Data-driven Reconstruction of Pacific Seamount Ages: New Insights into Ocean Basin Volcanic Evolution

Seamounts provide a unique record of volcanic processes in the oceans. In the Pacific Ocean, where seamounts are especially abundant, understanding their age and spatial distributions offers valuable insights into tectonic history, melt-extraction processes, and crustal provenance. However, detailed constraints on seamount formation history remain limited by sparse age data and age-dependent preservation, as older seamounts are progressively lost to subduction.

To address these challenges, we develop a data-driven approach to estimate seamount ages by analyzing relationships among multiple variables. Our analysis reveals that features such as crustal age, seamount height, and proximity to proposed “hotspots” illuminate the complex interactions between plate tectonics and magmatic processes. Using these relationships, we estimate ages for previously undated seamounts including uncertainty assessments. By adjusting volumetric measurements for ancient crustal area and subduction losses, we identify distinct phases in Pacific volcanism: (1) an Early Cretaceous period dominated by Large Igneous Provinces, (2) a Mid-Late Cretaceous transition marked by increasing non-hotspot seamount volcanism, and (3) a Cenozoic regime characterized by variable spreading rates and evolving ridge-seamount relationships.

This reconstruction provides new insights into the relative contributions of clearly plate-related- and other processes to Pacific volcanism through time, suggesting a more complex interplay between lithospheric and sub-lithospheric dynamics than previously recognized. Similar methods could be applied to other oceans, including the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, where they might also be adapted to discriminate crustal types.