October 14, 2010 Journal article Open Access

Coral Patch and Ormonde seamounts as a product of the Madeira hotspot, Eastern Atlantic Ocean

D'Oriano, Filippo; Angeletti, Lorenzo; Capotondi, Lucilla; Laurenzi, Marinella A.; López Correa, Matthias; Taviani, Marco; Torelli, Luigi; Trua, Teresa; Vigliotti, Luigi; Zitellini, Nevio

New detailed swath bathymetry and bottom samples from Coral Patch and Ormonde seamounts provide constraints on the emplacement of the Madeira hotspot in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Swath bathymetric data document that Coral Patch is a composite structure, made up of at least nine distinct volcanic centres. Lithified pelagic carbonates infilling fissures in lava blocks constrain a minimal age for the volcanism in the Early Miocene and represent the first documentation of Coral Patch acting as an offshore terrigenous-starved seamount. At Coral Patch, as already observed at the Ormonde seamount, volcanism was emplaced on top of a pre-existing relief resulting from the regional tectonic compressive regime.