Large Igneous Province Workshop

July 21-26, 2007 – Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Convener: Clive Neal, Mike Coffin

Summary

Large igneous provinces (LIPs), encompassing oceanic plateaus, magma dominated ‘volcanic’ continental margins, submarine ridges, flood basalts in ocean basins, and continental flood basalts on land, constitute a first-order problem in Earth science. The origin(s) of LIPs and the processes involved in their formation are critically important for understanding mantle and crustal geodynamics. Investigating relationships between LIP emplacement and global environmental change are crucial for advancing our understanding of the Earth system. The IODP Initial Science Plan Earth, Oceans, and Life highlights LIPs as a high-priority initiative for IODP. The major goal of this LIP workshop was to develop strategies for achieving a better understanding through scientific ocean drilling of both solid Earth processes and changes in Earth’s environment associated with LIP emplacement. The proposed workshop was the first comprehensive examination of the role of ocean drilling in understanding the origin(s) of LIPs and links between their emplacement and environmental changes since the 1990 JOI/USSAC workshop “Large Igneous Provinces“

Scientific Drilling Workshop Report (pdf)
EOS article (pdf)

For more information on this workshop, please visit our co-sponsor’s, IODP-MI’s, LIPs Workshop website.