TY - JOUR

T1 - Nb/Ta, Zr/Hf and REE in the depleted mantle

T2 - Implications for the differentiation history of the crust - mantle system

AU - Weyer, Stefan

AU - Münker, Carsten

AU - Mezger, Klaus

PY - 2003/1/10

Y1 - 2003/1/10

N2 - High-precision Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Sm, Nd and Lu concentration data of depleted mantle rocks from the Balmuccia peridotite complex (Ivrea Zone, Italian Alps) were determined by isotope dilution using multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS). The Zr/Hf ratios of all investigated samples from the Balmuccia peridotite complex are significantly lower than the chondritic value of 34.2, and the most depleted samples have Zr/Hf ratios as low as 10. Correlated Zr/Hf ratios and Zr abundances of the lherzolites preserve the trend of a mantle residue that has been depleted by fractional melting. This trend confirms experimental studies that predict Hf to behave more compatibly than Zr during mantle melting. Experimentally determined partition coefficients imply that the major Zr and Hf depletion most likely occurred in the spinel stability field, with (DZr/DHf )cpx ≈ 0.5, and not in the garnet stability field, where (DZr/DHf)grt is probably close to one. However, minor amounts of melting must have also occurred in a garnet facies mantle, as indicated by low Sm/Lu ratios in the Balmuccia peridotites. The Nb/Ta ratios of most lherzolites are subchondritic and vary only from 7 to 10, with the exception of three samples that have higher Nb/Ta ratios (18-24). The overall low Nb/Ta ratios of most depleted mantle rocks confirm a higher compatibility of Ta in the mantle. The uniform Nb/Ta ratios in most samples imply that even in 'depleted' mantle domains the budget of the highly incompatible Nb and Ta is controlled by enrichment processes. Such a model is supported by the positive correlation of Zr/Nb with the Zr concentration. However, the overall enrichment was weak and did barely affect the moderately incompatible elements Zr and Hf. The new constraints from the partitioning behaviour of ZrHf and NbTa provide important insights into processes that formed the Earth's major silicate reservoirs. The correlation of Zr/Hf and Sm/Nd in depleted MORB can be assigned to previous melting events in the MORB source. However, such trends were unlikely produced during continental crust formation processes, where Sm/Nd and Zr/Hf are decoupled. The different fractionation behaviour of Zr/Hf and Sm/Nd in the depleted mantle (correlated) and the crust (decoupled) indicates that crustal growth by a simple partial melting process in the mantle has little effect on the mass budget of LREE and HFSE between crust and mantle. A more complex source composition, similar to that of modern subduction rocks, is needed to fractionate the LREE, but not Zr/Hf and the HREE.

AB - High-precision Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Sm, Nd and Lu concentration data of depleted mantle rocks from the Balmuccia peridotite complex (Ivrea Zone, Italian Alps) were determined by isotope dilution using multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS). The Zr/Hf ratios of all investigated samples from the Balmuccia peridotite complex are significantly lower than the chondritic value of 34.2, and the most depleted samples have Zr/Hf ratios as low as 10. Correlated Zr/Hf ratios and Zr abundances of the lherzolites preserve the trend of a mantle residue that has been depleted by fractional melting. This trend confirms experimental studies that predict Hf to behave more compatibly than Zr during mantle melting. Experimentally determined partition coefficients imply that the major Zr and Hf depletion most likely occurred in the spinel stability field, with (DZr/DHf )cpx ≈ 0.5, and not in the garnet stability field, where (DZr/DHf)grt is probably close to one. However, minor amounts of melting must have also occurred in a garnet facies mantle, as indicated by low Sm/Lu ratios in the Balmuccia peridotites. The Nb/Ta ratios of most lherzolites are subchondritic and vary only from 7 to 10, with the exception of three samples that have higher Nb/Ta ratios (18-24). The overall low Nb/Ta ratios of most depleted mantle rocks confirm a higher compatibility of Ta in the mantle. The uniform Nb/Ta ratios in most samples imply that even in 'depleted' mantle domains the budget of the highly incompatible Nb and Ta is controlled by enrichment processes. Such a model is supported by the positive correlation of Zr/Nb with the Zr concentration. However, the overall enrichment was weak and did barely affect the moderately incompatible elements Zr and Hf. The new constraints from the partitioning behaviour of ZrHf and NbTa provide important insights into processes that formed the Earth's major silicate reservoirs. The correlation of Zr/Hf and Sm/Nd in depleted MORB can be assigned to previous melting events in the MORB source. However, such trends were unlikely produced during continental crust formation processes, where Sm/Nd and Zr/Hf are decoupled. The different fractionation behaviour of Zr/Hf and Sm/Nd in the depleted mantle (correlated) and the crust (decoupled) indicates that crustal growth by a simple partial melting process in the mantle has little effect on the mass budget of LREE and HFSE between crust and mantle. A more complex source composition, similar to that of modern subduction rocks, is needed to fractionate the LREE, but not Zr/Hf and the HREE.

KW - Balmuccia periodite

KW - Crust formation

KW - Depleted mantle

KW - HFSE

KW - Partition coefficient

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0037428062&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/S0012-821X(02)01059-2

DO - 10.1016/S0012-821X(02)01059-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0037428062

VL - 205

SP - 309

EP - 324

JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters

JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters

SN - 0012-821X

IS - 3-4

ER -