Hotspot Rift Interaction & Geochemistry of the North Atlantic Mantle: the Aegir Ridge 'Hole' in the Iceland Hotspot, 2014

Surrounded by extensive breakup volcanism on the margins, and the Iceland-Faeroes volcanic ridge, the magma-starved basin formed by the extinct Aegir Ridge is a major gap in the North Atlantic large igneous province, the latter created by the Iceland hotspot. Wide-angle seismic data show that the Aegir Ridge began creating moderately thick crust (8-11 km) the first 2-4 Myr spreading; but magma production quickly waned to form 3.5-6 km thick crust for the remaining spreading (51.4-25 Ma). This weak or non-existent hotspot influence despite extensive volcanism nearby provides a unique opportunity to learn about the dynamics of hotspot-rift interaction.