Geochemistry of the Wrangellia Flood Basalt Province: Implications for the Role of Continental and Oceanic Lithosphere in Flood Basalt Genesis

The Wrangellia terrane of North America contains a large volumeof Middle to Late Triassic oceanic flood basalts which wereemplaced on top of a preexisting island arc. Nd-, Sr-, and Pb-isotopiccompositions reflect derivation from a plume source with _Nd(T)+6 to + 7, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i0•7034, and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_i19•0.Major and trace element compositions suggest the Wrangelliaflood basalts (WFB) formed through relatively small degreesof partial melting at greater depths than estimated for otheroceanic plateaux such as Ontong Java. It appears that the WFBdid not form in a rifting environment, and that preexistingarc lithosphere limited the ascent and decompression meltingof the source plume. Rocks from the preexisting arc are stronglydepleted in high field strength elements (HFSEs) relative tolarge ion lithophile elements (LILEs), but the WFB are not.Assimilation of arc lithospheric mantle or crust was thereforegenerally minor. However, some contamination by arc componentsis evident, particularly in basalts erupted in the early stagesof volcanism. Minor isotopic shifts, to lower _Nd(T) and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb_iand higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i, are accompanied by shifts in trace elementratios towards more arclike signatures, e.g. low Nb/Th and Nb/La.Arc contamination is greatest in the most evolved basalts, indicatingthat assimilation was coupled with fractional crystallization.A comparison of the WFB with other continental and oceanic floodbasalts reveals that continental flood basalts generally formthrough smaller degrees of melting than oceanic flood basaltsand that the contribution of material from the crust and litho-sphericmantle is significantly greater. KEY WORDS: oceanic flood basalts; Wrangellia terrane; petrogenesis; Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes ^*Corroponding author