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Noble Gases as Tracers of Mantle Processes and Magmatic Degassing

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The Noble Gases as Geochemical Tracers

Part of the book series: Advances in Isotope Geochemistry ((ADISOTOPE))

Abstract

Noble gas geochemistry provides powerful tools for constraining mantle degassing through geological time. However, noble gas elemental and isotopic ratios are often disturbed by melting, magma degassing and atmospheric contamination. It is necessary to understand and quantify these shallow influences in order to obtain the noble gas elemental and isotopic ratios in the mantle. In this chapter, we present an overview of the key parameters that are necessary to derive mantle compositions. We discuss solubilities in silicate melts, crystal/melt partition coefficients during melting, and different models for vesiculation and degassing, along with the preferred method to correct for atmospheric contamination, using neon isotopic compositions. Using selected samples from mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and ocean island basalts (OIB), we give the probable mantle contents and elemental and isotopic compositions of He, Ne, Ar and Xe in the depleted mantle and in the high 3He source. These estimates cannot be reconciled with ancient depletion models for unradiogenic noble gas isotopic compositions, found in some oceanic island basalts, which are best explained by relatively undegassed sources deep in the mantle.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Pete Burnard for his patience and his thoughtful review of the manuscript. MK wishes to thank Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris for support while this manuscript was completed. This is IPGP contribution N°3337.

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  1. Equipe de Géochimie et Cosmochimie, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, CNRS (UMR 7154), 1 rue Jussieu, 75238, Paris Cedex, France

    M. A. Moreira

  2. Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    M. D. Kurz

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  1. M. A. Moreira
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Correspondence to M. A. Moreira .

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  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochemiques, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Pete Burnard

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Moreira, M.A., Kurz, M.D. (2013). Noble Gases as Tracers of Mantle Processes and Magmatic Degassing. In: Burnard, P. (eds) The Noble Gases as Geochemical Tracers. Advances in Isotope Geochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28836-4_12

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