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Chronological and geochemical study of lavas from the Chaîne des Puys, Massif Central, France: Evidence for crustal contamination

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Abstract

Datations of ancient lavas from the Chaîne des Puys through the 230Th-238U radioactive disequilibrium method confirm the eruption of several basaltic or slightly differentiated lavas around 40,000 years ago. The study of (230Th/232Th)0 initial ratios of these lava flows clearly demonstrates the influence of a crustal contamination of magmas superimposed to crystal fractionation. This contamination probably affects many trace elements, in particular, U, Th and Sr. A model based on the (230Th/232Th)0 initial ratio variations of non-contaminated lavas permits to consider that the first eruptions in the Chaîne des Puys could have occurred about 100,000 years ago.

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Condomines, M., Morand, P., Camus, G. et al. Chronological and geochemical study of lavas from the Chaîne des Puys, Massif Central, France: Evidence for crustal contamination. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 81, 296–303 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371684

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