An assessment of local and regional isotopic equilibrium in the mantle

The assumption of local equilibrium during partial melting is fundamental to the interpretation of isotope and trace element data for mantle-derived rocks. If disequilibrium melting is significant, the scale of the chemical and isotopic heterogeneity in the mantle indicated by the data could be as small as the grain size of the mantle rock, and the isotope data themselves are then of doubtful value to the understanding of mantle processes. To assess the scale of isotopic heterogeneity in a partially molten asthenosphere we review the Sr isotopic data of volcanic rocks from oceanic regions and the available experimental data on diffusion kinetics in minerals and melts similar to those existing in the mantle. Although diffusion data are scarce and afflicted with uncertainties, most of the diffusion coefficients for cations in mantle minerals at temperatures of 1000–1200°C appear to be greater than 10^?13 cm² s^?1. Sr diffusion in liquid basalt is more rapid, with diffusion coefficients of D = 10^?7 to 10^?6cm²s^?1 near 1300°C. Simple model calculations show that, with these D values, a fluid-free mantle can maintain a state of disequilibrium on a centimeter scale for periods of 10⁸ to 10⁹ years. The state of disequilibrium found in many mantle-derived xenoliths is thus easily explained. A partially molten mantle, on the other hand, will tend to equilibrate locally in less than 10⁵ to 10⁶ years. The analytical data on natural rocks likewise indicate that the inhomogeneities are both old (>FX1.5 b.y.) and regional in character and that the consistent isotopic difference between ocean island and ocean floor volcanics cannot be explained by small-scale heterogeneity of the source rock.     

Attenuation models of the earth

Free oscillation and body wave data are used to construct average Q models for the earth. The data set includes fundamental and overtone observations of the radial, spheroidal and toroidal modes, ScS observations and amplitudes of body waves as a function of distance. The preferred model includes a low-Q zone at both the top and the bottom of the mantle. In these regions the seismic velocities are likely to be frequency dependent in the “seismic” band. Absorption in the mantle is predominantly due to losses in shear. Compressional absorption may be important in the inner core.A grain-boundary relaxation model is proposed that explains the dominance of shear over compressional dissipation, the roughly frequency independent average values for Q and the variation of Q with depth. In the high-Q regions, the lithosphere and the midmantle (200–2000 km), Q is predicted to be frequency dependent. However, the low-Q regions of the earth, where Q is roughly frequency independent, dominate the observations of attenuation.     

Isotopic and incompatible element constraints on the genesis of island arc volcanics from Cold Bay and Amak Island,Aleutians, and implications for mantle structure

Cold Bay and Amak Island, two Quaternary volcanic centers in the eastern Aleutians, are orthogonal relative to the trench and separated by ~50 km. Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions of the calc-alkaline andesite magmas show no sign of contamination from continental crust (average ${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}\text{= 0.70323}$, ${}^{143}\text{Nd}{}^{144}\text{Nd}\text{= 0.51301}$, ${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{= 18.82}$, ${}^{207}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}\text{= 15.571}$). These samples plot within the mantle arrays for Sr-Nd and for Pb and are similar to arcs such as the Marianas and New Britain (Sr-Nd) and Marianas and Tonga (Pb). Incompatible element ratios for the Aleutian andesites (K/Rb ~ 332, K/Cs ~ 10,600, K/Sr ~ 22.4, K/Ba ~ 18.3, Ba/La ~ 60) are within the range reported for arc basalts, despite the difference in degree of fractionation.Average K content, K/Rb, K/Ba and K/Sr are approximately the same for basalts from arcs and from oceanic islands (OIB); K/Cs is a factor of 4 lower and Ba/La almost 3 times higher in arcs. Abundance ratio correlations indicate that arcs are enriched in Cs and depleted in La relative to OIB, with other incompatible element abundances very similar. Histograms of Sr and Nd isotopic compositions for MORB, OIB, and intraoceanic arcs show remarkably similar peaks and distribution patterns for intraoceanic arcs and OIB.A “plum pudding” model for the upper mantle best accommodates a) geochemical coherence of OIB and IAV, b) the existence of mantle plumes at some oceanic islands, and c) the presence of a MORB-type source at back arc spreading centers. In this model, OIB plums are imbedded in a MORB matrix; small degrees of melting generate OIB-type magmas while larger degrees of melting dilute the OIB magma with MORB matrix melts.OIB plums are merely less robust lower mantle plumes (i.e., blobs) which are distributed throughout the upper mantle by convection. The existence of at least two types of OIB, as indicated by Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes, suggests that nuggets of recycled oceanic lithosphère may coexist with lower-mantle plums and that both may be tapped in arcs and intraplate environments.     

A quantitative evaluation of pyrite weathering

Namurian sediments at Mam Tor, Derbyshire are cut by a major landslide and a geological fault. Both channel oxygenated waters into fragmented pyritic shales. Pyrite is rapidly oxidized to sulphuric acid, 1.5 g being destroyed by each litre of water passing through the fault-crush. More than 99 per cent of the acid, however, is immediately consumed in clay-mineral transformation and carbonate dissolution reactions. The typical acid-sulphate ‘ochre’ springs thus retain less than 1 per cent of the acid generated in the crush zone. These very rapid and large scale chemical transformations probably contribute to the slide's continuing activity.     

The control of alkalies and uranium in seawater by ocean crust alteration

Alteration of the oceanic crust during hydrothermal circulation of seawater produces fluxes of K, Rb and Cs between these reservoirs which are significant compared to the river input of these elements. The ocean crust U flux, on the other hand, is probably not significant. The upper crust, altered at low temperature, is a sink for all of these elements (as shown by direct analysis of upper crustal materials). The lower crust is a source for K, Rb, and Cs, based on the observation that high-temperature fluids exiting the crust as “host springs” are enhanced over seawater in K, Rb and Cs concentration. While the sign of the hot spring fluxes may be correct, the absolute magnitudes cannot be, as the calculated yearly hot spring flux of Rb and Cs significantly exceeds the total Rb and Cs inventory of newly formed unaltered crust. By modelling the crust as a melt/cumulate combination, we show that the crust as a whole is a sink for K, Rb, Cs, and probably U, with yearly fluxes of1.1 × 10¹³, 2.6 ×10¹⁰, 6.0 × 10⁸ and 1.0 × 10⁹g, respectively (com to yearly river dissolved fluxes of7.4 × 10¹³, 3.5 × 10¹⁰, 6.4 × 10⁸and1.0 × 10¹⁰g, respectively). The alteratio oceanic crust appears capable of quantitatively balancing the river inputs of Rb and Cs. For K, an additional sink comprising～ 85% of the river input is necessary. Because this missing K sink cannot be arbitrarily manipulated without destroying the Rb and Cs balances, a sink with K/Rb higher than the continental crust is required, and may possible be found in the sediments of the continental shelves.     

Chemical and isotopic evidence for mixing between depleted and enriched mantle,northwestern U.S.A.

Combined elemental and Sr, Nd, Pb and O isotopic data for late Cenozoic olivine tholeiite lavas from the northwestern Great Basin indicate derivation from at least two chemically and isotopically distinct mantle source regions with no significant modification by interaction with continental crust. The lack of crustal involvement is a direct reflection of the extensional tectonic environment which favors rapid ascent of magmas, minimal residence time in crustal magma chambers and scattered fissure eruptions.The observed chemical and isotopic variations in the tholeiite suite are attributed to mixing between depleted oceanic type mantle (${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}\text{~ 0.7030}$ and ${}^{143}\text{Nd}{}^{144}\text{Nd}\text{~ 0.51305}$) and old, chemically heterogeneous, isotopically enriched subcontinental mantle (${}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}\text{Sr}\text{~ 0.7078}$ and ${}^{143}\text{Nd}{}^{144}\text{Nd}\text{~ 0.51233}$). Model incompatible element concentrations suggest strong similarities between the depleted mantle and the mantles beneath normal oceanic ridge segments and back-arc basins and between the enriched mantle and the mantle beneath enriched oceanic ridge segments such as the Azores. Superimposed upon the characteristics derived from the two component mixing model may be the effects of a third mantle source which is identifiable only by its apparent radiogenic ${}^{206}\text{Pb}{}^{204}\text{Pb}$ ratios. If present, this third source may reflect a component derived from the downgoing slab of an ancient subduction zone.     

Early Cretaceous ostracoda from the Goban Spur; D.S.D.P. leg 80, site 549

Site 549 recovered a Lower Cretaceous succession which has been shown to include parts of the Barremian and Albian stages. Forty-four species of Ostracoda are illustrated and their stratigraphic distribution used to recognise three major facies units. An high diversity inner shelf facies earlier in the Barremian gives way to a low diversity, outer shelf facies, higher in the succession. The early Albian appears to indicate a return to an inner shelf fauna. The faunas recovered have been compared to similar faunas elsewhere in N. W. Europe.     

Tectonic controls on magma genesis and evolution in the northwestern United States

Field, chronologic, chemical, and isotopic data for late Cenozoic basaltic rocks from the northwestern United States illustrate the relationship between crustal structure and tectonic forces in controlling the genesis and evolution of continental volcanism. In the northwestern U.S., the first major episode of basaltic volcanism was triggered by crustal rifting in a “back-arc” environment, east of the westward-migrating volcanic arc created by the subduction of the Juan-de-Fuca plate beneath the North American plate. Rifting and volcanism were concentrated by pre-existing zones of crustal weakness associated with boundaries between the old Archean core of the continent and newly accreted terranes. Basalts erupted during this time (Columbia River, Steens Mountain) show evidence of significant fractionation histories including contamination by crust of varying age depending on the crustal structure at the eruption site. Presumably this reflects ponding and stagnation of primary magmas in the crust or at the crust-mantle interface due to their encounter with thick crust, not yet extended and still containing its low-density, easily fusible component. Continued rifting of this crust, and modification of its composition through extraction of rhyolitic partial melts and deposition of the fractionation products from primary basaltic melts, coupled with a shift in stress orientation roughly 10.5 Ma ago, allowed relatively unfractionated and uncontaminated magmas to begin reaching the surface. In the western part of the region (Oregon Plateau), these magmas tapped a mantle source similar to that which produced most of the ocean island basalts of the northern hemisphere. To the east (Snake River Plain), however, the mantle sampled by basaltic volcanism has isotopic characteristics suggesting it has preserved a record of incompatible element enrichment processes associated with the formation of the overlying Archean crustal section some 2.6 Ga ago.     

Sr,Nd and Pb isotopic and REE geochemistry of St. Paul's Rocks: the metamorphic and metasomatic development of an alkali basalt mantle source

Surface samples of peridotites and hornblendite mylonites from St. Paul's Rocks, and dredge samples from the flanks of the massif, have been analyzed for Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and Rb, Sr, and REE concentrations. This data, coupled with previous K and REE data, are used to develop a self-consistent model for the genesis of these ultramafic rocks. This model involves metasomatism of an ocean island-type mantle about 155 m.y. ago by a strongly light-REE-enriched metasomatic fluid, probably derived from the same mantle. This metasomatism produced light-REE-enriched materials which were isotopically homogeneous on a small scale (100 m), and isotopically heterogeneous on a large (km) scale. The geochemical relationships between the peridotites and the hornblendites were established by metamorphic equilibration on a relatively small scale (<10 m). The average mantle produced by these events is characterized by⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr=0.7034,¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd=0.51291,²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb=19.33 and 207/204=15.63. An alkali basalt which postdates the mylon-itization of the ultramafic massif has an isotopic character which is identical to the average ultramafic massif; it also lies on the five-dimensional isotopic mantle plane of Zindler et al. (1982). With respect to major elements, trace elements, and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes, the average ultramafic rock of the St. Paul's massif is an ideal candidate for a mantle source from which alkali basalts can be derived by partial melting; the St. Paul's massif is in fact the first such example of an ultramafic rock which meets all the requirements to be an alkali basalt source.