Ontong Java Plateau

Ontong Java Plateau
Stratigraphic range: Cretaceous 125–90 Ma
TypeIgneous
Area1.5 million km2 (580,000 sq mi)
Lithology
PrimaryBasalt
Location
Coordinates3°03′S 160°23′E / 3.050°S 160.383°E / -3.050; 160.383
RegionSouth Pacific Ocean
Type section
Named forOntong Java Atoll
Ontong Java Plateau is located in Pacific Ocean
Ontong Java Plateau
Ontong Java Plateau
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Location of the Ontong Java Plateau in the Pacific Ocean

The Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) is a massive oceanic plateau located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of the Solomon Islands. The OJP was formed around 116 million years ago (Ma),[1] with a much smaller volcanic event around 90 Ma. Two other southwestern Pacific plateaus, Manihiki and Hikurangi, now separated from the OJP by Cretaceous oceanic basins, are of similar age and composition and probably formed as a single plateau and a contiguous large igneous province together with the OJP.[2] When eruption of lava had finished, the Ontong Java–Manihiki–Hikurangi plateau covered 1% of Earth's surface and represented a volume of 80 million km3 (19 million cu mi) of basaltic magma.[3] This "Ontong Java event", first proposed in 1991, represents the largest volcanic event of the past 200 million years, with a magma eruption rate estimated at up to 22 km3 (5.3 cu mi) per year over 3 million years, several times larger than the Deccan Traps.[4] The smooth surface of the OJP is punctuated by seamounts such as the Ontong Java Atoll, one of the largest atolls in the world.[5][6]

  1. ^ Davidson et al. 2023, Sections:Editor's summary, Abstract
  2. ^ Taylor, B. (2006). "The single largest oceanic plateau: Ontong Java–Manihiki–Hikurangi" (PDF). Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 241 (3–4): 372–380. Bibcode:2006E&PSL.241..372T. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.11.049. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  3. ^ Rizo 2016
  4. ^ Tarduno et al. 1991, p. 401
  5. ^ Neal et al. 1997, Physical features and gross structure of the OJP, pp. 184–187
  6. ^ Neal, Clive R.; Mahoney, John J.; Kroenke, Loren W.; Duncan, Robert A.; Petterson, Michael G. (2013-03-18), "The Ontong Java Plateau", Large Igneous Provinces: Continental, Oceanic, and Planetary Flood Volcanism, American Geophysical Union, pp. 183–216, doi:10.1029/gm100p0183, ISBN 978-1-118-66434-6