Page 50 - 4571
P. 50

Task 3. Copy out all the proper nouns (geographical names) from the text in
                  Task 2. Try to define the geographical position of all the mentioned objects on the
                  map. Transcribe the proper nouns.

                         Task 4. Look at Figure 8.2, A and B. Describe and discuss:
                          the three ways of the global distribution of volcanism;
                          convergent plate volcanism (island arc);
                           divergent plate volcanism (oceanic ridge).

                                                   Individual work

                         Task  1.  Read  the  text  and  translate  it  into  Ukrainian  (in  written  form).
                  Build up a list of key terms to the text. While reading have a look at Figure 8.3: A,
                  B and C. The figure shows the model of hot-spot volcanism thought to explain the
                  formation  of  oceanic  plateaus  and  the  volcanic  islands  associated  with  these
                  features. A. A rising mantle plume with large bulbous head and narrow tail. B.
                  Rapid  decompression  melting  of  the  head  of  a  mantle  plume  produces  vast
                  outpourings of basalt to generate the oceanic plateau. Large basaltic plateaus can
                  also  form  on  continental  crust—examples  include  the  Columbia  Plateau  in  the
                  north-western United States and India’s Deccan Plateau. C. Later, less voluminous
                  activity  caused  by the  rising  plume  tail  produces  a  linear  volcanic  chain  on  the
                  seafloor.

                         Most intraplate volcanism (meaning “within the plate”) occurs where a mass of
                  hotter than normal mantle material called a mantle plume ascends toward the surface.
                  Although the depth at which mantle plumes originate is still hotly debated, some appear
                  to  form  deep  within  Earth  at  the  core–mantle  boundary.  These  plumes  of  solid  yet
                  mobile mantle rock rise toward the surface in a manner similar to the blobs that form
                  within a lava lamp. Like the blobs in a lava lamp, a mantle plume has a bulbous head
                  that draws out a narrow stalk beneath it as it rises. Once the plume head nears the top of
                  the  mantle,  decompression  melting  generates  basaltic  magma  that  may  eventually
                  trigger volcanism at the surface.
                         The result is a localized volcanic region a few hundred km across called a hot
                  spot. More than 40 hot spots have been identified, and most have persisted for millions
                  of years. The land surface surrounding a hot spot is often elevated because it is buoyed
                  up by the rising plume of warm low-density material. By measuring the heat flow in
                  these regions, geologists have determined that the mantle beneath hot spots must be 100
                  to 150 °C hotter than normal mantle material.
                         Mantle  plumes  are  responsible  for  the  vast  outpourings  of  basaltic  lava  that
                  created the large basalt plateaus including the India’s Deccan Plateau, and the Ontong
                  Java  Plateau  in  the  western  Pacific.  The  most  widely  accepted  explanation  for  these
                  eruptions,  which  emit  extremely  large  volumes  of  basaltic  lava  over  relatively  short
                  time  intervals,  involves  a  plume  with  a  monsterous  head  and  a  long,  narrow  tail
                  (FIGURE  8.2,  A).  Upon  reaching  the  base  of  the  lithosphere,  these  unusually  hot,
                  massive heads begin to melt. Melting progresses rapidly, causing the burst of volcanism
                  that emits voluminous outpourings of lava to form a huge basalt plateau in a matter of a
                  million or so years (FIGURE 8.2, B). The comparatively short initial eruptive phase is
                  followed  by  tens  of  millions  of  years  of  less  voluminous  activity,  as  the  plume  tail
                  slowly rises to the surface. Extending away from most large flood basalt provinces is a
                  chain of volcanic structures, similar to the Hawaiian chain that terminates over an active



                                                             49
   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55