Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geochemistry of the Lunayyir and Khaybar Volcanic Fields (Saudi Arabia): Insights into the Origin of Cenozoic Arabian Volcanism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Geological Setting, Palaeoenvironment and Archaeology of the Red Sea

Abstract

This paper reports on a detailed geochemical study of rocks from Harrats Lunayyir and Khaybar, two large lava fields located in the central portion of the western Arabian Peninsula. Lavas from young flows north of Al Birk were also considered. Sample composition ranges from basanite to basalts with transitional to alkaline affinity. Their incompatible trace element signatures are consistent with alkaline magmas produced by an enriched mantle source, akin to that producing continental flood magmatism in other locations of the Arabian-Nubian plate. Large variations in major (Al2O3, CaO, NaO, TiO2) and trace (e.g., Ni, Cr, Nb, Sr, Zr, Ti, Y and REE) element compositions at a given Mg/(Mg+Fe) indicate that magmatic evolution occurred in magma chambers located at or close to the crust-mantle boundary, constrained by fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and Ti–Fe oxides. Their Ba/Nb and K/La ratios (7–10 and 200–300, respectively) are similar to those of ocean island basalts (OIBs) and with no evidence of crustal assimilation. Fractionations between incompatible trace elements are used to investigate differences in mantle composition and melting conditions in the studied localities and in other lava fields in Arabia, Yemen and Syria. Variable La/Yb and Dy/Yb fractionations of the lavas can be reproduced by mixing different proportions of partial melts produced within the garnet and the spinel stability fields. Lavas from Harrats Lunayyir, Khaybar and Al-Birk show relative depletion in Rb, Th and U compared to Ba and Nb, and negative K anomalies. These compositions are consistent with the local occurrence of an amphibole-bearing source, located most likely in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. This model agrees with the idea that the sub-continental mantle in this region may have formed in a supra-subduction environment with residual amphiboles that preferentially withheld Ba and Nb during fluid-fluxed melting. Our results, when analyzed together with existing data from the region, suggest that Cenzoic alkaline volcanism in western Arabia formed mainly by decompression melting of ancient fusible components in the sub-Arabian lithospheric mantle, that were remobilized by lithospheric thinning due to Red Sea rifting. Additionally, our data are consistent with progressive thinning of the lithosphere toward the Red Sea and lengthening of the melting column over time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abu El Rus MMA, Rooney AO (2017) Insights into the lithosphere to asthenosphere melting transition in northeast Africa: evidence from the Tertiary volcanism in middle Egypt. Chem Geol 455:282–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adam J, Green T (2006) Trace element partitioning between mica- and amphibole-bearing garnet lherzolite and hydrous basanitic melt: 1. Experimental results and the investigation of controls on partitioning behaviour. Contrib Mineral Petrol 152:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Amri AM, Fnais MS, Abdel-Rahman K, Mogren S, Al-Dabbagh M (2012) Geochronological dating and stratigraphic sequences of Harrat Lunayyir, NW Saudi. Int J Phys Sci 7:2791–2805

    Google Scholar 

  • Altherr R, Henjes-Kunst F, Baumann A (1990) Asthenosphere versus lithosphere as possible sources for basaltic magmas erupted during formation of the Red Sea: constraints from Sr, Pb and Nd isotopes. Earth Planet Sci Lett 96:269–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antonini P, Petrini R, Contin G (1998) A segment of sea-floor spreading in the central Red Sea: basalts from the Nereus Deep (23°00′–23°20′N). J Afr Earth Sci 27:107–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashwal LD, Burke K (1989) African lithospheric structure, volcanism, and topography. Earth Planet Sci Lett 96:8–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker JA, Menzies MA, Thirlwall MF, MacPherson CG (1997) Petrogenesis of Quaternary intraplate volcanism, Sana’a, Yemen; implications for plume–lithosphere interaction and polybaric melt hybridization. J Petrol 38:1359–1390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker JA, Thirwall MF, Menzies M (1996) Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic and trace element evidence for crustal contamination of plume-derived flood basalts: oligocene flood volcanism in western Yemen. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 60:2559–2581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand H, Chazot G, Blichert-Toft J, Thoral S (2003) Implications of widespread high-m volcanism on the Arabian Plate for Afar mantle plume and lithosphere composition. Chem Geology 198:47–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohannon RG, Naeser CW, Schmidt DL, Zimmerman RA (1989) The timing of uplift, volcanism, and rifting peripheral to the Red Sea—a case for passive rifting? J Geophys Res 94:1683–1701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosworth W, Stockli DF (2016) Early magmatism in the greater Red Sea rift: timing and significance. Can J Earth Sci 53(11):1158–1176. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2016-0019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camp VE, Roobol MJ (1989) The Arabian continental alkali basalt province: part I. Evolution of Harrat Rahat, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Geol Soc Am Bull 101:71–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camp VE, Roobol MJ (1991) Geologic map of the Cenozoic lava field of Harrats Khaybar, Ithnayn, and Kura, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources Geosciences Map GM-131, scale 1:250,000 with text, 40 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Camp VE, Roobol MJ, Hooper HP (1991) The Arabian continental alkali basalt province: part II. Evolution of Harrats Khaybar, Ithnayn, and Kura, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Geol Soc Am Bull 103:363–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camp VE, Roobol MJ (1992) Upwelling asthenosphere beneath western Arabia and its regional implications. J Geophys Res 90:15255–15271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang S-J, Van der Lee S (2011) Mantle plumes and associated flow beneath Arabia and East Africa. Earth Planet Sci Lett 302:448–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman RG, McGuire AV (1988) Magma systems related to the Red Sea opening. Tectonophysics 150:77–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman RG, Blank HR, Hadley DG, Fleck RG (1975) A Miocene ophiolite on the Red Sea coastal plain. Am Geophys Union Trans 56:1080

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman RG, Gregory RT, Brown GF (1983) Cenozoic volcanic rocks of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources, Open File Report USGS-OF93, 82 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan RA, Al-Amri AM (2013) Timing and composition of volcanic activity at Harrat Lunayyir, western Saudi Arabia. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 260:103–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan RA, Kent AJR, Thornber CR, Schlieder TD, Al-Amri AM (2016) Timing and composition of continental volcanism at Harrat Hutaymah, western Saudi Arabia. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 313:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewart A, Marsh JS, Milner SC, Duncan RA, Kamber BS, Armstrong RA (2004) Petrology and geochemistry of early Cretaceous bimodal continental flood volcanism of the NW Etendeka, Namibia. Part 1: introduction, mafic lavas and re-evaluation of mantle source components. J Petrol 45:59–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gale A, Dalton CA, Langmuir CH, Su Y, Schilling JG (2013) The mean composition of ocean ridge basalts. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 14:489–518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green DH (1973) Experimental studies on a model upper mantle composition at high pressure under water-undersaturated and water-saturated conditions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 19:37–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green T, Blundy J, Adam J, Yaxley G (2000) SIMS determinations of trace element partition coefficients between garnet, clinopyroxenes and hydrous basaltic liquids at 2–7.5 GPa and 1080–1200 °C. Lithos 53:165–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grove TL, Kinzler RJ, Bryan WB (1992) Fractionation of mid-ocean ridge basalt. In: Morgan JP, Blackman DK, Sinton JM (eds) Mantle flow and melt generation at mid-ocean ridges, vol 71. American Geophysical Union, pp 281–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Haase KM, Muhe R, Stoffers P (2000) Magmatism during extension of the lithosphere: geochemical constraints from lavas of the Shaban Deep, northern Red Sea. Chem Geology 166:225–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hellebrand E, Snow JE, Hoppe P, Hofmann AW (2002) Garnet-field melting and late-stage refertilization in ‘residual’ abyssal peridotites from the Central Indian Ridge. J Petrol 43:2305–2338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann AW (1988) Chemical differentiation of the Earth: the relationship between mantle, continental crust, and oceanic crust. Earth Planet Sci Lett 90:297–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann AW (1997) Mantle geochemistry: the message from oceanic volcanism. Nature 385:219–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann AW, Jochum KP (1996) Source characteristics derived from very incompatible trace elements in Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea basalts, Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project. J Geophys Res 101:11831–11839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann AW, Feigenson MD, Raczek I (1984) Case studies on the origin of basalt. III. Petrogenesis of the Mauna Ulu eruption Kilauea, 1969–1971. Contrib Mineral Petrol 88:24–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ionov DA, Hofmann AW (1995) Nb–Ta-rich mantle amphiboles and micas: implications for subduction-related metasomatic trace element fractionation. Earth Planet Sci Lett 131:341–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp J (1981) Explanatory notes to the geological map of the Wadi al’Ays quadrangle, sheet 25C, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, 39 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Konrad K, Graham DW, Thornber CR, Duncan RA, Kent AJR, Al-Amri AM (2016) Asthenosphere-lithosphere interactions in Western Saudi Arabia: inferences from 3He/4He in xenoliths and lava flows from Harrat Hutaymah. Lithos 248:339–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krienitz MS, Haase KM, Mezger K, van den Bogaard P, Thiemann V, Shaikh-Mashail MA (2009) Tectonic events, continental intraplate volcanism, and mantle plume activity in northern Arabia: constraints from geochemistry and Ar–Ar dating of Syrian lavas. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 10. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008gc002254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaTourette T, Hervig RL, Holloway JR (1995) Trace element partitioning between amphibole, phlogopite, and basanite melt. Earth Planet Sci Lett 135:13–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ligi M, Bonatti E, Rasul NMA (2015) Seafloor spreading initiation: geophysical and geochemical constraints from the Thetis and Nereus Deeps, central Red Sea. In: Rasul NMA, Stewart ICF (eds) The Red Sea- The formation, morphology, oceanography and environment of a young ocean basin. Springer Earth Sciences Series, pp 79–98. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Ligi M, Bonatti E, Bortoluzzi G, Cipriani A, Cocchi L, Caratori Tontini F, Carminati E, Ottolini L, Schettino A (2012) Birth of an ocean in the Red Sea: initial pangs. Geochem Geophys Geosystems 13:Q08009. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GC004155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ligi M, Bonatti E, Caratori Tontini F, Cipriani A, Cocchi L, Schettino A, Bortoluzzi G, Ferrante V, Khalil SM, Mitchell NC, Rasul N (2011) initial burst of oceanic crust accretion in the Red Sea due to edge-driven mantle convection. Geology 39:1019–1022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longhi J (2002) Some phase equilibrium systematics of lherzolite melting: I. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 3:1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucassen F, Franz G, Romer RL, Pudlo D, Dulski P (2008) Nd, Pb, and Sr isotope composition of Late Mesozoic to Quaternary intraplate magmatism in NE-Africa (Sudan, Egypt): high-μ signatures from the mantle lithosphere: the propagating tip of the western branch of the East African Rift. Earth Planet Sci Lett 284:236–248

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuire AV, Bohannon RG (1989) Timing of mantle upwelling: evidence for a passive origin for the Red Sea rift. J Geophys Res 94:1677–1682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohr P, Zanettin B (1988) The Ethiopian flood basalt province. In: Macdougall JD (ed) Continental flood basalts. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, pp 63–110

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Moufti MR, Moghazi AM, Ali KA (2012) Geochemistry and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic composition of the Harrat Al-Madinah volcanic field, Saudi Arabia. Gondwana Res 21:670–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moufti MR, Moghazi AM, Ali KA (2013) 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Neogene-Quaternary Harrat Al-Madinah intercontinental volcanic field, Saudi Arabia: implication for duration and migration of volcanic activity. J Asian Earth Sci 62:253–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Natali C, Beccaluva L, Bianchini G, Ellam RM, Savo A, Siena F, Stuart FM (2016) High-MgO lavas associated to CFB as indicators of plume-related thermochemical effects: the case of ultra-titaniferous picrite–basalt from the Northern Ethiopian-Yemeni Plateau. Gondwana Res 34:29–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niida K, Green DH (1999) Stability and chemical composition of pargasitic amphibole in MORB pyrolite under upper mantle conditions. Contrib Mineral Petrol 135:18–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallister JS (1987) Magmatic history of Red Sea rifting: perspective from the central Saudi Arabian coastal plain. Geol Soc Am Bull 98:400–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA (1983) The role of subcontinental lithosphere in magma genesis at destructive plate margins. In: Hawkesworth CJ, Norry HJ (eds) Continental basalt and mantle xenoliths. Shiva, Nantwich, pp 230–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Presnall DC, Dixon SA, Dixon JR, O’Donnell TH, Brenner NL, Schrock RL, Dycus DW (1978) Liquidus phase relations on the join diopside-forsterite-anorthite from 1 atm to 20 kbar: their bearing on the generation and crystallization of basaltic magma. Contrib Mineral Petrol 66:203–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal A, Foley SF, Pearson DG, Nowell GM, Tappe S (2009) Petrogenesis of strongly alkaline primitive volcanic rocks at the propagating tip of the western branch of the East African rift. Earth Planet Sci Lett 284:236–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rooney TO, Nelson WR, Dosso L, Furman T, Hanan B (2014) The role of continental lithosphere metasomes in the production of HIMU-like magmatism on the northeast African and Arabian plates. Geology 42(5):419–422. https://doi.org/10.1130/G35216.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salters VJM, Longhi J (1999) Trace element partitioning during the initial stages of melting beneath mid-ocean ridges. Earth Planet Sci Lett 166:15–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salters VJM, Stracke A (2004) Composition of the depleted mantle. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 5:Q05B07. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003gc000597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sgualdo P, Aviado K, Beccaluva L, Bianchini G, Blichert-Toft J, Bryce JG, Graham DW, Natali C, Siena F (2015) Lithospheric mantle evolution in the Afro-Arabian domain: insights from Bir Ali mantle xenoliths (Yemen). Tectonophysics 650:3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw JE, Baker JA, Kent AJR, Ibrahim KM, Menzies MA (2007) The geochemistry of the Arabian lithospheric mantle source for intraplate volcanism. J Petrol 47:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw JE, Baker JA, Menzies MA, Thirlwall MF, Ibrahim KM (2003) Petrogenesis of the largest intraplate volcanic field on the Arabian Plate (Jordan): a mixed lithosphere–asthenosphere source activated by lithospheric extension. J Petrol 44:1657–1679

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Späth A, le Roex AP, Duncan RA (1996) The geochemistry of lavas from the Comores Archipelago, western Indian Ocean: petrogenesis and mantle source region characterstics. J Petrol 37:961–991

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobolev AV, Shimizu N (1993) Ultra-depleted primary melt included in an olivine from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Nature 363:151–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein M, Hofmann AW (1992) Fossil plume head beneath the Arabian lithosphere? Earth Planet Sci Lett 114:193–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein M, Goldstein SL (1996) From plume head to continental lithosphere in the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Nature 382:773–778

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein M, Navon O, Kessel R (1997) Chromatographic metasomatism of the Arabian-Nubian lithosphere. Earth Planet Sci Lett 152:75–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern RJ, Johnson PR (2010) Continental lithosphere of the Arabian Plate: a geologic, petrologic, and geophysical synthesis. Earth Sci Rev 101:29–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun SS, McDonough WF (1989) Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes. In: Saunders AD, Norry MJ (eds) Magmatism in ocean basins, vol 42. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, pp 313–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thirlwall MF, Upton BGJ, Jenkins C (1994) Interaction between continental lithosphere and the Iceland plume—Sr–Nd–Pb isotope geochemistry of Tertiary basalts, NE Greenland. J Petrol 35:839–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tormey DR, Grove TL, Bryan WB (1987) Experimental petrology of normal MORB near the Kane Fracture Zone: 22°–25°N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Contrib Mineral Petrol 96:121–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vigliotti L, Cai Y, Rasul NMA, Hemming SR (2017) Paleomagnetism and geochronology of the Lunayyir and Khaybar lava fields, Saudi Arabia (this volume)

    Google Scholar 

  • Volker F, McCulloch MT, Altherr R (1993) Submarine basalts from the Red Sea: new Pb, Sr, and Nd isotopic data. Geophys Res Lett 20:927–930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss Y, Class C, Goldstein SL, Hanyu T (2016) Key new pieces of the HIMU puzzle from olivines and diamond inclusions. Nature 537:666–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang HJ, Frey FA, Clague DA (2003) Constraints on the source components of lavas forming the Hawaiian North Arch and Honolulu volcanics. J Petrol 44:603–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang HJ, Kinzlerand RJ, Grove TL (1996) Experiments and models of anhydrous, basaltic olivine-plagioclase-augite saturated melts from 0.001 to 10 kbar. Contrib Mineral Petrol 124:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zindler A, Hart S (1986) Chemical geodynamics. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 14:493–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is the result of a joint effort of the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS), and the Istituto di Scienze Marine, CNR of Bologna (ISMAR-CNR). We thank Dr. Z. A. Nawab, SGS President and Dr. A. M. AlAttas, SGS Assistant President for Technical Support. We particularly thank Dr. Najeeb Rasul and SGS team (A. O. Saeedi, A. Zahrani, Z. A. Otaibi, H. H. Subahi, M. M. Khorsheed and A. M. Jarees), Captain P. Dimala and helicopter assistants F. Abdulhadi and A. Al-Harbi for their collaboration during the field work. E. Billotta, Pavia University is thanked for petrographic analyses. The first version of this work benefit of useful comments by three anonymous reviewers. The work was supported by the SGS, the Italian Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche and the US National Science Foundation. We thank Dr. G. Bailey for providing basalt samples from the Al Birk region (Saudi Arabia). The research was sponsored by the PRIN2012 Programme (Project 20125JKANY_002).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Alessio Sanfilippo

  2. Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA

    (Merry) Yue Cai

  3. Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil

    Ana Paula Gouveia Jácome

  4. Istituto di Scienze Marine, CNR, Bologna, Italy

    Marco Ligi

Authors
  1. Alessio Sanfilippo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. (Merry) Yue Cai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ana Paula Gouveia Jácome
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marco Ligi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessio Sanfilippo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Marine Geology, Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Najeeb M.A. Rasul

  2. Stewart Geophysical Consultants Pty. Ltd., College Park, SA, Australia

    Ian C.F. Stewart

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sanfilippo, A., Cai, (.Y., Jácome, A.P.G., Ligi, M. (2019). Geochemistry of the Lunayyir and Khaybar Volcanic Fields (Saudi Arabia): Insights into the Origin of Cenozoic Arabian Volcanism. In: Rasul, N., Stewart, I. (eds) Geological Setting, Palaeoenvironment and Archaeology of the Red Sea. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99408-6_18

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation