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Columbia River flood basalts from a centralized crustal magmatic system

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 177–180 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The Columbia River Basalt Group in the northwestern United States1, comprising about 230,000 cubic kilometres of rock, exhibits unusual patterns in lava distribution, geochemistry and its apparent relationship to regional tectonics. Consequently, there is little consensus on the origin of its magmas2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Here, we examine the isotopic ratios of Sr, Nd, Pb and Os and trace-element abundances in Columbia River basalts. The results suggest that most of the lava was produced when magma derived from a mantle plume assimilated continental crust in a central magma chamber system located at the boundary between the North American craton and the accreted terranes of Idaho and Oregon. Other, related basalts are the product of mixing between the mantle plume and different types of regional upper mantle. Magma was then transported over a wide region by an extensive network of dykes, a process that has been identified in other flood basalt provinces as well13. Interactions of the plume with surrounding upper mantle, and of mantle-derived magmas with regional crust, provide a relatively simple6,7,9,14,15 model to explain the more unusual features of the main-phase Columbia River Basalts.

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Figure 1: Stratigraphy and map of main-phase Columbia River basalts, based on ref. 2.
Figure 2: Sr–Nd–Pb isotope relations among main-phase CRBG lavas and Pacific mid-ocean-ridge basalt.
Figure 3: Relations between 87Sr/86Sr and incompatible trace elements among main-phase CRBG lavas.
Figure 4

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. R. Hooper and J. A. Johnson for discussion and permission to analyse CRBG samples, archived at WSU, collected by them and their associates; R. M. Conrey, D. M. Cornelius and C. M. Knaack for assistance in the laboratory; B. Hanan for sharing unpublished data; and S. P. Reidel, V. E. Camp and R. M. Conrey for discussion. This study was supported by National Science Foundation grants to J.A.W. and F.C.R.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA

    J. A. Wolff & G. L. Hart

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington 98926, USA

    F. C. Ramos & J. D. Patterson

  3. NASA-JSC, 2101 NASA Road 1, Houston, Texas 77058, USA

    A. D. Brandon

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  1. J. A. Wolff
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Correspondence to J. A. Wolff.

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Supplementary experimental data and supplementary table S1 (PDF 184 kb)

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Wolff, J., Ramos, F., Hart, G. et al. Columbia River flood basalts from a centralized crustal magmatic system. Nature Geosci 1, 177–180 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo124

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