Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Non-equilibrium degassing and a primordial source for helium in ocean-island volcanism

Nature volume 449, pages 1037–1040 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Radioactive decay of uranium and thorium produces 4He, whereas 3He in the Earth’s mantle is not produced by radioactive decay and was only incorporated during accretion—that is, it is primordial1. 3He/4He ratios in many ocean-island basalts (OIBs) that erupt at hotspot volcanoes, such as Hawaii and Iceland, can be up to sixfold higher than in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs). This is inferred to be the result of outgassing by melt production at mid-ocean ridges in conjunction with radiogenic ingrowth of 4He, which has led to a volatile-depleted upper mantle (MORB source) with low 3He concentrations and low 3He /4He ratios2,3,4,5,6. Consequently, high 3He/4He ratios in OIBs are conventionally viewed as evidence for an undegassed, primitive mantle source, which is sampled by hot, buoyantly upwelling deep-mantle plumes3,6,7. However, this conventional model provides no viable explanation of why helium concentrations and elemental ratios of He/Ne and He/Ar in OIBs are an order of magnitude lower than in MORBs. This has been described as the ‘helium concentration paradox’8 and has contributed to a long-standing controversy about the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s mantle. Here we show that the helium concentration paradox, as well as the full range of noble-gas concentrations observed in MORB and OIB glasses, can self-consistently be explained by disequilibrium open-system degassing of the erupting magma. We show that a higher CO2 content in OIBs than in MORBs leads to more extensive degassing of helium in OIB magmas and that noble gases in OIB lavas can be derived from a largely undegassed primitive mantle source.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Equilibrium degassing trajectories.
Figure 2: Conceptual framework of our disequilibrium degassing model.
Figure 3: Model results for disequilibrium degassing of MORBs and OIBs.
Figure 4: Predicted CO 2 content of parental magmas.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Porcelli, D. & Ballentine, C. J. Models for the distribution of terrestrial noble gases and evolution of the atmosphere. Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 47, 411–480 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hart, R., Dymond, J. & Hogan, L. Preferential formation of the atmosphere–sialic crust system from the upper mantle. Nature 278, 156–159 (1979)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kurz, M. D., Jenkins, W. J. & Hart, S. R. Helium isotopic systematics of oceanic islands and mantle heterogeneity. Nature 297, 43–47 (1982)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Allègre, C. J., Staudacher, T., Sarda, P. & Kurz, M. Constraints on evolution of Earth’s mantle from rare-gas systematics. Nature 303, 762–766 (1983)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. O’Nions, R. K. & Oxburgh, E. R. Heat and helium in the Earth. Nature 306, 429–431 (1983)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kellogg, L. H. & Wasserburg, G. J. The role of plumes in mantle helium fluxes. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 99, 276–289 (1990)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Morgan, W. J. Convective plumes in lower mantle. Nature 230, 42–43 (1971)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Anderson, D. L. The helium paradoxes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 4822–4827 (1998)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Helfrfrich, G. R. & Wood, B. J. The Earth’s mantle. Nature 412, 501–507 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Anderson, D. L. A model to explain the various paradoxes associated with mantle noble gas geochemistry. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 9087–9092 (1998)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Graham, D. W. Noble gas isotope geochemistry of mid-ocean ridge and ocean island basalts: Characterization of mantle source reservoirs. Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 47, 247–317 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Fisher, D. E. Noble gases from oceanic island basalts do not require an undepleted mantle source. Nature 316, 716–718 (1985)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Honda, M. & Patterson, D. B. Systematic elemental fractionation of mantle-derived helium, neon, and argon in mid-oceanic ridge glasses. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63, 2863–2874 (1999)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Moreira, M. & Sarda, P. Noble gas constraints on degassing processes. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 176, 375–386 (2000)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Dixon, J. E. & Clague, D. A. Volatiles in basaltic glasses from Loihi seamount, Hawaii: Evidence for a relatively dry plume component. J. Petrol. 42, 627–654 (2001)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Paonita, A. & Martelli, M. A new view of the He–Ar–CO2 degassing at mid-ocean ridges: Homogeneous composition of magmas from the upper mantle. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 71, 1747–1763 (2007)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Carroll, M. R. & Stolper, E. M. Noble gas solubilities in silicate melts and glasses: New experimental results for argon and the relationship between solubility and ionic porosity. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 57, 5039–5051 (1993)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Burnard, P., Harrison, D., Turner, G. & Nesbitt, R. Degassing and contamination of noble gases in Mid-Atlantic Ridge basalts. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4, 10.1029/2002GC000326. (2003)

  19. Aubaud, C., Pineau, F., Jambon, A. & Javoy, M. Kinetic disequilibrium of C, He, Ar and carbon isotopes during degassing of mid-ocean ridge basalts. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 222, 391–406 (2004)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Lensky, N. G., Navon, O. & Lyakhovsky, V. Bubble growth during decompression of magma: experimental and theoretical investigation. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 129, 7–22 (2004)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Dixon, J. E. Degassing of alkalic basalts. Am. Mineral. 82, 368–378 (1997)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Hilton, D. R. et al. Controls on magmatic degassing along the Reykjanes Ridge with implications for the helium paradox. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 183, 43–50 (2000)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Honda, M. et al. Possible solar noble-gas component in Hawaiian basalts. Nature 349, 149–151 (1991)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Honda, M. & McDougall, I. Primordial helium and neon in the Earth—a speculation on early degassing. Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 1951–1954 (1998)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Javoy, M. & Pineau, F. The volatiles record of a ‘popping’ rock from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 14° N: chemical and isotopic composition of gas trapped in the vesicles. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 107, 598–611 (1991)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Moreira, M., Kunz, J. & Allègre, C. J. Rare gas systematics in popping rock: Isotopic and elemental compositions in the upper mantle. Science 279, 1178–1181 (1998)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Sarda, P. & Graham, D. Mid-ocean ridge popping rocks: implications for degassing at ridge crests. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 97, 268–289 (1990)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Ballentine, C. J., van Keken, P. E., Porcelli, D. & Hauri, E. H. Numerical models, geochemistry and the zero-paradox noble-gas mantle. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 360, 2611–2631 (2002)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Holloway, J. R. Graphite-melt equilibria during mantle melting: constraints on CO2 in MORB magmas and the carbon content of the mantle. Chem. Geol. 147, 89–97 (1998)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Saal, A. E., Hauri, E. H., Langmuir, C. H. & Perfit, M. R. Vapour undersaturation in primitive mid-ocean-ridge basalt and the volatile content of Earth’s upper mantle. Nature 419, 451–455 (2002)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. Head, J. W., Wilson, L. & Smith, D. K. Mid-ocean ridge eruptive vent morphology and substructure: Evidence for dike widths, eruption rates, and evolution of eruptions and axial volcanic ridges. J. Geophys. Res. 101, 28265–28280 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. Hilton, D. R., McMurtry, G. M. & Goff, F. Large variations in vent fluid CO2/3He ratios signal rapid changes in magma chemistry at Loihi seamount, Hawaii. Nature 396, 359–362 (1998)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Resing, J. A., Lupton, J. E., Feely, R. A. & Lilley, M. D. CO2 and 3He in hydrothermal plumes: implications for mid-ocean ridge CO2 flux. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 226, 449–464 (2004)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank C. Ballentine for a constructive review; M. Saar and J. Rice for providing computational resources; C. Langmuir for helpful suggestions; and R. O’Connell, S. Parman and S. Jacobsen for discussions. H.M.G. was supported by the Daly Fellowship (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Helge M. Gonnermann

    Present address: Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, SOEST, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, USA.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA,

    Helge M. Gonnermann & Sujoy Mukhopadhyay

Authors
  1. Helge M. Gonnermann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sujoy Mukhopadhyay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helge M. Gonnermann.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

The file contains Supplementary Notes, Supplementary Figures S1-S5 with Legends and additional references. (PDF 3129 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gonnermann, H., Mukhopadhyay, S. Non-equilibrium degassing and a primordial source for helium in ocean-island volcanism. Nature 449, 1037–1040 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06240

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06240

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.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing