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Magma plumbing systems in large igneous provinces: Inferences from cyclical variations in Palaeogene East Greenland basalts

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Abstract

We present compositional data on a 1,250-m-thick sequence of sparsely porphyritic lavas that comprise the Geikie Plateau Formation, part of the ~55-Ma break-up-related flood basalts in East Greenland. Major element compositions are relatively restricted (6.3–7.6 wt% MgO; 2.2–2.4 wt% TiO2), with two excursions to more evolved compositions (2.4–3.4 wt% TiO2) that are similar to the inferred parental magma of the nearby Skaergaard Intrusion. Major and trace element calculations show that fractional crystallisation is the principal control on magma compositions, and the cyclical sequential variations imply regular magma chamber replenishment events. Isotopic data indicate minor crustal assimilation, but with different contaminants for the main group (amphibolitic gneiss) and evolved cycles (granulitic gneiss). Rifting episodes may have allowed more primitive magmas to ascend to shallow crustal levels and subsequently fractionate to more evolved compositions in a separate chamber, which was perhaps similar to the source of the Skaergaard Intrusion.

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Acknowledgements

This study formed part of the first author’s MSc. project at the Geological Institute of the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Lithosphere Centre, funded by the Danish National Research Foundation. Joel Baker and Tod Waight are thanked for help with the isotope analyses, and Andy Saunders and Godfrey Fitton are thanked for their helpful journal reviews. Editorial handling: Ian Parsons.

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  1. Rasmus Andreasen

    Present address: Dept. of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, 6105 Sherman Fairchild Hall, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Lithosphere Centre, Øster Voldgade 10 L, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Rasmus Andreasen, David W. Peate & C. Kent Brooks

  2. Geological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Rasmus Andreasen & C. Kent Brooks

  3. Dept. of Geoscience, University of Iowa, 121 Trowbridge Hall, Iowa City, IA , 52242, USA

    David W. Peate

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  1. Rasmus Andreasen
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Correspondence to Rasmus Andreasen.

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Andreasen, R., Peate, D.W. & Brooks, C.K. Magma plumbing systems in large igneous provinces: Inferences from cyclical variations in Palaeogene East Greenland basalts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 147, 438–452 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-004-0566-2

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