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Continental flood basalts
Highly siderophile elements
Os isotopes
High 3He/4He
Continental break-up
Abstract:
Osmium isotope and highly siderophile element (HSE: Os, Ir, Ru, Pt, Pd, Re) abundance data are reported for picrites and basalts from the ∼132 Ma Etendeka large igneous province (LIP) and the ∼60 Ma North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP). Picrite dykes of the Etendeka LIP have HSE abundances and 187Os/188Os (0.1276 to 0.1323; γOsi = -0.5 to +3.1) consistent with derivation from high-degree partial melting (>20 %) of a peridotite source with chondritic to modestly supra-chondritic long-term Re/Os. High-3He/4He NAIP picrites from West Greenland represent large-degree partial melts with similarly elevated HSE abundances and 187Os/188Os (0.1273 to 0.1332; γOsi = -0.2 to +3.9). Broadly chondritic Os isotope ratios have also been reported for the ∼132 Ma Paraná LIP and the ∼201 Ma Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). Consequently, LIP associated with Atlantic Ocean opening derive, at least in part, from partial melting of peridotite mantle distinct from the depleted mantle associated with mid-ocean ridge basalt volcanism. Modern locations with high-3He/4He (>25RA) include ocean island basalts (OIB) from Ofu (Samoa), Loihi (Hawaii) and Fernandina (Galapagos) in the Pacific Ocean, and from Iceland, which is considered the modern manifestation of NAIP magmatism. Unlike Etendeka and NAIP picrites, these modern OIB have Sr-Nd-Pb-Os isotopes consistent with contributions of recycled oceanic or continental crust. The lower degree of partial melting responsible for modern high-3He/4He OIB gives higher proportions of fusible recycled crustal components to the magmas, with radiogenic 187Os/188Os and low-3He/4He. The high-3He/4He, incompatible trace element-depleted mantle component in both LIP and OIB therefore also has long-term chondritic Re/Os, which is consistent with an early-formed reservoir that experienced late accretion. Atlantic LIP (CAMP; Paraná-Etendeka; NAIP) provide geochemical evidence for a prominent role for mantle plume contributions during continental break-up and formation of the Atlantic Ocean, a feature hitherto unrecognized in other ocean basin-forming events.
