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Lithospheric Control On The Spatial Pattern Of Azores Hotspot Seafloor Anomalies: Constraints From A Model Of Plume-Triple Junction Interaction, Jennifer E. Georgen

OES Faculty Publications

The Azores hotspot is located near a plate boundary triple junction (TJ) consisting of the Terceira Rift (TER) and two branches of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The seafloor expression of the Azores hotspot has a complex spatial pattern. Latitudinal anomalies in seafloor depth and other data along the MAR extend farther to the south of the inferred location of the mantle heterogeneity than to the north. Longitudinal anomalies span a greater distance to the east of the MAR (along the TER) than to the west. A finite element model is used to investigate how the divergence of three plates away …