Publication Name: Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference 2018
Authors: Maria Seton, Simon Williams, Nick Mortimer, Sebastien Meffre, Steven Micklethwaite, Sabin Zahirovic
Date Published: February 2018
Number of Pages: 8
Abstract:
In October-November 2012 a geophysical mapping and dredging campaign in the eastern Coral Sea was conducted on the RV Southern Surveyor during voyage ss2012_v06 (ECOSATI). Part of this campaign was focussed in northernmost Zealandia where volcanic seamounts and uplifted portions of the Lord Howe Rise were targeted to determine the age and location of the northern portion of the Lord Howe Seamount Chain. Geophysical and geological analysis of the dredge sites from the southernmost South Rennell Trough and Chesterfield Plateau confirm the extension of the Lord Howe Seamount Chain ~200 km northward than previously identified, with an age-progression extending to ~27 28 Ma. These new samples, together with previously published samples from the youngest part of the chain, show consistency with both Indo-Atlantic and Pacific hotspots.