Abstract
The scale of mantle heterogeneities has been debated ever since the first observations of isotopic variations along mid-oceanic ridges1,2. Subsequent studies on lead and strontium isotopic variations along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge3–5 have shown that these isotopic compositions may vary with a major wavelength of ∼100–1,000 km. The immediate question is that of the scale (if any?) at which one may consider a piece of suboceanic mantle under a ridge to be homogeneous. We have studied two segments of oceanic ridges at the scale of a few kilometres. One of these portions of oceanic ridge, the CYAMEX zone in East Pacific Rise is typical, with a strongly ‘depleted’ chemistry. The other one, with an ‘intermediate’ chemistry, is the FAMOUS zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Our results show isotopic homogeneity for both zones even though small Pb variations persist on a small scale.
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Dupré, B., Lambret, B., Rousseau, D. et al. Limitations on the scale of mantle heterogeneities under oceanic ridges. Nature 294, 552–554 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294552a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294552a0
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