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The Taney Seamounts are a NW-SE trending linear, near mid-ocean ridge chain consisting of five volcanoes located on the Pacific plate 300 km west of San Francisco, California. Taney Seamount-A, the largest and oldest in the chain, is defined by four well-exposed calderas, which expose previously infilled lavas. The calderas can be differentiated in time by their cross-cutting relationships, creating a relative chronology. The caldera walls and intracaldera pillow mounds were sampled systematically by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to obtain stratigraphically-controlled samples, a unique aspect of this study. The geochemistry of the seamount varies from more differentiated to more primitive with time (6.2–8.6 wt.% MgO), suggesting that the sub-caldera reservoir is open and undergoes periodic collapse, replenishment, crystallization, and eruption. The youngest and least differentiated lavas entrained a crystal cargo of plagioclase (An80–90) with melt inclusion volatile saturation pressures indicating entrapment in the lower oceanic crust and upper mantle (6–12 km, with 45% between 8 and 10 km below the sea floor). Melt inclusions exhibit high Al2O3, low SiO2, positive Sr and Eu anomalies and negative Zr and Nb anomalies when normalized to typical Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB). In comparison, the host lavas exhibit positive Sr anomalies, but no concurrent Zr, and Nb anomalies. Based on thermodynamic modeling using alphaMELTS, we develop a melt-rock interaction model defined by melting and assimilation of plagioclase-rich cumulates by hot, primitive mantle-derived melts. Significantly, the variability of the negative Zr and Nb anomalies cannot be explained by either cumulate melting or AFC alone. We propose that the melt inclusions record the interaction between cumulate partial melts and the assimilating melt, demonstrating the importance of cumulate melting during the assimilation process. Later percolating melts underwent diffusive interaction with, and entrained, recrystallized plagioclase cumulates resulting in the positive Sr signal without the concurrent Eu, Zr, or Nb anomalies observed in the host lavas. These results demonstrate that melt-rock interaction at the lower crust or upper mantle is an important process at Taney Seamount-A, and potentially other magmatic systems associated with seamount chains and ridge axes.

Seamounts formed adjacent to mid-ocean ridges are the most abundant on Earth, numbering several orders of magnitude higher than hotspot-related seamounts. The Taney Seamounts are a linear NW–SE-trending, near mid-ocean ridge chain consisting of five volcanoes located on the Pacific plate 300 km west of San Francisco, California. Taney Seamount-A, the largest and oldest in the chain, has four well-defined calderas. These calderas have clear cross-cutting relationships, creating a relative chronology. The caldera walls and intracaldera pillow mounds were sampled systematically by a remotely operated vehicle to obtain stratigraphically controlled samples, a unique aspect of this study. Changes in lava geochemistry are consistent with an open-system sub-caldera reservoir that undergoes periodic collapse, replenishment, shallow crystallization, and eruption. Replenishing magmas contain large, anorthite-rich plagioclase crystals that exhibit sieve textures and zoning indicating interaction with percolating melt. The enrichment of elements in the lavas that are incorporated in plagioclase (e.g. aluminum, strontium) provides chemical evidence for the interaction between mantle-derived melts and plagioclase cumulates in the lower oceanic crust or upper mantle (8–12 km), prior to magmas entering the sub-caldera plumbing system. Based on trace element variations, the erupted lavas vary from typical peridotite-derived normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB) compositions to those with an apparent residual garnet signature. Geochemical and thermodynamic modeling shows that decompression melting of a MORB mantle peridotite re-fertilized by garnet pyroxenite partial melts can reproduce the garnet signature observed in the Taney-A edifice lavas. Hence the magmatic architecture of Taney Seamount-A is characterized by the melting of a mixed lithology mantle, melt–rock interaction in the upper mantle to lower oceanic crust, and open-system evolution in a sub-caldera magma reservoir.

[1] A combined study of mapping, observational, age constraint, and geochemical data at the summit of Axial Seamount, Juan de Fuca Ridge, has revealed its recent petrological history. Multiple basalt types erupted at the summit in a time sequence. At least three different magma batches have been present beneath the Axial Summit caldera during the last millennium, each with a range in differentiation. The first, prior to 1100 CE, was compositionally diverse, dominantly aphyric T-MORB. The second, from ∼1220 to 1300 CE, was dominantly plagioclase-phyric, more mafic N-MORB erupted mostly in the central portion of the caldera. Since ∼1400 CE, lavas have been more differentiated, and nearly aphyric T-MORB mostly erupted in the caldera's rift zones. Parental magmas vary subtly due to small coupled differences in the degree of melting and sources, but all share a uniform differentiation trend indicating pooling at similar depths. Thus, melts percolate through melt-rich lenses that remain partially isolated in space and/or time. Centennial magmatic timescales at Axial Seamount are similar to those for fast spreading ridge segments. The fluctuation between aphyric and plagioclase-phyric lava likely reflects different pathways or velocities of melt migration.

Glassy lava fragments were collected in pushcores or using a small suction-sampler from over 450 sites along the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Blanco Transform Fault, Gorda Ridge, northern East Pacific Rise, southern East Pacific Rise, Fiji back-arc basin, and near-ridge seamounts in the Vance, President Jackson, Taney, and a seamount off southern California. The samples consist of angular glass fragments, limu o Pele, Pele's hair, and other fluidal fragments formed during pyroclastic eruptions. Since many of the sites are deeper than the critical point of seawater, fragmentation cannot be hydrovolcanic and caused by expansion of seawater to steam. The glass fragments have a wide range of MORB compositions, ranging from fractionated to primitive and from depleted to enriched. Enriched magmas, which have higher volatile contents, may form more abundant pyroclasts than depleted magmas. Eruptions with high effusion rates produce sheet flows and abundant pyroclasts whereas those with low effusion rates produce pillow ridges and few pyroclasts. This relation suggests that high effusion and conduit rise rates are coupled to high magmatic gas contents. The eruptions are mainly effusive with a minor strombolian bubble burst component. We propose that the gas phase is an added component of variable amounts of magmatic foam from the top of the magma reservoir. As the mixture of resident magma and foam rises in the conduit, the larger bubbles in the foam rise more quickly and sweep up the smaller bubbles nucleating and growing from the resident magma. On eruption, the process of bubble coalescence is more complete for the slower rising, gas-poor lavas that erupt as pillow lavas whereas the limu o Pele associated with sheet flow eruptions commonly contain several percent vesicles that avoided coalescence during ascent. The spatter erupted at the vent is quench granulated in seawater above the vent, reducing the pyroclast grainsize. The granulated spatter and limu o Pele fragments are then entrained in a rising plume of seawater heated by the eruption, which disperses them to distances as great as 5 km from the vent.

Explosive submarine basaltic eruptions, occurring in water depths of several kilometres, commonly result in the formation of layered volcaniclastic deposits. In order to quantify the cooling of such volcaniclastics, we have identified and separated two types of glassy fragments from these deposits on Loihi seamount: 1) fine (30–80 μm) limu o Pele bubble wall fragments and 2) coarser (0.8–1.2 mm) dense angular fragments. These pristine basaltic glasses have been subjected to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) from room temperature up to temperatures above their glass transition. Heat capacity ( c p , in J g − 1 K − 1 ) data reveal glassy and liquid regimes separated by clear hysteresis behaviour within the glass transition. The transient c p in the glass transition interval exhibits a deep trough before the peak, indicating very high cooling rates. It is a classic feature of so-called “hyper-quenching”, having been observed in DSC experiments on glasses produced using the splat-quench [D.B. Dingwell, P. Courtial, D. Giordano and A.R.L. Nichols, Viscosity of peridotite liquid, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 226(1–2), 127–138, 2004.], and cascade fibre-spinning [Y.Z. Yue, J.D. Christiansen and S.L. Jensen, Determination of the fictive temperature for a hyperquenched glass, Chemical Physics Letters 357(1–2), 20–24, 2002.] techniques. The trough is deepest for the limu o Pele fragments. Energy matching methods, developed for the estimation of cooling rates for such glasses, yield a rate of 10 5.31 K s − 1 for the cooling of the fine sieve fraction of limu glass on the sea floor at Loihi. Thus, limu o Pele volcaniclastics, believed to be formed during mild submarine pyroclastic eruptions, have experienced the fastest cooling of any natural volcanic glass measured to date. Such extreme cooling rates are likely to impact on many chemical and physical aspects of the stability of these glasses on the sea floor, as well as their use as proxies for field variables of the Earth's physical state and as monitors of the efficiency of chemical lithosphere–hydrosphere exchange.

The composition and temperature of vent fluids sampled from the active hydrothermal system in Escanaba Trough, Gorda Ridge in 2000 and 2002 remain unchanged from the only time this field was previously sampled, in 1988. ODP Leg 169 drilled nine bore holes at this site in 1996, some within meters of the vents, yet this disturbance has not impacted the measured compositions or temperatures of the fluids exiting at the seafloor. The fluids have maximum measured temperatures of 218°C and contain ∼20% more chloride than local ambient seawater. Our interpretation is that the fluid compositions are generated by supercritical phase separation of seawater, with much of the water-rock reaction occurring within the ∼400m thick sedimentary section that overlies the basalt at this site. The ODP drilling results provide information on the mineralogy and composition of materials below the seafloor, as well as direct constraints not typically available on the physical conditions occurring below the seafloor hydrothermal system. Calculations utilizing geochemical modeling software suggest the fluids are close to saturation with a suite of minerals found subsurface, suggesting equilibrium between the fluids and substrate. These results provide an explanation for why the fluids have remained chemically stable for 14 yrs. The pore water data from drilling suggest that the hydrology and chemistry of the hydrothermal system are much more complex within the sediment cover than would be expected from the surface manifestations of the hydrothermal system. While the pore waters have chloride contents both greater and less than the local seawater, only fluids with higher chloride contents vent at the seafloor. Our calculations suggest that at the current conditions the “brines” (fluids with chlorinity greater than seawater) are actually less dense than the “vapors” (fluids with chlorinity less than seawater). These density relationships may provide an explanation for why the “brines” are now venting preferentially to the “vapors,” a situation opposite to what is usually observed or inferred.

Hawaiian volcanoes, dominantly shields of tholeiitic basalt, form as the Pacific Plate migrates over a hotspot in the mantle. As these shields migrate away from the hotspot, highly alkalic lavas, forming the rejuvenated stage of volcanism, may erupt after an interval of erosion lasting for 0 25±2 5Myr. Alkalic lavas with geochemical characteristics similar to rejuvenatedstage lavas erupted on the sea floor north of Oahu along the Hawaiian Arch. The variable Tb/Yb, Sr/Ce, K/Ce, Rb/La, Ba/La, Ti/Eu and Zr/Sm ratios in lavas forming the North Arch and the rejuvenated-stage Honolulu Volcanics were controlled during partial melting by residual garnet, clinopyroxene, Fe±Ti oxides and phlogopite. However, the distinctively high Ba/Th and Sr/Nd ratios of lava forming the North Arch and Honolulu Volcanics reflect source characteristics. These characteristics are also associated with shield tholeiitic basalt; hence they arise from the Hawaiian hotspot, which is interpreted to be a mantle plume. Inversion of the batch melting equation using abundances of highly incompatible elements, such as Th and La, requires enriched sources with 10±55% clinopyroxene and 5±25% garnet for North Arch lavas. The Sr/Sr and Nd/Nd ratios in lavas forming the North Arch and Honolulu Volcanics are consistent with mixing between the Hawaiian plume and a depleted component related to midocean ridge basalts. Specifically, the enrichment of incompatible elements coupled with low Sr/Sr and high Nd/Nd relative to bulk Earth ratios is best explained by derivation from depleted lithosphere recently metasomatized by incipient melt (52% melting) from the Hawaiian plume. In this metasomatized source, the incompatible element abundances, as well as Sr and Nd isotopic ratios, are controlled by incipient melts. In contrast, the large range of published Os/Os data (0 134±0 176) reflects heterogeneity caused by various proportions of pyroxenite veins residing in a depleted peridotite matrix.

[1] New 40Ar/39Ar ages of mineral separates and whole rock samples from nine volcanic edifices in the northern Line Islands region, between latitudes 20°N and 6°N, are incompatible with single or multiple hot spot models. Instead, two major episodes of volcanism, each lasting ∼5 Ma and separated by ∼8 Ma, occurred synchronously over long distances, not just along the main chain but also at nonaligned edifices. Volcanism during the older episode (81–86 Ma) extended over a distance of at least 1200 km along the eastern part of the complex seamount chain. Volcanism during the younger episode (68–73 Ma) was concentrated in the western part of the chain and may have extended over a distance of >4000 km. Chemical analyses of 68 samples represent a compositionally diverse suite, including tholeiitic, transitional, and alkalic basalt, strongly alkalic basanite and nephelinite, and alkalic differentiates ranging from hawaiite to trachyte. The most diverse assemblage of rocks was recovered from a cross-trending seamount chain south of Johnston Atoll. Although compositions of rocks from the two volcanic episodes overlap, compositions from the younger episode generally are more alkalic and include a larger proportion of highly differentiated compositions. None of the samples from the older episode, but many from the younger one, contain hydrous mineral phases such as amphibole and biotite. Extensive coeval volcanism along major segments of the chain is compatible with decompressional melting of heterogeneous mantle due to diffuse lithospheric extension along pre-existing zones of weakness. Episodes of volcanism are probably related to broad upwarping of the Superswell region in the eastern South Pacific, where these lavas originated.

Davidson, Guide, Pioneer, Gumdrop, and Rodriguez Seamounts, located at the continental margin offshore California between latitudes 37.5°N and 34.0°N, may represent a previously unrecognized type of intraplate oceanic volcanism. Morphologically unlike typical oceanic-island volcanoes or near-ridge seamounts, they are complex, northeast-trending ridges that reflect the ridge-parallel structure of the underlying oceanic crust. 40Ar/39Ar laser fusion ages of mineral separates indicate at least two episodes of volcanism at ca. 16 and ca. 12 Ma, younger by 7–11 m.y. than the underlying ocean crust. Volcanic rocks are predominantly differentiated alkalic basalt, hawaiite, and mugearite. The lack of coherent liquid- lines-of-descent is consistent with small batches of magma forming, fractionally crystallizing, and erupting in isolation from the previous and subsequent batches. The presence of mantle xenoliths suggests that magmas originated in the upper mantle. Xenoliths of alkalic cumulates and xenocrysts of feldspar, amphibole, and titanomagnetite are consistent with fractionation in the upper mantle as well. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope ratios of some samples are from depleted-mantle sources like those of MORB (mid-oceanic-ridge basalt); others indicate more variably enriched mantle sources. Magmas formed by small- percentage partial melting of variably enriched MORB-source-type mantle, according to the samples' high abundances of incompatible elements such as Nb, Ta, and Th. Coeval middle Miocene basalts in onshore coastal California have a similar isotopic range, but their trace elements show a subduction-related signature. If the coeval volcanic rocks offshore originated in a slab window, as proposed for those onshore, they were not influenced by a slab component. Although a slab-window origin is plausible for the middle Miocene volcanism, later episodes of small, sporadic eruptions on- and offshore probably resulted from decompression melting of mantle rising along existing zones of weakness undergoing extension related to continued movement along transform-fault systems.

An important feature of 2.5 Ga, whereas the Kea-type component reflects younger subduction

New H2O, CO2 and S concentration data for basaltic glasses from ‘hotspot’, with temperature differences of 200°C or more between hotter upwelling plumes and the ambient mantle Loihi seamount, Hawaii, allow us to model degassing, assimilation, adiabat (e.g. White & McKenzie, 1989; Campbell, 1998; and the distribution of major volatiles within and around the Davies, 1998). In contrast, it has long been known that Hawaiian plume. Degassing and assimilation have affected CO2 ocean island basalts (OIB) are enriched in volatiles relative and Cl but not H2O concentrations in most Loihi glasses. Water to depleted mid-oceanic ridge basalts (MORB), leading concentrations relative to similarly incompatible elements in Hato speculation that the excess magmatism associated with waiian submarine magmas are depleted (Loihi), equivalent (Kilauea, plumes is related to a mantle ‘wet spot’ (Schilling et al., North Arch, Kauai–Oahu), or enriched (South Arch). H2O/Ce 1980) or a ‘not-so-hot-spot’ (Bonatti, 1990). Thus, there ratios are uncorrelated with major element composition or extent or is still lively debate over the relative importance of ‘hot’ depth of melting, but are related to position relative to the Hawaiian and ‘wet’ in the generation of mantle plumes. plume and mantle source region composition, consistent with a zoned The knowledge that OIB are wetter than MORB, plume model. In front of the plume core, overlying mantle is however, does little to answer the question of the origin metasomatized by hydrous partial melts derived from the Hawaiian of volatiles in plume basalts. If the enrichments of volatile plume. Downstream from the plume core, lavas tap a depleted source elements in OIB are proportional to those of nonvolatile region with H2O/Ce similar to enriched Pacific mid-ocean ridge incompatible elements, then their higher concentrations basalt. Within the plume core, mantle components, thought to can be accomplished through simple mineral–melt fracrepresent subducted oceanic lithosphere, have water enrichments tionation processes. In contrast, if the volatile elements equivalent to (KEA) or less than (KOO) that of Ce. Lower H2O/ are decoupled from major and trace elements, then more Ce in the KOO component may reflect efficient dehydration of the complex processes must take place, including involvement subducting oceanic crust and sediments during recycling into the and possible migration into or out of the plume of a deep mantle. separate C + H + O fluid phase, mixing of source regions having different volatile contents, or shallow-level processes such as assimilation or degassing. In particular

Previous estimates of crustal storage time of magmas at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, range from a few years to a few thousand years, leading to considerable uncertainty in the time scales of processes of magmatic storage and differentiation. We present a new approach for determining minimum magma residence times which involves dating phenocrysts in a magma using 226Ra–230Th disequilibria, and apply this approach to the early phase of the 1955 east rift eruption at Kilauea. When fractionation of Ra from Ba (a proxy for initial Ra in the crystals) during crystal growth is considered along with the effects of inclusions in the minerals, the data are consistent with co-precipitation of plagioclase and clinopyroxene from a melt represented by the groundmass at a mean age of 1000+300−400 a. Unless a significant fraction (>30%) of the crystals are remnants from an earlier batch of evolved magma in the system, these data constrain the minimum magmatic residence time to be ∼550 yr, considerably longer than most previous estimates of storage time at Kilauea as well as those for some other basaltic systems. For the temperature interval of augite+plagioclase growth in the early 1955 magma, a maximum constant cooling rate of 0.1°C/yr (1×10−5°C/h) is derived from the minimum magmatic residence time of 550 yr. The total magma storage time would be >2500 yr if this cooling rate applied to the entire thermal history of the magma, although a more complex cooling history where cooling rates were more rapid early in the storage history is permissive of a total residence time which is not much longer than 550 yr. The disparate estimates of magma residence at Kilauea may reflect the uncertainties in the methods of estimation in addition to true variations in storage time for different batches of magma. More work is necessary in order to determine whether a long residence time is characteristic of rift zone lavas and/or of Kilauean lavas in general.

Basaltic lavas and hyaloclastites dredged from the President Jackson Seamounts, a 65-km-long, linear volcanic chain starting near latitude 42°20'N west of the northern Gorda Ridge, are normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB), with compositions ranging from highly depleted (0.07% K 2 O, 0.54 La/Sm N ) to moderately enriched in incompatible elements (0.24% K 2 O, 0.86 La/Sm N ). The seamount lavas are similar in many respects to those erupted at the adjacent ridge but have some important geochemical differences. Seamount lavas are concentrated toward primitive compositions with higher MgO contents (to 9.3%, Mg number 69.5) than most of the nearby ridge lavas. They also have systematically lower TiO 2 and FeO and higher CaO, Na 2 O, and Sr at comparable MgO content than adjacent ridge basalts. Seamount basalts contain phenocrysts in equilibrium with the melt and lack compositionally diverse glass inclusions and compositional zoning common in phenocrysts of most ridge basalt. Minor and trace element variability at a given MgO content indicates complex petrogenetic processes. Radiogenic isotopic ratios indicate somewhat less depleted sources than for basalt from the adjacent ridge axis. The higher Pb isotopic ratios of some lavas trend toward enriched MORB. The seamounts typically have multiple, nested calderas or pit craters, stepping downward toward the ridge axis, indicating formation in the active, near-ridge, extensional environment. The predominantly primitive nature of the lavas suggests that they pass through crustal magma reservoirs, presumably underlying the calderas, very rapidly. The lack of evidence for magma mixing suggests that batches of magma are delivered to the seamounts episodically and either solidify or are drained into ridge-parallel faults before the next batch arrives. In contrast, lavas from the ridge axis show evidence for magma mixing involving more fractionated melts that show evidence for clinopyroxene fractionation. Despite a lack of seismic evidence for magma chambers under slow spreading centers, continuous melt zones must be present under the Gorda Ridge axis to give the ubiquitous imprint of magma mixing.

Glassy bubble-wall fragments, morphologically similar to littoral limu o Pele, have been found in volcanic sands erupted on Lō'ihi Seamount and along the submarine east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano. The limu o Pele fragments are undegassed with respect to H2O and S and formed by mild steam explosions. Angular glass sand fragments apparently form at similar, and greater, depths by cooling-contraction granulation. The limu o Pele fragments from Lō'ihi Seamount are dominantly tholeiitic basalt containing 6.25–7.25% MgO. None of the limu o Pele samples from Lō'ihi Seamount contains less than 5.57% MgO, suggesting that higher viscosity magmas do not form lava bubbles. The dissolved CO2 and H2O contents of 7 of the limu o Pele fragments indicate eruption at 1200±300 m depth (120±30 bar). These pressures exceed that generally thought to limit steam explosions. We conclude that hydrovolcanic eruptions are possible, with appropriate pre-mixing conditions, at pressures as great as 120 bar.

Measurements of 238U-230Th-226Ra and 235U-231Pa disequilibria in a suite of tholeiitic-to-basanitic lavas provide estimates of porosity, solid mantle upwelling rate and melt transport times beneath Hawaii. The observation that (230Th/238U) > 1 indicates that garnet is required as a residual phase in the magma sources for all of the lavas. Both chromatographic porous flow and dynamic melting of a garnet peridotite source can adequately explain the combined U-Th-Ra and U-Pa data for these Hawaiian basalts. For chromatographic porous flow, the calculated maximum porosity in the melting zone ranges from 0.3–3% for tholeiites and 0.1–1% for alkali basalts and basanites, and solid mantle upwelling rates range from 40 to 100 cm yr−1 for tholeiites and from 1 to 3 cm yr−1 for basanites. For dynamic melting, the escape or threshold porosity is 0.5–2% for tholeiites and 0.1–0.8% for alkali basalts and basanites, and solid mantle upwelling rates range from 10 to 30 cm yr−1 for tholeiites and from 0.1 to 1 cm yr−1 for basanites. Assuming a constant melt productivity, calculated total melt fractions range from 15% for the tholeiitic basalts to 3% for alkali basalts and basanites.

The tube-fed pāhoehoe lava flows covering much of the northeast flank of Kīlauea Volcano are named the 'Ailā'au flows. Their eruption age, based on published and six new radiocarbon dates, is approximately AD 1445. The flows have distinctive paleomagnetic directions with steep inclinations (40°–50°) and easterly declinations (0°–10°E). The lava was transported ∼40 km from the vent to the coast in long, large-diameter lava tubes; the longest tube (Kazumura Cave) reaches from near the summit to within several kilometers of the coast near Kaloli Point. The estimated volume of the 'Ailā'au flow field is 5.2±0.8 km3, and the eruption that formed it probably lasted for approximately 50 years. Summit overflows from Kīlauea may have been nearly continuous between approximately AD 1290 and 1470, during which time a series of shields formed at and around the summit. The 'Ailā'au shield was either the youngest or the next to youngest in this series of shields. Site-mean paleomagnetic directions for lava flows underlying the 'Ailā'au flows form only six groups. These older pāhoehoe flows range in age from 2750 to 2200 years. Lava flows from most of these summit eruptions also reached the coast, but none appears as extensive as the 'Ailā'au flow field. The chemistry of the melts erupted during each of these summit overflow events is remarkably similar, averaging approximately 6.3 wt.% MgO near the coast and 6.8 wt.% MgO near the summit. The present-day caldera probably formed more recently than the eruption that formed the 'Ailā'au flows (estimated termination ca. AD 1470). The earliest explosive eruptions that formed the Keanakāko'i Ash, which is stratigraphically above the 'Ailā'au flows, cannot be older than this age.

Mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) erupted in Escanaba Trough, INTRODUCTION the southernmost segment of the Gorda Ridge, have greater isotopic Crustal contamination of basaltic magmas is generally and geochemical variability than those from the remainder of the recognized for continental volcanoes (e.g. Taylor, 1980; ridge. Samples from the sediment-free northern sites in the trough Leeman & Hawkesworth, 1986; Glazner et al., 1991). The are depleted normal-MORB similar to those from the northern composition, thickness, and low melting temperatures of Gorda Ridge. However, samples from the sediment-covered portion continental crustal rocks facilitate assimilation that can of the trough are significantly enriched in incompatible elements, be easily identified. However, the extent to which basaltic and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic ratios are shifted toward the composition magmas are contaminated by oceanic crust is a topic of of local sediments. Pb isotopic ratios, in particular, lie on a mixing intense debate (e.g. Bohrson & Reid, 1995; Clague et al., line with local sediments. Assimilation–fractional crystallization 1995; Eiler et al., 1996; Bohrson et al., 1996, and references (AFC) calculations suggest that 25–40% fractional crystallization therein; Thirlwall et al., 1997). The debate has focused coupled with assimilation of 1–2% of local sediments can produce on distinguishing the chemical characteristics magmas the enrichment observed for some Escanaba basalts. Variations in acquire during ascent, crustal storage, and emplacement the amount of enrichment of elements with similar incompatibility from those that have been used to identify heterogeneous for comparably differentiated basalts, and uncorrelated isotopic mantle sources. For most ocean island volcanoes, the ratios suggest variable amounts of assimilation of compositionally crustal components available to serve as contaminants heterogeneous assimilants by parental magmas. Assimilation of are poorly characterized, but include the underlying sediment by MORB magmas probably resulted when laccolithic altered oceanic crust, pelagic to hemipelagic sediment, intrusions ponded at the sediment–basement interface beneath the and the hydrothermally altered volcanic edifice. thick sediment cover in the southern part of Escanaba Trough. Mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) are relatively uniGeochemical and isotopic evidence for contamination can be detected form geochemically with depleted incompatible element in these lavas because of the strong compositional contrast between and radiogenic isotope compositions compared with lavas the parental magma and assimilant. The depleted MORB magma from ocean island or continental volcanoes. However, and highly enriched sediment assimilant are end-member comexcess chlorine content and Cl/K ratios in fresh MORB positions that provide a sensitive indicator for the smallest amount glasses support the idea that MORB magmas may also of contamination of oceanic magma by crustal processes. be affected by assimilation of hydrothermally altered oceanic crust (e.g. Michael & Schilling, 1988; Michael & Cornell, 1996). Chlorine, like other incompatible elements, shows the greatest enrichment in strongly frac

The south flank of Kilauea Volcano is unstable and has the structure of a huge landslide; it is one of at least 17 enormous catastrophic landslides shed from the Hawaiian Islands. Mechanisms previously proposed for movement of the south flank invoke slip of the volcanic pile over seafloor sediments. Slip on a low friction decollement alone cannot explain why the thickest and widest sector of the flank moves more rapidly than the rest, or why this section contains a 300 km3 aseismic volume above the seismically defined decollement. It is proposed that this aseismic volume, adjacent to the caldera in the direction of flank slip, consists of olivine cumulates that creep outward, pushing the south flank seawards. Average primary Kilauea tholeiitic magma contains about 16.5 wt.% MgO compared with an average 10 wt.% MgO for erupted subaerial and submarine basalts. This difference requires fractionation of 17 wt.% (14 vol.%) olivine phenocrysts that accumulate near the base of the magma reservoir where they form cumulates. Submarine-erupted Kilauea lavas contain abundant deformed olivine xenocrysts derived from these cumulates. Deformed dunite formed during the tholeiitic shield stage is also erupted as xenoliths in subsequent alkalic lavas. The deformation structures in olivine xenocrysts suggest that the cumulus olivine was densely packed, probably with as little as 5–10 vol.% intercumulus liquid, before entrainment of the xenocrysts. The olivine cumulates were at magmatic temperatures (>1100°C) when the xenocrysts were entrained. Olivine at 1100°C has a rheology similar to ice, and the olivine cumulates should flow down and away from the summit of the volcano. Flow of the olivine cumulates places constant pressure on the unbuttressed seaward flank, leading to an extensional region that localizes deep intrusions behind the flank; these intrusions add to the seaward push. This mechanism ties the source of gravitational instability to the caldera complex and deep rift systems and, therefore, limits catastrophic sector failure of Hawaiian volcanoes to their active growth phase, when the core of olivine cumulates is still hot enough to flow.

Noble gas elemental and isotopic abundances have been analysed in twenty-two samples of basaltic glass dredged from the submarine flanks of two currently active Hawaiian volcanoes, Loihi Seamount and Kilauea. Neon isotopic ratios are enriched in 20Ne and 21Ne by as much as 16% with respect to atmospheric ratios. All the Hawaiian basalt glass samples show relatively high 3He4He ratios. The high 20Ne22Ne values in some of the Hawaiian samples, together with correlations between neon and helium systematics, suggest the presence of a solar component in the source regions of the Hawaiian mantle plume. The solar hypothesis for the Earth's primordial noble gas composition can account for helium and neon isotopic ratios observed in basaltic glasses from both plume and spreading systems, in fluids in continental hydrothermal systems, in CO2 well gases, and in ancient diamonds. These results provide new insights into the origin and evolution of the Earth's atmosphere.

Volcanic samples collected with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's ROV Tiburon from eight seamounts at the continental margin offshore central to southern California comprise a diverse suite of mainly alkalic basalt to trachyte but also include rare tholeiitic basalt and basanite. All samples experienced complex crystal fractionation probably near the crust/mantle boundary, based on the presence in some of mantle xenoliths. Incompatible trace elements, poorly correlated with isotopic compositions, suggest variable degrees of partial melting of compositionally heterogeneous mantle sources, ranging from MORB-like to relatively enriched OIB. High-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages indicate episodes of volcanic activity mainly from 16 to 7 Ma but document one eruption as recent as 2.8 Ma at San Juan Seamount. Synchronous episodes of volcanism occurred at geographically widely separated locations offshore and within the continental borderland. Collectively, the samples from these seamounts have age ranges and chemical compositions similar to those from Davidson Seamount, identified as being located atop an abandoned spreading center. These seamounts appear to have a common origin ultimately related to abandonment and partial subduction of spreading center segments when the plate boundary changed from subduction-dominated to a transform margin. They differ in composition, age, and origin from other more widespread near-ridge seamounts, which commonly have circular plans with nested calderas, and from age progressive volcanoes in linear arrays, such as the Fieberling-Guadalupe chain, that occur in the same region. Each volcanic episode represents decompression melting of discrete enriched material in the suboceanic mantle with melts rising along zones of weakness in the oceanic crust fabric. The process may be aided by transtensional tectonics related to continued faulting along the continental margin.

Seafloor spreading causes abundant magmatism along active ocean spreading centers, but the cause of magmatism along fossil spreading centers is enigmatic. Samples collected from Davidson Seamount, a typical volcanic ridge along an abandoned spreading center in the eastern Pacific, consist of an alkalic basalt to trachyte lava series; transitional basalts were sampled from another part of the abandoned axis, 20 km from the seamount. All samples experienced complex fractional crystallization prior to eruption, but they all share a common, compositionally heterogeneous mantle source. The parental magmas of the transitional basalts were produced from this source at higher degree of melting than those of the alkalic lava series. The composition of Davidson lavas overlaps with those of ridges along other fossil spreading centers and isolated near- and off-ridge seamounts in the eastern Pacific. Together they define a compositional continuum ranging from tholeiitic, normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like to alkalic, ocean island basalt (OIB)-like, similar to lavas that form linear island chains and ridges. We propose that this entire compositional spectrum of intraplate lavas that do not form linear volcanic chains in the eastern Pacific results from variations in the degree of partial melting of a common, compositionally heterogeneous mantle source. This source consists of more easily melted, geochemically enriched components of varying sizes and amounts embedded in a depleted lherzolitic matrix. Large degree of partial melting produces normal MORB–like melts represented by some near-ridge seamount lavas, whereas small degree of melting produces OIB-like fossil spreading center lavas. The small degree of partial melting beneath recently abandoned spreading centers results from either buoyancy-driven decompression melting of the hot lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle material beneath active spreading centers or rapid motion, with respect to the underlying asthenosphere, of abandoned spreading axes that are thickening over a fertile mantle. Mid-Tertiary volcanic rocks in coastal California, which are compositionally akin to intraplate lavas, are interpreted to be small degree partial melts of the same compositionally heterogeneous sub-Pacific mantle that has upwelled through windows in a subducted slab.

Kahoolawe Island, Hawaii (18×11 km), is a basaltic shield volcano with caldera-filling lavas, seven identified postshield vents, and at least two occurrences of apparent rejuvenated-stage eruptive. We examined 42 samples that represent all stages of Kahoolawe volcano stratigraphy for their petrography, whole-rock major-and trace-element contents, mineral compositions, and K−Ar ages. The two oldest shield samples have an average age of 1.34±0.08 Ma, and four postshield samples (3 are alkalic) average 1.15±0.03 Ma; ages of 1.08 and 0.99 Ma for two additional tholeiitic samples probably are minimum ages. Whole-rock major- and trace-element and mineral compositions of Kahoolawe shield and caldera-fill laves are generally similar to the lavas forming Kilauea and Mauna Loa tholeiitic shields, but in detail, Kahoolawe shield lavas have distinctive compositions. An unusual aspect of many postshield Ka-hoolawe lavas is anomalously high REE and Y abundances (up to 200 ppm La and 175 ppm Y) and negative Ce anomalies. These enrichments reflect surficial processes, where weathering and soil development promoted REE-Y transport at the weathering front. Major element abundances (MgO, 10–6 wt.%) for shield and caldera-fill basalts are consistent with fractionation of ol+px+pl in frequently replenished magma reservoirs. In general, tholeiitic basalts erupted from late vents are higher in SiO2 than the shield lavas, and temporal differences in parental magma compositions are the likely explanation. Alkalic basalts that erupted from vents are comparable in composition to those at other Hawaiian volcanoes. Trace-element abundance ratios indicate that alkalic basalts represent either relatively lower degrees of melting of the shield source or a distinct source. Apparent rejuvenated-stage basalts (i.e., emplaced after substantial Kahoolawe erosion) are tholeiitic, unlike the rejuvenated-stages at other Hawaiian volcanoes (alkalic). Kahoolawe, like several other Hawaiian volcanoes, has intercalated tholeiitic and alkalic basalts in the postshield stage, but it is the only volcano that appears to have produced tholeiitic rejuvenated-stage lavas.

A highly precise mass spectrometric method of analysis was used to determine238U—234U—230Th—232Th in axial and off-axis basalt glasses from Juan de Fuca (JDF) and Gorda ridges. Initial230Th activity excesses in the axial samples range from 3 to 38%, but generally lie within a narrow range of 12 to 15%. Secondary alteration effects were evaluated usingδ234U and appear to be negligible; hence the230Th excesses are magmatic in origin. Direct dating of MORB was accomplished by measuring the decrease in excess230Th in off-axis samples.238U—230Th ages progressively increase with distance from axis. Uncertainties in age range from 10 to 25 ka for U—Th ages of 50 to 200 ka. The full spreading rate based on U—Th ages for Endeavour segment of JDF is 5.9 ± 1/2 cm/yr, with asymmetry in spreading between the Pacific (4.0 ± 0.6 cm/yr) and JDF (1.9 ± 0.6 cm/yr) plates. For northern Gorda ridge, the half spreading rate for the JDF plate is found to be 3.0 ± 0.4 cm/yr. These rates are in agreement with paleomagnetic spreading rates and topographic constraints. This suggests that assumptions used to determine ages, including constancy of initial 230Th/232Th ratio over time, are generally valid for the areas studied. Samples located near the axis of spreading are typically younger than predicted by these spreading rates, which most likely reflects recent volcanism within a 1–3 km wide zone of crustal accretion. Initial230Th/232Th ratios and230Th activity were also used to examine the recent Th/U evolution and extent of melting of mantle sources beneath these ridges. A negative anomaly in 230Th/232Th for Axial seamount lavas provides the first geochemical evidence of a mantle plume source for Axial seamount and the Cobb-Eickelberg seamount chain and indicates recent depletion of other JDF segment sources. Large230Th activity excesses for lavas from northern Gorda ridge and Endeavour segment indicate formation from a lower degree of partial melting than other segments. An inverse correlation between230Th excess and 230Th/232Th for each ridge indicates that these lower degree melts formed from slightly less depleted sources than higher degree melts. Uniformity in230Th excess for other segments suggests similarity in processes of melt formation and mixing beneath most of the JDF-Gorda ridge area. The average initial230Th/232Th activity ratio of 1.31 for the JDF-Gorda ridge area is in agreement with the predicted value of 1.32 from the Th—Sr isotope mantle array.

Davidson Seamount, a volcano located about 80 km off the central California coast, has a volume of ∼320 km3 and consists of a series of parallel ridges serrated with steep cones. Davidson was sampled and its morphology observed during 27 ROV Tiburon dives. During those dives, 286 samples of lava, volcaniclastite, and erratics from the continental margin were collected, with additional samples from one ROV-collected push core and four gravity cores. We report glass compositions for 99 samples and 40Ar-39Ar incremental heating age data for 20 of the samples. The glass analyses are of hawaiite (62%), mugearite (13%), alkalic basalt (9%), and tephrite (8%), with minor transitional basalt (2%), benmoreite (2%), and trachyandesite (2%). The lithologies are irregularly distributed in space and time. The volcano erupted onto crust inferred to be 20 Ma from seafloor magnetic anomalies. Ages of the lavas range from 9.8 to 14.8 Ma. The oldest rocks are from the central ridge, and the youngest are from the flanks and southern end of the edifice. The compositions of the 18 reliably dated volcanic cones vary with age such that the oldest lavas are the most fractionated. The melts lost 65% to nearly 95% of their initial S because of bubble loss during vesiculation, and the shallowest samples have S contents similar to lava erupted subaerially in Hawaii. Despite this similarity in S contents, there is scant other evidence to suggest that Davidson was ever an island. The numerous small cones of disparate chemistry and the long eruptive period suggest episodic growth of the volcano over at least 5 Myr and perhaps as long as 10 Myr if it began to grow when the spreading ridge was abandoned.

[1] Lavas from Mahukona, a small Hawaiian volcano on the Loa trend, exhibit major and trace element abundance variations exceeding those in lavas from large Hawaiian shields, such as Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Mahukona lavas define three geochemically distinct groups of tholeiitic shield basalt and a transitional group of postsshield basalt. At 10% MgO the tholeiitic groups range from 9 to 12% CaO; such differences in CaO can reflect partial melts derived from garnet pyroxenite (low CaO) and peridotite (high CaO), but the negative CaO-Yb (both at 10% MgO) trend formed by Mahukona lavas is inconsistent with this explanation. Within Mahukona lavas, radiogenic Nd-Hf-Pb isotopic ratios are highly correlated with each other; however, 87Sr/86Sr is decoupled from these radiogenic isotopic ratios. Rather, 87Sr/86Sr is correlated with trace element abundance ratios involving Sr, and importantly, Mahukona lavas define a negative Rb/Sr-87Sr/86Sr trend, implying that a Sr-rich source component characterized by high 87Sr/86Sr is important in the petrogenesis of Mahukona lavas. We infer that this Sr-rich source component is recycled ancient carbonate-rich sediments. Intershield heterogeneity among Hawaiian shields also shows a negative Rb/Sr-87Sr/86Sr trend. For example, Makapuu-stage Koolau lavas have higher 87Sr/86Sr but lower Rb/Sr than Mauna Kea lavas. Consequently, we infer that a recycled ancient carbonate-rich sedimentary source component is important in the Hawaiian plume. Although most lavas from Loa and Kea trend volcanoes define distinct fields in isotopic ratios of Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb, the majority of Mahukona lavas have isotopic ratios at the boundary between the fields defined by Loa and Kea trend lavas. However, a subgroup of Mahukona shield lavas have Kea-like isotopic and trace element signatures, an observation that can be explained by vertical heterogeneity in a bilaterally asymmetrical plume.

Rare dunite and 2-pyroxene gabbro xenoliths occur in banded trachyte at Puu Waawaa on Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii. Mineral compositions suggest that these xenoliths formed as cumulates of tholeiitic basalt at shallow depth in a subcaldera magma reservoir. Subsequently, the minerals in the xenoliths underwent subsolidus reequilibration that particularly affected chromite compositions by decreasing their Mg numbers. In addition, olivine lost CaO and plagioclase lost MgO and Fe2O3 during subsolidus reequilibration. The xenoliths also reacted with the host trachyte to form secondary mica, amphibole, and orthopyroxene, and to further modify the compositions of some olivine, clinopyroxene, and spinel grains. The reaction products indicate that the host trachyte melt was hydrous. Clinopyroxene in one dunite sample and olivine in most dunite samples have undergone partial melting, apparently in response to addition of water to the xenolith. These xenoliths do not contain CO2 fluid inclusions, so common in xenoliths from other localities on Hualalai, which suggests that CO2 was introduced from alkalic basalt magma between the time CO2-inclusion-free xenoliths erupted at 106±6 ka and the time CO2-inclusion-rich xenoliths erupted within the last 15 ka.

ESTIMATES of the MgO content of primary Hawaiian tholeiitic melts range from 8wt% to as high as 25wt%. In general, these estimates are derived from analysis of the whole-rock composition of lavas, coupled with the compositions of the most magnesian olivine phenocrysts observed. But the best estimate of magma composition comes from volcanic glass, as it represents the liquid composition at the time of quenching; minimal changes occur during the quenching process. Here we report the discovery of tholeiitic basalt glasses, recovered offshore of Kilauea volcano, that contain up to 15.0 wt% MgO. To our knowledge, these are the most magnesian glasses, and have the highest eruption temperatures (~ 1,316°C), yet found. The existence of these picritic (high-MgO) liquids provides constraints on the temperature structure of the upper mantle, magma transport and the material and thermal budgets of the Hawaiian volcanoes. Furthermore, picritic melts are affected little by magma-reservoir processes, and it is therefore relatively straightforward to extrapolate back to the composition of the primary melt and its volatile contents.

The submarine Mahukona Volcano, west of the island of Hawaii, is located on the Loa loci line between Kahoolawe and Hualalai Volcanoes. The west rift zone ridge of the volcano extends across a drowned coral reef at about-1150 m and a major slope break at about-1340 m, both of which represent former shoreines. The summit of the volcano apparently reached to about 250 m above sea level (now at-1100 m depth) did was surmounted by a roughly circular caldera. A econd rift zone probably extended toward the east or sutheast, but is completely covered by younger lavas from the adjacent subaerial volcanoes. Samples were vecovered from nine dredges and four submersible lives. Using subsidence rates and the compositions of flows which drape the dated shoreline terraces, we infer that the voluminous phase of tholeiitic shield growth ended about 470 ka, but tholeiitic eruptions continued until at least 435 ka. Basalt, transitional between tholeiitic and alkalic basalt, erupted at the end of tholeiitic volcanism, but no postshield-alkalic stage volcanism occurred. The summit of the volcano apparently subcided below sea level between 435 and 365 ka. The tholeiitic lavas recovered are compositionally diverse.

We present new volatile, trace element, and radiogenic isotopic compositions for rejuvenated-stage lavas erupted on Niihau and its submarine northwest flank. Niihau rejuvenated-stage Kiekie Basalt lavas are mildly alkalic and are isotopically similar to, though shifted to higher 87Sr/86Sr and lower 206Pb/204Pb than, rejuvenated-stage lavas erupted on other islands and marginal seafloor settings. Kiekie lavas display trace element heterogeneity greater than that of other rejuvenated-stage lavas, with enrichments in Ba, Sr, and light-rare earth elements resulting in high and highly variable Ba/Th and Sr/Ce. The high Ba/Th lavas are among the least silica-undersaturated of the rejuvenated-stage suite, implying that the greatest enrichments are associated with the largest extents of melting. Kiekie lavas also have high and variable H2O/Ce and Cl/La, up to 620 and 39, respectively. We model the trace element concentrations of most rejuvenated-stage lavas by small degrees (∼1% to 9%) of melting of depleted peridotite recently metasomatized by a few percent of an enriched incipient melt (0.5% melting) of the Hawaiian plume. Kiekie lavas are best explained by 4% to 13% partial melting of a peridotite source metasomatized by up to 0.2% carbonatite, similar in composition to oceanic carbonatites from the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, with lower proportion of incipient melt than that for other rejuvenated-stage lavas. Primary H2O and Cl of the carbonatite component must be high, but variability in the volatile data may be caused by heterogeneity in the carbonatite composition and/or interaction with seawater. Our model is consistent with predictions based on carbonated eclogite and peridotite melting experiments in which (1) carbonated eclogite and peridotite within the Hawaiian plume are the first to melt during plume ascent; (2) carbonatite melt metasomatizes plume and surrounding depleted peridotite; (3) as the plume rises, silica-undersaturated silicate melts are also produced and contribute to the metasomatic signature. The metasomatic component is best preserved at the margins of the plume, where low extents of melting of the metasomatized depleted mantle surrounding the plume are sampled during flexural uplift. Formation of carbonatite melts may provide a mechanism to transfer plume He to the margins of the plume.

[1] High-density, precisely located, dive and rock-corer basalt samples from the 65-km-long North Gorda ridge segment reveal compositional diversity as great as for the entire Gorda Ridge. Lava compositions along the ridge axis show considerable major and minor element diversity (MgO 9.2–4.4%, K2O 0.04–0.36%) for lavas erupted in close proximity. Although they form a near-continuum in the higher MgO range, the samples can be separated into two groups; one is typical N-type mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) (K2O/TiO2 0.09). Incompatible elements also reflect this grouping with (Ce/Yb)N 20 for N-MORB and (Ce/Yb)N > 1 and Zr/Nb 1.0–3.0). Arctic E-MORB compositions lie along a common mixing trend with those from North Gorda. As the magma budget and/or partial melting decreases, a similar enriched component, especially in K, Ba, and LREE, widely present in the oceanic mantle is apparently incorporated to a greater degree. At North Gorda, morphology and chemical characteristics appear to evolve with time toward that of ultraslow spreading ridges.

Side-looking sonar (GLORIA) mapping has revealed a series of four arcuate bands of high sonic backscatter on the crest of the Haleakala Ridge, a major rift-zone ridge extending 135 km east of the island of Maui. Dredge recovery indicates that the shallowest of these bands is a drowned coral reef, and the deeper bands are also inferred to be coral reefs. The reefs occur above a prominent submarine bench 1500–2500 m deep on the ridge (H-terrace) that marks the shoreline at the end of vigorous shield building of Haleakala volcano when lava flows ceased crossing and reworking the shoreline. Since their growth these reefs have subsided as much as 2200 m and have tilted systematically about 20 m/km southward as a result of post-reef volcanic loading on the island of Hawaii, whose center of mass is about directly south of the Haleakala Ridge. The 234U/238U age of the dredged coral is 750 ± 13 ka , in reasonable agreement with an age of 850 ka for the underlying H terrace previously estimated from its relationship to other dated reefs to the southwest. Basalt glass fragments dredged from the Haleakala Ridge below the H terrace are tholeiitic and contain high sulfur indicative of eruption in water deeper than 200 m. Basalt glass fragments associated with the reefs above the H terrace are dominantly tholeiitic and contain intermediate sulfur contents, indicative of subaqueous eruption in shallow, near-shore conditions. One alkalic glass fragment was recovered above the H terrace. These relations indicate that the morphologic end of shield building as recorded by construction of the H terrace was not accompanyed by a change from tholeiitic to alkalic basalt; instead tholeiite eruptions continued for some time before the erupted lava became alkalic.

The North Arch volcanic field is located north of Oahu on the Hawaiian Arch, a 200-m high flexural arch formed by loading of the Hawaiian Islands. These flood basalt flows cover an area of about 25, 000 km 2 ; the nearly flat-lying sheet-like flows extend about 100 km both north and south from the axis of the flexural arch. Samples from 26 locations in the volcanic field range in composition from nephelinite to alkalic basalt. Ages estimated from stratigraphy, thickness of sediment on top of the flows, and thickness of palagonite alteration rinds on the recovered lavas, range from about 0.75–0.9 Ma for the youngest lavas to somewhat older than 2.7 Ma for the oldest lavas. Most of the flow field consists of extensive sheetflows of dense basanite and alkalic basalt. Small hills consisting of pillow basalt and hyaloclastite of mainly nephelinite and alkalic basalt occur within the flow field but were not the source vents for the extensive flows. Many of the vent lavas are highly vesicular, apparently because of degassing of CO 2 . The lavas are geochemically similar to the rejuvenated-stage lavas of the Koloa and Honolulu Volcanics and were generated by partial melting of sources similar to those of the Koloa Volcanics. Prior to eruption, these magmas may have accumulated at or near the base of the lithosphere in a structural trap created by upbowing of the lithosphere.

Four new remotely operated vehicle dives carried out by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) reveal a heterogeneous distribution of lithologies and compositions along a transect across the submarine west flank of Mauna Loa, from the outer scarp of the frontal bench to the upper flank. The frontal bench is composed predominantly of volcaniclastic sediments, ranging from very fine-grained monomictic hyaloclastites to coarse-grained, compositionally mixed volcaniclastic breccias. The predominance of subaerially derived clasts suggests accumulations of landslide deposits, probably emplaced along a regional shear plane preserved in cataclastic breccias with local foliations and grain trails. Repeated packages of inversely graded strata are interpreted to reflect thrust imbrication of the resulting volcaniclastic apron during volcanic spreading of Mauna Loa's western flank, similar to that now documented along Kīlauea's south flank. Many of the rocks from the bench show evidence for alteration, ranging from low-grade burial diagenesis to higher-grade hydrothermal alteration, including phases never before observed in submarine Hawaiian rocks, including epidote, talc, sphene, and corrensite. Alteration is concentrated in deformed zones, denoting pathways for fluid flow into or out of the volcanic edifice. Formed at depth, the altered rocks were subsequently transported along low-angle thrust faults into the bench and exposed along high-angle fractures and faults. The upper submarine flanks are draped by subaerially erupted, submarine emplaced pillow lavas and interbedded hyaloclastites, generated by shoreline-crossing lava flows. Basalt glasses indicate Mauna Loa origin but imply earlier compositions than present-day lavas, consistent with Ar-Ar ages suggesting eruption 0.28 ± 0.10 Ma. Late stage detachment of a nearshore slump produced the 'Ālika 2 debris avalanche that broke through the frontal bench, perhaps portending the evolution of the active Hilina slump now present on Kīlauea volcano's south flank.

[1] Hualalai Volcano is unique among Hawaiian volcanoes in that it possesses a relatively high proportion of evolved, trachytic lavas that were erupted at the beginning of the alkalic, postshield phase of volcanism. These evolved lavas yield insights into magma sources, magma supply rates, and the evolution of the subvolcanic magmatic plumbing system at this time. Trachyte lavas are exposed at the Puu Waawaa pumice dome and Puu Anahulu flow, as blocks in maars on the south flank of the volcano, and as flows in water wells drilled on the west flank of Hualalai. New 40Ar/39Ar dates show that the Puu Waawaa and Puu Anahulu complex is 114 ka, a block from the Waha Pele maar is 103 ka, and water well trachytes range from 107 to 92 ka in age, indicating a range for trachyte volcanism of 20 ka. Nd and Pb isotopic compositions overlap with younger alkalic basalts from Hualalai but are distinct from Hualalai tholeiitic basalts and Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalts, linking the trachytes to alkalic parental magmas that underwent extensive crystallization to yield trachytic residual magmas. Both Sr and O isotopic ratios are higher in the trachytes than in Hualalai alkalic lavas, which is best explained by reaction with, or assimilation of, altered Hualalai shield basalts at shallow depth. Major, trace element, and isotopic variations between trachytes are consistent with their evolution by fractional crystallization from a Puu Anahulu parent. The short time gap between the end of tholeiitic volcanism (

Hyaloclastite deposits are abundant on mid-Miocene volcanic seamounts offshore central California. The glass compositions are predominantly evolved hawaiite and mugearite, although minor amounts of tholeiitic to alkalic basalt are also present. Textural features give evidence for different eruption styles. For the evolved, alkalic compositions, fragmentation occurred primarily in response to exsolution of magmatic gases as the magma approached and erupted on the seafloor. Textural features of pyroclasts suggest formation of lava fountains of limited size and height, depending on water depth. Monomict, clast-supported hyaloclastite of highly vesicular pyroclasts suggest limited dispersal and deposition near vent sites. Matrix-supported, polymict breccias are reworked and displaced by currents into deeper water. The narrow range of glass compositions extending over multiple layers of volcanic sandstone suggests deposition from a slurry of tephra and water directly related to an eruption. Basaltic hyaloclastite of vesicle-free, angular glass fragments from the deepest site apparently formed from quench granulation. Sulfur contents suggest eruption depths ranging from near sea level to over 2000 m for samples collected from 1300 to over 3400 m depth, implying large amounts of subsidence for these seamounts.

THE noble-gas elemental and isotopic composition in the Earth is significantly different from that of the present atmosphere, and provides an important clue to the origin and history of the Earth and its atmosphere. Possible candidates for the noble-gas composition of the primordial Earth include a solar-like component, a planetary-like component (as observed in primitive meteorites) and a component similar in composition to the present atmosphere. In an attempt to identify the contributions of such components, we have measured isotope ratios of helium and neon in fresh basaltic glasses dredged from Loihi seamount and the East Rift Zone of Kilauea1–3. We find a systematic enrichment in 20Ne and 21Ne relative to 22Ne, compared with atmospheric neon. The helium and neon isotope signatures observed in our samples can be explained by mixing of solar, present atmospheric, radiogenic and nucleogenic components. These data suggest that the noble-gas isotopic composition of the mantle source of the Hawaiian plume is different from that of the present atmosphere, and that it includes a significant solar-like component. We infer that this component was acquired during the formation of the Earth.

Volcanic glass fragments recovered from sediment collected in the Escanaba Trough and on traverses up the west walls at two locations on the Gorda Ridge greatly extend information on the petrologic diversity of the region obtained from outcrops. Compositions of glass grains found loose in sediments or agglutinated in the tests of benthic foraminifers provide information on compositions of unexposed flows that were covered by later eruptions and/or sediment. Many of the glass grains have compositions that closely match those of lava outcrops, indicating that they formed by spalling off pillow rims and quench granulation. Bubble-wall glass shards found only in the sediment give evidence of explosive eruptions that occurred despite great depth. Some of the glass fragments from the walls of the axial valley have unusually high K 2 O (to >0.7%) that is not represented by any sampled outcrop. Such enriched mid-oceanic-ridge basalt compositions have not previously been reported from the Gorda Ridge. Analyzing glass grains from the sediment in addition to rims of lava samples allows a more comprehensive characterization of the volcanic history of the region.

The island of Hawaii is composed of five voluminous shields but only the youngest, active and well-exposed shields of Mauna Loa and Kilauea have been studied in detail. The shield lavas forming Kohala, Hualalai and Mauna Kea are largely covered by postshield lavas with geochemical characteristics that differ from the shield lavas. In order to determine the geochemical characteristics of the Mauna Kea shield which is adjacent to the Kilauea and Mauna Loa shields, 12 Mauna Kea shield basalts dredged from the submarine east rift were analyzed for major and trace element contents and isotopic (Sr, Nd, and Pb) ratios. The lavas are MgO-rich (11 to 20%), submarine erupted, tholeiitic basalts, but they are not representative of crystallized MgO-rich melts. Their whole rock and mineral compositions are consistent with mixing of an evolved magma

Abundant gabbroic xenoliths in porphyritic pillow basalt were dredged form the northern Gorda Ridge. The host lava is a moderately fractionated, normal mid-ocean ridge basalt with a heterogeneous glass rind (Mg numbers 56–60). Other lavas in the vicinity range from near primary (Mg number 69) to fractionated (Mg number 56). On the basis of textures and mineral compositions, the xenoliths are divided into five types: Type A xenoliths consist of large clinopyroxene oikocrysts, enclosing euhedral to subhedral plagioclase. Olivine and glass are present only in trace amounts. Type B xenoliths consist of olivine and plagioclase (±spinel) with abundant intersertal glass. Partially resorbed olivine with deeply embayed margins in places subophitically encloses small plagioclase crystals. Olivine and large plagioclase crystals often contain glass inclusions and/or spinel. Type C xenoliths are a composite of types A and B, with areas of large clinopyroxene oikocrysts adjoining areas of loosely joined clusters of olivine and plagioclase in glass. Type D is represented by a single large xenolith that, except for containing a larger proportion of crystals, appears identical to the host lava. Type E is represented by a single small xenolith that is mineralogically similar to type B but with a distinct, fine-grained, tightly interlocking texture, formed by small olivine oikocrysts enclosing euhedral plagioclase, in a small amount of intersertal glass. Many single crystals and glomerocrysts in the host lava appear to be xenocrysts. Some forsteritic olivine and anorthitic plagioclase contain glass inclusions more primitive than the host lava, while rare glass inclusions in skeletal olivine suggest entrapment of melt more evolved than the host lava. The overabundance of plagioclase crystals and their textural features suggest accumulation. The xenoliths are not cognate to the host lava, but they are genetically related. Chemistry of mineral phases in conjunction with textural features suggests that the xenoliths formed in different parts of a convecting magma chamber that underwent a period of closed system fractionation. The chamber was filled with a large proportion of crystalline mush when new, more primitive, and less dense magma was injected and mixed incompletely with the contents in the chamber, forming the hybrid host lava. Plagioclase-rich leucogabbro layers in ophiolites attest to similar processes in magma chambers of past spreading centers. However, xenoliths in ferrobasalt from the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge differ significantly from the Gorda Ridge xenoliths and suggest that the magma chamber at the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge is located at shallower depth and in cooler crust than the one at the northern Gorda Ridge.

K-Ar conventional and 40Ar/39Ar ages on plagioclase from altered basalt samples show that Khatchaturian and Rachmaninoff Seamounts in the Musicians Seamounts, north-central Pacific, are 65.2 ± 2.6 and 86.6 ± 5.2 m.y. old, respectively. The minimum age of Wentworth Seamount, located on the Hawaiian Ridge near Midway, is 71 ± 5 m.y. Wentworth appears to be a Cretaceous volcano that was incorporated into the Hawaiian volcanic chain. A single boulder of rhyolite dredged from the northern slope of the seamount underlying Necker Island has an age of 77.6 ± 1.7 m.y. Apparently Necker is a composite seamount constructed of both Cretaceous and late Tertiary volcanoes. With one possible exception, the ages of these and other Cretaceous seamounts in the north-central Pacific are less than or equal to the age of the adjacent sea floor indicating that the seamounts formed at or near the crest of the East Pacific Rise.

The wide variety of basalt types, tholeiitic to basanite, dredged from Loihi Seamount have minor and trace element abundances that are characteristic of subaerial Hawaiian basalts, thereby confirming that Loihi Seamount is a manifestation of the Hawaiian “hot spot”. Within the Loihi sample suite there are well-defined positive correlations among abundances of highly incompatible elements (P, K, Rb, Ba, Nb, light REE and Ta) and moderately incompatible elements (Sr, Ti, Zr and Hf) and between MgO, Ni and Cr. However, within the Loihi suite abundance ratios of geochemically similar elements (Zr/Hf, Nb/Ta and La/Ce) vary by factors of 1.2–1.5 and abundance ratios of highly incompatible elements such as P/Ce, P/Th, K/Rb, Ba/Th and La/Nb vary by factors of 1.2–2.5. These abundance ratios are not readily changed by different degrees of fractionation and melting. Therefore, we conclude that these samples are not genetically related by different degrees of melting of a compositionally homogeneous source. On the basis of K/P, K/Ti, P/Ce, Zr/Nb, Th/P and La/Sm abundance ratios, the twelve samples studied in detail can be divided into six geochemical groups. Samples within each group are similar in 87Sr/86Sr [1], and intra-group compositional variations may reflect low-pressure fractionation and different degrees of melting. In addition, crossing chondrite-normalized REE patterns within the alkalic basalt groups reflect equilibration of the magmas with garnet. In ratio-ratio plots involving abundance ratios of highly incompatible elements, e.g., La/P, Nb/P, K/P, Rb/P, Ba/P and Th/P, the geochemical groups define linear arrays suggestive of mixing. However, these data combined with the isotopic data are not consistent with two-component mixing.

A wide range of rock types (abyssal tholeiite, Fe-Ti-rich basalt, andesite, and rhyodacite) were dredged from near 95°W and 85°W on the Galapagos spreading center. Computer modeling of major element compositions has shown that these rocks could be derived from common parental magmas by successive degrees of fractional crystallization. However, the P2O5/K2O ratio averages 0.83 at 95°W and 1.66 at 85°W and implies distinct mantle source compositions for the two areas. These source regions also have different rare earth element (REE) abundance patterns, with [La/Sm]EF = 0.67 at 95°W and 0.46 at 85°W. The sequence of fractionated lavas differs for the two areas and indicates earlier fractionation of apatite and titanomagnetite in the lavas from 95°W. The mantle source regions for these two areas are interpreted to be depleted in incompatible (and volatile?) elements, although the source region beneath 95°W is less severely depleted in La and K. Incompatible trace element abundances in 26 samples are used to infer that the range of Fe-Ti-rich basalt from 85°W represents 19 to 35% residual liquid following crystal fractionation of a mineral assemblage of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and lesser olivine. The most highly differentiated samples have also had less than 1% titanomagnetite removed. Most samples from 85°W can be related to a common parental magma that contained approximately 9 wt % FeO*, 1 wt % TiO2, and had an Mg number (Mg# = 100 Mg/(Mg + Fe2+)) of about 65. Although the samples from 95°W cannot all be derived from a common parental magma, the inferred parental magmas may have been derived by varying degrees of partial melting of a common source. The fractionation sequence consists of two parts: an initial iron enrichment trend followed by a silica enrichment trend. We interpret the trace element data to indicate that the most iron rich lavas represent about 32% residual liquid derived by crystal fractionation of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and lesser olivine from a parental magma with an Mg number of about 66. The silica enrichment trend results from crystallization of titanomagnetite and some apatite. Fractionation of pigeonite, which is a minor phase in the major element models, cannot be distinguished from clinopyroxene fractionation by using trace elements.

The carbon isotope geochemistry of glasses from Loihi Seamount has been compared with that of MORB glasses. Stepped heating shows two carbon components in both sample suites: (1) isotopically light carbon (avg. δ13C = −26.3‰) released 600°C, regarded as indigenous. The high-temperature component in MORB samples varied from 52 to 169 ppm C, averageδ13C = −6.6‰, consistent with previous studies (overall MORD averageδ13C = −6.4 ± 0.9‰), and new results for Indian Ocean glasses are similar to Atlantic and Pacific Ocean samples. Carbon release profiles produced by stepped heating may be typical of locality, but there are no significant differences inδ13C values between MORB samples from different areas. Lower yields (17–110 ppm C) correlated with depth in the Loihi samples suggest that they are partially degassed. This degassing has not affectedδ13C values significantly (avg. −5.8‰). Loihi tholeiites have higherδ13C (avg. −5.6‰) than the alkali basalts (avg. −7.1‰). Carbon abundances correlate well with He concentration data. Comparison of theδ13C values with trace element and He, Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope data from the literature suggests that the Loihi samples with highestδ13C have high3He/4He and possibly the least depleted143Nd/144Nd and87Sr/86Sr. The carbon isotope data are consistent with previous models for Loihi involving several mantle sources, lithospheric contamination, and mixing. The slightly higherδ13C of Loihi tholeiites suggests that the undegassed “plume” component manifested by high3He/4He values might haveδ13C about 1‰ higher than the MORB average.

Helium isotopic ratios ranging from 20 to 32 times the atmospheric 3He/4He(RA) have been observed in a suite of 15 basaltic glasses from the Loihi Seamount. These ratios, which are up to four times higher than those of MORB glasses and more than twice those of nearby Kilauea, are strongly suggestive of a primitive source of volatiles supplying this volcanism. The Loihi glasses measured span a broad compositional range, and the 3He/4He ratios were found to be generally lower for the alkali basalts than for the tholeiites. The component with a lower 3He/4He ratio appears to be associated with olivine xenocrysts, within which fluid inclusions are probably the carrier of contaminant helium. One Loihi sample has a much lower isotopic ratio ( 30 RA) helium with some (variable) component of lithospheric contamination added during “breakthrough”, while the later stages are characterized by a relaxation toward lithospheric 3He/4He ratios (∼ 8 RA) due to isolation of the diapir from the mantle below (as the plate moves on), and subsequent mining of the inherited helium and contamination from the surrounding lithosphere. The abrupt contrast in 3He/4He ratios between Kilauea and Loihi, despite their close proximity, is indicative of the small lateral extent of the plume.

A major carbonate reef which drowned 13 ka is now submerged 150 m below sea level on the west coast of the island of Hawaii. A 25-km span of this reef was investigated using the submersibleMakali'i. The reef occurs on the flanks of two active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Hualalai, and the lavas from both volcanoes both underlie and overlie the submerged reef. Most of the basaltic lava flows that crossed the reef did so when the water was much shallower, and when they had to flow a shorter distance from shoreline to reef face. Lava flows on top of the reef have protected it from erosion and solution and now occur at seaward-projecting salients on the reef face. These relations suggest that the reef has retreated shoreward as much as 50 m since it formed. A 7-km-wide “shadow zone” occurs where no Hualalai lava flows cross the reef south of Kailua. These lava flows were probably diverted around a large summit cone complex. A similar “shadow zone” on the flank of Mauna Loa volcano in the Kealakekua Bay region is downslope from the present Mauna Loa caldera, which ponds Mauna Loa lava and prevents it from reaching the coastline. South of the Mauna Loa “shadow zone” the - 150 m reef has been totally covered and obscured by Mauna Loa lava. The boundary between Hualalai and Mauna Loa lava on land occurs over a 6-km-wide zone, whereas flows crossing the - 150 m reef show a sharper boundary offshore from the north side of the subaerial transition zone. This indicates that since the formation of the reef, Hualalai lava has migrated south, mantling Mauna Loa lava. More recently, Mauna Loa lava is again encroaching north on Hualalai lava.

Hualalai Volcano, Hawaii, is best known for the abundant and varied xenoliths included in the historic 1800 Kaupulehu alkalic basalt flow. Xenoliths, which range in composition from dunite to anorthosite, are concentrated at 915-m elevation in the flow. Rare cumulate ultramafic xenoliths, which include websterite, olivine websterite, wehrlite, and clinopyroxenite, display complex pyroxene exsolution textures that indicate slow cooling. Websterite, olivine websterite, and one wehrlite are spinel-bearing orthopyroxene +olivine cumulates with intercumulus clinopyroxene +plagioclase. Two wehrlite samples and clinopyroxenite are spinel-bearing olivine cumulates with intercumulus clinopyroxene+orthopyroxene + plagioclase. Two-pyroxene geothermometry calculations, based on reconstructed pyroxene compositions, indicate that crystallization temperatures range from 1225° to 1350° C. Migration or unmixing of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene stopped between 1045° and 1090° C. Comparisons of the abundance of K2O in plagioclase and the abundances of TiO2 and Fe2O3in spinel of xenoliths and mid-ocean ridge basalt, and a single 87Sr/ 86Sr determination, indicate that these Hualalai xenoliths are unrelated to mid-ocean ridge basalt. Similarity between the crystallization sequence of these xenoliths and the experimental crystallization sequence of a Hawaiian olivine tholeiite suggest that the parental magma of the xenoliths is Hualalai tholeiitic basalt. Xenoliths probably crystallized between about 4.5 and 9 kb. The 155°–230° C of cooling which took place over about 120 ka — the age of the youngest Hualalai tholeiitic basalt — yield maximum cooling rates of 1.3×10−3–1.91×10−3 °C/yr. Hualalai ultramafic xenoliths with exsolved pyroxenes crystallized from Hualalai tholeiitic basalt and accumulated in a magma reservoir located between 13 and 28 km below sealevel. We suspect that this reservoir occurs just below the base of the oceanic crust at about 19 km below sealevel.

Lavas of the post-erosional, alkalic Honolulu Volcanics have significantly lower 87Sr/86Sr and higher 143Nd/144Nd than the older and underlying Koolau tholeiites which form the Koolau shield of eastern Oahu, Hawaii. Despite significant compositional variation within lavas forming the Honolulu Volcanics, these lavas are isotopically (Sr, Nd, Pb) very similar which contrasts with the isotopic heterogeneity of the Koolau tholeiites. Among Hawaiian tholeiitic suites, the Koolau lavas are geochemically distinct because of their lower iron contents and Sr and Nd isotopic ratios which range to bulk earth values. These geochemical data preclude simple models such as derivation of the Honolulu Volcanics and Koolau tholeiites from a common source by different degrees of melting or by mixing of two geochemically distinct sources. There may be no genetic relationship between the origin and evolution of these two lava suites; however, the trend shown by Koolau Range lavas of increasing 143Nd/144Nd and decreasing 87Sr/86Sr with decreasing eruption age and increasing alkalinity also occurs at Haleakala, East Molokai and Kauai volcanoes. A complex mixing model proposed for Haleakala lavas can account for the variations in Sr and Nd isotopic ratios and incompatible element abundances found in lavas from the Koolau Range. This model may reflect mixing and melting processes occurring during ascent of relatively enriched mantle through relatively depleted MORB-related lithosphere. Although two isotopically distinct components may be sufficient to explain Sr and Nd isotopic variations at individual Hawaiian volcanoes, more than two isotopically distinct materials are required to explain variations of Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic ratios in all Hawaiian lavas.

Many authors have noted the near absence of oceanic volcanic rocks intermediate in composition between basalt and trachyte and many explanations have been proposed. Examination of the frequency of chemical analyses from oceanic islands clearly demonstrates that island lavas are bimodally distributed with respect to $$SiO_{2}, CaO$$, and Thornton-Tuttle index. Fractionation models of a suite of samples from Reunion Island based on incompatible trace element enrichments demonstrate that neither $$SiO_{2}, CaO$$ nor the Thornton-Tuttle index vary directly with fractionation. The transition from rocks that are basalts in terms of these three parameters to those that are trachytes represents a very small percentage of fractionation (~ 15%). The fractionation model predicts that volcanic rocks having intermediate $$SiO_{2}$$ (the Daly gap) should be quite rare.