ISSN:
1432-0967
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
Notes:
Abstract High-K mafic alkalic lavas (5.4 to 3.2 wt% K2O) from Deep Springs Valley, California define good correlations of increasing incompatible element (e.g., Sr, Zr, Ba, LREE) and compatible element contents (e.g., Ni, Cr) with increasing MgO. Strontium and Nd isotope compositions are also correlated with MgO; 87Sr/86Sr ratios decrease and ɛNd values increase with decreasing MgO. The Sr and Nd isotope compositions of these lavas are extreme compared to most other continental and oceanic rocks; 87Sr/86Sr ratios range from 0.7121 to 0.7105 and ɛNd values range from −16.9 to −15.4. Lead isotope ratios are relatively constant, 206Pb/204Pb ∼17.2, 207Pb/204Pb ∼15.5, and 208Pb/204Pb ∼38.6. Depleted mantle model ages calculated using Sr and Nd isotopes imply that the reservoir these lavas were derived from has been distinct from the depleted mantle reservoir since the early Proterozoic. The Sr-Nd-Pb isotope variations of the Deep Springs Valley lavas are unique because they do not plot along either the EM I or EM II arrays. For example, most basalts that have low ɛNd values and unradiogenic 206Pb/204Pb ratios have relatively low 87Sr/86Sr ratios (the EM I array), whereas basalts with low ɛNd values and high 87Sr/86Sr ratios have radiogenic 206Pb/204Pb ratios (the EM II array). High-K lavas from Deep Springs Valley have EM II-like Sr and Nd isotope compositions, but EM I-like Pb isotope compositions. A simple method for producing the range of isotopic and major- and trace-element variations in the Deep Springs Valley lavas is by two-component mixing between this unusual K-rich mantle source and a more typical depleted mantle basalt. We favor passage of MORB-like magmas that partially fused and were contaminated by potassic magmas derived from melting high-K mantle veins that were stored in the lithospheric mantle. The origin of the anomalously high 87Sr/86Sr and 208Pb/204Pb ratios and low ɛNd values and 206Pb/204Pb ratios requires addition of an old component with high Rb/Sr and Th/Pb ratios but low Sm/Nd and U/Pb ratios into the mantle source region from which these basalts were derived. This old component may be sediments that were introduced into the mantle, either during Proterozoic subduction, or by foundering of Proterozoic age crust into the mantle at some time prior to eruption of the lavas.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004100050462
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