Evidence of ghost plagioclase signature induced by kinetic fractionation of europium in the Earth’s mantle
Crustal recycling in the Earth’s mantle is fingerprinted by trace-element and isotopic proxies in oceanic basalts. Positive Eu and Sr anomalies in primitive lavas and melt inclusions that are not otherwise enriched in AlO are often interpreted as reflecting the presence of recycled, plagioclase-rich...
| Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repository: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/350372 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/350372 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Europium Isotope Basalt Clinopyroxene Fractionation Mantle source Mid-ocean ridge Ocean island basalt Oceanic crust Peridotite Plagioclase Crystal Oxidation reduction reaction Sediment Multi-Scale Laboratories Geochemistry |
| Summary: | Crustal recycling in the Earth’s mantle is fingerprinted by trace-element and isotopic proxies in oceanic basalts. Positive Eu and Sr anomalies in primitive lavas and melt inclusions that are not otherwise enriched in AlO are often interpreted as reflecting the presence of recycled, plagioclase-rich oceanic crust in their mantle source – referred to as “ghost plagioclase” signatures. Here, we report natural evidence of Eu anomalies and extreme crystal-scale heterogeneity developed kinetically in mantle peridotite clinopyroxene. Numerical modelling shows that diffusional fractionation between clinopyroxene and melts can account for this intra-crystal heterogeneity and generate Eu anomalies without requiring plagioclase. We demonstrate that kinetically induced Eu anomalies are likely to develop at temperatures, redox conditions and transport timescales compatible with the genesis of mid-ocean ridge and ocean island basalts. Our results show that, in the absence of converging lines of evidence such as radiogenic isotope data, ghost plagioclase signatures are not an unequivocal proxy for the presence of recycled crust in oceanic basalt sources. |
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