Journal of Petrology Advance Access originally published online on October 1, 2004
Journal of Petrology 2005 46(1):169-190; doi:10.1093/petrology/egh067
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Journal of Petrology vol. 46 issue 1 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
The Role of Continental Crust and Lithospheric Mantle in the Genesis of Cameroon Volcanic Line Lavas: Constraints from Isotopic Variations in Lavas and Megacrysts from the Biu and Jos Plateaux
1 MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR CHEMIE, ABT. GEOCHEMIE, POSTFACH 3060, 55020 MAINZ, GERMANY
2 INSTITUT FÜR MINERALOGIE, SENCKENBERGANLAGE 28, 60054 FRANKFURT/MAIN, GERMANY
We present a combined Sr, Nd, Pb and Os isotope study of lavas and associated genetically related megacrysts from the Biu and Jos Plateaux, northern Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL). Comparison of lavas and megacrysts allows us to distinguish between two contamination paths of the primary magmas. The first is characterized by both increasing 206Pb/204Pb (19·8220·33) and 87Sr/86Sr (0·702900·70310), and decreasing
Nd (7·06·0), and involves addition of an enriched sub-continental lithospheric mantle-derived melt. The second contamination path is characterized by decreasing 206Pb/204Pb (19·8219·03), but also increasing 87Sr/86Sr (0·702900·70359), increasing 187Os/188Os (
0·1300·245) and decreasing
Nd (7·04·6), and involves addition of up to 8% bulk continental crust. Isotopic systematics of some lavas from the oceanic sector of the CVL also imply the involvement of a continental crustal component. Assuming that the line as a whole shares a common source, we propose that the continental signature seen in the oceanic sector of the CVL is caused by shallow contamination, either by continent-derived sediments or by rafted crustal blocks that became trapped in the oceanic lithosphere during continental breakup in the Mesozoic.
KEY WORDS: crustal contamination; CVL; megacrysts; ocean floor; osmium isotopes
* Corresponding author. Telephone: +1 281 244 1084. Fax: +1 281 483 1573. E-mail: kai.rankenburg1.jsc.nasa.gov