Pristine helium from the Karoo mantle plume within the shallow asthenosphere beneath Patagonia

Tiago Jalowitzki (), Hirochika Sumino, Rommulo V. Conceição, Manuel E. Schilling, Gustavo W. Bertotto, Andrés Tassara, Fernanda Gervasoni, Yuji Orihashi, Keisuke Nagao, Marcelo Peres Rocha and Rodrigo Antonio de Freitas Rodrigues
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Tiago Jalowitzki: Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
Hirochika Sumino: University of Tokyo
Rommulo V. Conceição: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Manuel E. Schilling: Universidad Austral de Chile
Gustavo W. Bertotto: CONICET - Universidad Nacional de La Pampa
Andrés Tassara: Universidad de Concepción
Fernanda Gervasoni: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Yuji Orihashi: Hirosaki University
Keisuke Nagao: KOPRI (Korea Polar Research Institute)
Marcelo Peres Rocha: Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
Rodrigo Antonio de Freitas Rodrigues: Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Mantle xenoliths usually represent fragments derived from the depleted and degassed lithospheric mantle with 3He/4He isotope ratios (6 ± 1 RA) lower than those of mid-ocean ridge basalts (8 ± 1 RA). Otherwise, basalts from oceanic islands related to hotspots often have high 3He/4He ratios (>10 RA), suggesting a deep and pristine undegassed mantle source. Here we present a striking high-3He/4He component (up to 27.68 RA) recorded by spinel-facies mantle xenoliths from Patagonia. Remarkably, the highest ratios were found in a long-lived trans-lithospheric suture zone related to the Carboniferous-Permian collision of two continental blocks: the Deseado and the North Patagonian massifs. The mantle xenoliths with notably high-3He/4He ratios are inferred to be fragments of the shallow asthenosphere rising through the eroded and rejuvenated thin lithosphere. The pristine helium component is derived from the western margin of the Karoo mantle plume, related to the initial stages of the Gondwana fragmentation.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50773-4

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