Hf–Nd isotope decoupling in the oceanic lithosphere: constraints from spinel peridotites from Oahu, Hawaii

Abstract

We present a detailed geochemical investigation on the Hf, Nd and Sr isotope compositions and trace and major element contents of clinopyroxene mineral separates from spinel lherzolite xenoliths from the island of Oahu, Hawaii. These peridotites are believed to represent the depleted oceanic lithosphere beneath Oahu, which is a residue of a MORB-related melting event some 80–100 Ma ago at a mid-ocean ridge. Clinopyroxenes from peridotites from the Salt Lake Crater (SLC) show a large range of Hf isotopic compositions, from ϵ Hf=12.2 (similar to the Honolulu volcanics series) to extremely radiogenic, ϵ Hf=65, at nearly constant 143Nd/ 144Nd ratios ( ϵ Nd=7–8). None of these samples show any isotopic evidence for interaction with Koolau-type melts. A single xenolith from the Pali vent is the only sample with Hf and Nd isotopic compositions that falls within the MORB field. The Hf isotopes correlate positively with the degree of depletion in the clinopyroxene (e.g. increasing Mg#, Cr#, decreasing Ti and heavy REE contents), but also with increasing Zr and Hf depletions relative to the adjacent REE in a compatibility diagram. The Lu/Hf isotope systematics of the SLC clinopyroxenes define apparent ages of 500 Ma or older and these compositions cannot be explained by mixing between any type of Hawaiian melts and the depleted Pacific lithosphere. Metasomatism of an ancient (e.g. 1 Ga or older) depleted peridotite protolith can, in principle, explain these apparent ages and the Nd–Hf isotope decoupling, but requires that the most depleted samples were subject to the least amount of metasomatism. Alternatively, the combined isotope, trace and major element compositions of these clinopyroxenes are best described by metasomatism of the 80–100 Ma depleted oceanic lithosphere by melts products of extensive mantle–melt interaction between Honolulu Volcanics-type melts and the depleted lithosphere.