Comprehensive review of the origin and history of mantle plumes throughout geologic time. Includes material from the fields of geology, geophysics, and geochemistry. Topics include; hotspots and mantle upwelling; large igneous provinces (including examples from Mars and Venus); mantle plume generation and melting in plumes; plumes as tracers of mantle processes; plumes and continental growth; Archean mantle plumes; superplumes; mantle plume events in Earth history, and their effect on the atmosphere, oceans, and life.
1. Introduction; 2. Hotspots and mantle upwellings; 3. Large igneous provinces; 4. Mantle plume generation and melting; 5. Plumes as tracers of mantle processes; 6. Mantle plumes and continental growth; 7. Mantle plumes in the Archean; 8. Superplume events; 9. Mantle plumes and earth systems; Conclusion.
'This book provides a good precis of current arguments, it is provocative in the topics linked together and it is an excellent basis for further discussion in a fast moving field.' Chris J. Hawkesworth, Geoscientist