Abstract: Picrite is a kind of ultral-mafic rock formed at temperatures about 300400 ℃ higher than the melting temperature of the mantle-derived basalt, thus it can indicate the presence of hotspots. In this paper, based on two geological databases, GEOROC and PetDB, we aim to find out the temporal-spatial distribution characteristics of Cenozoic picrite and figure out the possible locations of modern high-temperature hotspots by analyzing the aging and tectonic environmental information in the two databases. The study shows that Cenozoic picrite volcanism became active in the Miocene and peaked in the Pleistocene and Holocene. Meanwhile, the tectonic environment of picrite is diverse and regularly changeable. Its tectonic characteristics changed from CFB and ocean island to volcanic arc and ocean island before and after the Miocene and then turned to ocean island in the Pleistocene and Holocene. In general, Cenozoic picrite is mainly produced in oceanic environment, especially ocean island. We conclude that, depending on the picrite exposure characteristics, modern hotspots are occurred in the following 10 locations: Hawaii islands, Colon islands (Ecuador), Iceland, Canary Islands, Effer mountain (Europe), Red Ocean Ridge, East African Rift, Reunion island, Guangdong Province(China) and Kamchatka arc.

Key words: picrite, hotspot, Cenozoic, big data, temporospatial distribution