Short length scale mantle heterogeneity beneath Iceland probed by glacial modulation of melting

Glacial modulation of melting beneath Iceland provides a unique opportunity to better understand both the nature and length scale of mantle heterogeneity. At the end of the last glacial period, ∼13000 yr BP, eruption rates were ∼20–100 times greater than in glacial or late postglacial times and geop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth and planetary science letters 2013-10, Vol.379, p.146-157
Main Authors: Sims, Kenneth W.W., Maclennan, John, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Mervine, Evelyn M., Blusztajn, Jurek, Grönvold, Karl
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Basalt
basaltic volcanism
Depletion
Earth Sciences
Geochemistry
Heterogeneity
Icelandic volcanism
Lava
Mantle
mantle heterogeneity
mantle lithology
Melting
Modulation
radiogenic isotopes
Sciences of the Universe
Volcanic activity
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Summary:Glacial modulation of melting beneath Iceland provides a unique opportunity to better understand both the nature and length scale of mantle heterogeneity. At the end of the last glacial period, ∼13000 yr BP, eruption rates were ∼20–100 times greater than in glacial or late postglacial times and geophysical modeling posits that rapid melting of the large ice sheet covering Iceland caused a transient increase in mantle decompression melting rates. Here we present the first time-series of Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic data for a full glacial cycle from a spatially confined region of basaltic volcanism in northern Iceland. Basalts and picrites erupted during the early postglacial burst of volcanic activity are systematically offset to more depleted isotopic compositions than those of lavas erupted during glacial or recent (
ISSN:0012-821X
1385-013X
DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.07.027