Zircon Hf isotope evidence for an enriched mantle source for the Bushveld Igneous Complex

Abstract

We use the Hf isotope composition of zircon from the Bushveld Complex to better understand the source of its parent magmas. The data set, which consists of 141 individual LA-ICP-MS analyses from 11 samples encompassing the entire cumulate stratigraphy, shows that the parent magmas had a Hf isotope composition unlike that of the depleted mantle at 2.06 Ga. Specifically, sample average eHf(present) values range from −55.3 to −52.5 (eHf(2.06 Ga) = −9.0 to −6.8) and are surprisingly homogeneous. This homogeneity is difficult to reconcile with direct assimilation of crustal material by Bushveld parent magmas because it would require that each batch of magma had assimilated just the right amount of material to all acquire the same Hf isotopic composition. Also, calculations suggest that simple mixing of regional crust into a primitive, mantle-derived liquid cannot account for both the presumed Hf and major elemental concentrations and the 176Hf/177Hf ratio of the Bushveld magmas. Rather, the Hf data are consistent with generation of these magmas by partial melting in a sub-continental mantle lithospheric source with an unradiogenic Hf isotopic composition equal to that of the Bushveld parent magmas. Several possibilities for the development of such a source are explored using the new Hf isotope data.