Age of the Hawaiian-Emperor bend

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data on alkalic and tholeiitic basalts from Diakakuji and Kinmei Seamounts in the vicinity of the Hawaiian-Emperor bend indicate that these volcanoes are about 41 and 39 m.y. old, respectively. Combined with previously published age data on Yuryaku and Ko¯ko Seamounts, the new data indicate that the best age for the bend is 42.0 ± 1.4 m.y.

Petrochemical data indicate that the volcanic rocks recovered from bend seamounts are indistinguishable from Hawaiian volcanic rocks, strengthening the hypothesis that the Hawaiian-Emperor bend is part of the Hawaiian volcanic chain.

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar total fusion ages on altered whole-rock basalt samples are consistent with feldspar ages and with⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating data and appear to reflect the crystallization ages of the samples even though conventional K-Ar ages are significantly younger. The cause of this effect is not known but it may be due to low-temperature loss of³⁹Ar from nonretentive montmorillonite clays that have also lost⁴⁰Ar.