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Three-component isotopic heterogeneity near the Oceanographer transform, Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Nature volume 325, pages 217–223 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

Tholeiitic basalts collected over an area of less than 100 km2 near the Oceanographer transform fault have isotopic compositions interpreted as mixing between three chemically distinct mantle sources. Of the two enriched sources, one has an isotopic composition not previously observed in basalts from the North Atlantic. Its characteristics suggest a model whereby portions of the mantle currently beneath 35° N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge contain detached fragments of old sub-continental mantle.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Rd, NW, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Steven B. Shirey

  2. Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28223, USA

    John F. Bender

  3. Lament-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964, USA

    Charles H. Langmuir

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Shirey, S., Bender, J. & Langmuir, C. Three-component isotopic heterogeneity near the Oceanographer transform, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Nature 325, 217–223 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/325217a0

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