Ancient refractory asthenosphere revealed by mantle re-melting at the Arctic Mid Atlantic Ridge

The upper mantle is a heterogeneous mixture of refractory and recycled crustal domains. The recycled portions, more fertile and thus preferentially melted, dominate the composition of the basalts erupted on the surface, whereas the imprint of melting of the refractory counterparts is more difficult to discern from the basalt chemistry. Contrasting radiogenic isotopic signatures of mid-ocean ridge basalts and oceanic mantle, however, show that Hf isotope ratios may provide hints for melting of refractory source materials despite ubiquitous magma mixing during ascent and stalling in the crust. This property may allow identifying contributions from depleted mantle materials unseen in other isotope systematics in basalts. Here, we show that basalts from Mohns and Knipovich ridges, two >500-km long oblique super-segments in the Arctic Atlantic, have distinctly high Hf isotope ratios, not mirrored by comparatively high Nd and low Sr and Pb isotope ratios. These compositions can be explained if a highly depleted asthenospheric mantle melts beneath this section of the Arctic Mid Atlantic Ridge. We argue that this depleted source consists of high proportions of ancient (>1 Ga), ultra-depleted mantle, previously drained of enriched components before being re-melted in its current location following a recent ridge-jump, allowing the identification of ultra-depleted mantle components in the arctic subridge mantle. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The upper mantle is a mixture of refractory and recycled crustal domains, with the recycled portions dominating the composition of surface basalts. Hf isotope ratios may provide hints for melting of refractory source materials in basalts, allowing the identification of depleted mantle materials. Basalts from the Arctic Atlantic show high Hf isotope ratios, suggesting a highly depleted asthenospheric mantle source beneath this region.