Samoan Hotspot Research Articles

When a Plateau Suppresses a Plume: Disappearance of the Samoan Plume Under the Ontong Java Plateau

AbstractThe Samoan hotspot generated an age‐progressive volcanic track that can be traced back to 24 Ma at Alexa Bank, but the trace of the older portion (>24 Ma) of the hotspot track is unclear. We show that six seamounts located in and around the Magellan Seamount chain—north of the Ontong‐Java Plateau (OJP)—have ages (87–106 Ma), geochemistry, and locations consistent with absolute plate motion model reconstructions of the Samoan hotspot track in the late Cretaceous, and three additional seamounts have geochemistry and locations consistent with a Samoan origin. However, a large segment of the Samoan hotspot (24–87 Ma) remains unidentified. Absolute plate motion models show that, from ∼60 to 30 Ma, the OJP passed over the Samoan plume. The exceptional thickness of the OJP lithosphere may have largely suppressed Samoan plume melting because the inferred volcanic trace of the Samoan hotspot wanes, and then disappears, on the OJP. Fortunately, 44 Ma volcanism at Malaita Island, located on the southern margin of the OJP, has a location, age, and geochemistry consistent with a Samoan plume origin, and provides a “missing link” bridging the younger and older segments of the Samoan hotspot. Our synthesis of geochemical, geochronological, and plate motion model evidence reveals that Samoa exhibits a clear hotspot age progression for over 100 Myr. Passage of ancient plateaus over young plumes—here called “plume‐plateau” interaction—may be relatively common: the OJP also passed over the putative Rarotonga hotspot, and the Society and Pitcairn hotspots were overtopped by the Manihiki Plateau.

Rapid Recycling of Subducted Sediments in the Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle

ABSTRACT Subduction recycling of sediments plays a key role in the geochemical evolution of Earth. The presence of recycled terrigenous sediments in upwelling plumes has been cited to explain the EM2 signature in ocean island volcanics, characterized by particularly high 87Sr/86Sr (>0.706). However, the origin of such isotopic anomalies in continental regions and the role of subducted sediments in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) remain unclear. The Himalaya–Tibet orogen is one of the world’s best places for deciphering continental subduction and the fate of subducted crustal materials in the mantle. Here we present a systematic study of the geochronology, mineral chemistry (especially clinopyroxene), whole-rock chemistry and Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf–O isotopic compositions of Cenozoic potassic–ultrapotassic lavas from the western Kunlun area of northwestern Tibet. New secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) zircon U–Pb dating, coupled with published age results, constrain the timing of volcanism from ~8.3 Ma to the present. These lavas show geochemical characteristics that closely resemble the EM2 mantle end-member represented by the Samoan hotspot. Both whole rocks and individual magmatic clinopyroxenes display arc-like trace-element patterns and remarkably enriched Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotope compositions (87Sr/86Sr ≥ 0.7080; εNd ≤ −4.8; 206Pb/204Pb ≥ 18.704; εHf ≤ −2.6). Together with high zircon δ18O values (6.3–10.4‰), the data point to a mantle source enriched by recycled sedimentary materials. Geochemical modeling and geophysical evidence further indicate that the sediments were directly derived from the subducted Indian continental lithosphere during India–Eurasia collision. Partial melting models assuming a hybridized mantle source that contains ~5% Indian continental crust suggest that the primary melts of the potassic–ultrapotassic lavas could be formed by melting of a phlogopite-bearing garnet lherzolite at low melting degrees (1–5%). The magma geochemistry is consistent with the model of mélange melting, implying that the subducted sediments may detach from the downgoing Indian slab and rise up diapirically into the overlying mantle lithosphere. Unlike traditional models of subducted sediments entering the deep mantle, the western Kunlun EM2-like lavas reveal that subducted sediments can be rapidly recycled into the SCLM during continental subduction (probably <50 Myr). We suggest that the SCLM could be an important reservoir for subducted sediments. The findings are important to our understanding of mantle circulation rates and chemical heterogeneities.

Mid-mantle seismic scatterers beneath the Samoan hotspot

We analyze teleseismic array data of deep and intermediate-depth earthquakes in the Fiji-Tonga-Kermadec region recorded at seismic networks at the west coast of US and Alaska with the aim of mapping seismic scatterers in the lower mantle and in the upper mantle transition zone beneath the Samoan hotspot. Short period and broadband waveform data are array-processed in order to detect coherent but anomalous phases in the P coda up to nearly 120 s after direct P waves and locate where they arrive from. Updating the data set reported in our previous study (Kaneshima and Helffrich, 2010; Kaneshima, 2018; Kaneshima, 2019), we examine nine scatterers near the hotspot, seven in the lower mantle and two in the transition zone, with the main focus on three lower mantle scatterers nearest to the hotspot at 1000 to 1200 km depths. We observe S-to-P waves generated from the three lower mantle scatterers for earthquakes with a wide range of hypocenters from 17°S to 24°S, while hardly any signs of corresponding P-to-P scattering waves are observed. The pulse shapes of the S-to-P waves from the three scatterers are simple and their pulse widths do not significantly differ from those of direct P waves when the signal quality is high enough. The geometry of the scatterers suggested by these observations is a steeply dipping sheet-like structure with the thickness less than several kilometers. The material consisting of the sheet needs to have a Vs value at least several percent lower than the surrounding mantle, as required by the amplitudes of S-to-P scattering waves relative to P, which is typically several percent. The low Vs anomaly of basaltic rocks relative to pyrolite under the shallow lower mantle conditions may be consistent with the observations (Wang et al., 2020). Seismic tomography models suggest that the nine scatterers tend to be located around the edge of a plume that ascends from the Pacific LLSVP to the Samoan hotspot. Numerical simulations of ascending plumes from a thermo-chemical pile at the bottom of the mantle show that the plumes tend to rise preferentially in the vicinity of the edge of the pile. Other simulations also show that blobs of recycled former oceanic crust subducting to the bottom of mantle are entrained into a plume and stretched vertically to a significant degree, consistently with the images suggested by geochemical studies of OIB. The scattering observations therefore may elucidate the structure of entrained basaltic blobs on their way of returning back to the surface hotspot.

Distinguishing Volcanic Contributions to the Overlapping Samoan and Cook-Austral Hotspot Tracks

Abstract To deconvolve contributions from the four overlapping hotspots that form the “hotspot highway” on the Pacific plate—Samoa, Rarotonga, Arago-Rurutu, and Macdonald—we geochemically characterize and/or date (by the 40Ar/39Ar method) a suite of lavas sampled from the eastern region of the Samoan hotspot and the region “downstream” of the Samoan hotspot track. We find that Papatua seamount, located ~60 km south of the axis of the Samoan hotspot track, has lavas with both a HIMU (high μ = 238U/204Pb) composition (206Pb/204Pb = 20.0), previously linked to one of the Cook-Austral hotspots, and an enriched mantle I (EM1) composition, which we interpret to be rejuvenated and Samoan in origin. We show that these EM1 rejuvenated lavas at Papatua are geochemically similar to rejuvenated volcanism on Samoan volcanoes and suggest that flexural uplift, caused by tectonic forces associated with the nearby Tonga trench, triggered a new episode of melting of Samoan mantle material that had previously flattened and spread laterally along the base of the Pacific plate under Papatua, resulting in volcanism that capped the previous HIMU edifice. We argue that this process generated Samoan rejuvenated volcanism on the older Cook-Austral volcano of Papatua. We also study Waterwitch seamount, located ~820 km WNW of the Samoan hotspot, and provide an age (10.49 ± 0.09 Ma) that places it on the Samoan hotspot trend, showing that it is genetically Samoan and not related to the Cook-Austral hotspots as previously suggested. Consequently, with the possible exception of the HIMU stage of Papatua seamount, there are currently no known Arago-Rurutu plume-derived lava flows sampled along the swath of Pacific seafloor that stretches between Rose seamount (~25 Ma) and East Niulakita seamount (~45 Ma), located 1400 km to the west. The “missing” ~20-million-year segment of the Arago-Rurutu hotspot track may have been subducted into the northern Tonga trench, or perhaps was covered by subsequent volcanism from the overlapping Samoan hotspot, and has thus eluded sampling. Finally, we explore tectonic reactivation as a cause for anomalously young volcanism present within the western end of the Samoan hotspot track.

Sulfur Isotope Evidence for a Geochemical Zonation of the Samoan Mantle Plume

AbstractBasalts from the Samoan volcanoes sample contributions from all of the classical mantle endmembers, including extreme EM II and high 3He/4He components, as well as dilute contributions from the HIMU, EM I, and DM components. Here, we present multiple sulfur isotope data on sulfide extracted from subaerial and submarine whole rocks (N = 16) associated with several Samoan volcanoes—Vailulu‘u, Malumalu, Malutut, Upolu, Savai‘i, and Tutuila—that sample the full range of geochemical heterogeneity at Samoa and upon exhaustive compilation of S‐isotope data for Samoan lavas, allow for an assessment of the S‐isotope compositions associated with the different mantle components sampled by the Samoan hotspot. We observe variable S concentrations (10–1,000 ppm) and δ34S values (−0.29‰ ± 0.30 to +4.84‰ ± 0.30, 2σ). The observed variable S concentrations are likely due to sulfide segregation and degassing processes. The range in δ34S reflects mixing between the mantle origin and recycled components, and isotope fractionations associated with degassing. The majority of samples reveal Δ33S within uncertainty of Δ33S = 0‰ ± 0.008. Important exceptions to this observation include: (a) a negative Δ33S (−0.018‰ ± 0.008, 2σ) from a rejuvenated basalt on Upolu island (associated with a diluted EM I component) and (b) previously documented small (but resolvable) Δ33S values (up to +0.027 ± 0.016) associated with the Vai Trend (associated with a diluted HIMU component). The variability we observed in Δ33S is interpreted to reflect contributions of sulfur of different origins and likely multiple crustal protoliths. Δ36S versus Δ33S relationships suggest all recycled S is of post‐Archean origin.

Trachytic Melt Inclusions Hosted in Clinopyroxene Offer a Glimpse Into Samoan EM2‐Endmember Melts

AbstractWe present major and trace element data on clinopyroxene‐hosted, glassy melt inclusions (MIs) from a highly enriched (high 87Sr/86Sr = 0.71856) lava (ALIA‐D115‐18) from the Samoan hot spot. Following correction for post‐entrapment crystallization, the MIs are trachytic (62.6–65.4 wt% SiO2, 1.5–3.0 wt% MgO, and 7.2–10.6 wt% total alkalis (Na2O + K2O)) ALIA‐D115 lavas dredged off the submarine flanks of Savai'i Island, western Samoa have previously been suggested to exhibit binary endmember magma mixing between a mafic, low 87Sr/86Sr magma and an evolved, high 87Sr/86Sr magma (the Enriched Mantle 2 endmember; EM2). In major and trace element space, these ALIA‐D115 lavas form a mixing trend between more primitive Samoan shield lavas and the MIs of this study, suggesting the MIs could represent the EM2‐derived mixing endmember. Recent efforts to constrain the EM2 mixing endmember composition shows remarkable overlap with the MI compositions, supporting the argument they could represent the 87Sr/86Sr mixing endmember to the ALIA‐D115 lavas and are derived from the EM2 endmember. Additionally, one melt inclusion contains Fo73 olivines not in equilibrium with the trachytic melt, suggesting the melt interacted with a mafic magma prior to entrapment within host clinopyroxene. Projecting the ALIA‐D115 mixing trend in 87Sr/86Sr versus SiO2 and K2O space shows that the trend intersects an average MI composition at 87Sr/86Sr values of ∼0.725, thereby offering a window into more extreme compositions associated with the EM2 endmember.

Seismic Evidence for Plume‐Slab Interaction by High‐Resolution Imaging of the 410‐km Discontinuity Under Tonga

AbstractThe Tonga‐Samoa system provides a unique tectonic context to study how a cold subducting slab interacts with a hot rising mantle plume. Here we present a 3‐D high‐resolution image of the 410‐km mantle discontinuity (the 410) using seismic signals excited by deep‐focus earthquakes. The 410 is found to be ~30 km shallower inside the Tonga slab relative to the ambient mantle and ~20 km deeper further to the northwest under Fiji Islands. The downward deflection of the 410 under Fiji supports the hypothesis of a plume migration around the northern edge of the Tonga slab from Samoan hot spot to under Fiji due to fast trench rollback. The 50‐km topography difference in the 410 between the plume and the slab corresponds to a temperature difference of ~500 ± 100 K. The Samoan plume is inferred to be 200 ± 50 K hotter than the ambient mantle and supports a thermal origin for the plume.

“Petit Spot” Rejuvenated Volcanism Superimposed on Plume‐Derived Samoan Shield Volcanoes: Evidence From a 645‐m Drill Core From Tutuila Island, American Samoa

AbstractIn 2015 a geothermal exploration well was drilled on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. The sample suite from the drill core provides 645 m of volcanic stratigraphy from a Samoan volcano, spanning 1.45 million years of volcanic history. In the Tutuila drill core, shield lavas with an EM2 (enriched mantle 2) signature are observed at depth, spanning 1.46 to 1.44 Ma. These are overlain by younger (1.35 to 1.17 Ma) shield lavas with a primordial “common” (focus zone) component interlayered with lavas that sample a depleted mantle component. Following ~1.15 Myr of volcanic quiescence, rejuvenated volcanism initiated at 24.3 ka and samples an EM1 (enriched mantle 1) component. The timing of the initiation of rejuvenated volcanism on Tutuila suggests that rejuvenated volcanism may be tectonically driven, as Samoan hotspot volcanoes approach the northern terminus of the Tonga Trench. This is consistent with a model where the timing of rejuvenated volcanism at Tutuila and at other Samoan volcanoes relates to their distance from the Tonga Trench. Notably, the Samoan rejuvenated lavas have EM1 isotopic compositions distinct from shield lavas that are geochemically similar to “petit spot” lavas erupted outboard of the Japan Trench and late stage lavas erupted at Christmas Island located outboard of the Sunda Trench. Therefore, like the Samoan rejuvenated lavas, petit spot volcanism in general appears to be related to tectonic uplift outboard of subduction zones, and existing geochemical data suggest that petit spots share similar EM1 isotopic signatures.

Extreme enriched and heterogeneous 87Sr/86Sr ratios recorded in magmatic plagioclase from the Samoan hotspot

We report the major-element, trace-element, and 87Sr/86Sr compositions of six plagioclase crystals from two Samoan lavas with extreme EM2 isotopic compositions (ALIA-115-18 with whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr of 0.718592, and ALIA-115-21 with whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr of 0.720469). We employed laser-ablation split-stream mass spectrometry (LASS) to simultaneously measure 87Sr/86Sr ratios, major-element concentrations, and trace-element concentrations in the same plagioclase crystal volume. We find that two plagioclase crystals have extreme 87Sr/86Sr heterogeneity in excess of 5000 ppm (where ppm of 87Sr/Sr variability86=106⋅[Sr/8687Srmax−87Sr/86Srmin]/87Sr/86Sravg). In two of the plagioclase crystals, we identify the highest 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7224) ever measured in any fresh, mantle-derived ocean island basalt (OIB) or OIB-hosted mineral phase.We find that in 87Sr/86Sr-versus-Sr concentration space, the six plagioclase crystals overlap in a “common component” region with higher 87Sr/86Sr than has been previously identified in whole-rock Samoan lavas or mineral separates. We use the occurrence of olivine mineral inclusions (Fo=74.5±0.8, 2 SD) in the high-87Sr/86Sr zone of one plagioclase crystal to infer the bulk composition (Mg#=46.8±0.8, 2 SD) of the extreme EM2 magma from which the olivine and high-87Sr/86Sr plagioclase crystallized. We argue that a relatively evolved EM2 endmember magma mixed with at least one lower-87Sr/86Sr melt to generate the observed intra-crystal plagioclase isotopic heterogeneity.By inferring that subducted terrigenous sediment gives rise to EM2 signatures in Samoan lavas, we estimate that the quantity of sediment necessary to generate the most-elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios observed in the Samoan plagioclase is ∼7% of the mantle source. We also estimate that sediment subduction into the mantle over geologic time has generated a sediment domain that constitutes 0.02% of the mass of the mantle, a much lower proportion than required in the EM2 mantle source. Even if subducted sediment is concentrated in large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) at the base of the mantle (which constitute up to 7.7% of the mantle's mass), then only 0.25% of the LLSVPs are composed of sediment. This requires that the distribution of subducted sediment in the mantle is heterogeneous, and the high relative abundance of sediment in the Samoan EM2 mantle is an anomalous relic of ancient subduction that has survived convective attenuation.

Sr–Pb–Nd–Hf isotopes and 40Ar/39Ar ages reveal a Hawaii–Emperor-style bend in the Rurutu hotspot

Current Pacific absolute plate motion (APM) models include two major, long-lived hotspot tracks: the ∼80 Ma Hawaii–Emperor and ∼79 Ma Louisville seamount tracks. Prior to ∼50 Ma, these two tracks show significant inter-hotspot drift, most likely due to a strong southern motion of the Hawaiian plume. With the addition of a third long-lived Pacific hotspot track, featuring a well-constrained hotspot location and a Hawaii–Emperor-style bend, we can achieve a more robust evaluation of the relationship between APM models and inter-hotspot drift. Such a candidate exists in the Rurutu hotspot track. The youngest volcanism (∼10 to 0.2 Ma) associated with the Rurutu hotspot is located in the Cook-Austral Islands and is known as the “Atiu” or “Young Rurutu” trend. Here we show with 40Ar/39Ar ages and Sr–Pb–Nd–Hf “isotopic fingerprints” that islands and seamounts ranging between ∼70 to 40 Ma fit the compositional trend and APM model-predicted locations of the Rurutu hotspot.The Rurutu hotspot has a distinctive HIMU- to FOZO-like composition, characterized by high 206Pb/204Pb (≥20.0) and low 87Sr/86Sr (≤0.704) ratios. HIMU is a rare composition, found in only two other hotspots worldwide. Uniquely, elevated Rurutu 208Pb/204Pb ratios relative to 206Pb/204Pb define a steeper regression that more closely reproduces the Northern Hemisphere Reference Line than the shallower regression defined by traditional HIMU. Rurutu also is the only HIMU-type hotspot known to continue into the West Pacific, allowing its unique composition to effectively be used as a fingerprint. The Rurutu signature can be traced through non-Samoan “interloper seamounts” in the Samoan region, to a hotspot bend in the southern Tuvalu Islands, continuing through the ∼74 to 63 Ma Gilbert Ridge and the ∼120 to 78 Ma Wake seamounts. However, precisely locating the Hawaii–Emperor style bend in Rurutu is complicated by the younger Samoan hotspot partially overlapping the Rurutu hotspot track, and Cretaceous volcanic structures predating regional Rurutu volcanism. Therefore, we present a computational method that tests a range of preexisting APM models, all generating Hawaii–Emperor style bend locations for Rurutu within error of each other. Our results confirm the presence of a third major hotspot track in the Pacific as originally proposed by W.J. Morgan (1972), with a ∼50.5–49.0 Ma bend at 178.48°E and 8.56°S.Paleomagnetic data for Hawaii indicate that changes in southern hotspot motion may explain its bend, while negligible latitudinal motion in Louisville and an unchanging distance to Rurutu (Tarduno et al., 2003; Koppers et al., 2012; Konrad et al., 2018) are consistent with subduction-driven plume motion explaining the Hawaii–Emperor bend. The presence of a defined ∼135° bend in the Rurutu hotspot track, coupled with minimal inferred latitudinal motion at that time (Konrad et al., 2018), leaves room for a small change in Pacific plate motion at ∼50 Ma.

A subduction and mantle plume origin for Samoan volcanism

The origin of Samoan volcanism in the southwest Pacific remains enigmatic. Whether mantle melting is solely caused by a mantle plume is questionable because some volcanism, here referred to as non-hotspot volcanism, defies the plume model and its linear age-progression trend. Indeed, non-hotspot volcanism occurred as far as 740 km west of the predicted Samoan hotspot after 5 Ma. Here we use fully-dynamic laboratory subduction models and a tectonic reconstruction to show that the nearby Tonga-Kermadec-Hikurangi (TKH) subduction zone induces a broad mantle upwelling around the northern slab edge that coincides with the non-hotspot volcanic activity after 5 Ma. Using published potential mantle temperatures for the ambient mantle and Samoan mantle plume, we find that two geodynamic processes can explain mantle melting responsible for intraplate volcanism in the Samoan region. We propose that before 5 Ma, the volcanism is consistent with the plume model, whereas afterwards non-hotspot volcanism resulted from interaction between the Subduction-Induced Mantle Upwelling (SIMU) and Samoan mantle plume material that propagated west from the hotspot due to the toroidal component of slab rollback-induced mantle flow. In this geodynamic scenario, the SIMU drives decompression melting in the westward-swept plume material, thus producing the non-hotpot volcanism.

Tracking Hadean processes in modern basalts with 142-Neodymium

The short-lived Sm146→142Nd isotope system (t1/2=103 Ma) provides constraints on the timing and processes of terrestrial silicate fractionation during the early Hadean. Although some Archean terranes preserve variability in 142Nd/144Nd, no anomalies have been resolved previously in young rocks. This study provides high precision 142Nd/144Nd data on a suite of ocean island basalts from Samoa and Hawaii previously shown to have variable depletions in 182W/184W that are inversely correlated with 3He/4He ratios. Improved analytical techniques and multiple replicate analyses of Nd show a variation in μ142Nd values between −1.3 and +2.7 in the suite, relative to the JNdi standard. Given the reproducibility of the standard (±2.9 ppm, 2 SD), two Samoan samples exhibit resolved variability in their 142Nd/144Nd ratios outside of their 95% confidence intervals, suggesting minor variability in the Samoan hotspot. One sample from Samoa has a higher μ142Nd of +2.7, outside the 95% confidence interval (±1.0 ppm) of the average of the JNdi standard. Limited, but resolved, variation in 142Nd/144Nd within the suite suggests the preservation of early Hadean silicate differentiation in the sources of at least some basalts from Samoa. Larger variations of 182W/184W and 3He/4He ratios in the same samples suggest that metal–silicate separation and mantle outgassing left a more persistent imprint on the accessible mantle compared to 142Nd/144Nd ratios which are impacted by early silicate differentiation.

Geodynamic implications for zonal and meridional isotopic patterns across the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins

AbstractWe present new Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Hf‐He isotopic data for 65 volcanic samples from the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins. This includes 47 lavas obtained from 40 dredge sites spanning an east‐west transect across the Lau and North Fiji basins, 10 ocean island basalt (OIB)‐type lavas collected from seven Fijian islands, and eight OIB lavas sampled on Rotuma. For the first time, we are able to map clear north‐south and east‐west geochemical gradients in 87Sr/86Sr across the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins: lavas with the most geochemically enriched radiogenic isotopic signatures are located in the northeast Lau Basin, while signatures of geochemical enrichment are diminished to the south and west away from the Samoan hot spot. Based on these geochemical patterns and plate reconstructions of the region, these observations are best explained by the addition of Samoa, Rurutu, and Rarotonga hot spot material over the past 4 Ma. We suggest that underplated Samoan material has been advected into the Lau Basin over the past ∼4 Ma. As the slab migrated west (and toward the Samoan plume) via rollback over time, younger and hotter (and therefore less viscous) underplated Samoan plume material was entrained. Thus, entrainment efficiency of underplated plume material was enhanced, and Samoan plume signatures in the Lau Basin became stronger as the trench approached the Samoan hot spot. The addition of subducted volcanoes from the Cook‐Austral Volcanic Lineament first from the Rarotonga hot spot, then followed by the Rurutu hot spot, contributes to the extreme geochemical signatures observed in the northeast Lau Basin.

Ni-Cu-Co-rich hydrothermal manganese mineralization in the Wallis and Futuna back-arc environment (SW Pacific)

The Wallis and Futuna back-arc system is a complex area composed of at least two active oceanic spreading centers (the Futuna and Alofi spreading centers) and young volcanic zones characterized by diffuse magmatism locally affected by the Samoan hotspot. This geological setting is favorable to the establishment of hydrothermal systems, in the form of either high-temperature (HT) hydrothermal venting or low-temperature (LT) diffuse flow. During the 2010 Futuna cruise aboard the R/V L'Atalante, three remarkable inactive LT Fe-Si-Mn deposits were discovered (Utu Uli, Anakele and Utu Sega). Some of the Mn-rich precipitates discovered exhibit the highest base metals concentrations so far recorded in ferromanganese rocks, including in the well-documented hydrogenetic crusts and polymetallic nodules. The deposits lie on top of volcanoes and formed in close association with the volcanic facies. The manganese mineralization occurs in the form of massive layered crusts and Mn-rich cements within strongly altered basaltic pyroclastic rocks, brecciated lavas and, more rarely, in sediments. Field observations and mineralogical and chemical studies support a hydrothermal origin for the mineralization and show that nickel, cobalt and copper enrichments are controlled by the precipitation of 7Å and 10Å manganates. The conventional geochemical classifications (e.g. Bonatti et al., 1972) used to decipher the origin of Mn mineralization cannot be used for this new type of deposit and new robust discrimination diagrams need to be established. We suggest that the unusual enrichment of metals recorded in our samples is due to (i) a lack of precipitation of high-temperature massive sulfides at depths that would have retained metals (e.g. Cu, Ni, Co); (ii) isolation of the hydrothermal system, thereby avoiding Ni, Co and Cu losses in the water column; and (iii) the ability of birnessite and buserite/todorokite to scavenge Co, Ni, and Cu from aqueous fluids. The Utu Uli and Anakele deposits share certain characteristics with the active hydrothermal system at Loihi seamount (e.g. the depth of mineralization, relationships with pyroclastic volcanoes, and the influence of a mantle plume source) and thus might represent late-stage products of this specific type of hydrothermal activity. Elsewhere, the Co-rich mineralization of the Calatrava volcanic field (CVF) in Spain may be a potential analog of the Utu Sega deposit. The Mn-(Co) deposits of the CVF formed in close proximity to Pliocene volcanic rocks. Metals were transported by epithermal hydrothermal solutions with high fO2 and cobalt was scavenged by Mn oxides. Together with the well-documented stratabound Mn deposits (González et al., 2016; Hein et al., 2008; Hein et al., 1996), the Mn deposits discovered in the Wallis and Futuna back-arc provide crucial insights into LT hydrothermal activity in the deep ocean. The metal-rich character of this LT hydrothermal activity may be of major importance for future research on the net flux of hydrothermally derived metals (e.g. Ni, Co, Cu) to the open ocean.

Spatial distribution of helium isotopes in volcanic gases and thermal waters along the Vanuatu (New Hebrides) volcanic arc

We report the first helium isotope survey of volcanic gases, hot springs and some olivine phenocrysts along the Vanuatu island arc, from Tanna in the south to Vanua Lava in the north. Low CO2 content and low 3He/4He ratios in thermal fluids of Epi (4.0±0.1Ra), Efate (4.5±0.1Ra) and Pentecost (5.3±0.5Ra) islands coherently indicate reduced mantle gas leakage and crustal contamination by radiogenic helium on these extinct volcanic systems of the former (Pliocene) arc. Instead, presently active Vanuatu volcanoes display 3He/4He and C/3He ratios typical of subduction-related volcanic arcs: 3He/4He ratios range from 6.4±0.5Ra in southernmost Tanna and 7.23±0.09Ra in northernmost Vanua Lava to typical MORB values in the central islands of Gaua (7.68±0.06Ra), Ambrym (7.6±0.8Ra) and Ambae (7±2Ra in groundwaters, 7.9±1.4Ra in olivine phenocrysts, and 8.0±0.1Ra in summit fumaroles of Aoba volcano). On Ambrym, however, we discover that hydrothermal manifestations separated by only 10–15km on both sides of a major E–W transverse fault zone crossing the island are fed by two distinct helium sources, with different 3He/4He signatures: while fluids in southwest Ambrym (Baiap and Sesivi areas) have typical arc ratios (7.6±0.8Ra), fluids on the northwest coast (Buama Bay area) display both higher 3He/4He ratios (9.8±0.2Ra in waters to 10.21±0.08Ra in bubbling gases) and lower C/3He ratios that evidence a hotspot influence. We thus infer that the influx of Indian MORB mantle beneath the central Vanuatu arc, from which Ambrym magmas originate, also involves a 3He-rich hotspot component, possibly linked to a westward influx of Samoan hotspot material or another yet unknown local source. This duality in magmatic He source at Ambrym fits with the bimodal composition and geochemistry of the erupted basalts, implying two distinct magma sources and feeding systems. More broadly, the wide He isotopic variations detected along the Vanuatu arc further verify the complex tectonic and magmatic framework of this intra-oceanic island arc.

Evolution of 3-D subduction-induced mantle flow around lateral slab edges in analogue models of free subduction analysed by stereoscopic particle image velocimetry technique

We present analogue models of free subduction in which we investigate the three-dimensional (3-D) subduction-induced mantle flow focusing around the slab edges. We use a stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (sPIV) technique to map the 3-D mantle flow on 4 vertical cross-sections for one experiment and on 3 horizontal depth-sections for another experiment. On each section the in-plane components are mapped as well as the out-of-plane component for several experimental times. The results indicate that four types of maximum upwelling are produced by the subduction-induced mantle flow. The first two are associated with the poloidal circulation occurring in the mantle wedge and in the sub-slab domain. A third type is produced by horizontal motion and deformation of the frontal part of the slab lying on the 660 km discontinuity. The fourth type results from quasi-toroidal return flow around the lateral slab edges, which produces a maximum upwelling located slightly laterally away from the sub-slab domain and can have another maximum upwelling located laterally away from the mantle wedge. These upwellings occur during the whole subduction process. In contrast, the poloidal circulation in the mantle wedge produces a zone of upwelling that is vigorous during the free falling phase of the slab sinking but that decreases in intensity when reaching the steady-state phase. The position of the maximum upward component and horizontal components of the mantle flow velocity field has been tracked through time. Their time-evolving magnitude is well correlated to the trench retreat rate. The maximum upwelling velocity located laterally away from the subducting plate is ∼18–24% of the trench retreat rate during the steady-state subduction phase. It is observed in the mid upper mantle but upwellings are produced throughout the whole upper mantle thickness, potentially promoting decompression melting. It could thereby provide a source for intraplate volcanism, such as Mount Etna in the Mediterranean, the Chiveluch group of volcanoes in Kamchatka and the Samoan hotspot near Tonga.

Evidence for a broadly distributed Samoan-plume signature in the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins

Geochemical enrichment of lavas in the northern Lau Basin may reflect the influx of Samoan-plume mantle into the region. We report major and trace element abundances and He-Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb-isotopic measurements for 23 submarine volcanic glasses covering 10 locations in the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins, and for three samples from Wallis Island, which lies between Samoa and the Lau Basin. These data extend the western limit of geochemical observations in the Basins and improve the resolution of North-South variations in isotopic ratios. The Samoan hot spot track runs along the length of the northern trace of the Lau and North Fiji Basins. We find evidence for a Samoan-plume component in lavas as far West as South Pandora Ridge (SPR), North Fiji Basin. Isotopic signatures in SPR samples are similar to those found in Samoan Upolu shield lavas, but show a slight shift toward MORB-like compositions. We explain the origin of the enriched signatures by a model in which Samoan-plume material and ambient depleted mantle undergo decompression melting during upwelling after transiting from beneath the thick Pacific lithosphere to beneath the thin lithosphere in the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins. Other lavas found in the region with highly depleted isotopic signatures may represent isolated pockets of depleted mantle in the basins that evaded this enrichment process. We further find that mixing between the two components in our model, a variably degassed high-3He/4He Samoan component and depleted MORB, can explain the diversity among geochemical data from the northern Lau Basin.

Samoan hot spot track on a “hot spot highway”: Implications for mantle plumes and a deep Samoan mantle source

We report new geochemical data for submarine lavas from the Samoan region that greatly enhance the geochemical data set for volcanoes from the hot spot. Additionally, two volcanoes dredged in the northern Lau Basin, Futuna Island and Manatu seamount, are young (<5 Ma), appear to be genetically related, and may have been generated by melting a component of Samoan mantle that has been advected into the region. We also find evidence for three seamounts and one atoll along the Samoan hot spot track that are not geochemically related to Samoa. We use a plate motion model to show that three non‐Samoan hot spots, currently active in the Cook‐Austral Islands, provided volcanism to the Pacific Plate now in the Samoan region approximately 10–40 Ma. The four interloping volcanoes in the Samoan region exhibit geochemical affinities with the three hot spots. All three hot spots would have left a depleted, viscous, refractory keel that is coupled to the base of the Pacific lithosphere that has been “rafted” to the Samoan region. Therefore, the new data also have implications for the origin of the Samoan hot spot as its origin has been suggested to be a result of either a deep‐seated mantle plume or a consequence of lithospheric cracking. Without major modification of the current “propagating lithospheric cracks” model, it is not clear how such cracks could yield melts from the refractory keel present under the Samoan lithosphere. Instead, a region of buoyantly upwelling mantle, or plume, is suggested to generate the shield stage volcanism in the Samoan region.

Helium isotope variations in seafloor basalts from the Northwest Lau Backarc Basin: Mapping the influence of the Samoan hotspot

New helium isotope results for seafloor basalts from the northern Lau Basin indicate that the signature of the Samoan hotpot has penetrated beneath the Rochambeau Rifts (RR) and the Northwest Lau Spreading Center (NWLSC) all the way to the Peggy Ridge (PR). Helium isotope ratios in 29 samples from the NWLSC – RR range from 10.9 to 28.1 Ra, all clearly higher than typical depleted mantle or MOR‐type values. Comparison with other helium results from the northern Lau Basin show the Samoan hotspot influence is confined to the NWLSC – RR extensional zone, and is absent in the northeast Lau Basin and along the PR. The absence of high 3He/4He ratios in the northeast Lau Basin may delimit the eastward extent of the Pacific Plate tear which allowed southward intrusion of the Samoan plume, or indicate deep mantle flow carrying the Samoan plume signal westward from the Samoan Islands.

A tale of a trail

A mantle plume origin for the Samoan hotspot has been contested because the ages along its putative trail did not seem to increase monotonically. New dates from the island of Savai'i resolve the controversy and favour a plume origin.