Basalts

Whystudybasalts?

Howaretheyclassified?

Whatarethesignificantdifferenceschemical
betweenterrestrialandextraterrestrialbasalts?

Summarymodelsfororiginofterrestrialandlunar
basaltsandbasalticachondritemeteorites.
TraceElementFractionation
DuringPartialMelting

La Lu

Ni

La Rb

Region of Sr
Partial Melting
Nd

Sm M elting Residue

Co
La Lu

From:http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/geo302
BasaltTypesMajorElementVariation
 AlkalineandSubalkalineRockSuites

15,164samples

IrregularsolidlinedefinestheboundarybetweenNenormrocks
LeBasetal.,1992;LeRoexetal.,1990;Cole,1982;Hildreth&Moorbath,1988
Tholeiiticvs.CalcalkalineTrends

Termsemergedfromtangledhistory
spanningmanydecades.CAlabel
proposedbyPeacockin1931.
Tholeiiteoriginatedinmid1800s
fromTholey,westernGermany.
RocksshowstrongerFe/Mg
enrichmentthanCAtrend.
Tholeiitesarecommonlyfound
islandarcs,whileCArocks
aremorecommonlyfound
incontinentalarcs.

Cole,1982
K2Ocontentofsubalkalinerocks

K2Ocontent
maybroadly
correlatewith
crustalthickness.

LowK12km
MedK35km
HighK45km

Ewart,1982
 ClassificationofBasalts
Threebasalttypesrecognizedbasedontheirdegreeof
silicasaturation:
Quartzhypersthenenormative(Q+Hy)
quartztholeiite
Olivinehypersthenenormative(Ol+Hy)
olivinetholeiite
Nephelinenormative(Ne)
alkalinebasalt
Tholeiiticbasaltsmakeuptheoceaniccrust,continentalfloodbasalt
provinces,andsomelargeintrusions.

Alkalinebasaltsarefoundinoceanicislandsandsomecontinentalrift
environments.
 Yoder&TilleyBasaltTetrahedron

Yoder&Tilley,1962;LeMaitre
BasaltTypesTraceElements
PartitionCoefficientsforREEs
PartitionCoefficientsforREEinMelts

Dbulk=X1D1+X2D2+X3D3++XnDn
 ChondriteNormalizedREEpatterns

Bynormalizing(dividingbyabundancesinchondrites),the
sawtoothpatterncanberemoved.
 DifferentiationoftheEarth
Rb>Sr
Continental Crust Nd>Sm
La>Lu
La Lu

Rb>Sr
Nd>Sm
La>Lu

Mantle Rb<Sr
(After partial Nd<Sm La Lu

melt extraction) La<Lu

Meltsextractedfromthemantlerisetothecrust,carryingwith
themtheirenrichmentinincompatibleelements
Continentalcrustbecomesincompatibleelementenriched
Mantlebecomesincompatibleelementdepleted

From:http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/geo302
 SrIsotopeEvolutiononEarth

Sr/86Sr)0
87

Timebeforepresent(Ga)

87
Sr/86Sr)0

Timebeforepresent(Ga)
SrandNdIsotopeCorrelations:
TheMantleArray
 TerrestrialBasaltGenerationSummary
MORBsarederivedfromthepartialmeltingofapreviously
depleteduppermantleunderlargelyanhydrousconditionsat
relativelyshallowdepths.
Trueprimarymantlemeltsarerare,althoughthemost
primitivealkalibasaltsarethoughttorepresentthebest
samplesofdirectmantlemelts.
ThetraceelementandisotopicratiodifferencesamongN
MORB(normal),EMORB(enriched),IAB,andOIB
indicatethattheEarthsuppermantlehaslonglivedand
physicallydistinctsourceregions.
Ancientkomatiites(>2.5Ga)indicatethattheEarthsupper
mantlewashotterintheArchean,butalreadydepletedof
continentalcrustalcomponents.
LunarSurface
 Apollo15BasaltSample

Vesicles
Probably
derivedfrom
COdegassing
 LunarOlivineBasaltThinsection
FeTioxides
Plagioclase
Olivine+alignedMIs
Pyroxenes

PlanePolarizedLight

Sample collected from the SE end of

Mare Procellarum by the Apollo 12 mission.

Interpreted as a Lava Lake basalt.

CrossPolarizedLight
From:http://www.union.edu/PUBLIC/GEODEPT/COURSES/petrology/moon_rocks/12005.htm
 LunarAnorthositeThinsection
Pyroxenes
FracturedPlagioclaseFeldspar
Rockis98%fsp,
An95toAn97

PlanePolarizedLight

Highly brecciated lunar anorthosite was

collected by the Apollo 16 mission to the
lunar highlands SW of Mare Tranquillitatis.
It has been dated at 4.44 Ga.
CrossPolarizedLight
From:http://www.union.edu/PUBLIC/GEODEPT/COURSES/petrology/moon_rocks/12005.htm
 EarthMarssizedImpactModelforLunarOrigin
Impact+0.5hr

Impact+5hr

From:Kipp&Melosh,1986(above)andW.HartmannpaintingsofCameron,Benz,&Meloshmodels(right)
 FeaturesoftheGiantImpactHypothesis
OriginalideapaperbyHartmann&Davis,1975;additional
geochemicalresearchbyMichaelDrakeandcomputermodels
byJayMeloshandcolleagues.
ImpactoccurssoonafterEarthscoreformationeventbecause
ofthesmalllunarFecoreanddifferenceinbulkdensity(Moon
=3.3g/cc<<Earth=5.5g/cc).
Impacteventmustoccurbeforeformationofthelunar
highlandsat4.4Ga,whichformedasaresultofthe
crystallizationofthelunarmagmaocean.Lunar
differentiationcontinuesw/basaltgenesis(3.95to3.15Ga).
Oxygenisotopecompositionsoflunarandterrestrialrocksare
similar,butdifferentfromMarsandmeteorites.EarthMoon
mustbemadeofthesamestuff.
Volatilesaredepletedintheprotomoonduringimpactevent.
Thisisconsistentwithgeochemistryandpetrologyoflunar
samples.
LunarInteriorComposition

From:BVSP,1986andTaylor,1987
 LunarBasaltGenerationSummary
AlllunarbasaltsareancientincomparisonwithMORBs
(~100Maaverageage).Lunarbasaltagesrangebetween
3.95to3.15Ga.
Mareregionsresemblecontinentalfloodbasaltprovinces
andoceanplateausinarealextent.
Severaldistinctlydifferentcompositions(e.g.KREEP,Hi
Ti,LowTi),whichlikelyreflectdifferentsourceregionsthat
developedduringpostmagmaoceancrystallization.
StrongpositiveEuanomaliesinhighlandsAnorthositesis
complementedbyEudepletioninalllunarbasalts.
Youngerbasaltsaremoreprimitiveandmaybederivedfrom
deepersources.Thiscouldreflectincreasedinternalheating
fromradioactivedecay.
 OtherExtraterrestrialBasaltsI
Basalticachondritemeteoriteshavecompositions,textures,
andmineralogiesthatarebroadlysimilartoterrestrialbasalts.
EucritesandHowarditesallhaveancientcrystallizationages
of~4.6Ga.AgainverydifferentfromEarthandtheMoon.
Oxygenisotopicratiosaredistinctfromterrestrialrocks,thus
theyarederivedfromadifferentregioninthesolarsystem.
AchondritesarederivedfromEucriteParentBody,which
musthavehadamantledominatedbyolivineandpyroxene
depletedinalkalisandvolatilesandahighFe/Mg.Melting
occurredinthepresenceofplagioclase,sothebodymustbe
smalltohavelowPathighT!
AsteroidVesta(540kmdiameter)isacandidatefortheEPB
asitssurfaceiscoveredinbasalt,butthisisjustspeculation.
 AsteroidVestaEucriteParentBody?

QuickTime and a
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Spectroscopyofsurface
fromHSTindicates
twotypesofbasalts.

Largecraterfoundnear
SouthPole!Sourceof
achondrites?

From:B.ZellnerandNASA
Viking2LanderSiteMarsBasaltFlowField?

ImageSource:NASA
ShergottyMeteoriteMartianBasaltSample?

Photocredit:RobbyScore,JSC
 SNCandMartianBasaltSummary
SNC(Shergotty,Nakhla,Chassigny)meteoritesarethought
tobederivedfromMars.Shergottitesaremostsimilarto
terrestrialbasaltswhilenakhilitesarecumulateperidotites.
AllSNCshowshockmetamorphism.
OxygenisotopicsignaturesdifferentfromEarthandMoon.
NoblegasratiosaresimilartomodernMarsatmosphereand
verydifferentfromEarth.Fe/MgratiohigherthanEarth.
MarsmaynothaveaFerichcore.
~1.3Gacrystallizationagesaremuchyoungthanother
basalticmeteorites.Correspondstoperiodofactivebasaltic
resurfacingonMarsbasedoncraterdensity.
MechanismforejectionfromMarssurfaceisstill
problematical.