Person:

Gale, Allison

Basalts from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge change progressively in composition with increasing distance from the Azores platform. Study of the Lucky Strike and Menez Gwen segments reveals much complexity in the gradient. Both segments contain only basalts enriched relative to normal mid-oceanic ridge basalt, but in two distinct groups. Moderately enriched basalts occur throughout the segments, with proximal Menez Gwen enriched relative to Lucky Strike. Highly enriched basalts occur at segment centers. Incompatible element ratios of the highly enriched basalts exceed those of the Azores platform, while isotopic compositions are less enriched. These observations can be explained by a low-degree melt of garnet-bearing Azores mantle added to mantle depleted by previous melt extraction. Melting this “metasomatized” mantle produces lavas that match the enriched samples. The Azores gradient cannot be explained by simple two-component mixing; rather, it reflects recent melt extraction and addition processes related to southward flow of the Azores plume. The Azores gradient also permits tests of segmentation models. Central supply models predict step functions in chemical compositions between segments. Within-segment gradients require vertical supply. Central supply is supported by robust central volcanoes, thicker crust at segment centers, and a step function in isotopes between the segments. The lava diversity at segment centers, however, requires batches of distinct magma that are preserved through melting and melt delivery. Within-segment gradients in moderately incompatible element ratios support a component of multiple supply. The data suggest partial homogenization of magma within a segment and preferential melt focusing to segment centers with some vertical transport.

Detailed major element, trace element and isotopic study of the FAMOUS and North Famous segments within the geochemical gradient south of the Azores platform provides new constraints on controls on chemical variations at the segment scale and the origin of plume geochemical gradients. A comprehensive investigation of 110 samples along the entire length of the FAMOUS segment, coupled with a recent extensive melt inclusion study by Laubier et al. (2012), shows large trace element diversity within a single segment and substantial isotopic variability that largely correlates with trace element variations. Substantial variations are also present along the short (18 km) North Famous segment despite the presence of an axial volcanic ridge. These results confirm multiple supply of magmas along the length of these segments, the lack of a centrally supplied magma chamber, and the ability of melting processes to deliver highly diverse melts over short distances and times. With the exception of one group of high Al2O3, low SiO2 magmas (HiAl–LoSi) largely recovered in the original small FAMOUS area, the data can be simply explained by a two-component mixing model coupled with melting variations. The HiAl–LoSi magmas reflect assimilation and mixing in the crust, an interpretation supported by the diverse melt inclusions in these lavas.Since the mantle heterogeneity reflects two-component mixing, the end members can be constrained. Surprisingly, source mixing between the Azores plume and depleted mantle cannot produce the observations. This is evident regionally from the fact that nearly all basalts have highly incompatible trace element ratios (e.g., Th/La, Nb/La) as high or higher than the most plume-influenced MORB near the Azores hotspot, despite being over 300 km farther south and much less enriched isotopically. To account for the elevated highly incompatible trace element ratios, a metasomatic component formed by adding deep, low-degree melts of Azores plume material to a depleted mantle is required. The regional gradient south of the Azores then requires different processes along its length. Close to the Azores, plume material mixes with depleted mantle. The pure plume influence is spatially restricted, and enrichment farther to the south is caused by shallow mantle metasomatized by low-degree melts from deep plume flow. North Famous lavas are spatially closer to the Azores and yet are more depleted in trace elements and isotopes than FAMOUS lavas, suggesting delivery of the enriched component to individual segments is influenced by additional factors such as segment size and offset. The extent to which these processes operate in other regions of plume–ridge interaction remains to be investigated.

Most published studies of olivine-hosted melt inclusions from mid-ocean ridges have been based on a single sample. Here we present a comprehensive melt inclusion study of major and trace elements from a single ocean ridge segment, the FAMOUS segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The melt inclusion dataset includes 312 olivine-hosted (Mg-number 85–92) melt inclusions from 14 samples distributed along the segment. This permits a more comprehensive assessment of the variability within melt inclusions from a single region, and of the relationship between melt inclusion and lava compositions. One recent question has been the extent to which melt inclusions truly preserve the original melt compositions, or instead are modified by late-stage processes occurring at shallow levels. In the FAMOUS inclusions, major elements have been affected by post-entrapment processes, but trace elements show no evidence of such processes, suggesting that diffusion coefficients for incompatible elements are small. Melt inclusions can be divided into three groups. (1) High-Mg inclusions are the most primitive and may potentially constrain the composition of the parental magmas that contribute to other melt inclusion and lava compositions. Although their trace element contents range from highly depleted to almost as enriched as the FAMOUS segment lavas, they are on average more depleted and the melts appear to be derived by greater extents of melting than the lavas. (2) Low-Al inclusions occur in the lower Mg-number olivines, and their major and trace element characteristics reflect mixing between high-Mg melt inclusion and lava compositions. (3) High-Al melt inclusions display Al({2})O({3}) contents as high as 18·4 wt %, SiO({2}) as low as 46·6 wt %, a strong depletion in the most incompatible elements and distinctively low middle to heavy rare earth element (MREE/HREE) ratios. The high Al({2})O({3}) and low SiO({2}) contents, as well as positive Sr anomalies in some of the high-Al melt inclusions, are best explained by assimilation of plagioclase-bearing cumulates. The trace element variability in the high-Mg melt inclusions is not consistent with a simple continuous melting column and requires pooling of near-fractional melts within the melting regime and a variable mantle source composition. Because the mean composition of these melt inclusions reflects greater extents of melting than the lavas, we propose that the melt inclusions come from the upper portions of the melting regime. Lavas, in contrast, sample the entire melting regime, including low-degree melts from the wings of the regime that are transported more directly to the surface along high-porosity channels. The high-Al, trace element ultra-depleted, low MREE/HREE melt inclusions derive from melting of a residual mantle source formed by previous melt extraction in the garnet stability field. There is a marked lack of correspondence between major and trace element variations in the melt inclusions. This may reflect a combination of processes, such as cumulate assimilation and re-equilibration of the magmas during ascent, which can reset major elements while having little effect on the trace element variations. The melt inclusions are not simply representative unpooled melts from the melting regime and they do not fully reflect the range of melt compositions contributing to the lavas. Their compositions reflect source heterogeneity as well as melting processes, and major and trace element indicators of depth of origin do not correspond. Combined comprehensive studies of lavas and melt inclusions have much more to reveal than studies based on either data source alone.

The mean composition of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) is determined using a global data set of major ele- ments, trace elements, and isotopes compiled from new and previously published data. A global catalog of 771 ridge segments, including their mean depth, length, and spreading rate enables calculation of average compositions for each segment. Segment averages allow weighting by segment length and spreading rate and reduce the bias introduced by uneven sampling. A bootstrapping statistical technique provides rigorous error estimates. Based on the characteristics of the data, we suggest a revised nomenclature for MORB. “ALL MORB” is the total composition of the crust apart from back-arc basins, N-MORB the most likely basalt composition encountered along the ridge >500 km from hot spots, and D-MORB the depleted end-member. ALL MORB and N-MORB are substantially more enriched than early estimates of normal ridge basalts. The mean composition of back-arc spreading centers requires higher extents of melting and greater concentrations of fluid-mobile elements, reflecting the influence of water on back-arc petro- genesis. The average data permit a re-evaluation of several problems of global geochemistry. The K/U ratio reported here (12,340 ` 840) is in accord with previous estimates, much lower than the estimate of Arevalo et al. (2009). The low Sm/Nd and 143Nd/144Nd ratio of ALL MORB and N-MORB provide constraints on the hypothesis that Earth has a non-chondritic primitive mantle. Either Earth is chondritic in Sm/Nd and the hypothesis is incorrect or MORB preferentially sample an enriched reservoir, requiring a large depleted reservoir in the deep mantle.