Osmium Isotope Constraints on Lower Crustal Recycling and Pluton Preservation at Lassen Volcanic Center, CA
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Earth and Planetary Science Letters 199 (2002) 269^285 www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl Osmium isotope constraints on lower crustal recycling and pluton preservation at Lassen Volcanic Center, CA Garret L. Hart a;Ã, Clark M. Johnson a, Steven B. Shirey b, Michael A. Clynne c a Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA b Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road, N.W., Washington, DC 20015, USA c U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middle¢eld Road MS910, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA Received 12 July 2001; received in revised form 22 February 2002; accepted 28 February 2002 Abstract Osmium isotope compositions of intermediate- to silicic-composition calc-alkaline volcanic rocks from the Lassen volcanic region of the Cascade arc are significantly more radiogenic (QOs = +23 to +224) than typical mantle. These evolved arc rocks in the Lassen region have unradiogenic Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope compositions which overlap with those of contemporaneous mafic lavas. Crystal fractionation of mafic- to intermediate-composition magmas produces Re/Os ratios that are high enough to evolve to very radiogenic Os isotope compositions in only a few million years, providing a potential fingerprint for detecting the involvement of such young, relatively mafic crust in magmatic systems. However, the Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope compositions will remain constant over such short time intervals due to relatively low parent/daughter enrichment during magmatic evolution. The radiogenic Os isotope compositions in typically evolved Lassen rocks are interpreted to reflect significant interaction with lower crustal material that has radiogenic Os isotope compositions. Beneath this section of the Cascade arc, large amounts of such high-QOs lower crust may have formed and been isolated from MASH zone mixing and homogenization processes during the Pliocene or Late Miocene. The results from this study indicate that Os isotopes may provide a unique glimpse into lower crustal processes, such as recycling, in primitive orogenic arcs. ß 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: osmium; rhenium; felsic composition; subduction zones; crust 1. Introduction orogenic arcs is generally thought to be one of the primary means by which the continental Magmatic and tectonic accretion of juvenile mass has grown [1^3]. The fact that juvenile arcs are more ma¢c than estimates for bulk continen- tal crust [4,5] suggests that such arcs represent the starting point for magmatic addition and intra- * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-608-262-8960; crustal di¡erentiation which eventually produce Fax: +1-608-262-0693. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (G.L. Hart), the compositionally evolved cratons that accreted [email protected] (C.M. Johnson), [email protected] to continental cores and may even have produced (S.B. Shirey), [email protected] (M.A. Clynne). the cores themselves. Oxygen, Sr, Nd, and Pb 0012-821X / 02 / $ ^ see front matter ß 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0012-821X(02)00564-2 EPSL 6191 21-5-02 270 G.L. Hart et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 199 (2002) 269^285 isotopes have been used to identify the many sources involved in the production of orogenic rocks where the isotopic contrast between mantle and crust is large [6^11]. However, in young oro- genic arcs where the O, Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope contrast between mantle and crust is small, it is di⁄cult to study processes of assimilation, melt- ing, mixing, and compositional strati¢cation in the arc crustal column. Alternatively, the Os isotope system, when combined with other isotopic and elemental evi- dence, has great potential for tracing intra-crustal processes in orogenic crustal sections because of the stark Os isotope contrast that can exist be- tween mantle and crustal components. Osmium isotope contrasts between components develop because of the extreme parent/daughter fractiona- tions (Re/Os) produced during crystallization of ma¢c magmas [12^15]. These extreme parent/ daughter ratios may allow signi¢cant radiogenic Os to be generated in primitive ma¢c crust in only a few million years. The goal of this work is to Fig. 1. Generalized map (modi¢ed from [17,18]) of the Cas- assess intra-crustal processes by evaluating poten- cade Range showing the distribution of the major Cascade tial sources of radiogenic Os in intermediate- to volcanoes (triangles) including Lassen Peak, located in Las- silicic-composition lavas from the Lassen region sen Volcanic National Park in northern California. Shading denotes major areas of Cenozoic igneous rock. LVC rests on of the southern Cascade arc and by focusing on Pliocene^Quaternary volcanic units which overlie Sierran^ the role of the lower crust. This study focuses on Klamath plutonic^metamorphic basement units. silicic rocks because of their potential for crustal interaction and because of a general lack of silicic Os isotope data. Osmium isotope analyses of pass (250^200 ka), Eagle Peak (75^0 ka), and primitive basalts [16] provide a useful baseline Twin Lakes (300^0 ka) sequences. Estimated vol- with which to discuss the evolved rocks in this umes of erupted magma at LVC include V80 study. km3 of largely stage I and II andesites of Brokeo¡ Volcano and V50 km3 of stage III andesites and dacites. LVC is surrounded and/or underlain by 2. Lassen Volcanic Center (LVC) ¢ve clearly identi¢ed Pleistocene and Pliocene vol- canic centers including the Maidu Volcanic Cen- 2.1. Geologic summary ter (V2^0.8 Ma) (unpublished data, M.A. Clynne). LVC lies at the southern end of the active Cas- cade arc (Fig. 1) and is built on older volcanic 2.2. Previous geochemical studies centers and regional lavas that erupted from mono- genetic volcanoes [19]. The calc-alkaline volcan- Strontium and Nd isotope compositions of the ism at LVC includes three stages, where stage I LVC silicic lavas match trends observed in other (600^470 ka) and stage II (470^400 ka) represent Cascade volcanoes (Fig. 2). The isotopic compo- the cone-building sequences of Brokeo¡ Volcano, sitions of Cascade rocks in general and Lassen and stage III represents the most evolved volcanic rocks in particular are among the most mantle- episode, and includes the Loomis (400 ka), Bum- like of continental arcs, overlapping those of EPSL 6191 21-5-02 G.L. Hart et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 199 (2002) 269^285 271 This pattern is interpreted to re£ect the decreasing in£uence of slab-derived material toward the arc axis, such that little slab in£uence is thought to be present in the predominantly low-[Sr/P]N basaltic mantle input of the current arc axis [27]. In addi- tion, the mantle wedge is interpreted to become progressively depleted (i.e. more ‘MORB-like’ with lower K2O contents) from east to west as a result of arc melt extraction [30]. The range in chemical, and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope composi- tions of primitive ma¢c lavas in the Lassen region are therefore thought to re£ect mixing between mantle source and slab components rather than crustal contamination [27,31]. Osmium isotope compositions of primitive ba- Fig. 2. Sr^Nd isotope variations for Quaternary Cascade vol- salts (MgO v 8 wt%) from the Lassen region are canic rocks, Juan de Fuca^Gorda MORB, and Marianas interpreted by Borg et al. [16] to re£ect mixing and Tonga arcs. The isotopic compositions of the Cascade between a slab-dominated source (high-QOs and rocks are among the most sub-arc mantle-like of any conti- high-[Sr/P] ) and a mantle-dominated source nental arc and overlap those of the Marianas and Tonga N Q Q 187 arcs (dashed line; data from [20^22]), and nearly overlap the (low- Os and low-[Sr/P]N)(Os =(( Os/ 188 187 188 Sr isotope compositions of Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridge Osmeasured)/ ( Os/ Osmantle)31)U100), consis- mid-ocean ridge basalts (JDF-G MORB; [23,24]). Data for tent with earlier interpretations based on Sr iso- Cascade volcanoes from [25,26]. Volcanic rocks from the tope compositions. The QOs values of the high-QOs Lassen region span the average range of analyzed Cascade (and high-[Sr/P] ) basalts are much higher than volcanic rocks, and extend to slightly higher 87Sr/86Sr ratios. N The range in Sr^Nd isotope compositions for the Cascade those previously estimated for sub-arc mantle rocks is primarily interpreted to re£ect mixing between slab- based on analyses of xenoliths from a backarc dominated (slab box) and mantle-dominated (non-slab box) setting [32], but are within the range of those mea- components rather than crustal interaction [27]. sured for other arc lavas [33]. The high-QOs basalts also contain the lowest whole-rock Os contents, primitive oceanic arcs such as the Marianas and suggesting that if these basalts re£ect a slab-dom- Tonga arcs (references cited in Fig. 2). Based on inated source, such a source may also have low detailed study of the most primitive Lassen lavas Os contents. As noted by Borg et al. [16], it seems available, Borg et al. [27] call for a heterogeneous unlikely that the high-QOs basalts, which have low mantle source that has both mid-ocean ridge ba- Os contents, re£ect extensive crystallization be- salt (MORB) and ocean island basalt (OIB) a⁄n- cause all Lassen region basalts have similar Re ities, coupled with material derived from the slab, contents. An alternative to the slab-material inter- as major components in the regional ma¢c lavas pretation is that the high-QOs basaltic lavas in the in the Lassen region. Borg et al.