Snake River Scientific Drilling Project

 

Description
  • YellowstoneThe Snake River Plain represents a world-class example of active mantle plume volcanism in an intra-continental setting. Because it is young and tectonically undisturbed, the complete record of volcanic activity can be sampled only by drilling. The preliminary scientific plan is to core a series of 4-6 drill holes along the axis of the eastern and western Snake River Plain in order to study the geochemical and stratigraphic variations in plume-related volcanism in space and time.

(Figure ©:Shervais - Geoid map of North America showing large positive geoid anomaly centered under the Yellowstone plume, with up to 15 m of anomalous topography. Note that the effect of this geoid anomaly is the dominant feature in North America and impacts most of the western United States and parts of SW Canada.)


See also:

 

Location

North America, U.S.A., Idaho, Snake River Plain

 

Coordinates

42° 56' 18'' N, 115° 21' 18'' W (Please scroll down to end of page for more information.)

 

Project Start and End
  • not yet determined

 

Programs and Funding

 

Principal Investigators
  • John W. Shervais, Utah State University, Department of Geology
  • Barry B. Hanan, San Diego State University, Department of Geological Sciences, The Baylor Brooks Institute of Isotope Geochemistry
  • Michael John Branney, University of Leicester, Department of Geology
  • Dennis J. Geist, University of Idaho, Department of Geological Sciences
  • Scott S. Hughes, Idaho State University, Department of Geosciences
  • Alexander A. Prokopenko, University of South Carolina, Department of Geological Sciences
  • Francois Holtz, University of Hanover, Institute of Mineralogy
  • Donald Bruce Dingwell, University of Munich, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
  • Jörg Erzinger, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section 4.2, Inorganic and Isotope Geochemistry
  • Cristina Maria Pinheiro De Campos, University of Munich, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
  • Douglas R. Schmitt, University of Alberta at Edmonton, Department of Physics
  • Neil R. Banerjee, University of Western Ontario, Department of Earth Sciences, Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science
  • Lisa A. Morgan, U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, Denver, Central Mineral Resources Team

 

Partners and Contractors

 

Keywords

Basalts , Climate Change , Continental Evolution , Global Environment , Hot Spots , HOTSPOT , ICDP-14/07 , Idaho , Mantle Plumes , Snake River , Thermal Regimes , U.S.A. , Volcanic Systems , YELLOWSTONE

 

Current State

Technical vorkshop in preparation

 

Homepages

 

Google Earth/Maps

Show in Google Earth: Link

 

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