Petrogenesis of an 800 m lava sequence in eastern Uruguay: insights into magma chamber processes beneath the Paraná flood basalt province

Major and trace element along with representative Sr, Nd and Pb isotope data are presented for drill core samples which intersect an 800 m lava pile in eastern Uruguay. The lavas form part of the Paraná flood basalt province, are low-Ti in composition but distinct from the low-Ti Gramado magma type, and have been termed the Treinte Y Trés magma type. The lava pile overlies a large positive gravity anomaly inferred to reflect an east–west trending, mid-crustal mafic intrusive body with a calculated volume of 35,000 km³. Smooth up-section compositional variations in the basalts are interpreted to record magma evolution within this mid-crustal magma chamber. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb increase throughout the sequence yet Mg remains relatively constant in the lower 200 m of the sequence, suggesting a role for magma chamber recharge. Above this the lavas show a regular, up-section decrease in Mg coupled with increasing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and this is interpreted to reflect crystal fractionation combined with crustal contamination. The data provide further evidence that contamination of flood basalt magmas in crustal magma chambers is a common phenomenon and calculations suggest that the amount of crustal addition may be as high as 60–70%. Nevertheless, the effects of this crustal contamination do not appear able to account for the discrepancy between key incompatible trace element ratios and isotope ratios of the lavas and those of any putative mantle plume. In fact, La/Ta decreases with decreasing Mg and increasing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr indicating that the effects of crustal contamination were actually to reduce La/Ta and implying that the parental magmas had very high La/Ta (90). These constraints are clearly inconsistent with an asthenospheric origin for the parental magmas and so, consistent with mass balance calculations, it is inferred that they were derived from the lithospheric mantle.     

Isotope Dilution MC-ICP-MS Rare Earth Element Analysis of Geochemical Reference Materials NIST SRM 610, NIST SRM 612, NIST SRM 614, BHVO-2G, BHVO-2, BCR-2G, JB-2, WS-E, W-2, AGV-1 and AGV-2

We present data for the concentrations of eleven rare earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb, Lu) in eleven international geochemical reference materials obtained by isotope dilution multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). We have analysed both rock powders and synthetic silicate glasses, and the latter provide precise data to support the use of these as reference materials for in situ trace element determination techniques. Our data also provide precise measurements of the abundance of mono-isotopic Pr in both glasses and powders, which allows more accurate constraints on the anomalous redox-related behaviour of Ce during geochemical processes. All materials were analysed in replicate providing data that typically reproduce to better than one percent. Sm/Nd ratios in all these materials also reproduce to better than 0.2% and are accurate to < 0.2% and can thus be used as calibrants for Sm-Nd geochronology. Our analyses agree well with existing data on these reference materials. In particular, for NIST SRM 610, USGS BHVO-2, AGV-1 and AGV-2, our measured REE abundances are typically within < 2% (and mostly 1%) of REE concentrations previously determined by isotope dilution analysis and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry, consistent with the higher degree of precision and accuracy obtained from isotope dilution techniques. Close agreement of results between basaltic glass reference materials USGS BHVO-2G and BCR-2G and the BHVO-2 and BCR-2 powders from which they were created suggests that little fractionation, concentration or dilution of REE contents occurred during glass manufacture.     

Petrogenesis of syenites at a rifted continental margin: origin,contamination and interaction of alkaline mafic and felsic magmas in the Astrophyllite Bay Complex,East Greenland

The Astrophyllite Bay Complex in East Greenland (part of the Palaeogene North Atlantic Igneous Province) consists of an alkaline diorite plug, with detached trachyandesitic pillows, surrounded by co-magmatic syenite that was emplaced into Archaean basement. The diorite intrusion has yielded a 47.11 ± 0.68 Ma Rb-Sr isochron age. Saw-cut profiles through pillow-syenite-gneiss sections have been taken to resolve close spatial elemental and isotopic (Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb-O) variations. The diorite and syenite formed from alkaline basaltic, mantle-derived, melts with complex histories of prolonged assimilation and fractional crystallisation. Each evolved to different extents in separate magma chambers during the establishment of new plumbing systems in the Kangerlussuaq area. The diorite is dominated by lower crustal, granulite facies contamination, whereas the syenite shows evidence for greater degrees of upper crustal amphibolite facies contamination, indicating stalling and fractionation of magmas at different levels within the crust. The syenite and diorite magmas were subsequently emplaced as separate pulses into the basement gneisses at Astrophyllite Bay giving rise to superimposed local contamination trends between pillow/syenite and syenite/gneiss, respectively.     

A micro-scale investigation of melt production and extraction in the upper mantle based on silicate melt pockets in ultramafic xenoliths from the Bakony–Balaton Highland Volcanic Field (Western Hungary)

Mantle xenoliths in Neogene alkali basalts of the Bakony–Balaton Highland Volcanic Field (Western Hungary) frequently have melt pockets that contain silicate minerals, glass, and often carbonate globules. Textural, geochemical and thermobarometric data indicate that the melt pockets formed at relatively high pressure through breakdown of mainly amphibole as a result of temperature increases accompanied, in most cases, by the influx of external metasomatic agents. New elemental and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data show that in several xenoliths the external agent was either a LIL-enriched aqueous fluid or a CO₂-rich fluid, whereas in other xenoliths the melt pockets were additionally enriched in LREE and sometimes HFSE, suggesting metasomatism by a silicate melt. The compositional character of the external agents might have been inherited by melting of a hydrated and probably carbonated deeper lithospheric component, which itself was metasomatized by melts with significant slab-derived components. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Geochemical Stratigraphy of Submarine Lavas (3-5 Ma) from the Flamengos Valley, Santiago, Southern Cape Verde Islands

New high-precision Pb–Sr–Nd isotope, major and traceelement and mineral chemistry data are presented for the submarinestage of ocean island volcanism on Santiago, one of the southernislands of the Cape Verde archipelago. Pillow basalts and hyaloclastitesin the Flamengos Valley are divided into three petrographicand compositional groups; the Flamengos Formation lavas (4·6Ma) dominate the sequence, with the younger Low Si and Coastalgroups (2·8 Ma) found near the shoreline. Olivine andclinopyroxene compositions and isotopic data for minerals andtheir host melts indicate disequilibrium between some crystalsand the melt. Intra-sample disequilibrium suggests homogenisationof liquids but eruption before complete equilibration betweencrystals and melt preserves the heterogeneity. Pressures ofcrystallization for clinopyroxene (0·4–1·1GPa) indicate stalling and crystallization of the magmas overa range of depths in the lithosphere. Major element compositionsindicate melting of a carbonated eclogite source. Sr–Nd–Pbisotope data suggest the involvement of FOZO-like and EM1-likecomponents in the mantle source, which are simultaneously availableat all depths in the melting column. The Flamengos Valley lavasdisplay large compositional variations, often between stratigraphicallyadjacent flows; these frequent abrupt changes of magma compositionsuggest stalling and crystallization of discrete magma batcheson transport through the lithosphere. KEY WORDS: Cape Verde; crystal–melt disequilibrium; submarine volcanism; source heterogeneity; Pb–Sr–Nd isotopes     

Remnants of boninitic melts in the upper mantle beneath the central Pannonian Basin?

Summary We present a detailed textural and compositional study of two orthopyroxene-rich olivine websterites. One occurs as a vein in a harzburgite xenolith and the other is an individual xenolith, both found at Szentbékkálla in the Bakony–Balaton Highland Volcanic Field (central Pannonian Basin, western Hungary). The textural features of these orthopyroxene-rich rocks suggest that they crystallized from silicate melts to form veins in peridotite mantle rock. Their geochemical features, such as the presence of Al₂O₃-poor orthopyroxenes, Cr-rich spinels, and clinopyroxenes with U-shaped chondrite-normalized REE-patterns, indicate that the vein material formed from Mg-rich silicic (boninitic) melts at mantle depths. The olivine fabric investigation of both the veins and the wall-rock suggest that the development of the veins was followed by subsequent recrystallization during the Cenozoic evolution of the Carpathian–Pannonian region.     

Pb isotope variations in hydrogenetic Fe–Mn crusts from the Izu–Bonin fore-arc

Fe–Mn crusts were recovered from the western escarpment of the Bonin Ridge in the Izu–Bonin fore-arc region (dive site #824: 28.612°N, 141.803°E) at water depths of c. 2900 m using the Shinkai 6500 submersible during cruise YK 04–05. Major and trace element data and XRD mineralogy indicate that the crusts are hydrogenetic in origin. We present profiles of variations in Pb isotope composition measured in-situ by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS across two of the crusts. The isotopic variations are systematic and can be matched up between the two crusts, indicating similar growth rates. The crust Pb isotope composition rules out any local source for Pb from within the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc system, either from hydrothermal activity or through leaching of volcanic detritus. Input of a globally well-mixed volcanic Pb component, either from aerosols or as an absorbed component on aeolian dust, has been proposed as a mechanism to explain the Pb isotope composition of Central Pacific deep water. However, the Izu–Bonin crusts are displaced to lower ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and higher ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, which requires an additional Pb source. One possibility is that as water is advected from the south, outboard of the Luzon–Ryukyu–Honshu arc system, it is progressively polluted by Pb derived by weathering and erosion of these young island arc volcanic systems. Using a constant Co-flux model, growth rates are estimated at ～ 7–13 mm/Ma, which would suggest that these crusts provide a record of changes in the composition of deep water in the Izu–Bonin fore-arc region of the western Pacific Ocean over the last 4–8 Ma. Over this interval, the main feature has been a progressive decrease in ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb (0.843 to 0.839) and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb (2.088 to 2.080) with time. The interior parts have compositions similar to those of crusts from the Izu–Bonin fore-arc, while the rims have compositions similar to crusts from the central Western Pacific.     

A 5 million year record of compositional variations in mantle sources to magmatism on Santiago, southern Cape Verde archipelago

High-precision Pb isotope data and Sr–Nd–Hf isotope data are presented together with major and trace element data for samples spanning the 4.6 Ma history of volcanism at Santiago, in the southern Cape Verde islands. Pb isotope data confirm the positive Δ8/4 signature of the southern islands indicating that the north–south compositional heterogeneity in the Cape Verde archipelago has persisted for at least 4.6 Ma. The Santiago volcanics show distinct compositional differences between the old, intermediate and young volcanics, and suggest greater involvement of an enriched mantle (EM1)-like source over time. Isotopic variations in the Santiago volcanics indicate convergence towards a homogeneous EM1-like end-member and distinct temporal variations in the FOZO-like end-member. Santiago and Santo Antão (a northern island, Holm et al. 2006), show a simultaneous decrease in ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb of the high ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb FOZO-like source with time. Such systematic archipelago-wide variations in the FOZO-like component suggest that this component is more likely to be present as a coherent package of recycled ocean crust rather than as multiple small heterogeneities dispersed in the upwelling mantle. The temporal variations in ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb reflect minor lateral variations in Th/U of this recycled ocean crust package entering the melting zone beneath the islands. The location of the EM1-like component is more equivocal. A shallow lithospheric location is possible, but this would require a coincidence between spatial compositional variations in the lithosphere (EM1 is spatially restricted to the southern islands) and flow lines in the upwelling mantle revealed by seismic anisotropy. Therefore, we favour a deeper asthenospheric mantle source for the EM1-like source.     

Petrology and geochemistry of the 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption,central Iceland: compositional and mineralogical characteristics,temporal variability and magma storage

The 2014–2015 Holuhraun fissure eruption provided a rare opportunity to study in detail the magmatic processes and magma plumbing system dynamics during a 6-month-long, moderate- to large-volume basaltic fissure eruption. In this contribution, we present a comprehensive dataset, including major and trace elements of whole-rock and glassy tephra samples, mineral chemistry, and radiogenic and oxygen isotope analyses from an extensive set of samples (n?=?62) that were collected systematically in several field campaigns throughout the entire eruptive period. We also present the first detailed chemical and isotopic characterization of magmatic sulfides from Iceland. In conjunction with a unique set of geophysical data, our approach provides a detailed temporal and spatial resolution of magmatic processes before and during this eruption. The 2014–2015 Holuhraun magma is compositionally indistinguishable from recent basalts erupted from the Bárðarbunga volcanic system, consistent with seismic observations for magma ascent close to the Bárðarbunga central volcano, followed by dyke propagation to the Holuhraun eruption site. Whole-rock elemental and isotopic compositions are remarkably constant throughout the eruption. Moreover, the inferred depth of the magma reservoir tapped during the eruption is consistently 8?±?5 km, in agreement with geodetic observations and melt inclusion entrapment pressures, but inconsistent with vertically extensive multi-tiered magma storage prior to eruption. The near constancy in the chemical and isotopic composition of the lava is consistent with the efficient homogenization of mantle-derived compositional variability. In contrast, occurrence of different mineral populations, including sulfide globules, which display significant compositional variability, requires a more complex earlier magmatic history. This may include sampling of heterogeneous mantle melts that mixed, crystallized and finally homogenized at mid- to lower-crustal conditions.