Journal
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 278, Issue 1-2, Pages 26-39Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.11.012
Keywords
melt composition; continental margin; rifting
Categories
Funding
- Natural Environment Research Council's Ocean Margins (LINK) [NER/T/S/2000/00650]
- NERC [soc010009, NE/G001251/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/G001251/1, soc010009] Funding Source: researchfish
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We present an integrated kinematic and geochemical model that determines the composition of melts and their residual source rocks generated by decompression melting of the mantle during continental rifting. Our approach is to construct a unified numerical solution that merges an established lithospheric stretching model which determines the rate and depth at which melting occurs, with several compositional parameterisations of mantle melting to predict the composition of primary melts. We also incorporate a parameterisation for the rare earth elements. Using our approach, we are able to track the composition of the melt fractions and mantle residues as melting progresses. Our unified model shows that primary melt composition is sensitive to rift duration and mantle temperature, with rapid rifting and higher mantle temperatures producing larger melt fractions, at a greater mean pressure of melting, than slower/cooler rifting. Comparison of the model results with primitive basalts recovered from oceanic spreading ridges and rifted margins in the North Atlantic indicates that rift duration and synrift mantle temperature can be inferred independently from the appropriate geochemical data. Crown Copyright (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available