High 3He/4He ratios in picritic basalts from Baffin Island and the role of a mixed reservoir in mantle plumes

The high 3He/4He ratio of volcanic rocks thought to be derived from mantle plumes is taken as evidence for the existence of a mantle reservoir that has remained largely undegassed since the Earth's accretion1-3. The helium isotope composition of this reservoir places constraints on the origin o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature
Main Authors: Stuart, Finlay M, Lass-Evans, Solveigh, Fitton, J Godfrey, Ellam, Robert M
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2003
Subjects:
Helium
volcanic rocks
isotope
olivine
phenocrysts
Baffin Island
proto-Iceland plume
3He/4He ratios
geochemistry
Canada
Baffin
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1842/718
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01711
http://www.nature.com/
Description
Summary:The high 3He/4He ratio of volcanic rocks thought to be derived from mantle plumes is taken as evidence for the existence of a mantle reservoir that has remained largely undegassed since the Earth's accretion1-3. The helium isotope composition of this reservoir places constraints on the origin of volatiles within the Earth and on the evolution and structure of the Earth's mantle. Here we show that olivine phenocrysts in picritic basalts presumably derived from the proto-Iceland plume at Baffin Island, Canada, have the highest magmatic 3He/4He ratios yet recorded.

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