Midcontinent rift volcanism in the Lake Superior Region: Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic evidence for a mantle plume origin

Abstract

Between 1091 and 1098 Ma, most of a 15‐ to 20‐km thickness of dominantly tholeiitic basalt erupted in the Midcontinent Rift System of the Lake Superior region, North America. The Portage Lake Volcanics in Michigan, which are the youngest MRS flood basalts, fall into distinctly high‐ and low‐TiO2 types having different liquid lines of descent. Incompatible trace elements in both types of tholeiites are enriched compared to depleted or primitive mantle (La/Yb = 4.3–5.3; Th/Ta = 2.12–2.16; Zr/Y = 4.3–4.4), and both basalt types are isotopically indistinguishable. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions of the Portage Lake tholeiites have 87Sr/86Sri ≈ 0.7038, εNd (1095 Ma) ≈ 0±2, and μ1 ≈ 8.2. Model ages with respect to a depleted mantle source (TDM) average about 1950–2100 Ma. Portage Lake rhyolites fall into two groups. Type I rhyolites have Nd and Pb isotopic characteristics (εNd (1095 Ma) ≈ 0 to −4.7; μ1 ≈ 8.2–7.8) consistent with contamination of tholeiitic rocks by 5–10% Archean crust. The one type II rhyolite analyzed has Nd and Pb isotopic compositions (εNd (1095 Ma) ≈ −13 to −16; μ1 ≈ 7.6–7.7) which are consistent with partial melting of Archean crust. Early Proterozoic crust was not a major contaminant of MRS rocks in the Lake Superior region. Most reported Nd and Pb isotopic compositions of MRS tholeiites from the main stage of volcanism in the Lake Superior region and of the Duluth Complex are comparable to the Nd and Pb isotopic data for Portage Lake tholeiites. The isotopic enrichment of the MRS source compared to depleted mantle is striking and must have occurred at least 700 m.y. before 1100 Ma. There are two likely sources for such enriched MRS tholeiitic magmatism: subcontinental lithospheric mantle enriched during the early Proterozoic or enriched mantle derived from an upwelling plume. Subcontinental lithospheric mantle alone as a source cannot be ruled out strictly on isotopic grounds, but melting of enriched lithosphere potentially ranging in age from 3.6 to 1.8 Ga would have been less likely to generate either the homogeneity or the volume of MRS tholeiites. Decompression melting of an upwelling enriched mantle plume in a region of lithosphere thinned by extension could have successfully generated the enormous volume (850×103 km3) of relatively homogeneous magma in a restricted time interval.