Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nd-Sr-Pb systematics and age of the Kings River ophiolite, California: implications for depleted mantle evolution

  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sm-Nd whole-rock and mineral data for the Kings River ophiolite define two isochrons of 485±21 Ma and 285±45 Ma age with ε Nd (483)= +10.7±0.5 and εNd (285)= +9.9±1.1, respectively. The 483 Ma isochron is defined by samples of the main igneous construct. Samples from crosscutting diabase dikes and flaser gabbro sheets within the peridotite unit yield the 285 Ma isochron. The 483 Ma data provide the first evidence of lower Paleozoic oceanic crust in the Sierran ophiolite belt. New U-Pb analyses of zircons from a plagiogranite lying on the 483 Ma Sm-Nd isochron yield upper and lower intercepts with the concordia of 430 +200−60 and 183±15 Ma. Published zircon ages have underestimated the primary age of the ophiolite by 200–300 m.y. due to the effects of polymetamorphism. The 483 Ma samples have initial 87Sr/86Sr=0.7023–0.7030, 206Pb/204Pb=17.14–17.82, 207Pb/204Pb=15.37–15.52, 208Pb/204Pb=36.80–37.38. The 285 Ma samples have similar initial 87Sr/86Sr, but more radiogenic Pb. The range in Sr and Pb compositions is probably due to introduction of radiogenic Sr and Pb during multiple post-emplacement metamorphic events. The high ε Nd, low 87Sr/86Sr, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb of the least disturbed samples are clearly diagnostic of a midocean ridge origin for the 483 Ma portion of the ophiolite. Igneous activity at 285 Ma is thought to have occurred in an arc or back-arc setting, or perhaps along a leaky transform. The initial ε Nd (483)=+10.7 is indistinguishable from that of the similar age Trinity Peridotite (Jacobsen et al. 1984). This value is the highest yet reported for the Mesozoic or Paleozoic depleted mantle and requires either a mantle source that was depleted ∼ 850 m.y. earlier than average or a source more highly depleted than average. Alternatively, if such values were more typical of the early Paleozoic mantle than is currently thought, then there has been little evolution of the depleted mantle over the last ∼ 500 m.y. This requires that the modern mantle has been refluxed by material with low εNd, such as continental crust.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allegre CJ, Ben-Othman D, Polvé M, Richard P (1979) The NdSr isotopic correlation in mantle materials and geodynamic consequences. Earth Planet Sci Lett 19:293–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong RL (1981) Radiogenic isotopes: the case for crustal recycling on a near-steady-state no-continental-growth Earth. Philos Trans R Soc London Ser A 301:443–472

    Google Scholar 

  • Bokhari FY, Kramers JD (1981) Island arc character and later precambrian age of volcanics at Wadi Shwas, Hijaz, Saudi Arabia: geochemical and Sr and Nd isotopic evidence. Earth Planet Sci Lett 54:409–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Cattell A, Krogh TE, Arndt NT (1984) Conflicting Sm-Nd whole rock and U-Pb zircon ages for Archean lavas from Newton Township, Abitibi belt, Ontario. Earth Planet Sci Lett 70:280–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Shaw HF (1982) Pb-Nd-Sr isotopic studies of California ophiolites. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 14:462

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Tilton GR (1978) Lead and strontium isotopic studies of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr10:99

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Wasserburg GJ (1981) The isotopic composition of uranium and lead in Allende inclusions and meteoritic phosphates. Earth Planet Sci Lett 52:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen RS, Evensen NM, Hamilton PJ, O'Nions RK (1980) UPb, Sm-Nd, and Rb-Sr systematics of midocean ridge basalt glasses. Nature 283:149–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Coney PJ, Jones DL, Monger JWH (1980) Cordilleran suspect terranes. Nature 288:329–333

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ (1978) Study of magma sources, mantle structure, and the differentiation of the earth using variations of 143Nd/ 144Nd in igneous rocks. PhD dissertation, California Institute of Technology

  • DePaolo DJ (1980) Crustal growth and mantle evolution: Inferences from models of element transport and Nd and Sr studies. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 44:1185–1196

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ (1981) Nd isotopes in the Colorado Front Range and crust-mantle evolution in the Proterozoic. Nature 291:193–196

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ (1983) The mean life of continents: estimates of continental recycling rates from Nd and Hf isotopic data and implications for mantle structure. Geophys Res Lett 10:705–708

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ, Wasserburg GJ (1976) Nd isotopic variations and petrogenetic models. Geophys Res Lett 3:249–252

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ, Wasserburg GJ (1977) The sources of island arcs as indicated by Nd and Sr isotopic studies. Geophys Res Lett 4:465–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupre B, Chauvel C, Arndt NT (1984) Pb and Nd isotopic study of two Archean komatiite flows from Alexa, Ontario. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 44:1965–1972

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards RL, Wasserburg GJ (1985) The age and emplacement of obducted oceanic crust in the Urals from Sm-Nd and RbSr systematics. Earth Planet Sci Lett 72:389–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Eugster O, Tera F, Burnett DS, Wasserburg GJ (1970) The isotopic composition of gadolinium and neutron-capture effects in some meteorites. J Geophys Res 75:2753–2768

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkesworth CJ, O'Nions RK, Pankhurst RJ, Hamilton PJ, Evensen NM (1977) A geochemical study of island-arc and back-arc tholeiites from the Scotia Sea. Earth Planet Sci Lett 36:253–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen SB, Wasserburg GJ (1979a) Nd and Sr isotopic study of the Bay of Islands ophiolite complex and the evolution of the source of midocean ridge basalts. J Geophys Res 84:7429–7445

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen SB, Wasserburg GJ (1979b) The mean age of mantle and crustal reservoirs. J Geophys Res 84:7411–7427

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen SB, Wasserburg GJ (1980) A two-reservoir recycling model for mantle-crust evolution. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 77:6298–6302

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen SB, Wasserburg GJ (1981) Sm-Nd isotopic evolution of chondrites. Earth Planet Sci Lett 50:139–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen SB, Quick JE, Wasserburg GJ (1984) A Nd and Sr isotopic study of the Trinity peridotite: implications for mantle evolution. Earth Planet Sci Lett 68:361–378

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffey AH, Flynn KF, Glendenin LE, Bentley WC, Essling AM (1971) Precision measurement of half-lives and specific activities of 235U and 238U. Phys Rev C4:1899–1906

    Google Scholar 

  • Jahn B-M, Bernard-Griffith J, Charlot R, Cornichet J, Vidal F (1980) Nd and Sr isotopic compositions and REE abundances of Cretaceous MORB (Holes 417D and 418A, legs 51, 52, and 53). Earth Planet Sci Lett 48:171–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Krogh FE (1973) A low contamination method for the hydrothermal decomposition of zircon and extraction of U and Pb for isotopic age determination. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 37:485–494

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanphere MA, Irwin WP, Hotz PE (1968) Isotopic age of the Nevadan orogeny and older plutonic and metamorphic events in the Klamath Mountains, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 79:1027–1052

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig KR (1983) Plotting and regression programs for isotope geochemists for use with HP-86/87 microcomputers. US Geol Surv Open File Rep 83-84a

  • Mattinson JM, Hopson CA (1972) Paleozoic ages of rocks from ophiolite complexes in Washington and northern California. EOS 53:543

    Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch MT, Compston W (1981) Sm-Nd age of Kambalda and Kanowna greenstones and heterogeneity in the Archean mantle. Nature 294:322–327

    Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch MT, Perfit KR (1981) 143Nd/144Nd, 87Sr/87Sr and trace element constraints on the petrogenesis of Aleutian Island arc magmas. Earth Planet Sci Lett 56:167–179

    Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch MT, Gregory RT, Wasserburg GJ, Taylor HP (1981) Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr and 18O/16O isotopic systematics in an oceanic crustal section: evidence from the Samail ophiolite. J Geophys Res 86:2721–2735

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris JD, Hart SR (1983) Isotopic and incompatible element constraints on the genesis of island arc volcanics from Cold Bay and Amac Island, Aleutians, and implications for mantle structure. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 47:2015–2030

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson BK, DePaolo DJ (1984) 1900-Myr greenstone volcanic successions in southwestern North America and isotopic evolution of Proterozoic mantle. Nature 312:143–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Nodha S, Wasserburg GJ (1981) Nd and Sr isotopic study of volcanic rocks from Japan. Earth Planet Sci Lett 52:264–276

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Nions RK, Hamilton PJ, Evensen NM (1977) Variations in 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr ratios in oceanic basalts. Earth Planet Sci Lett 34:13–22

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Nions RK, Carter SR, Cohen RS, Evensen NM, Hamilton PJ (1978) Pb, Nd and Sr isotopes in ocean ferromanganese deposits and ocean floor basalts. Nature 273:435–438

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Nions RK, Evensen NM, Hamilton PJ (1979) Geochemical modeling of mantle differentiation and crustal growth. J Geophys Res 84:6091–6101

    Google Scholar 

  • Papanastassiou DA, Wasserburg GJ (1973) Rb-Sr ages and initial strontium in basalts from Apollo 15. Earth Planet Sci Lett 17:324–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Papanastassiou DA, DePaolo DJ, Wasserburg GJ (1977) Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd chronology and genealogy of basalts from the Sea of Tranquility. Proc Lunar Sci Conf 8th 1639–1672

  • Richard P, Allegre CJ (1980) Neodymium and strontium isotopic study of ophiolite and orogenic lherzolite petrogenesis. Earth Planet Sci Lett 47:65–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleeby JB (1977) Fracture zone tectonics, continental margin fragmentation, and emplacement of the Kings-Kaweah ophiolite belt, southwestern Sierra Nevada, California. In: North American ophiolites. Oreg Dep Geol Miner Ind Bull 95:141–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleeby JB (1978) Kings River ophiolite, southwest Sierra Nevada foothills, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 89:617–636

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleeby JB (1982) Polygenetic ophiolite belt of the California Sierra Nevada, geochronological and tectonostratigraphic development. J Geophys Res 87:1903–1924

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleeby JB, Sharp WD (1980) Chronology of the structural and petrologic development of the southwest Sierra Nevada foothills, California. Geol Soc Am Bull II:1416–1535

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw HF, Niemeyer S (1985) Ages and Nd, Sr isotopic systematics in the Sierran foothills ophiolite belt, CA: The Smartville and Feather River complexes. Geol Soc Am Abst Prog 17:714

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw HF, Wasserburg GJ (1984) Isotopic constraints on the origin of Appalachian mafic complexes. Am J Sci 284:319–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw HF, Chen JH, Wasserburg GJ, Saleeby JB (1984) Nd-SrPb systematics and age of the Kings Kaweah ophiolite, California. EOS 65:1147

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw HF, Tracy R, Niemeyer S, Colodner D (1986) Age and NdSr systematics of the Spring Creek Lake body, Sierra Madre Mountains, WY. EOS 67:1266

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun SS (1980) Lead isotopic study of young volcanic rocks from mid-ocean ridges, ocean islands, and island arcs. Philos Trans R Soc London Ser A 297:409–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Tera F, Wasserburg GJ (1972) U-Th-Pb Systematics in three Apollo 14 basalts and the problem of initial Pb in lunar rocks. Earth Planet Sci Lett 14:281

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetherill GW (1956) Discordant uranium-lead ages. Am Geophys Union Transactions 37:320–326

    Google Scholar 

  • White WM (1985) Sources of oceanic basalts: radiogenic isotopic evidence. Geology 13:115–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson JM (1968) Least squares fitting of a straight line. Can J Phys 46:1845–1847

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. H. F. Shaw

    Present address: Earth Sciences Department, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-204, 94550, Livermore, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Lunatic Asylum of the Charles Arms Laboratory, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 91125, Pasadena, CA, USA

    H. F. Shaw, J. H. Chen, J. B. Saleeby & G. J. Wasserburg

Authors
  1. H. F. Shaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. H. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. B. Saleeby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. J. Wasserburg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Division Contribution # 4302 (530)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shaw, H.F., Chen, J.H., Saleeby, J.B. et al. Nd-Sr-Pb systematics and age of the Kings River ophiolite, California: implications for depleted mantle evolution. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 96, 281–290 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371249

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371249

Keywords

Search

Navigation