Compositional diversity of Mauna Kea shield lavas recovered by the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project: Inferences on source lithology, magma supply, and the role of multiple volcanoes

Abstract

The final Stage (Phase‐2) of the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP) recovered 408 m of basaltic core (3098–3506 mbsl) attributed to Mauna Kea volcano. We determined the major and trace element composition of 40 samples from this core. Our results show that the incompatible element ratios, such as Zr/Nb, which are correlated with Pb isotopic ratios, are more variable in the lower 408 m of Mauna Kea shield lavas than in the overlying 2855 m (∼450 ka). We argue that this geochemical diversity was present in the mantle source of Mauna Kea shield lavas and does not require the inter‐fingering of lavas from adjacent volcanoes. Because of uncertainties in Ni partitioning between olivine and melt and the wide range of Ni contents in peridotites, we show that all Mauna Kea lavas may have been derived from a peridotite source. We also obtained major and trace element compositions for 24 whole‐rock clasts and hyaloclastites and 7 glasses from HSDP Phase‐1 core between 1767 and 1808 mbs. These enigmatic lavas, previously recognized by the distinctive high CaO and K2O contents of their glasses, are also relatively enriched in highly incompatible trace elements. We show that this group of lavas have affinities with post‐shield lavas and argue that they are a consequence of lower degrees of melting (∼a factor of two) than other Mauna Kea shield lavas, thereby providing evidence that magma supply varied significantly during the growth of the Mauna Kea shield.