Pb, Sr AND Nd-ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF PALEO AND NEO-TETHYAN OCEANIC CRUSTS IN THE EASTERN TETHYAN DOMAIN: IMPLICATION FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN-TYPE ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE

Pb, Sr AND Nd-ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF PALEO AND NEO-TETHYAN OCEANIC CRUSTS IN THE EASTERN TETHYAN DOMAIN: IMPLICATION FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN-TYPE ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE

Pb, Sr AND Nd-ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF PALEO AND NEO-TETHYAN OCEANIC CRUSTS IN THE EASTERN TETHYAN DOMAIN: IMPLICATION FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN-TYPE ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE

The isotopic signature of mid\|ocean ridge basalts (MORB) from the Indian Ocean is different from that of MORB from the Pacific and North\|Atlantic oceans.. The Indian MORB is characterized by lower 206 Pb/ 204 Pb, hi gher 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, and lower 206 Pb/ 204 Pb for given 143 Nd/ 144 Nd than the latter (Hart, 1984; Castillo, 1988; Mahoney et al., 1998). Why the Indian Ocean mantle domain is different from the Pacific and North\|Atlantic ocean mantle domain is still unclear. Two general classes of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of Indian mantle (Mahoney et al., 1998). The first one is that the components of the Indian Ocean mantle domain are a fairly young mantle end\|member created during the processes of breakup of the Gondwana continent to form the Indian Ocean. The second hypothesis posits that the Indian MORB\|type isotopic signature is a long\|lived mantle domain that existed prior to the formation of the present Indian Ocean. Thus it appears that one of the keys to a better understanding of origin of the Indian Ocean\|type isotopic signature depends on its age. Although some studies (Mahoney et al., 1998; Weis and Frey, 1997) showed that the isotopic signature was as old as the Indian ocean crust (140Ma), basalts investigated in the Indian Ocean region do not prove or disprove the existence of the Indian MORB\|type isotopic signature prior to the Indian Ocean because they were taken from the Indian ocean basin itself.