The Balleny hotspot is a
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
hotspot located in the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
. The hotspot created the
Balleny Islands
The Balleny Islands () are a series of uninhabited islands in the Southern Ocean extending from 66°15' to 67°35'S and 162°30' to 165°00'E. The group extends for about in a northwest-southeast direction. The islands are heavily glaciated an ...
, which forms a chain that extends for about in a northwest-southeast direction.
Due to plate tectonics the hot spot was under different parts of the ocean bed in the past, and this has resulted in a chain of
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...
s extending from the
East Tasman Plateau
The East Tasman Plateau is a submerged microcontinent south east of Tasmania. Its area is , and it is mostly from deep. It is a circular piece of continental rocks surrounded by oceanic crust. Volcanism occurred there .C. Gaina, R. D. Müller, ...
.
[ Isotopes and trace elements in the volcanic rocks indicated a high U/Pb mantle source. The same pattern is seen in basalt from ]Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, but not from Victoria.[
]
References
Hotspots of the Southern Ocean
Geography of the Balleny Islands
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