Combined bulk-rock Hf- and Nd-isotope compositions of Mesoarchaean metavolcanic rocks from the Ivisaartoq Supracrustal Belt, SW Greenland

Author(s)
Kristoffer Szilas, J. Elis Hoffmann, Toni Schulz, Christina Hansmeier, Ali Polat, Sebastian Viehmann, Haino Uwe Kasper, Carsten Münker
Abstract

Bulk-rock Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd isotope compositions, as well as major and trace element data are presented for metavolcanic rocks from the Mesoarchaean (ca. 3075 Ma) Ivisaartoq Supracrustal Belt in the Nuuk region of southern West Greenland. The εHf

t calculated at 3075 Ma range from +0.8 to +3.1 and the corresponding εNd

t values range from +0.7 to +3.6, which forms an array that is displaced off the mantle array for these two isotopic systems. Primitive mantle normalized trace element plots of the metabasalts display negative Nb- and Ti-anomalies in combination with the elevated Th abundances, which is consistent with a subduction zone affinity as proposed by previous studies of this metavolcanic belt. No significant correlations are observed between the isotope compositions and proxies of shallow crustal contamination in the Ivisaartoq rocks, despite clear evidence for inherited Eoarchaean zircon [Polat et al. (2009a) Chemical Geology 268, 248-271], which would have dominated the bulk-rock Hf-isotope budget. Furthermore, the measured samples are less radiogenic than the estimate for the depleted mantle composition at 3075 Ma. The lack of isotope and trace element correlation suggests incomplete equilibration between the crustal contaminant and the parental Ivisaartoq melts. We prefer a petrogenetic model with some combination of slab-derived metasomatism of the mantle source region for the Ivisaartoq magmas, which homogenized their trace element contents, in combination with the incorporation of granitoid residue with unradiogenic Hf-isotope composition at higher degrees of partial melting and finally the eruption of mechanically entrained Eoarchaean crust without significant chemical equilibration. The geochemical arc-affinity and lower than depleted mantle (DM) isotope compositions of these metavolcanic rocks support the notion that crustal recycling and plate tectonics has been operating on Earth since at least the Mesoarchaean Eon.

Organisation(s)
Department of Lithospheric Research
External organisation(s)
Stanford University, Freie Universität Berlin (FU), Universität zu Köln, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, University of Windsor, Jacobs Universität Bremen
Journal
Chemie der Erde / Geochemistry
Volume
76
Pages
543-554
No. of pages
12
ISSN
0009-2819
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2016.09.004
Publication date
2016
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105105 Geochemistry
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Geochemistry and Petrology, Geophysics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/combined-bulkrock-hf-and-ndisotope-compositions-of-mesoarchaean-metavolcanic-rocks-from-the-ivisaartoq-supracrustal-belt-sw-greenland(6885e4a2-7e39-4bd6-9b1a-013bd2bbcf05).html