Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle
We present a method that can be used to estimate the amount of recycled material present in the source region of mid-ocean ridge basalts by combining three key constraints: (1) the melting behaviour of the lithologies identified to be present in a mantle source, (2) the overall volume of melt produc...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
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Language: | English |
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Published by Elsevier B.V.
2014
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ftucambridgeesc:oai:eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk:3010 2023-05-15T16:46:50+02:00 Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle Shorttle, Oliver Maclennan, John Lambart, Sarah 2014-06 image text http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/ http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-gr001.jpg http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/2/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-main.pdf http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X14001927 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040 en eng Published by Elsevier B.V. http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-gr001.jpg http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/2/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-main.pdf Shorttle, Oliver and Maclennan, John and Lambart, Sarah (2014) Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 395. pp. 24-40. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040> cc_by CC-BY 05 - Petrology - Igneous Metamorphic and Volcanic Studies Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftucambridgeesc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040 2020-08-27T18:09:30Z We present a method that can be used to estimate the amount of recycled material present in the source region of mid-ocean ridge basalts by combining three key constraints: (1) the melting behaviour of the lithologies identified to be present in a mantle source, (2) the overall volume of melt production, and (3) the proportion of melt production attributable to melting of each lithology. These constraints are unified in a three-lithology melting model containing lherzolite, pyroxenite and harzburgite, representative products of mantle differentiation, to quantify their abundance in igneous source regions. As a case study we apply this method to Iceland, a location with sufficient geochemical and geophysical data to meet the required observational constraints. We find that to generate the 20 km of igneous crustal thickness at Iceland's coasts, with 30±10±10% of the crust produced from melting a pyroxenitic lithology, requires an excess mantle potential temperature (ΔTp) of ⩾130 °C (View the MathML sourceTp⩾1460°C) and a source consisting of at least 5% recycled basalt. Therefore, the mantle beneath Iceland requires a significant excess temperature to match geophysical and geochemical observations: lithological variation alone cannot account for the high crustal thickness. Determining a unique source solution is only possible if mantle potential temperature is known precisely and independently, otherwise a family of possible lithology mixtures is obtained across the range of viable ΔTp. For Iceland this uncertainty in ΔTp means that the mantle could be >20% harzburgitic if View the MathML sourceΔTp>150°C (View the MathML sourceTp>1480°C). The consequences of lithological heterogeneity for plume dynamics in various geological contexts are also explored through thermodynamic modelling of the densities of lherzolite, basalt, and harzburgite mixtures in the mantle. All lithology solutions for Iceland are buoyant in the shallow mantle at the ΔTp for which they are valid, however only lithology mixtures incorporating a significant harzburgite component are able to reproduce recent estimates of the Iceland plume's volume flux. Using the literature estimates of the amount of recycled basalt in the sources of Hawaiian and Siberian volcanism, we found that they are negatively buoyant in the upper mantle, even at the extremes of their expected ΔTp. One solution to this problem is that low density refractory harzburgite is a more ubiquitous component in mantle plumes than previously acknowledged. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences: ESC Publications Earth and Planetary Science Letters 395 24 40 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences: ESC Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftucambridgeesc |
language |
English |
topic |
05 - Petrology - Igneous Metamorphic and Volcanic Studies |
spellingShingle |
05 - Petrology - Igneous Metamorphic and Volcanic Studies Shorttle, Oliver Maclennan, John Lambart, Sarah Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
topic_facet |
05 - Petrology - Igneous Metamorphic and Volcanic Studies |
description |
We present a method that can be used to estimate the amount of recycled material present in the source region of mid-ocean ridge basalts by combining three key constraints: (1) the melting behaviour of the lithologies identified to be present in a mantle source, (2) the overall volume of melt production, and (3) the proportion of melt production attributable to melting of each lithology. These constraints are unified in a three-lithology melting model containing lherzolite, pyroxenite and harzburgite, representative products of mantle differentiation, to quantify their abundance in igneous source regions. As a case study we apply this method to Iceland, a location with sufficient geochemical and geophysical data to meet the required observational constraints. We find that to generate the 20 km of igneous crustal thickness at Iceland's coasts, with 30±10±10% of the crust produced from melting a pyroxenitic lithology, requires an excess mantle potential temperature (ΔTp) of ⩾130 °C (View the MathML sourceTp⩾1460°C) and a source consisting of at least 5% recycled basalt. Therefore, the mantle beneath Iceland requires a significant excess temperature to match geophysical and geochemical observations: lithological variation alone cannot account for the high crustal thickness. Determining a unique source solution is only possible if mantle potential temperature is known precisely and independently, otherwise a family of possible lithology mixtures is obtained across the range of viable ΔTp. For Iceland this uncertainty in ΔTp means that the mantle could be >20% harzburgitic if View the MathML sourceΔTp>150°C (View the MathML sourceTp>1480°C). The consequences of lithological heterogeneity for plume dynamics in various geological contexts are also explored through thermodynamic modelling of the densities of lherzolite, basalt, and harzburgite mixtures in the mantle. All lithology solutions for Iceland are buoyant in the shallow mantle at the ΔTp for which they are valid, however only lithology mixtures incorporating a significant harzburgite component are able to reproduce recent estimates of the Iceland plume's volume flux. Using the literature estimates of the amount of recycled basalt in the sources of Hawaiian and Siberian volcanism, we found that they are negatively buoyant in the upper mantle, even at the extremes of their expected ΔTp. One solution to this problem is that low density refractory harzburgite is a more ubiquitous component in mantle plumes than previously acknowledged. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shorttle, Oliver Maclennan, John Lambart, Sarah |
author_facet |
Shorttle, Oliver Maclennan, John Lambart, Sarah |
author_sort |
Shorttle, Oliver |
title |
Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
title_short |
Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
title_full |
Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
title_sort |
quantifying lithological variability in the mantle |
publisher |
Published by Elsevier B.V. |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/ http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-gr001.jpg http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/2/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-main.pdf http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X14001927 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/1/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-gr001.jpg http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/3010/2/1-s2.0-S0012821X14001927-main.pdf Shorttle, Oliver and Maclennan, John and Lambart, Sarah (2014) Quantifying lithological variability in the mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 395. pp. 24-40. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040> |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.03.040 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
395 |
container_start_page |
24 |
op_container_end_page |
40 |
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1766036930564194304 |