North Atlantic Igneous Province

The North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) is a large igneous province in the North Atlantic, centered on Iceland. In the Paleogene, the province formed the Thulean Plateau, a large basaltic lava plain,[1] which extended over at least 1.3 million km2 (500 thousand sq mi) in area and 6.6 million km3 (1.6 million cu mi) in volume.[2] The plateau was broken up during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean leaving remnants preserved in north Ireland, west Scotland, the Faroe Islands, northwest Iceland, east Greenland, western Norway and many of the islands located in the north eastern portion of the North Atlantic Ocean.[3][4] The igneous province is the origin of the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave. The province is also known as Brito–Arctic province (also known as the North Atlantic Tertiary Volcanic Province) and the portion of the province in the British Isles is also called the British Tertiary Volcanic Province or British Tertiary Igneous Province.

The British Tertiary Volcanic Province (based on Emeleus & Gyopari 1992[5] and Mussett et al. 1988[6]) with UK map shown in context of the world map
  1. ^ Brittle tectonism in relation to the Palaeogene evolution of the Thulean/NE Atlantic domain: a study in Ulster Retrieved on 2007-11-10
  2. ^ Eldholm, Olav; Kjersti Grue (10 February 1994). "North Atlantic volcanic margins: Dimensions and production rates". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 99 (B2): 2955–2968. Bibcode:1994JGR....99.2955E. doi:10.1029/93JB02879. Quantitative calculations of NAVP dimensions, considered minimum estimates, reveal an areal extent of 1.3{{e|6}} km2 and a volume of flood basalts of 1.8×106 km3, yielding a mean eruption rate of 0.6 km3/yr or 2.4 km3/yr if two-thirds of the basalts were emplaced within 0.5 m.y. The total crustal volume is 6.6×106 km3, resulting in a mean crustal accretion rate of 2.2 km3/yr. Thus NAVP ranks among the world's larger igneous provinces if the volcanic margins are considered.
  3. ^ D.W. Jolley; B.R. Bell, eds. (2002). The North Atlantic igneous province stratigraphy, tectonic, volcanic, and magmatic processes. London: Geological Society. ISBN 978-1-86239-108-6.
  4. ^ Courtillot, Vincent E; Renne, Paul R (January 2003). "On the ages of flood basalt events" (PDF). Comptes Rendus Geoscience. 335 (1): 113–140. Bibcode:2003CRGeo.335..113C. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.461.3338. doi:10.1016/S1631-0713(03)00006-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2008-06-15. From file page 7 onward: Brito-Arctic Province section (section also discusses age, pulses of activity, and volume)
  5. ^ Emeleus, C.H.; Gyopari, M.C. (1992). British Tertiary Volcanic Province. Geological Conservation Review. London: Chapman & Hall on behalf of Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
  6. ^ Mussett, A. E.; Dagley, P.; Skelhorn, R. R. (1 January 1988). "Time and duration of activity in the British Tertiary Igneous Province". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 39 (1): 337–348. Bibcode:1988GSLSP..39..337M. doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.1988.039.01.29. S2CID 128895442.