Tectonic dismemberment and plume-ridge interaction in the Sub-Antarctic South Atlantic Ocean Basin: Confirmation from in situ geochemical and Sr isotopic compositions of minerals

Abstract

Abstract The Sub-Antarctic South Atlantic Ocean has been inferred to have undergone a complex tectonic history involving dismemberment and plume-ridge interaction. Here we report new in situ major (electron probe microanalysis, EPMA), trace element (laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, LA-ICP-MS), and Sr isotopic (laser ablation–multicollector–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, LA-MC-ICP-MS) compositions for minerals (olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase) from the Northeast Georgia Rise (NGR; Sites 698 and 699), Islas Orcadas Rise (IOR; Site 701), and Meteor Rise (MR; Site 703) volcanic samples in the Sub-Antarctic South Atlantic Ocean. Plagioclases and clinopyroxenes from Sites 698, 699, and 703 are characterized by similar incompatible element patterns and Sr isotopic characteristics, suggesting that they are likely to have originated from a cogenetic mantle source. The plagioclases and clinopyroxenes exhibit an oscillatory, reverse, and normal zoning texture, and display clear evidence of Sr isotopic disequilibrium, suggesting dynamic and open fractional-crystallization processes as well as extensive mixing of compositionally distinct magmas. Rims and groundmass of plagioclase exhibit much more highly radiogenic Sr isotopes than their cores, likely indicating the involvement of both continental lithospheric and recycled oceanic crust. The in situ geochemical and isotopic compositions of these minerals exhibit the features of both the oceanic-island basalt–type Tristan-Gough mantle plume track and the normal mid-oceanic-ridge basalt–type Mid-Atlantic spreading ridge (MAR) and Agulhas spreading ridge (AR) track. We speculate that the NGR, IOR, and MR were formed from the same mantle source with volcanic flow of the Tristan-Gough mantle plume. Subsequently, tectonic movement along the MAR and AR separated the originally combined MR-IOR-NGR, resulting in the incursion of depleted asthenospheric mantle and the contamination contributions of continental and recycled oceanic crust components.