The distribution of geochemical heterogeneities in the source of Hawaiian shield lavas as revealed by a transect across the strike of the Loa and Kea spatial trends: East Molokai to West Molokai to Penguin Bank

Abstract

An important feature of <2Ma Hawaiian volcanoes is that they define two sub-parallel spatial trends known as the Loa- and Kea-trends. On the Island of Hawaii, the <1.5Ma shield lavas on the Loa and Kea spatial trends have distinctive geochemical characteristics that are designated as Loa-type and Kea-type. These geochemical differences are clearly expressed in Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotopic ratios, major element contents, and ratios of incompatible elements. They are interpreted to reflect varying proportions of sediment, basalt, gabbro and peridotite in subducted oceanic lithosphere. Pb isotopic ratios indicate that the Loa-type component reflects ancient subduction, >2.5Ga, whereas the Kea-type component reflects younger subduction, <1.5Ga. To evaluate the temporal persistence of these geochemical differences in the source of Hawaiian shield lavas, we analyzed lavas from the ∼1.5 to 2Ma Molokai Island volcanoes, East and West Molokai, and the adjacent submarine Penguin Bank. The three volcanoes form a nearly east–west trend that crosscuts the Loa and Kea spatial trends at a high angle; consequently we can determine if these older lavas are Kea-type in the east and Loa-type in the west. All lavas collected from the subaerial flanks of East Molokai, a Kea-trend volcano, have Kea-type geochemical characteristics; however, dive samples collected from Wailau landslide blocks, probably samples of the East Molokai shield that are older than those exposed on the subaerial flanks, include basalt with Loa-type geochemical features. Shield lavas from West Molokai and Penguin Bank, both on the Loa-trend, are dominantly Loa-type, but samples with Kea-type compositions also erupted at these Loa-trend volcanoes. The Loa-trend volcanoes, Mahukona, West Molokai, Penguin Bank, and Koolau, have also erupted lavas with Kea-type geochemical characteristics, and the Kea-trend volcanoes, Mauna Kea, Kohala, Haleakala, and East Molokai, have erupted lavas with Loa-type geochemical characteristics. The presence of both Loa- and Kea-type lavas in a volcano provides constraints on the distribution of geochemical heterogeneities in the source of Hawaiian shield basalts. Two plausible models are: (1) source components with Loa- and Kea-type geochemical characteristics are present in the sources of all <2Ma shields, but the Kea-to-Loa proportion is higher beneath Kea-trend than Loa-trend volcanoes, or (2) the magma source contains a uniform proportion of Loa- and Kea-type components, but these components have different solidi. Magmas derived from the low-temperature regions of the source preferentially sample the component with the lower solidus temperature and form Loa-type lavas. In contrast, magmas derived from the relatively high-temperature regions of the source sample both low and high solidus components in the source and form Kea-type lavas. This model is supported by the linear correlations between isotopic ratios and calculated temperatures of estimated primary magmas.