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The oxygen isotope composition of mantle-derived melts can place important constraints on how magmas are processed as they traverse the crust. Assimilation of crustal material is a crucial aspect of basalt petrogenesis, as it affects the chemical and rheological characteristics of eruptive magmas at active volcanoes. We report oxygen isotope (δ18O) and trace element (TE) data from a suite of well-characterized basaltic melt inclusions and groundmass glasses from the Bárðarbunga volcanic system in Iceland to assess how and where in the plumbing system crustal rocks interact with ascending magmas. While both melt inclusions and groundmass glasses record a large range in δ18O values (+3.2‰ to +6.4‰ and +2.6‰ to +5.5‰, respectively) groundmass glasses record lower values on average. Relationships between incompatible trace element (e.g., Zr/Nb) and oxygen isotope ratios are best explained with three-component mixing, where primary melts derived from depleted and enriched mantle components with distinct δ18O values mix and acquire a low-δ18O character upon progressive contamination with altered Icelandic crust. The majority (60%) of melt inclusions require 10-30% exchange of oxygen with the Icelandic crust. In addition, for the first time, we link the extent of oxygen isotope exchange with melt equilibration depths, showing that most of the contamination occurs at 1-2 kbar (3-7 km depth). We propose that a progressively assimilating, multi-tiered plumbing system is a characteristic feature of the Bárðarbunga volcanic system, whereby chemical modifications resulting from interaction with the crust systematically increase as melts migrate through higher crustal levels. We show that similar processes may also occur across the active rift zone in Iceland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Icelandic crust is characterized by low δ18O values that originate from pervasive high-temperature hydrothermal alteration by 18O-depleted meteoric waters. Igneous rocks in Iceland with δ18O values significantly higher than unaltered oceanic crust (~5.7‰) are therefore rare. Here we report on rhyolitic intra-caldera samples from a cluster of Neogene central volcanoes in Borgarfjörður Eystri, Northeast Iceland, that show whole-rock δ18O values between +2.9 and +17.6‰ (n = 6), placing them among the highest δ18O values thus far recorded for Iceland. Extra-caldera rhyolite samples from the region, in turn, show δ18O whole-rock values between +3.7 and +7.8‰ (n = 6), consistent with the range of previously reported Icelandic rhyolites. Feldspar in the intra-caldera samples (n = 4) show δ18O values between +4.9 and +18.7‰, whereas pyroxene (n = 4) shows overall low δ18O values of +4.0 to +4.2‰, consistent with regional rhyolite values. In combination with the evidence from mineralogy and rock H2O contents, the high whole-rock δ18O values of the intra-caldera rhyolites appear to be the result of pervasive isotopic exchange during subsolidus hydrothermal alteration with 18O-enriched water. This alteration conceivably occurred in a near-surface hot spring environment at the distal end of an intra-caldera hydrothermal system, and was probably fed by waters that had already undergone significant isotope exchange with the country rock. Alternatively, 18O-enriched alteration fluids may have been produced during evaporation and boiling of standing water in former caldera lakes, which then interacted with the intra-caldera rock suites. Irrespective of the exact exchange processes involved, a previously unrecognized and highly localized δ18O-enriched rock composition exists on Iceland and thus probably within the Icelandic crust too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple oxygen isotope systematics of ancient hydrothermally altered rocks has been previously used to constrain environmental conditions of the Precambrian. To validate those studies, we report high-precision triple oxygen isotope measurements (expressed as Δ′17O with reference slope 0.528) of quartz, epidote and well fluids from modern geothermal areas of Iceland, Krafla and Reykjanes, as well as measurements from the extinct 6 Ma Geitafell hydrothermal system. At these systems, basalts reacted with distinct fluid sources at temperatures ranging from 250 to 400 °C. Resolvable difference between isotope compositions of surface waters and rocks enables novel insights into boiling, isotope exchange at variable water-rock ratios, and remelting of altered rock. Our measurements of δD, Δ′17O, and δ′18O in well fluids show that the reactions proceeded at water-rock ratios of 0.1 to 2, and reveal the addition of meteoric water in the Reykjanes system, and near-surface boiling and steam-liquid separation at Krafla. The δ′18O and Δ′17O values of fluids shift due to exchange with rocks at high temperature following the slope 0.51 in the triple isotope space. Near-surface boiling and steam-liquid separation cause shifts in δD and δ′18O values of the fluids. Their Δ′17O values do not change significantly owning to the shallow slope of liquid-vapor equilibrium fractionation relative to the reference line slope. Epidote δ′18O and Δ′17O values in all three localities closely resemble the isotope composition of local fluid sources. The measured slope of triple oxygen isotope fractionation between quartz and epidote at 250–400 °C is 0.526 ± 0.001. We suggest that triple oxygen isotope composition of epidote can be used as a direct first-order proxy for the equilibrium fluid δ′18O and Δ′17O values. The calibrated quartz-water equilibrium fractionation for triple oxygen isotopes yields general agreement with the local fluid sources, within ±1.5‰ of their δ18O values, while the Δ′17O agree within ±0.02‰. We present in situ δ18O measurements in a quartz crystal from Krafla that show several ‰ heterogeneities which may affect the reconstructed equilibrium fluid values. We tested the effect of shallow crustal contamination on the Δ′17O values of rhyolitic glasses from Krafla, including those quenched and extracted by drilling, that likely formed by assimilation of low-δ18O hydrothermally altered crust. Our Δ′17O measurements constrain the degree of crustal assimilation to 10–20 %. Our study shows that the Δ′17O values measured in geothermal fluids, secondary minerals and low δ18O contaminated magmas can provide key information on the conditions of water-rock reaction and magma genesis, and contain additional details that were not accessible through conventional analyses of δD and δ18O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]