Evolution of intraplate alkaline to tholeiitic basalts via interaction between carbonated melt and lithospheric mantle

Intraplate basaltic volcanism commonly exhibits wide compositional ranges from silica-undersaturated alkaline basalts to silica-saturated tholeiitic basalts. Possible mechanisms for the compositional transition involve variable degrees of partial melting of a same source, decompression melting at different mantle depths (so-called “lid effect”), and melt-peridotite interaction. To discriminate between these mechanisms, here we investigated major-trace elemental and Sr-Nd-Mg-Zn isotopic compositions of a suite of intraplate alkaline and tholeiitic basalts from the Datong volcanic field in eastern China. Specifically, we employed Mg and Zn isotope systematics to assess whether the silica-undersaturated melts originated from a carbonated mantle source. The alkaline basalts have young HIMU-like Sr and Nd isotopic compositions, lower δ26Mg (-0.42‰ to -0.38‰) and higher δ66Zn (0.40‰ to 0.46‰) values relative to the mantle. These characteristics were attributable to an asthenospheric mantle source hybridized by carbonated melts derived from the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone. From alkaline to tholeiitic basalts, δ26Mg gradually increases from -0.42‰ to -0.28‰ and δ66Zn decreases from 0.46‰ to 0.28‰ with decreasing alkalinity and incompatible trace element abundances (e.g. Rb, Nb, Th and Zr). The Mg and Zn isotopic variations are significantly beyond the magnitude (<0.1‰) induced by different degrees of fractional crystallization and partial melting of a same mantle source, excluding different degree of partial melting and the “lid effect” as possible mechanisms accounting for the compositional variations in the Datong basalts. There are strong, near-linear correlations of δ26Mg and δ66Zn with 87Sr/86Sr (R2=0.75 − 0.81) and 143Nd/144Nd (R2=0.83 − 0.90), suggesting an additional source for the Datong basalts. This source is characterized by pristine mantle-like δ26Mg and δ66Zn values as well as EM1-like Sr-Nd isotopic ratios, pointing towards a metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Isotope mixing models show that mingling between alkaline basaltic melts and partial melts from the SCLM imparts all the above correlations, which means that the SCLM must have been partially melted during melt-SCLM reaction. Our results underline that interaction between carbonated silica-undersaturated basaltic melts and the SCLM acts as one of major processes leading to the compositional diversity in intracontinental basaltic volcanism.