
HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
EXPANSION OF GONDWANA LEADS TO FRACTURES
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• FRACTURE SYSTEM INDICATES THE GONDWANA WAS UNDER
  UNIFORM TENSION

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NOTE PERFECT SYMMETRY OF STRESS TESSELLATION
ACROSS GONDWANA HOTSPOTS FAVOR CENTERS
HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
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• INITIAL GEOMETRY OF GONDWANA DETERMINED BEST
  ORIENTATION OF TESSELLATION TO ACHIEVE MINIMUM
  FRACTURE LENGTH

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AFRICAN GEOID ANOMALY SYMMETRICAL TO FRACTURES
WHEN GONDWANA IS RESTORED TO TRIASSIC POSITION
HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
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GONDWANA SPREAD OUTWARD DOWN GEOID GRADIENT SEE
ANDERSON, 1982
HOTSPOTS ON TESSELLATION
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• GONDWANA STALLED ON MANTLE FRAMEWORK
• INSULATED 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