The Somuncura Large Igneous Province in Patagonia: Interaction of a Transient Mantle Thermal Anomaly with a Subducting Slab

The Oligo-Miocene Somuncura province is the largest (55 000km²) back-arc mafic volcanic field in Patagonia, and one ofEarth's largest with no clear link to a hotspot or major extension.Major and trace element and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic datasuggest involvement of a plume-like component in the mantlemagma source mixed with hydrous, but not high field strengthelement (HFSE)-depleted components, from a disintegrating subductingplate. Magmatism is attributed to mantle upwelling related todisturbances during plate reorganization, possibly at a timewhen the South America plate was nearly stationary over theunderlying mantle. Melting was enhanced by hydration of themantle during Paleogene subduction. Crustal contamination wasminimal in a refractory crust that had been extensively meltedin the Jurassic. Eruption began with low-volume intraplate alkalinemafic flows with depleted Nd–Sr isotopic signatures. Thesewere followed by voluminous 29–25 Ma tholeiitic maficflows with flat light and steep heavy rare earth element (REE)patterns, intraplate-like La/Ta ratios, arc-like Ba/La ratiosand enriched Sr–Nd isotopic signatures. Their source canbe explained by mixing EM1–Tristan da Cunha-like and depletedmantle components with subduction-related components. Post-plateau24–17 Ma alkaline flows with steep REE patterns, highincompatible element abundances, and depleted Sr–Nd isotopicsignatures mark the ebbing of the mantle upwelling. KEY WORDS: Somuncura plateau; slab interaction; Patagonia; large igneous province (LIP); plume-like upwelling