No abstract

Forty-three samples from DSDP Holes 556-559 and 561-564 were analyzed for rare earth elements (REE), Sc, Cr, Co, Hf, Ta, and Th by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The recovered basalts range from those depleted in light REE (LREE) to those enriched in LREE. The two types of basalts occur together in Holes 558 and 561. The depleted basalts have remarkably constant La/Yb, La/Sm, and La/Ti ratios and apparently derive from a large, homogeneous, mantle source underneath a segment (1200 km long) of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The almost twofold variation in the concentrations of incompatible trace elements in the depleted basalts is primarily due to different degrees of batch partial melting. The variation of highly to moderately incompatible elements in the Leg 82 enriched basalts can be successfully explained in terms of source mixing between depleted mantle sources and alkaline or nephelinitic magmas similar to Azores Islands magmas. However, the correlation of LREE enrichment with distance from the Azores Triple Junction is tenuous at best, and the enriched alkaline component is probably not directly related to the Azores volcanism.

Sr and Nd isotopic composition of 23 basalts from Sites 556-559 and 561-564. are reported. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios in fresh glasses and leached whole rocks range from 0.7025 to 0.7034 and are negatively correlated with the initial 143 Nd/ 144 Nd compositions, which range from 0.51315 to 0.51289. The Sr and Nd isotopic compositions (in glasses or leached samples) lie within the fields of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and ocean island basalts (OIB) from the Azores on the Nd-Sr mantle array/fan plot.