Osmium isotope evidence for a heterogeneous 3He/4He mantle plume beneath the Juan Fernandez Islands

Abstract

Abstract Mantle plume models have been widely applied to explain the formation of ocean island basalts (OIB), with high-3He/4He in their lavas being explained by sampling of a primitive deep mantle source. The Juan Fernandez Islands have 3He/4He (7.8–18 RA) similar to or higher than in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB; 8\u202f±\u202f1 RA) and have been used to both support and refute the mantle plume hypothesis. Ambiguity regarding the origin of the Juan Fernandez Islands primarily originates from interpretation of mantle source signatures between the lava series from the two main islands, Robinson Crusoe and Alexander Selkirk. To examine this issue, we report new whole-rock and olivine separate 187Os/188Os ratios and major-, trace-, and highly siderophile-element (HSE: Re, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ir, Os) abundances. The HSE and trace element abundances in Juan Fernandez main shield lavas can be explained by up to 30% olivine removal, together with spinel crystallization at 1–5 kbar, whereas Robinson Crusoe rejuvenated lavas can be reproduced by higher-pressure fractional crystallization (up to 10 kbar). An assemblage of 30 modal % olivine and 1–5 modal % spinel, combined with the additional contribution of primary melt trapped in olivine inclusions reproduces the range of HSE compositions observed in Juan Fernandez Archipelago olivine grains. Ratios of 187Os/188Os for Juan Fernandez lavas are generally less radiogenic than global OIB and show no correlation with indices of fractionation, indicating that they reflect mantle source compositions. Younger basanite lavas from Robinson Crusoe represent rejuvenated volcanism dominantly from a depleted lithospheric mantle source (187Os/188Os\u202f 18 RA) and enriched mantle source (187Os/188Os\u202f=\u202f0.1312) similar to the ‘C’ or ‘FOZO’ component, whereas Alexander Selkirk lavas are consistent with a dominant contribution from a depleted, low-3He/4He (