Basalt Petrogenesis Beneath Slow - and Ultraslow-Spreading Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges

• Main Author: Elkins, Lynne J.
• Other Authors: MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE CENTER FOR METEOROLOGY AND PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Geology; Geochemistry and Mineralogy; *RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES; *GEOLOGIC AGE DETERMINATION; *OCEAN RIDGES; MELTING; NEODYMIUM; STRONTIUM; URANIUM; GARNET; TRACE ELEMENTS; LEAD(METAL); THORIUM; ARCTIC OCEAN ISLANDS; GEOLOGIC MODELS; MARINE GEOLOGY; MAGMA; THESES; BASALT; CLINOPYROXENE; GARNET PYROXENITE; KOLBEINSEY RIDGE; MAGMA TRANSPORT PROCESSES; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Gakkel Ridge; Kolbeinsey; Kolbeinsey Ridge; Ocean Island
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA501860; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA501860

To explore the ability of melting mafic lithologies to produce alkaline ocean-island basalts (OIB), a study was carried out measuring clinopyroxene (Cpx)- melt and garnet (Gt)-melt partition coefficients during silica-poor garnet pyroxenite melting for a suite of trace elements, including U and Th, at 2.5GPa and 1420-1450 degrees C. Forward-melting calculations using the results to model time-dependent uranium-series isotopes do not support presence of a fixed quantity of garnet pyroxenite in the source of OIB. To use U-series isotopes to further constrain mantle heterogeneity and the timing and nature of melting and melt transport processes, U-Th-Pa-Ra disequilibria, radiogenic isotopes, and trace-element compositions were measured for the slow-spreading Arctic mid-ocean ridges (MOR). A case study of 33 young MOR basalts (MORB) from the shallow endmember of the global ridge system, the Kolbeinsey Ridge found that unaltered Kolbeinsey MORB have universally high (230Th/238U) (1.165-1.296) and relatively uniform (230Th/232Th) (1.196-1.324), SigmaNd, 87Sr/86Sr SigmaHf, and Pb isotopes. This suggests a homogeneous mantle source and a long peridotite melting column produces the thick Kolbeinsey crust. Trace element ratios suggest a young, depleted mantle source. Data from the slow- to ultraslow Mohns and Knipovich Ridges north of Kolbeinsey form a sloped array, and (230Th/232Th) correlates systematically with radiogenic isotopic variations. These data are readily reproduced by models for heterogeneous mantle melting. MORB from 85 degrees E on the global ultraslow-spreading endmember Gakkel Ridge are homogeneously depleted with low (230Th/238U) and high (226Ra/230Th) that lie along a global negative correlation. Arctic data support a global mantle temperature control on mean (230Th/238U). Sponsored in part by the the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program. The original document contains color images.