• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.107-118
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• 2003

The axial seamount basalts in the P3 segment of the Phoenix Ridge were obtained from dredging and the K-Ar age determination and whole-rock geochemical analyses have been done for understanding their origin. The K-Ar ages for PRS basalts sampled from 1,000m below sea level are 2.6-2.2 Ma and those for PR3 basalts from 800m are 1.6-1.5 Ma. The younger ages towards the crest of the seamount indicate that this submarine volcano has been grown by central eruptions. The youngest age of about 1.5 Ma for PR3 basalts corresponds to the final eruption period of this volcano. The seamount basalts contain small amounts of normative quartz and olivine. They have transitional geochemical nature between alkaline- and subalkaline-series basalts. Trace and rare earth elements compositions of the seamount basalts are very similar to those of ocean island basalts (OIB), and indicate that this seamount has been formed by a hotspot activity, not in association with a seafloor spreading. The melting degree from the source has decreased with time, and finally the volcanic activity has stopped when the basaltic magma reached mild alkaline composition.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2005

K-Ar ages have been determined for the submarine basalts dredged from the P2 and P3 segments of the Phoenix Ridge, Drake Passage, Antarctica, for better understanding on the extinction of seafloor spreading. At the P3 segment, the K-Ar ages of the rifted ridge basalts are 3.5-6.4 Ma, and those for the axial seamount basalts are 1.5-3.1 Ma. The K-Ar ages for the basalts at the rifted ridge and axial central high in the P2 segment are 2.1 and 1.4-1.9 Ma, respectively. We suggest that the extinction of seafloor spreading at the P3 and P2 segments occurred at 3.3 and 2.0 Ma, respectively, on the basis of ridge structure and formation time of basalts. This result favors a stepwise extinction model rather than a simultaneous one on the extinction of the Phoenix Ridge.