The

Newsletter of the Commission on Large-Volume Basaltic Provinces
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior

Number 2November 1993

IA VCEI

LIP (large igneous province) researchers from far and wide congregated at thelAVCEI Gene ral Assembly in Canberra, Australia, several weeks ago, and themeeting provided a wea lth of intriguing new results and many opportunities forinformal interaction. Graced by lovely spring weather, the Australian National
University provided fine facilities for the gathering in Australia's scenic capital. As
you will note on the masthead, the Commission on Large-Volume Basaltic Provinces
has superseded the old Task Group, thanks to the your enthusiastic response to theinitial issue of Tire LIP Reader and to the; widespread interdisciplinary interest inlarge igneou~ provinces. In this second issue, we address several topics raised
during the inaugural meeting of the Commission in Canberra, topics which willfurther the work of the Commission. We also summarize past and future meetings,
describe products and services available from the Commission, and recount recent
LIP results from the Ocean Drilling Program. Once again, we welcome yo ur ideas,
your input to Tire LIP Reader, and your recruiting of more scientists to join theCommission.

,,Commission on Large-Volume
Basaltic Provinces

LeaderMike Coffin
Institute for Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin
8701 North Mopac Expressway
Austin, TX 78759-8397, USA.
Tel: 1.51 2. 471.0429(ax: 1.5 12.471.8844
internet:mikec@coffin.ig.utexas.edu
Secretq_~john Mahoney
Department o(Geology and Geophysics
School o{ Ocean and Earth Scienceand Technology
University o( Hawaiil.'il.'i Correa Ud.
lfonolu/u, HI .cHiHll, 11.\·A.
Tel: / .HOH.!J.'ifi.H70.'i(a x: I .HOH.!J.' i(i.:!.'i:IH
internet:vyprwe/e pa io.soest. hawaii. edu
News/('ller l'roduclion.Judith /lalla ant/ To11i l.t't' Mitdw/1

Shortly after IAVCEI formed the Task Group on Large-Volume Basaltic
Provinces in 1992, preparation commenced for the first issue of Tlrt• UP Rt'tlda. Ju~tover 700 copies were mailed to prospective me mbe rs earlier this year, and approximately 170 scientists have joined the Commission. These scientists hail from 20
countries on all continents except Antarctica, a nd represent about 20 earth science
disciplines. The first meeting of the Commission was he ld during the lA VCEI
Genera l Assembly, and was attended by approximately 20 member~. In addition It'
outlining the Commission's goa ls and reviewing past Commissit>n ''ctivities, sevt>r., lissues were raised concerning future Commission activi ties.
Steering Committee
The Commission, at present, is run by Mike Coffin and jllhn Mahont>y.
G iven the membe rship size and broad a rray of geoscientifil: disciplines re presentt>d,the task of guiding the Commission would be served betkr by a group tlf ten h'
fiftee n scie ntists from different gL'{lSCit•ntific fields. ldl·ally, most Wllrk of such,,
Steering Commith..'t.' would takt' plan• via phont•, fax, or intl'rnl•t. Wl• Wtluld lil-..t.' Illsolici t the l'ntire Commission nwmbl•rship for voluntt•t•rs to Sl'rVl' tlll tlw Stl•t>ring
Committl•t•; wt• would like at k•ast orw nwmlwr l\l rt•pn·~·nt l'.Kh of tlw f\lllllWingdisciplint•s: gt•odwmistry, gt•ochrorwlogy, gt•odyn.unics, i~rll'tlUS pdrt>lt'~Y· m.trirw
gt'<>phys i,·s, ml'tamtlrpl)i,· pl'trtll<'gy, pall'<>lll.t~rwt i,·s, pl.t rwt.try gl't>lt>~y. Sl•ismi,·
stratigraphy, Sl•ismology, structur.,l gl'<'lt•~y. k''h>n i,·s, .111d Vllk,tnt,ll>~~· · l'lt•.tst•
t'oll t<ll't Mikl' Coffin or John M.thorwy to n·gistl•r ytn rr intt•n•st lH' simpl~· lt>r furtlwrinformation. Wt• wtnrld lil-..l• to h.tVl' .1 Skt•rin~ l'<•mmiltt'<' in pl.t,·l·l>\' I l.ulll.tr\·llJlJ4 .

Volume on Large Igneous Provinces
The realization that continental flood basalts,
volcanic passive margins, and oceanic plateaus sharemany features in common, and the usefulness andsuccess of Continental Flood Basalts, edited by Doug
Macdougall, lead us to consider a similar volume orvolumes which would provide review papers on all
major large igneous provinces. Interest in such aproject appears high; the next step is to solicit interest .
in contributing to and editing the volume. Pleasecontact Mike Coffin or John Mahoney if you areinterested in either (or both).

Special meetings, such as GSAmerica's Pe nrose a nd
AGU's Chapman, or NATO's Advanced Study
Institutes, are another possibility, but usually require asomewhat longer lead time for funding applications
and planning. One idea would be to bring planetarygeologists working on lunar, Martian, and Venusianbasaltic provinces together with continental floodbasalt and oceanic plateau researchers to compare andcontrast LIPs on three planets and a moon. Once again,
please contact one of us if you are interested in helping
to organize any short course, workshop, or special
meeting relevant to LIPs.

Workshops/Short Courses/Special Meetings
A major component of the Commission is thedissemination of knowledge, and forums for thisinclude workshops and short courses associated withmajor meetings and conferences, as well as special
meetings. Planning such activities usually requires alead time of 12 months or more; the 1995 IUGG XXIGeneral Assembly in Boulder, Colorado (see "Meetings Schedule" below), is probably a good target for
the Commission's first short course or workshop. A
short course or workshop on effusive (as opposed toexplosive) volcanism was suggested as an example.

Distinguished Lecturer Series
Another aspect of education is disseminatingknowledge about LIPs to the broader geologicalcommunity. Organizations such as AAPG and JOI/USSAC sponsor distinguished lecturer series, which
could be a model for the Commission. Funding is amajor issue here; neither lAVCEI nor the Commission
have the resources to devote to a series. Organizations
such as NATO, UNESCO, NSF, and the EC may beinterested in contributing to such an endeavor. Pleasecontact one of us if you are interested in investigating
the feasibility of a Distinguished LIP Lecturer Series.

Previous Meetings
As a preface, synopses of recent meetings arewelcome contributions to The LIP Reader. Please send
your -200 word review to one of us.
The Stratigraphic Record of Global Change,
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) 1993
Meeting, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA, 8-12
August 1993. At a meeting focusing on global change,
sedimentologists had the oppor~nity to learn about
LIPs in a session entitled "Causes of Global Change: II.
Impacts and Mantle Convection". Although LIPs havebeen postulated as agents of global change for several
decades, causal relationships have not yet been firmly
established, although temporal correlations are
becoming better defined. Highlights of the meeting
included correlation of Early Cretaceous magmatismin .the Pacific Ocecm to global warming, an oceanic
anoxic sub-event, and paleobiological changes (Arthuret al.; Erba), as well as to mantle convection e;xpressed
as seafloor spreading and deep plumes (Larson).
Dimensions and emplacement rates for five LIPsOntong Java and Kerguelen oceanic plateaus, North
Atlantic volcanic margins, and Deccan and ColumbiaRiver continental flood basalts-suggest influences on
global environment (Coffin). D'Hondt et al. evaluated
the generation and environmental effects of sulfuric
acid aerosol at the K/T boundary. Slightly later, at theend of the Paleocene, environmental changes correlatewith massive, transient volcanism associated withcontinental breakup in the North Atlantic region(Thomas and Eldholm).
Ancient Volcanism and Modem Analogues,IA VCEI General Assembly, Canberra, Australia, 25
September- I October 1993. By far the largest of 15

separate symposia at the meeting was that on "Continental Intraplate and Passive Margin Volcanism";
papers dealing with LIP-related topics also werepresented in symp<;>sia on " Picrites, Komatiites, andAssociated Minera)ization" and "Chemical Evolutionof the Mantle". Points of general interest included
evidence that the Emeishan flood basalts of southwestern China are roughly contemporaneous with theSiberian Traps far to the north (Chung and Jahn). For. the large Parana province of South America, Mantovani et al. presented 40Ar-39Ar dates indicating a 138128 Ma period of eruptive activity, much longer thanpreviously proposed; as a corollary, widespread,chemically defined magma types in the Parana may betime-transgressive. On the other hand, 40Ar-39Ar results
for the Madagascan province indicate a <3 m.y.
interval of eruption, with most ages at 86.5±0.5 Ma(Storey et al.). Gillet al. suggested that the Early
Tertiary basalts of West Greenland may have beencaused by a mantle plume different from the Icelandicplume to which they are commonly ascribed. A studyof Columbia River lavas by Self et al. and Finnemore etal. concluded that, rather than being emplaced very
quickly at extremely high rates, flood basalt flows are
erupted slowly over a period of years or even decades
by endogenous growth. The importance of far-traveled
acidic lavas in some LIPs was underscored in talks byHarris, Steward and Foden, and Milner et al. Presentations by at least six groups interpreted geochemical
trends in various LIPs (and in o ne case, lamproites) inte rms of contamination of magmas by either lower orupper continental crust; several papers argued for
distinctive mantle source regions as well.

Commission Products and Services
We continue to provide products and services
to Commission members. Our LIP bibliography now
contains over 1000 references, thanks to contributions
from several Commission members (more contr-ibutions are welcome!). The bibliography was createdusing EndNote software operating on Macintosh
computers. A directory of Commission members,
contact addresses and numbers, and research interests
is contained in a FileMaker Pro file for Macintosh
computers. Both the bibliography and directory areavailable as Microsoft Word (Macintosh) files as well.
LIPs are defined as voluminous emplacements
of predominantly mafic extrusive and intrusive rockwhose origins lie in processes other than "normal"

seafloor spreading. A new offering is a digital databaseof approximately 100 in situ LlPs < 250 Ma (reproducedbelow), available either as an ASCII file or as a Canvas
file for Macintosh computers. A version of this figure
appeared in the 10/93 issue of Scientific American, andis scheduled to appear in the 2/94 issue of Reviews ofGeophysics.
Copies of the bibliography, directory, and LIP
data base are available in three formats. For a simple
paper copy, just ask Mike Coffin. For a copy ondiskette, please send a blank 3.5 inch diskette to him.
Finally, the digital data files can be transferred overinternet. Send a message via internet to Mike Coffin forinstructions on how to access the files.

LIPs and ODP
As The LIP Reader goes to press, scientists led byCommission membe rs Hans Christian Larsen ofDenmark a nd Andy Saunders of the United Kingdom
a re braving autumn gales aboard Ocean Drilling
Program's (ODP) drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution off
southeast Greenland while drilling the North Atlantic
Tertiary volcanic province. Initial shipboard reports
indicate that the entire feather edge of the seawarddipping reflector sequence, totaling -775 m of basalts
a nd dacites, was penetrated at Site 917 for the firsttime. Drilling continues at Site 918 into the main,
thicke r part of the wedge.
As described in our last issue, ODP is thela rgest international earth sciences research project,with an annual budget of -US$45 million. ODP hasadvanced knowledge of submarine large-vo lume
basaltic provinces significantly by drilling oceanic
plateaus, volcanic passive margins, submarine ridges,and seamount chains. The program is proposal-driven,and anyone may submit a drilling proposal. Guidelines
for writing and submitting proposals may be obtained
from the JOIDES Planning Office, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, WB-10, Seattle, WA
98195. Phone 1.206.543.2203. Facsimile 1.206.685.7652.
Internet: joides@ocean.washington.edu Information on
ODP's long-range thematic plans can be obtained fromthe same address.

3

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Upcoming Meetings

1993
6-10 December: American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, SanFrancisco, California, USA. This meeting includes a special section
entitled, "Geochronological and Tectonic Constraints on Flood Basalt
Volcanism", now scheduled for 6 Oecember.lnformation: AGUMeetings Dept., 2000 Rorida Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009,
USA. Telephone: 1.202.4626900. Facsimile: 1.202.3280566. Internet:
sbell@ kosmos.agu.org

1994
9-15 May: Mafic Magmatism through Time, Workshop, St. Malo, France.
Information: Nick Arndt or John Ludden, Geosciences Rennes,
Universite de Rennes 1, Ave. de General Leclerc, 35402 Rennes
CEDEX, France. Telephone: 33.99.286779. Facsimile: 33.99.2866780.
Internet: amdt@univ-rennes1.fr
23-27 May: American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Baltimore,Maryland, USA. Abstract deadline: 3 March 1994. 1nformation: AGUMeetings Dept., 2000 Elorida Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009,
USA. Telephone: 1.202.4626900. Facsimile: 1.202.3280566. Internet:
sbell@ kosmos.agu.org
5-11 June: Eighth International Conference on Geochronology,
Cosmochronology and Isotope Geology, Berkeley, California, USA.
Information: Paul Renne, Geochronology Center, Institute of Human
0{igins,2453 Ridge Rd., Berkeley, California 94709, USA. Telephone:
1.51 0.644.1350. Facsimile: 1.510.845.9453.
4-8 July: The Icelandic Plume and its Influence on the Evolution of theNE Atlantic, Arthur Holmes European Research Conference,Reykjavik, Iceland. Registration/Deposit deadline: 31 December 1993.
Information: Heidie Gould, The Conference Dept., The GeologicalSociety, Burlington House, Piccadilly, london W1V OJU, UK.
Telephone: 44.71.4349944. Facsimile: 44.71 .4398975.
14-19 August: International Symposium on the Physics and Chemistryof the Upper Mantle, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Abstract deadline: 28February 1994.1nformation: Prof. Wilson Teixeira, fnstituto deGeosci€mcias- Universidade de Sao Paulo, PO Box 20899,01498-970
Sao Paulo, Brazil. Telephone: 55.11.8138777, extension 3987.
Facsimile: 55.11.2104958. Internet: brenha @iag.usp.br
12-16 September. International Volcanological Congress,IAVCEI,Ankara, Turkey. Abstract deadline: 30 April1994. Information: Or. Ayla
Tankut, Organizing Secretary, International Volcanological Congress,
IAVCEI Ankara 1994, Dept. of Geological Engineering, Middle East
Technical University, 06531 Ankara, Turkey. Telephone:
90.312.2101000, extension 2682-2679. Facsimile: 90.312.2101263.
Internet: atankut@trmetu.bitnet
24-27 October: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Seattle,
WA, USA. Information: GSA Meetings Dept., P.O. Box 9140, Boulder,
CO 80301, USA. Telephone 1.303.4472020. Facsimile:
1.303.4471133.

1995
2-14 July 1995: International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics XXI
General Assembly, Boulder, Colorado, USA. Abstract deadline: 1February 1995. 1nformation: IUGG XXI General Assembly, c/oAmerican Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Washington, DC
20009, USA.

L----------------------------- ----- ----~The

LIP Reader
Institute for Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin
8701 North Mopac Expressway
Austin, Texas 78759-8397 USA