Conditions of melting beneath the Azores

Beier C, Haase K, Turner SP (2012)


Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2012

Journal

Publisher: Elsevier

Pages Range: 1-11

DOI: 10.1016/j.lithos.2012.02.019

Abstract

The depth and temperatures of melting beneath Ocean Islands provide important constraints on mantle melting dynamics. The central Azores islands of Faial, Pico, Graciosa and São Jorge are ideally suited for calculating depth and temperatures of melting because they are situated orthogonal to the slow spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge and thus supposedly on variable lithosphere thicknesses which allow to constrain on the influence of lithosphere thickness on average melting depth. The dataset presented here is used to test the spatial pattern of potential temperature anomalies in the Azores mantle plume. Trace elements indicate comparable degrees of partial melting for all three islands, while Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios and incompatible trace element ratios imply only small-scale source heterogeneity that is not related to the major element systematics. Thus, the observed differences in calculated, primary SiO , FeO and TiO (and Al O ) are inferred to reflect changes in melting pressures and temperatures that are independent of source composition. Melting temperatures in the Azores are lower and melting starts deeper than at other mantle plumes (e.g., Hawaii). This implies that the smaller size of the Azores compared to other mantle plumes might be the result of a much smaller anomaly with a large variability of depths and temperatures of melting even on the scale of an individual island. This small-scale variability is of importance when comparing pressures and temperatures between different islands or even globally. The Azores lavas have temperatures lower than predicted for a dry mantle solidus indicating the presence of at least 200ppm H O in the Azores mantle source. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

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How to cite

APA:

Beier, C., Haase, K., & Turner, S.P. (2012). Conditions of melting beneath the Azores. Lithos, 1-11. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2012.02.019

MLA:

Beier, Christoph, Karsten Haase, and Simon P. Turner. "Conditions of melting beneath the Azores." Lithos (2012): 1-11.

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