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Helium isotopes in early Tertiary basalts, northeast Greenland: Evidence for 58 Ma plume activity in the North Atlantic–Iceland volcanic province

¹ Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Rue Notre-Dame des Pauvres, B.P. 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre Cedex, France
² Grant Institute of Geology, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, United Kingdom
³ Isotope Geosciences Unit, Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride G75 0QF, United Kingdom

³He/⁴He ratios in olivine phenocrysts have been measured in 58 Ma basaltic lavas from the Hold with Hope region of northeast Greenland. These lavas constitute a part of the North Atlantic volcanic province. The samples exhibit a wide range of ³He/⁴He ratios between 1.7R_a and 21R_a (R_a =the atmospheric ³He/⁴He ratio =1.386 x 10^–6), which is comparable to the previously recorded range for Quaternary Icelandic basalts. These He isotope variations may partly result from crustal assimilation, but ³He/⁴He ratios higher than those of mid-ocean-ridge basalts support early participation of plume-head material at the onset of volcanic activity in the North Atlantic volcanic province. As with the Deccan-Réunion plume and the Ethiopia-Afar plume, this long-term contribution of ³He-rich material is fully consistent with models that ascribe a deep (i.e., deeper than the convective mantle that drives plate tectonics) origin for plume-source material, but contradicts those that postulate a shallow-mantle origin for continental flood basalts and large igneous provinces.

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