Abstract
New strontium, lead and neodymium isotope compositions of volcanics from two volcanic island chains of French Polynesia (Marquesas, Australes) are presented. The data from Marquesas fall in the well-established oceanic islands field and are very similar to those of the Society Islands of French Polynesia. In contrast, Tubuaii Island basalts from the Australes chain exhibit very low 87Sr/86Sr ratios (∼0.7028) and the highest 206Pb/204Pb (∼21.1) and 208Pb/204Pb (∼40.4) ratios ever reported for an oceanic island. Their ɛNd value is ∼+4.9. These data are similar to those of St Helena, although even more extreme. This convergence indicates that a comparable and as yet undefined process took place in the mantle beneath the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The isotopic data for the Polynesian volcanics encompass almost the entire range of Sr and Nd isotopic ratios found in oceanic islands (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7028−0.7083; 143Nd/144Nd = 0.51257−0.51297) and more than half of the Pb isotope range (206Pb/204Pb = 18.9−21.1; 208Pb/204Pb = 38.9−40.4).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sun, S.-S. & Hanson, G. N. Geology 3, 297–302 (1975).
Tatsumoto, M. Earth planet. Sci Lett. 38, 63–87 (1978).
Vidal, Ph. & Dosso, L. Geophys. Res. Lett. 5, 169–171 (1978).
Andersen, D. L. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 57, 1–12 (1982).
Anderson, D. L. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 57, 13–24 (1982).
DePaolo, D. J. & Wasserburg, G. J. Geophys. Res. Lett. 3, 743–746 (1976).
Allègre, C. J. Tectonophysics 81, 109–132 (1982).
Chase, C. G. Earth planet. Sci Lett. 52, 277–284 (1981).
Hofmann, A. W. & White, W. M. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 57, 421–436 (1982).
Morgan, W. J. Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol. 56, 203–213 (1972).
Brousse, R. & Bellon, H. C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci. Paris 278, 827–830 (1974).
Duncan, R. A. & MacDougall, I. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 21, 414–420 (1974).
Dalrymple, G. B., Jarrard, R. D. & Clague, D. A. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 86, 1463–1467 (1975).
Duncan, R. A. & MacDougall, I. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 1, 197–227 (1976).
Bellon, H., Brousse, R. & Pantaloni, A. Cah. de l'Indo-Pacif. 2, 219–240 (1980).
Brousse, R. & Richer de Forges, B. C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 290, 1055–1057 (1980).
Talandier, J. & Okal, E. C. r. hebd. Séanc., Acad. Sci. Paris 295, 195–200 (1982).
Brousse, R. & Guille, G. R. Ann. Sc. Terre 80 (1975).
Brousse, R. Cah. du Pacif. 21, 107–144 (1978).
Brousse, R. & Sevin, M. A. Cah. du Pacif. 21, 204–214 (1978).
Brousse, R. & Maury, R. C. Bull. Soc. fr. Minér. Cristallogr. 101, 3–10 (1978).
Maury, R. C. & Brousse, R. Cah. du Pacif. 21, 145–188 (1978).
Brousse, R. & Maury, R. C. Cah. de l'Indo-Pacif. 2, 131–193 (1980).
Vidal, Ph. & Clauer, N. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 55, 237–246 (1981).
Chauvel, C. thesis, Univ. Rennes, 1982).
White, W. M. & Patchett, P. J. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. (in the press).
White, W. M. & Hofmann, A. W. Nature 296, 821–825 (1982).
White, W. M., Todt, W., Patchett, P. J. & Hofmann, A. W. Ged. Soc. Am. Meet. Abstr. with Programs 14, 646 (1982).
Duncan, R. A. & Compston, W. Geology 4, 728–732 (1976).
Harris, C., Bell, J. D. & Atkins, F. B. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 60, 79–85 (1982).
Cohen, R. S. & O'Nions, R. K. J. Petrology 23, 299–324 (1982).
White, W. M. & Hofmann, A. W. Yb. Carnegie Instn Wash. 77, 596–606 (1978).
Sun, S.-S. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 297, 409–445 (1980).
Zindler, A., Jagoutz, E. & Golstein, S. Nature 298, 519–523 (1982).
Hart, S. R. & Staudigel, H. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 58, 202–212 (1982).
Michard, A., Albarède, F., Michard, G., Minster, J. F. & Charlou, J. L. Nature 303, 795–797 (1983).
DePaolo, D. J. & Wasserburg, G. J. Geophys. Res. Lett. 4, 465–468 (1977).
O'Nions, R. K., Hamilton, P. J. & Evensen, N. M. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 34, 13–22 (1977).
Zindler, A., Hart, S. R., Frey, F. A. & Jakobsson, S. P. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 45, 249–262 (1979).
Dosso, L. & Murphy, V. R. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 48, 268–276 (1980).
O'Nions, R. K. & Pankhurst, R. J. J. Petrology 15, 603–634 (1974).
Cohen, R. S., Evensen, N. M., Hamilton, P. J. & O'Nions, R. K. Nature 283, 149–153 (1980).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vidal, P., Chauvel, C. & Brousse, R. Large mantle heterogeneity beneath French Polynesia. Nature 307, 536–538 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/307536a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/307536a0
This article is cited by
-
Petrogenetic study of Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks of North Delhi fold belt, NW Indian shield: implications for mantle conditions during Proterozoic
Chinese Journal of Geochemistry (2015)
-
Constraints on HIMU and EM by Sr and Nd isotopes re-examined
Earth, Planets and Space (2014)
-
Geochemical diversity in submarine HIMU basalts from Austral Islands, French Polynesia
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (2013)
-
The Early Jurassic magmatism in northern Guangdong Province, southeastern China: Constraints from SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating of Xialan complex
Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences (2009)
-
Temporal geochemical evolution in oceanic intra-plate volcanics: a case study from the Marquesas (French Polynesia) and comparison with other hotspots
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (1992)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.