Skip to main content
Earth, Planets and Space
Download PDF
  • Letter
  • Published:

Paleomagnetic investigation of seamounts in the vicinity of Ogasawara Fracture Zone northwest of the Marshall Islands, western Pacific

Earth, Planets and Space volume 55, pages 355–360 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Nine seamounts located northwest of the Marshall Islands near the Ogasawara Fracture Zone were inverted for their uniform magnetization using total field magnetic anomaly and detailed bathymetric data. The paleomagnetic poles of most of the seamounts in our study area generally cluster around the Pacific Apparent Polar Wander Path (APWP). However, those that deviate significantly from the APWP are located south of the fracture zone. The seamounts in our study area can also be divided into two groups on the basis of complexity of the observed magnetic field anomaly. In general, simple conical seamounts exhibit a dipole-like field anomaly pattern with a paired anomaly low and high, and can be explained to a large extent by a uniformly magnetized source. On the other hand, those with complex morphology are larger in size, show multiple magnetic lows and highs and lie very close to or within the fracture zones, suggesting that they were formed by multi-stage volcanism.

References

  • Abrams, L. J., R. L. Larson, T. H. Shiply, and Y. Lancelot, The seismic stratigraphy and sedimentary history of the East Mariana and Pigafetta basins of the western Pacific, in Pro. ODP Sci. Results, vol. 129, edited by R. L. Larson, Y. Lancelot, A. Fisher, and E. L. Winterer, pp. 551–569, College Station, 1992.

  • Duncan, R. A. and D. A. Clague, Pacific plate motion recorded by linear volcanic chains, in The Ocean Basins and Margins, vol. 7A, edited by A. E. M. Nairn, F. G. Stehli, and S. Uyeda, pp. 89–121, Plenum Publishing, New York, 1985.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J., L. Tauxe, J. A. Hilderbrand, H. Staudigel, and P. Lonsdale, Nonuniform magnetization of Jasper seamounts, J. Geophys. Res., 93, 12,159–12,175, 1988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J., H. Staudigel, and L. Tauxe, Contribution of induced magnetization to magnetization of seamounts, Nature, 342, 170–173, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koppers, A. A. P., H. Staudigel, J. R. Wijbrans, and M. S. Pringle, The Magellan seamount trail: Implications for Cretaceous hotspot volcanism and absolute Pacific plate motion, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 163, 53–68, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menard, H. W., Darwin reprise, J. Geophys. Res., 89, 9960–9968, 1984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakanishi, M., K. Tamaki, and K. Kobayashi, Mesozoic magnetic anomaly lineations and seafloor spreading history of the northwestern Pacific, J. Geophys. Res., 94, 15,437–15,462, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, R. L., L. Shure, and J. A. Hilderbrand, The application of inverse theory to seamount magnetism, Rev. Geophys., 25, 17–40, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plouff, D., Gravity and magnetic fields of polygonal prisms and application to magnetic terrain correction, Geophysics, 41, 727–741, 1976.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sager, W. W., Seamount Paleomagnetism and Pacific Plate Tectonics, Ph. D. thesis, 472 pp., University of Hawaii, 1983.

  • Sager, W. W., Seamount age estimates from Paleomagnetism and their implications for the history of volcanism on the Pacific plate, in Geology and Offshore Mineral Resources of the Central Pacific Basin, Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Series, vol. 14, edited by B. H. Keating and B. R. Bolton, pp. 21–37, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sager, W. W. and M. S. Pringle, Mid-Cretaceous to early Tertiary Apparent Polar Wander Path of the Pacific plate, J. Geophys. Res., 93, 11753–11771, 1988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sager, W. W., R. A. Duncan, and D. W. Handschumacher, Paleomagnetism of the Japanese and Marcus-Wake Seamounts, Western Pacific Ocean, in The Mesozoic Pacific: Geology, Tectonics, and Volcanism, Monograph 77, edited by M. S. Pringle, W. W. Sager, W. V. Sliter, and S. Stein, pp. 401–435, AGU, Washington DC, 1993.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tarduno, J. A. and W. W. Sager, Polar standstill of the Mid-Cretaceous Pacific plate and its geodynamic implications, Science, 269, 956–959, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, P. R. and N. C. Smoot, The Geisha guyots: Multibeam bathymetry and morphometric interpretation, J. Geophys. Res., 89, 11,085–11,107, 1984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Resources Laboratory, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, P.O. Box 29, Seoul, 425-600, Korea

    Tae-Gook Lee, Sang-Mook Lee & Jae-Woon Moon

  2. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea

    Tae-Gook Lee & Kiehwa Lee

Authors
  1. Tae-Gook Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sang-Mook Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jae-Woon Moon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kiehwa Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lee, TG., Lee, SM., Moon, JW. et al. Paleomagnetic investigation of seamounts in the vicinity of Ogasawara Fracture Zone northwest of the Marshall Islands, western Pacific. Earth Planet Sp 55, 355–360 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351769

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351769

Key words