Volatiles in Submarine Basaltic Glasses from the Northern Kerguelen Plateau (ODP Site 1140): Implications for Source Region Compositions, Magmatic Processes, and Plateau Subsidence

Submarine pillow basalts (34 Ma) recovered from the NorthernKerguelen Plateau at ODP Site 1140 contain abundant unalteredglass, providing the first opportunity to measure the volatilecontents of tholeiitic basaltic magmas related to the Kerguelenmantle plume. The glasses have La/Sm and Nb/Zr ratios that varyfrom values similar to Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR) MORB (Unit1), to slightly more enriched (Unit 6), to values transitionalbetween SEIR MORB and basaltic magmas formed by melting of theKerguelen plume (Units 2 and 3). Volatile contents for glassesin Units 1 and 6 are similar to depleted mid-ocean ridge basalt(MORB) values (0·25–0·27 wt % H₂O, 1240–1450ppm S, 42–54 ppm Cl). In contrast, H₂O contents are higherfor the enriched glasses (Unit 2, 0·44 wt % H₂O; Unit3, 0·69 wt %), as are S (1500 ppm) and Cl (146–206ppm). Cl/K ratios for all glasses are relatively low (0·03–0·04),indicating that assimilation of hydrothermally altered materialdid not occur during shallow-level crystallization. H₂O/Ce forthe enriched glasses (Units 2 and 3) is significantly lowerthan Pacific and South Atlantic MORB values, suggesting thatlow H₂O/Ce may be an inherent characteristic of the Kerguelenplume source. Vapor saturation pressures calculated using theH₂O and CO₂ contents of the glasses indicate that