The Conrad Rise Revisited: Eocene to Miocene Volcanism and Its Implications for Magma Sources and Tectonic Development

Abstract

AbstractThe Conrad Rise (CR), located midway between Antarctica and the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR), remains one of the least explored submarine large igneous provinces (LIPs) in the Indian Ocean to date. Relying on only seafloor paleomagnetic records, early studies hypothesized that the formation of the CR occurred during the Late Cretaceous. Here, we present new geochemical and geochronological data, including Sr‒Nd‒Pb‒Hf isotopes and 40Ar/39Ar data. Our results indicate that the uppermost part of the CR (Ob and Lena seamounts) unexpectedly formed later than previously predicted, at approximately 40 Ma in an intraplate setting. Another small seamount north of the Ob seamount formed later, at 8.5 Ma. The isotopic composition of lava from the small seamount north of the Ob seamount overlaps with that commonly defined by the Indian plume component. Overall, the isotopic variations defined by the volcanic suite from the CR could be accounted for by a three‐component mixing model involving the common component, lower continental crust, and depleted mantle endmembers. The newly obtained 40Ar/39Ar ages imply that the CR volcanism might have been triggered by major regional plate reorganizations during the middle to late Eocene and the late Miocene, inducing the release of a small upwelling rising from the African large low‐velocity province.