High-Resolution Isotopic Variability Across EPR Segment 16°N: A Chronological Interpretation of Source Composition and Ridge-Seamount Interaction

A high-resolution sampling profile constituted of 52 basalt samples from across the East Pacific Rise (EPR) was investigated. These samples provide a unique opportunity to study the coeval recording of isotopic signals derived from sub-marine eruptions at a fast spreading ridge over a time interval of similar to 320 kyrs. Additionally, the study area is marked by the presence of a neighboring seamount chain that has recently caused the ridge to jump twice toward it. Combining previous geochemical studies and bathymetry, we established a first-order chronology between analyzed samples, and have reconstructed the evolution of basalt compositions as the ridge and seamounts advance and finally merge. Our data reveal the existence of two distinct types of isotopic variability within the samples. One that has a low amplitude and frequency and is accounted for by the continuous melting of the ambient mantle, indicating a process with a similar to 125 kyr periodicity. The other, of higher amplitude, is discontinuous in time, and likely reflects the seamounts source influence on the ridge. Our results support a two-step hotspot-ridge interaction including a first stage (>= 600 ka) of regional enrichment of the depleted ridge mantle by hotspot material; and a second, more recent (at least 300 ka) even wherein ambient mantle melts mixed with proximal melts from heterogeneous seamounts sourced nearby. We also propose that the ancient gabbroic component previously identified in this region appeared very recently (

Automated summary

By analyzing 52 basalt samples from the East Pacific Rise, this study identified two types of isotopic variability, attributed to continuous melting of the ambient mantle and the influence of seamount sources on the ridge. The research proposed a two-step hotspot-ridge interaction model to explain the evolution of basalt compositions in the region.