Paroxysmal eruptions tracked by variations of helium isotopes: inferences from Piton de la Fournaise (La Réunion island)

Helium (He) with its isotopes (³He, ⁴He) is a key tracer enabling the Earth's mantle and dynamics to be characterized. Enrichment in primordial helium (³He) has been detected in volcanic gases of numerous magmatic systems in different geodynamic settings. Despite past use to monitor volcano-tectonic unrest, temporal ³He/⁴He variability in volcanic emissions is still poorly constrained. Here, we investigate noble gas chemistry of Piton de la Fournaise hotspot volcano, where temporal fluctuations of ³He/⁴He in response to the eruptive activity have never been studied. We compare the ³He/⁴He signature of volcanic gases and fluid inclusions and we highlight analogous evolution of the ³He/⁴He signature in both during the last decades of eruptive activity (1990-2017), even during the same eruption. We show that the maximum enrichment in ³He is found in magmatic fluids that fed the most voluminous eruptions which culminated in caldera collapse events. We argue that this enrichment in ³He mostly reflects a greater contribution of magmatic fluids from a primitive component of the mantle plume. These results emphasize that He isotopes may provide warnings of increases in deep magmatic contributions that potentially herald paroxysmal eruptions, as documented here at Piton de la Fournaise (2007) and also at Kilauea (2018).

Relict subduction initiation along a passive margin in the northwest Indian Ocean

The tectonic evolution of Laxmi basin, presently located along western Indian passive margin, remains debated. Prevailing geodynamic models of Laxmi basin include two mutually competing hypotheses, culminating in either a hyper-stretched continental crust or an oceanic crust overlying an extinct spreading centre. The longstanding conundrum surrounding its precise crustal affinity precludes a complete understanding of the early opening of the Indian Ocean. Here, we present distinct geochemical and geophysical imprints from the igneous crust in Laxmi basin obtained through International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 355. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of the Laxmi basin crust exhibit uncanny similarities with forearc tectonic settings. Our observations imply a relict subduction initiation event occurred in the Laxmi basin in the Late Cretaceous-Early Cenozoic that marks a significant Cenozoic plate reorganisation record in the northwest Indian Ocean. New findings therefore warrant re-evaluation of the Gondwana breakup to account for the nascent subduction in the northwest Indian Ocean.

Hainan mantle plume produced late Cenozoic basaltic rocks in Thailand, Southeast Asia

Intraplate volcanism initiated shortly after the cessation of Cenozoic seafloor spreading in the South China Sea (SCS) region, but the full extent of its influence on the Indochina block has not been well constrained. Here we present major and trace element data and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope ratios of late Cenozoic basaltic lavas from the Khorat plateau and some volcanic centers in the Paleozoic Sukhothai arc terrane in Thailand. These volcanic rocks are mainly trachybasalts and basaltic trachyandesites. Trace element patterns and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopic compositions show that these alkaline volcanic lavas exhibit oceanic island basalt (OIB)-like characteristics with enrichments in both large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) and high field strength elements (HFSEs). Their mantle source is a mixture between a depleted Indian MORB-type mantle and an enriched mantle type 2 (EMII). We suggest that the post-spreading intraplate volcanism in the SCS region was induced by a Hainan mantle plume which spread westwards to the Paleozoic Sukhothai arc terrane.

Origin of a 'Southern Hemisphere' geochemical signature in the Arctic upper mantle

The Gakkel ridge, which extends under the Arctic ice cap for approximately 1,800 km, is the slowest spreading ocean ridge on Earth. Its spreading created the Eurasian basin, which is isolated from the rest of the oceanic mantle by North America, Eurasia and the Lomonosov ridge. The Gakkel ridge thus provides unique opportunities to investigate the composition of the sub-Arctic mantle and mantle heterogeneity and melting at the lower limits of seafloor spreading. The first results of the 2001 Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition (ref. 1) divided the Gakkel ridge into three tectonic segments, composed of robust western and eastern volcanic zones separated by a 'sparsely magmatic zone'. On the basis of Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios and trace elements in basalts from the spreading axis, we show that the sparsely magmatic zone contains an abrupt mantle compositional boundary. Basalts to the west of the boundary display affinities to the Southern Hemisphere 'Dupal' isotopic province, whereas those to the east-closest to the Eurasian continent and where the spreading rate is slowest-display affinities to 'Northern Hemisphere' ridges. The western zone is the only known spreading ridge outside the Southern Hemisphere that samples a significant upper-mantle region with Dupal-like characteristics. Although the cause of Dupal mantle has been long debated, we show that the source of this signature beneath the western Gakkel ridge was subcontinental lithospheric mantle that delaminated and became integrated into the convecting Arctic asthenosphere. This occurred as North Atlantic mantle propagated north into the Arctic during the separation of Svalbard and Greenland.

Isotopic portrayal of the Earth’s upper mantle flow field

It is now well established that oceanic plates sink into the lower mantle at subduction zones, but the reverse process of replacing lost upper-mantle material is not well constrained. Even whether the return flow is strongly localized as narrow upwellings or more broadly distributed remains uncertain. Here we show that the distribution of long-lived radiogenic isotopes along the world's mid-ocean ridges can be used to map geochemical domains, which reflect contrasting refilling modes of the upper mantle. New hafnium isotopic data along the Southwest Indian Ridge delineate a sharp transition between an Indian province with a strong lower-mantle isotopic flavour and a South Atlantic province contaminated by advection of upper-mantle material beneath the lithospheric roots of the Archaean African craton. The upper mantle of both domains appears to be refilled through the seismically defined anomaly underlying South Africa and the Afar plume. Because of the viscous drag exerted by the continental keels, refilling of the upper mantle in the Atlantic and Indian domains appears to be slow and confined to localized upwellings. By contrast, in the unencumbered Pacific domain, upwellings seem comparatively much wider and more rapid.

Osmium isotopic constraints on the nature of the DUPAL anomaly from Indian mid-ocean-ridge basalts

The isotopic compositions of mid-ocean-ridge basalts (MORB) from the Indian Ocean have led to the identification of a large-scale isotopic anomaly relative to Pacific and Atlantic ocean MORB. Constraining the origin of this so-called DUPAL anomaly may lead to a better understanding of the genesis of upper-mantle heterogeneity. Previous isotopic studies have proposed recycling of ancient subcontinental lithospheric mantle or sediments with oceanic crust to be responsible for the DUPAL signature. Here we report Os, Pb, Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of Indian MORB from the Central Indian ridge, the Rodriguez triple junction and the South West Indian ridge. All measured samples have higher (187)Os/(188)Os ratios than the depleted upper-mantle value and Pb, Sr and Nd isotopic compositions that imply the involvement of at least two distinct enriched components in the Indian upper-mantle. Using isotopic and geodynamical arguments, we reject both subcontinental lithospheric mantle and recycled sediments with oceanic crust as the cause of the DUPAL anomaly. Instead, we argue that delamination of lower continental crust may explain the DUPAL isotopic signature of Indian MORB.

Mineralogy of the mid-ocean-ridge basalt source from neodymium isotopic composition of abyssal peridotites

Inferring the melting process at mid-ocean ridges, and the physical conditions under which melting takes place, usually relies on the assumption of compositional similarity between all mid-ocean-ridge basalt sources. Models of mantle melting therefore tend to be restricted to those that consider the presence of only one lithology in the mantle, peridotite. Evidence from xenoliths and peridotite massifs show that after peridotite, pyroxenite and eclogite are the most abundant rock types in the mantle. But at mid-ocean ridges, where most of the melting takes place, and in ophiolites, pyroxenite is rarely found. Here we present neodymium isotopic compositions of abyssal peridotites to investigate whether peridotite can indeed be the sole source for mid-ocean-ridge basalts. By comparing the isotopic compositions of basalts and peridotites at two segments of the southwest Indian ridge, we show that a component other than peridotite is required to explain the low end of the (143)Nd/(144)Nd variations of the basalts. This component is likely to have a lower melting temperature than peridotite, such as pyroxenite or eclogite, which could explain why it is not observed at mid-ocean ridges.