Abstract
Isotope geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks from the western USA demonstrates considerable mantle heterogeneity in the source regions. The Basin and Range volcanic rocks have tapped a source similar to mid-oceanic ridge basalts and the Hawaiian islands, while the magmas erupted in the Sierran Province formed in enriched grossly heterogeneous garnet bearing mantle. Within the bimodal rhyolite–basalt province of the Snake River Plain and Yellowstone National Park, there exist olivine tholeiites that have retained the primary isotopic characteristics of their mantle source area.
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Menzies, M., Leeman, W. & Hawkesworth, C. Isotope geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks reveals mantle heterogeneity below western USA. Nature 303, 205–209 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303205a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/303205a0
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