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Science 10 October 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5336, pp. 240 - 241
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5336.240
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Perspectives

GEOLOGY:
Do Continents Part Passively, or Do They Need a Shove?

Richard W. Carlson

From time to time in geologic history, immense quantities of magma pour from the Earth, forming what are known as flood basalts. The mechanism is still not completely understood: Does continental rifting lead to the release of basaltic magma, or does the flow of magma drive the plate motion? In his Perspective, Carlson discusses a paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters in which the authors used isotope ratios of rhenium and osmium to study the flood basalts of the Columbia River region of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The evidence indicates that breakup of the continents may be driven by volcanic plumes from below.

The author is at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, DC 20015, USA. E-mail: carlson{at}dtm.ciw.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)