The heterogeneous Iceland plume: Nd‐Sr‐O isotopes and trace element constraints

Abstract

We present a comprehensive set of Sr, Nd, and O isotope data and trace element concentrations from tholeiitic and alkaline lavas of the neovolcanic zones of Iceland (picrites, olivine and quartz tholeiites, transitional and alkali basalts, differentiated rocks). Variations in the oxygen isotope results allow us to distinguish two groups. The first, which comprises quartz tholeiites and more differentiated rocks usually associated with central volcanoes, has low r5180 values (+5 to + 1%o) resulting from interaction with the hydrothermally altered Icelandic crust. The second group, which contains picrites, olivine tholeiites, and alkali basalts, has normal mantle oxygen isotopic compositions (r5180 --+5 to +6%o) which are thought to represent those of the mantle source. Nd isotopic compositions vary greatly, from •43Nd/•44Nd -0.51314 in picrites to 0.51295 in alkali basalts. To produce such a variation for rocks with the chemical compositions of Icelandic volcanics (147Sm/144Nd = 0.12-0.28) requires >200 m.y., a period that greatly exceeds the maximum age of Icelandic crust. Previous models, in which the Sr isotopic variations were explained in terms of evolution of crustal reservoirs, are invalidated, and mantle reservoirs with different Nd and Sr isotopic compositions are indicated. The Iceland data define a linear array in the Sr-Nd isotope diagram which overlaps both mid-ocean ridge basalt and oceanic island basalt fields and indicates mixing between depleted and enriched end-members. Alkali basalts come preferentially from an isotopically and chemically enriched component of the Iceland plume, and picrites come from a more refractory, more depleted portion. Positive Sr, Rb, and Ba anomalies are present in picrites and other lavas with low trace element contents. These anomalies are not correlated with isotopic differences but are nevertheless believed to result from interaction between the parent magmas of these rocks and altered Icelandic crust. This indicates that even the most primitive Icelandic lavas have been contaminated with some crustal material. Pb [Hart et al., 1973; Sun and Jahn, 1975; O'Nions et al., 1977; Zindler et al., 1979]. Models proposed to explain the chemical data fall into two groups. The first requires the existence of isotopic heterogeneities in the mantle [Zindler et al., 1979]: the chemically •Now at G6osciences Marines, Ifremer-Brest, Plouzan6, France. 2Now at G6osciences, Universit6 de Rennes 1, Rennes, France. and isotopically enriched lavas come from a source within the plume; the less enriched lavas come either from another component of the plume [Elliott et al., 1991] or from the depleted source of North Atlantic MORB [Schilling, 1973; Hart et al., 1973 ; Langmuir et al., 1978]. In the second type of model a homogeneous mantle source yields magmas that interact with old, hydrothermally altered Icelandic crust during their ascent and eruption [Oskarsson et al., 1982; Steinthorsson et al., 1985; H•mond et al., 1988; Nicholson et al., 1991]. The basis of the latter type of model w...

Understanding melt generation beneath the slow-spreading Kolbeinsey Ridge using 238U, 230Th, and 231Pa excesses

“…Along-axis variations in trace element ratios and long-lived radiogenic isotopic ratios for the Reykjanes Ridge, Iceland, and the Kolbeinsey Ridge. Literature data shown as small black data points (O'Nions and Pankhurst, 1973;Schilling, 1975;Sun and Jahn, 1975;Cohen et al, 1980;Dupre and Allegre, 1980;Condomines et al, 1981;Schilling et al, 1983Schilling et al, , 1999Neumann and Schilling, 1984;Poreda et al, 1986;Furman et al, 1991;Mertz et al, 1991;Hemond et al, 1993;Devey et al, 1994;Hards et al, 1995;Hardarson and Fitton, 1997;Mertz and Haase, 1997;Salters and White, 1998;Stecher et al, 1999;Hanan et al, 2000;Hilton et al, 2000;Peate et al, 2001;Murton et al, 2002;Haase et al, 2003;Stracke et al, 2003aStracke et al, ,b, 2006Thirlwall et al, 2004;Blichert-Toft et al, 2005 (Figs. 3 and 4).…”

Magmatism and dynamics of continental breakup in the presence of a mantle plume

“…Six regions are identified to have sufficient data for the estimation of primary melt composition: Southeast Greenland, East Greenland, North Iceland, Southwest Iceland, the Reykjanes Ridge, and the Kolbeinsey Ridge [Wood et al, 1979;Schilling et al, 1983;Hemond et al, 1993;Slater, 1996;Fram and Lesher, 1997;Larsen et al, 1998] (Figure 4-1).…”

Mantle melting systematics: transition from continental to oceanic volcanism on the southeast Greenland Margin

“…Modern Icelandic volcanism taps a geochemically heterogeneous mantle that includes both "depleted" and relatively "enriched" portions as defined by incompatible element ratios such as (La/Sm) N (e.g., Hemond et al, 1993;Schilling and Noe-Nygaard, 1974;Schilling et al, 1983). Given the similarity in incompatible element ratios between the Site 918 unit and modern Icelandic lavas , and the progressive shift in incompatible element ratios from the Site 917 upper series group 2 to the Site 915 to the Site 918 lavas, we suggest that both the Sites 915 and 918 and the Site 917 upper series group 2 lavas were derived from a mantle source with composition like the depleted end of the mantle currently tapped by Icelandic volcanism (see also Fitton et al,Chap.…”

“…Fitton et al (Chap. 28,this volume) propose a plume composed of Icelandic mantle, which may itself be a mixture of distinct components (e.g., Hemond et al, 1993;Fitton et al, Chap. 28, this volume), with a MORB-mantle carapace.…”