No abstract

Earth’s upper mantle, as sampled by mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) at oceanic spreading centers, has developed chemical and isotopic heterogeneity over billions of years through focused melt extraction and re-enrichment by recycled crustal components. Chemical and isotopic heterogeneity of MORB is dwarfed by the large compositional spectrum of lavas at convergent margins, identifying subduction zones as the major site for crustal recycling into and modification of the mantle. The fate of subduction-modified mantle and if this heterogeneity transmits into MORB chemistry remains elusive. Here, we investigate the origin of upper mantle chemical heterogeneity underneath the Western Gakkel Ridge region in the Arctic Ocean through MORB geochemistry and tectonic plate reconstruction. We find that seafloor lavas from the Western Gakkel Ridge region mirror geochemical signatures of an Early Cretaceous, paleo-subduction zone, and conclude that the upper mantle can preserve a long-lived, stationary geochemical memory of past geodynamic processes.

Monazite is a common accessory phosphate mineral that occurs under a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions in sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. Monazite contains high amounts of Th and U, rendering single monazite grains suitable for in-situ U-Th/Pb dating using laser ablation inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Two key aspects of monazite dating that are critical for accurate age data with maximum precision are (i) optimized instrumental conditions to minimize analytical scatter and (ii) a well characterized reference material to ensure the accuracy of the obtained aged. Here, we analyzed five monazite reference materials (USGS 44069, 94-222, MAdel, Moacir and Thompson Mine Monazite) for their U-Th/Pb ages using LA-ICP-MS technique and applied a variety of laser spot diameters and repetition rates to find the best operational conditions to achieve accurate age data while maintaining maximum precision. We find that a spot diameter of 10 µm and a repetition rate of 10 Hz yield the most precise ages with a deviation of ±2.0% from their respective high-precision U/Pb literature age data. Ages were reproduced in three different LA-ICP-MS laboratories using these parameters. Each reference material was tested for its suitability as a matrix-matched age reference material. For this, a rotating, iterative approach was adopted in which one reference monazite was used as calibration reference material against all others, which were treated as unknowns. The results reveal that USGS 44069, 94-222, Thompson Mine Monazite and MAdel all agree with their respective calculated ages and ID-TIMS reference ages and thus are suggested as suitable calibration reference materials. Moacir, however, appears slightly older than previously suggested (up to 4%), thus, caution is advised here when using Moacir as reference material for U-Th/Pb LA-ICP-MS dating in the absence of further absolute age calibration.

Mafic magmatism at convergent plate boundaries provides an important record of crust-mantle interaction and is a major component in the generation of continental crust (Plank & Langumuir, 1998;Simon & Lecuyer, 2005). Infiltration of slab-derived fluids into the mantle wedge beneath arcs drives mantle melting, resulting in the magmatic activity observed at the surface and melts enriched in lithophile and so-called

Two-thirds of the Earth is covered by mid-ocean ridge basalts, which form along a network of divergent plate margins. Basalts along these margins display a chemical diversity, which is consequent to a complex interplay of partial mantle melting in the upper mantle and magmatic differentiation processes in lower crustal levels. Igneous differentiation (crystal fractionation, partial melting) and source heterogeneity, in general, are key drivers creating variable chemistry in mid-ocean ridge basalts. This variability is reflected in iron isotope systematics (expressed as δ57Fe), showing a total range of 0.2 ‰ from δ57Fe =  + 0.05 to + 0.25 ‰. Respective contributions of source heterogeneity and magma differentiation leading to this diversity, however, remain elusive. This study investigates the iron isotope systematics in basalts from the ultraslow spreading Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean and compares them to existing data from the fast spreading East Pacific Rise ridge. Results indicate that Gakkel lavas are driven to heavier iron isotope compositions through partial melting processes, whereas effects of igneous differentiation are minor. This is in stark contrast to fast spreading ridges showing reversed effects of near negligible partial melting effects followed by large isotope fractionation along the liquid line of descent. Gakkel lavas further reveal mantle heterogeneity that is superimposed on the igneous differentiation effects, showing that upper mantle Fe isotope heterogeneity can be transmitted into erupting basalts in the absence of homogenisation processes in sub-oceanic magma chambers.