Helium, volatile fluxes and the development of continental crust

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Mantle-derived helium has a substantial primordial component and is readily distinguished from radiogenic “crustal” He by its isotopic composition. For some years it has been known to be escaping at mid-ocean ridges and more recently it has been shown to be escaping through the continental lithosphere in tectonically active areas, particularly those undergoing extension or volcanism. The C/ 3He value observed in ocean ridge basalts and continental gases that contain only mantle He, is close to 10 9. This is believed to be a typical value for the upper mantle. Other continental gases have ratios that vary widely and are diluted with crustal carbon. The ratio C/ 4He decreases with time through the production of radiogenic 4He, and depends on the C/(U + Th) value. Departures from the average may result from exceptional concentrations of U and Th or from C/He fractionation. There is circumstantial evidence for a steady-state flux of He through the continents that may be estimated from He accumulations in lakes and aquifers. The mantle component of such fluxes is calculated from their 3He content. If the mantle component is accompanied by C in the proportion indicated above, and extensional areas make up as little as 10% of the crust at any one time, then about 10% of the present inventory of crustal C would have been added to the crust every Ga by this means. C/K values for the crust and mantle are today very similar, and K may therefore scale as C. K/U and K/Th vary within narrow limits and they may scale with C also. The most plausible means of scavenging He from the mantle is by partial melting: He is expected to enter the first few percent of liquid formed, and the loss of mantle He and C at the surface is associated with the emplacement of basaltic bodies in the lower crust carrying K, U and Th. Some limits are placed on the thickness of basalt added in extensional areas. Mantle-derived CO 2 has often been invoked as a means of dehydrating continental crust to produce granulites. However, the amounts of CO 2, estimated from mantle He fluxes, entering the crust in those active tectonic areas studied so far appears too small to produce dehydration on a regional scale. The addition of mantle-derived material to the crust in extensional zones is a first-order crustal growth process the importance of which has previously been underestimated.