Oceanic plateau of the Hawaiian mantle plume head subducted to the uppermost lower mantle

Abstract

Finding the Emperor's head Volcanic island and seamount chains form from deep-seated plumes of hot material upwelling through the mantle. The most famous of these is the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. However, a large volcanic structure associated with a plume head that should precede the chain has long been missing. Wei et al. finally identified the likely location of this structure in the mantle under eastern Russia. The structure was likely subducted 20 million to 30 million years ago, and the location helps constrain several geodynamic processes. Science , this issue p. 983

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