Science. 1989 Oct 6;246(4926):103-7. doi: 10.1126/science.246.4926.103.
Continental flood basalt eruptions have resulted in sudden and massive accumulations of basaltic lavas in excess of any contemporary volcanic processes. The largest flood basalt events mark the earliest volcanic activity of many major hot spots, which are thought to result from deep mantle plumes. The relative volumes of melt and eruption rates of flood basalts and hot spots as well as their temporal and spatial relations can be explained by a model of mantle plume initiation: Flood basalts represent plume "heads" and hot spots represent continuing magmatism associated with the remaining plume conduit or "tail." Continental rifting is not required, although it commonly follows flood basalt volcanism, and flood basalt provinces may occur as a natural consequence of the initiation of hot-spot activity in ocean basins as well as on continents.
大陆溢流玄武岩喷发导致玄武岩熔岩的突然大量堆积，超过任何当代火山过程。最大的溢流玄武岩事件标志着许多主要热点的最早火山活动，这些热点被认为是由深部地幔羽流引起的。溢流玄武岩和热点的熔体体积和喷发率以及它们的时空关系可以用地幔羽流启动模型来解释：溢流玄武岩代表羽流“头部”，热点代表与剩余羽流管道或“尾部”相关联的持续岩浆作用。不需要大陆裂谷，但它通常紧随溢流玄武岩火山作用之后，溢流玄武岩省可能是热点活动在海洋盆地以及大陆上启动的自然结果。
