Tracing Helium Isotope Compositions from Mantle Source to Fumaroles At
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Tracing helium isotope compositions from mantle source to fumaroles at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano, Tanzania Gaëlle Mollex, Evelyn Füri, Pete Burnard, Laurent Zimmermann, Gilles Chazot, Emmanuel Kazimoto, Bernard Marty, Lyderic France To cite this version: Gaëlle Mollex, Evelyn Füri, Pete Burnard, Laurent Zimmermann, Gilles Chazot, et al.. Tracing helium isotope compositions from mantle source to fumaroles at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano, Tanzania. Chemical Geology, Elsevier, 2018, 480, pp.66-74. 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.08.015. hal-02391170 HAL Id: hal-02391170 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02391170 Submitted on 3 Dec 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Chemical Geology 480 (2018) 66–74 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemical Geology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemgeo Tracing helium isotope compositions from mantle source to fumaroles at T Oldoinyo Lengai volcano, Tanzania ⁎ Gaëlle Mollexa, , Evelyn Füria, Pete Burnarda, Laurent Zimmermanna, Gilles Chazotb, Emmanuel O. Kazimotoc, Bernard Martya, Lydéric Francea a CRPG, UMR 7358, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, 15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, 54501 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France b Université de Brest, CNRS, UMR 6538 Domaines Océaniques, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Place Copernic, 29280 Plouzané, France c Department of Geology, University of Dar es Salaam, P. O. Box 35052, Dar es Saalam, Tanzania ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Oldoinyo Lengai is the only volcano on Earth currently erupting natrocarbonatites, of which the source and Carbonatite genesis remain controversial. Cognate xenoliths and fumaroles were sampled at the summit of Oldoinyo Lengai, Neon and deep crustal xenoliths from Oltatwa maar, in 2010 and 2014, after the 2007–2008 sub-Plinian eruption. The – 2007 2008 eruption summit cognate xenoliths provide direct information on the isotopic composition of the mid-crustal magma SCLM chamber that was active during the 2007–2008 explosive eruption. Cognate xenolith-hosted pyroxenes from Cognate xenoliths Oldoinyo Lengai have an average 3He/4He = 6.58 ± 0.46 R , similar to values from nearby silicate volcanoes Helium A – fl Neon (4.95 7.30 RA), and re ecting a sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) signature. This similarity implies Argon that Oldoinyo Lengai carbonatites form from a similar mantle reservoir as the nearby silicate volcanoes. We identify SCLM, metasomatized by fluids/melts derived from the depleted convective mantle, as the common source of magmas in the Arusha volcanic province. Fumarole measurements highlight that fumarolic 3He/4He values have been relatively constant since at least 1988, indicating that dramatic changes to the crater region morphology during the 2007–2008 eruption did not affect the architecture of the hydrothermal system, which is probably connected to the crustal magma chamber(s). Moreover, the similarity between 3He/4He values from the mid-crustal magma chamber (6.58 ± 0.46 RA) and fumaroles (7.31 ± 0.24 RA) of Oldoinyo Lengai attests that helium is not subjected to atmospheric contamination or crustal assimilation during transport to the surface. 1. Introduction may provide constraints on the origin and evolution of carbonatite melts generated at Oldoinyo Lengai. Helium isotopic ratios (3He/4He) Carbonatite magmas are unusual as they are characterized by high of mantle-derived gases in the EAR and Natron valley have been well concentrations of primary magmatic carbonate (≥50%), and < 20% documented. In the Afar region (northern EAR), Marty et al. (1996) SiO2 (LeMaitre, 2002). They are far less common than silicate magmas, reported helium isotopic ratios ranging from 0.035 RA (where RA is the − yet have been emitted throughout Earth's history, and on all continents. atmospheric 3He/4He of 1.4 × 10 6) for low-Ti lavas, demonstrating a The origin of carbonatite magmas remains controversial, and they are high degree of crustal contamination, to 19.6 RA for high-Ti lavas, re- considered to represent either primary melts of a carbon-rich (meta- flecting the surface manifestation of a primitive mantle plume. In the somatized) mantle domain, or the products of liquid immiscibility, late- Kenyan and Tanzanian cratons (central EAR), Pik et al. (2006) and stage fractionation, or remobilized crustal carbonates (e.g., Jones et al., Barry et al. (2013) found helium isotopic compositions to be con- 2013, and references therein). Oldoinyo Lengai (East African Rift – sistently mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like (8 ± 1 RA) or lower, EAR) is the lone volcano erupting carbonatites today, and therefore of indicating either an asthenospheric upper mantle source combined with key importance for investigation of the genesis and evolution of car- crustal assimilation, or a sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) 3 4 bonatite melts, and the plumbing system of a carbonatite volcano. source. Hilton et al. (2011) measured high He/ He up to 15 RA at the Noble gases, particularly helium isotopes, are powerful geochemical southernmost extension of the EAR within the Kenya Dome, implying tools for tracing mantle sources or determining the degree of crustal the involvement of a deep mantle source. Combined He-Ne-Ar isotopic contamination in magmatic phenomena (Graham, 2002); they therefore compositions of mantle-derived xenoliths and lavas are also explained ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Mollex). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.08.015 Received 9 December 2016; Received in revised form 31 May 2017; Accepted 14 August 2017 Available online 15 August 2017 0009-2541/ © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/). G. Mollex et al. Chemical Geology 480 (2018) 66–74 by the deeply rooted African plume, which impacts the entire EAR have been observed, the last of which began in September 2007. Silicate (Halldórsson et al., 2014). However, the number of plumes below the and carbonatite lavas were erupted contemporaneously during this sub- EAR, and their influence on magmatism in the region, remain con- Plinian phase (Bosshard-Stadlin et al., 2014; Keller et al., 2010), in troversial. contrast to typical effusive emplacement of solely natrocarbonatite Helium isotopic compositions of mantle xenolith-hosted minerals flows. Dike emplacement below Gelai and Oldoinyo Lengai volcanoes from small cones and maars near Oldoinyo Lengai (Porcelli et al., 1986; occurred before the 2007–2008 eruptions (Albaric et al., 2010). Less- Hilton et al., 2011) and nearby volcanoes (Pik et al., 2006; Hilton et al., evolved, recharged magma injected into the deep, still active Oldoinyo 2011; Halldórsson et al., 2014) range from 4.95–6.79 RA, consistent Lengai magma chamber interacted and mixed with the resident na- with a SCLM signature (6.1 ± 0.9 RA; Gautheron and Moreira, 2002; trocarbonatite magma, thereby triggering CO2 exsolution and the as- Dunai and Porcelli, 2002, and references therein). All fumarolic sociated explosive eruption (Bosshard-Stadlin et al., 2014). The 3He/4He measurements from the summit of Oldoinyo Lengai have as 2007–2008 eruption dramatically changed the morphology of the well been consistent with SCLM or MORB sources: a value of 7.6 RA was Oldoinyo Lengai northern summit plateau, forming a ~120-m-deep, first reported by Javoy et al. (1988), values of 6.32–7.02 RA were ~400-m-wide crater, and destroying hornitos that had previously measured prior to the 2007–2008 explosive eruption (Teague et al., emitted natrocarbonatite lava flows. The hydrothermal system related 2008; Fischer et al., 2009), and two gas samples after the 2008 ex- to the northern crater, from which numerous fumarole measurements plosive phase yielded a value of 6.77 RA (Barry et al., 2013). The good had been obtained, was also destroyed. agreement between all previous helium measurements and SCLM or MORB helium signatures precludes the involvement of a deep, un- 3. Samples and analytical methods degassed mantle source or crustal carbonates during the genesis of Oldoinyo Lengai carbonatites. 3.1. Sample descriptions To further understand the spatio-temporal helium isotope variations at Oldoinyo Lengai, we present helium isotope compositions of fu- Rocks and fumaroles were sampled in 2010 and 2014, thus after the marolic gases and xenolith-hosted minerals sampled after the 2007–2008 explosive eruption. Samples 10TL01, 10TL05, and 10TL06 2007–2008 explosive eruption, and compare those with previously are coarse-grained xenoliths from the rim of the northeast crater, and published results related to the Arusha volcanic province. These data represent the most recent products of the explosive eruption. allow us to (1) discuss the mantle source of Oldoinyo Lengai magmas, Petrologically, the xenoliths are coarse grained (thus having crystal- including carbonatites; (2) discuss the processes that govern the genesis lized at depth), display a cumulative texture, and are classified as ijolite and evolution of carbonatites