New research published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems sheds new light on how the Kerguelen Large Igneous Province in the southern Indian Ocean broke apart. Now largely submerged, it preserves the remnants of one of Earth’s largest magmatic provinces, built by immense outpourings of magma over millions of years.
By analyzing rocks dredged for the first time from William's Ridge and Broken Ridge, the study shows that breakup did not happen in a single event, but through repeated episodes of rifting focused along the weak margin of the William's Ridge microcontinent, helping explain the unusually long 45-million-year gap between emplacement and final fragmentation.
Tescan TIMA™ made a key contribution to this work through petrographic analysis at Curtin University's John de Laeter Center. Using Tescan TIMA™, the researchers carried out automated mineral identification and quantified mineral abundances across 33 polished thin sections, providing crucial mineralogical context for interpreting the rocks' textures, alteration, geochemistry, and tectonic history. Together, the results offer an important view of how mantle plumes, rifting, and continental fragments interact during the breakup of large volcanic provinces.
About Tescan TIMA™
TIMA™ is an automated mineralogy platform for SEM-based analysis that helps users identify minerals and quantify their abundance, associations, textures, grain and particle populations, and elemental distribution across diverse sample types. By combining automated acquisition, multi-EDS analysis, adaptive analytical modes, and robust mineral libraries, TIMA™ is designed to deliver consistent, reproducible mineralogical data while reducing manual effort. TIMA™ also supports workflows involving other microanalytical techniques, such as laser ablation or electron microprobe, by helping users quickly identify and locate relevant mineral phases for follow-up analysis.
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