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Scientific drilling reveals geochemical heterogeneity within the Ko’olau shield, Hawai’i

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Abstract

The Ko’olau Scientific Drilling Project (KSDP) was initiated to determine if the distinctive geochemistry of Ko’olau lavas is a near-surface feature. This project successfully deepened a recent, ~351 m deep, tri-cone rotary-drilled water well by coring another ~328 m. Three Ar–Ar plateau ages of 2.8 to 2.9 Ma from the drill core section of 103 flows confirm stratigraphic interpretations that core drilling recovered the deepest and oldest subaerially erupted lavas yet sampled from this volcano. The petrography and geochemistry of the core, and cuttings from this and another new Ko’olau water well (~433 m deep) were determined. These analyses revealed that the geochemically distinct lavas of Ko’olau form a veneer only 175–250 m thick at the drill sites, covering flows with more typical Hawaiian tholeiite compositions. The compositional change occurred near the end of shield volcanism and is not abrupt. Thus, it is probably not related to a catastrophic event such as the collapse of the northeast flank of this volcano. The distinct geochemistry of surface Ko’olau lavas cannot be explained by melting pyroxenitic or combined pyroxenitic and peridotitic sources. Additional recycled oceanic crustal components, such as plagioclase-rich cumulates and sediment, were probably involved. As the Ko’olau volcano drifted off the Hawaiian hotspot and the overall degree of melting decreased, the proportion of melts from recycled oceanic crustal material increased relative to those from mantle peridotite.

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Acknowledgements

We owe a great debt to Honolulu Board of Water Supply chief geologist Chester Lao for providing rotary drill cuttings from the Kalihi and Wa’ahila Ridge holes, assistance in obtaining drilling permits, and permission to deepen the Kalihi water observation hole. Thanks also to the DOSECC team for providing expert coring services, particularly Dennis Nielson, Theresa Fall, engineer Bruce Howell and drillers Vance Hyatt and Kiki Kama. Mahalo nui loa to Dave Whilldin for his aid during drilling setup, and to core processing volunteers Mike Davis, Melissa Ito, Nate Adams, and Toby Vana. We are indebted to J.M. Rhodes and Eiichi Takahashi for providing datasets for comparison, and to Mike Vollinger and Marc Norman for their assistance in obtaining XRF and ICP-MS analyses, respectively. Dating of samples in the labs of Robert Duncan (Oregon State University) and Terry Spell (University of Nevada at Las Vegas), paleomagnetic work by Rebecca Carey, and emergency thin sections provided by JoAnn Sinton were of great benefit to this study. Microprobe analyses were supported by a University of Hawaii Harold T. Stearns foundation grant. E.H. is grateful for the insight received from John Sinton and Donald Thomas on his M.Sc. thesis, which this paper is based on. The reviews of Fred Frey and Greg Yaxley greatly improved this manuscript. This work was supported by a joint grant from the Earth Science and Ocean Science Divisions of the National Science Foundation (OCE 99-08911), and by generous matching funds from the University of Hawai’i, California Institute of Technology (E.M. Stolper), U.C. Berkeley (D. DePaolo), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (F. Frey), Carnegie Institute of Washington (E. Hauri), Max Plank Institut für Chemie (A. Hofmann), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (M. Kurz), and the Tokyo Institute of Technology (E. Takahashi). This is SOEST contribution #6319.

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  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawai’i, 1680 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawai’i , 96822, USA

    Eric H. Haskins & Michael O. Garcia

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Haskins, E.H., Garcia, M.O. Scientific drilling reveals geochemical heterogeneity within the Ko’olau shield, Hawai’i. Contrib Mineral Petrol 147, 162–188 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-003-0546-y

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