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Mafic to ultramafic xenoliths from Mauna Kea, Hawaii: clues to magma evolution from trace element compositions of clinopyroxene

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Abstract

Mafic and ultramafic xenoliths were erupted with hawaiite lavas from a post-shield, Laupahoehoe cinder cone on Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii. Major element compositions of clinopyroxene, olivine, and plagioclase in these xenoliths do not clearly differentiate between parental Hawaiian tholeiitic, transitional, or alkalic magmas. To clarify the parental magma compositions, incompatible trace element concentrations in clinopyroxene were analyzed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The compositions of equilibrium liquids were calculated using published clinopyroxene/basalt partition coefficients. The REE patterns and concentrations of Sr, Ba, Ti, and Zr in most calculated liquids are similar to transitional and alkalic lavas of post-shield Hamakua Volcanics and unlike the younger host lava, the more alkalic Laupahoehoe Volcanics. In contrast, liquids in equilibrium with clinopyroxene in a wehrlite and an olivine gabbro have trace element concentrations similar to tholeiitic shield basalts. Thus, these xenoliths represent cumulates crystallized at depth from the shield stage tholeiitic and post-shield Hamakua magmas and were then entrained in the younger alkalic Laupahoehoe lavas. The composition of the xenoliths and the calculated liquids show that the Hamakua Volcanics and Laupahoehoe Volcanics are not related to one another by deep fractionation, but instead are derived from compositionally distinct sources and different degrees of melting.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Garret Hart for assistance with the LA-ICPMS analyses of clinopyroxene at Washington State University. We thank Steve Nelson, David Clague, Fred Frey, and Marc Norman for reviews of a previous version of the manuscript, and Tim Grove for his editorial suggestions. This work was supported with funds from the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Brigham Young University.

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  1. Megan Pickard Sjoblom

    Present address: Department of Geology, Brigham Young University–Idaho, Rexburg, ID, 83460, USA

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  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Megan Pickard Sjoblom, Michael J. Dorais & Eric H. Christiansen

  2. Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Rayleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Ronald V. Fodor

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Sjoblom, M.P., Dorais, M.J., Christiansen, E.H. et al. Mafic to ultramafic xenoliths from Mauna Kea, Hawaii: clues to magma evolution from trace element compositions of clinopyroxene. Contrib Mineral Petrol 178, 20 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-023-02001-3

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