Helium-3 from the Mantle: Primordial Signal or Cosmic Dust?

Helium-3 in hotspot magmas has been used as unambiguous evidence for the existence of a primordial, undegassed reservoir deep in the Earth's mantle. However, a large amount of helium-3 is delivered to the Earth's surface by interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Recycling of deep-sea sediments containing these particles to the mantle, and eventual incorporation in magma, can explain the high helium-3/helium-4 ratios of hotspot magmas. Basafts with high helium-3/helium-4 ratios may represent degassing of helium introduced by ancient (probably 1.5 to 2.0 billion years old) pelagic sediments rather than degassing of primordial lower mantle material brought to the surface in plumes. Influx of IDPs can also explain the neon and siderophile compositions of mantle samples.

[1]  C. You,et al.  Mobilization of boron in convergent margins: Implications for the boron geochemical cycle , 1993 .

[2]  O. Ohtaka,et al.  Noble Gas Partitioning Between Metal and Silicate Under High Pressures , 1993, Science.

[3]  M. Ozima,et al.  Anomalous neon and xenon in an Archaean anorthosite from West Greenland , 1993 .

[4]  J. Joron,et al.  Metasomatism of the sub-arc mantle inferred from trace elements in Philippine xenoliths , 1992, Nature.

[5]  B. Marty,et al.  Helium-3 and CO2 fluxes from subaerial volcanoes estimated from polonium-210 emissions , 1992 .

[6]  H. Strauss,et al.  Carbon isotope evidence for the stepwise oxidation of the Proterozoic environment , 1992, Nature.

[7]  K. Farley,et al.  Rare gases in Samoan xenoliths , 1992 .

[8]  J. Owen,et al.  Platinum-group element geochemistry of continental tholeiites: Analysis of the Long Range dyke swarm, Newfoundland, Canada , 1992 .

[9]  V. Sisson,et al.  Boron depletion during progressive metamorphism: Implications for subduction processes , 1992 .

[10]  D. L. Anderson,et al.  Plate Tectonics and Hotspots: The Third Dimension , 1992, Science.

[11]  J. H. Natland,et al.  Binary mixing of enriched and undegassed (primitive?) mantle components (He, Sr, Nd, Pb) in Samoan lavas , 1992 .

[12]  K. Caldeira.  Enhanced Cenozoic chemical weathering and the subduction of pelagic carbonate , 1992, Nature.

[13]  D. L. Anderson,et al.  The effect of post Pangea subduction on global mantle tomography and convection , 1992 .

[14]  S. Humphris,et al.  Helium isotope geochemistry of some volcanic rocks from Saint Helena , 1992 .

[15]  S. Hart,et al.  Mantle Plumes and Entrainment: Isotopic Evidence , 1992, Science.

[16]  B. M. Kennedy,et al.  Noble gases in CH4-rich gas fields, Alberta, Canada , 1992 .

[17]  Y. Amelin,et al.  Juvenile helium in ancient rocks: II. U-He, K-Ar, Sm-Nd, and Rb-Sr systematics in the Monche Pluton. ratios frozen in uranium-free ultramafic rocks , 1992 .

[18]  M. Drake,et al.  Solubility and partitioning of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe in minerals and synthetic basaltic melts , 1992 .

[19]  R. Armstrong.  The persistent myth of crustal growth , 1991 .

[20]  R. Huene,et al.  OBSERVATIONS AT CONVERGENT MARGINS CONCERNING SEDIMENT SUBDUCTION, SUBDUCTION EROSION, AND THE GROWTH , 1991 .

[21]  B. Weaver.  The origin of ocean island basalt end-member compositions: trace element and isotopic constraints , 1991 .

[22]  M. Bourot‐Denise,et al.  A collection of diverse micrometeorites recovered from 100 tonnes of Antarctic blue ice , 1991, Nature.

[23]  Candace E Martin.  Osmium isotopic characteristics of mantle-derived rocks , 1991 .

[24]  M. Kurz,et al.  Isotopic evolution of Mauna Loa volcano , 1991 .

[25]  N. Arndt.  High Ni in Archean tholeiites , 1991 .

[26]  B. Weaver.  Trace element evidence for the origin of ocean-island basalts , 1991 .

[27]  D. Clague,et al.  Possible solar noble-gas component in Hawaiian basalts , 1991, Nature.

[28]  S. Jacobsen,et al.  The chemical evolution of Precambrian seawater: Evidence from REEs in banded iron formations , 1990 .

[29]  Yoshiharu Nakamura,et al.  Helium ion implantation into minerals , 1990 .

[30]  S. Goldstein,et al.  Extreme isotopic variations in Heard Island lavas and the nature of mantle reservoirs , 1990, Nature.

[31]  C. Chyba,et al.  Cometary delivery of organic molecules to the early Earth. , 1990, Science.

[32]  S. Peacock.  Fluid Processes in Subduction Zones , 1990, Science.

[33]  J. Morris,et al.  The subducted component in island arc lavas: constraints from Be isotopes and B–Be systematics , 1990, Nature.

[34]  D. Brownlee,et al.  Helium and neon isotopes in deep Pacific Ocean sediments , 1990 .

[35]  J. Stone,et al.  He, Sr and Nd isotopes in xenoliths from Hawaii and other oceanic islands , 1989 .

[36]  E. Anders,et al.  Pre-biotic organic matter from comets and asteroids , 1989, Nature.

[37]  Harold J. Morowitz,et al.  Annihilation of ecosystems by large asteroid impacts on the early Earth , 1989, Nature.

[38]  H. Craig,et al.  Helium isotope ratios in circum-Pacific volcanic arcs , 1989, Nature.

[39]  B. Wilkinson,et al.  Phanerozoic cycling of sedimentary carbonate , 1989 .

[40]  T. Staudacher,et al.  Neon isotopes in submarine basalts , 1988 .

[41]  S. Jacobsen.  Isotopic constraints on crustal growth and recycling , 1988 .

[42]  R. L. Shreve,et al.  Subduction-channel model of prism accretion, melange formation, sediment subduction, and subduction erosion at convergent plate margins: 2. Implications and discussion , 1988 .

[43]  T. Staudacher,et al.  Neon isotopes in the mantle , 1988 .

[44]  T. Staudacher,et al.  Recycling of oceanic crust and sediments: the noble gas subduction barrier , 1988 .

[45]  S. Jacobsen.  Isotopic and chemical constraints on mantle-crust evolution , 1988 .

[46]  K. Turekian,et al.  Accretion rate of extraterrestrial particles determined from osmium isotope systematics of pacific pelagic clay and manganese nodules , 1988 .

[47]  M. Ozima,et al.  Extra-terrestrial noble gases in deep sea sediments , 1988 .

[48]  E. R. Oxburgh,et al.  Helium Loss, Tectonics, and the Terrestrial Heat Budget , 1987, Science.

[49]  A. Hofmann,et al.  Noble metal abundances in komatiite suites from Alexo, Ontario, and Gorgona Island, Colombia , 1987 .

[50]  R. Carlson.  Geochemical evolution of the crust and mantle , 1987 .

[51]  E. Stolper,et al.  Geochemical Consequences of Melt Percolation: The Upper Mantle as a Chromatographic Column , 1987, The Journal of Geology.

[52]  K. Nagao,et al.  Noble gas studies on the host phase of high 3He4He ratios in deep-sea sediments , 1986 .

[53]  H. Hiyagon,et al.  Partition of noble gases between olivine and basalt melt , 1986 .

[54]  J. Wasson,et al.  Accretion Rate of Extraterrestrial Matter: Iridium Deposited 33 to 67 Million Years Ago , 1986, Science.

[55]  H. Craig,et al.  Helium and hydrogen isotopes in ocean-ridge basalts north and south of Iceland , 1986 .

[56]  D. L. Anderson.  Hotspot magmas can form by fractionation and contamination of mid-ocean ridge basalts , 1985 .

[57]  M. Ozima,et al.  Search for the origin of exotic helium in deep-sea sediments , 1985, Nature.

[58]  R. Poreda.  Helium-3 and deuterium in back-arc basalts: Lau Basin and the Mariana Trough , 1985 .

[59]  M. Takayanagi,et al.  High 3He/4He ratio in ocean sediments , 1984, Nature.

[60]  D. Clague,et al.  The isotope systematics of a juvenile intraplate volcano: Pb, Nd, and Sr isotope ratios of basalts from Loihi Seamount, Hawaii , 1984 .

[61]  Frank A. Podosek,et al.  Noble Gas Geochemistry: Noble Gases in the Earth , 1984 .

[62]  H. Craig,et al.  Helium isotopes and mantle volatiles in Loihi Seamount and Hawaiian Island basalts and xenoliths , 1983 .

[63]  D. Clague,et al.  Helium isotopic variations in volcanic rocks from Loihi Seamount and the Island of Hawaii , 1983 .

[64]  J. Lupton.  TERRESTRIAL INERT GASES: Isotope Tracer Studies and Clues to Primordial Components in the Mantle , 1983 .

[65]  Eugene M. Shoemaker,et al.  ASTEROID AND COMET BOMBARDMENT OF THE EARTH , 1983 .

[66]  M. Ozima,et al.  Primitive Helium in Diamonds , 1983, Science.

[67]  A. Hofmann,et al.  Sr and Nd isotope geochemistry of oceanic basalts and mantle evolution , 1982, Nature.

[68]  C. Chou,et al.  Siderophile trace elements in the Earth's oceanic crust and upper mantle , 1982 .

[69]  D. L. Anderson.  Isotopic evolution of the mantle: the role of magma mixing , 1982 .

[70]  J. Lupton,et al.  A Major Helium-3 Source at 15�S on the East Pacific Rise , 1981, Science.

[71]  D. Anderson,et al.  Hotspots, basalts, and the evolution of the mantle. , 1981, Science.

[72]  G. A. Wandless,et al.  Composition of the earth's upper mantle. I - Siderophile trace elements in ultramafic nodules , 1981 .

[73]  C. G. Chase.  Oceanic island Pb: Two-stage histories and mantle evolution , 1981 .

[74]  T. Owen,et al.  Mars and Earth: Origin and Abundance of Volatiles , 1977, Science.

[75]  J. Lupton,et al.  Primordial neon, helium, and hydrogen in oceanic basalts , 1976 .

[76]  H. Craig,et al.  Excess 3He in deep water on the East Pacific Rise , 1975 .

[77]  J. Lupton,et al.  Excess 3He in oceanic basalts: Evidence for terrestrial primordial helium , 1975 .

[78]  C. Merrihue.  RARE GAS EVIDENCE FOR COSMIC DUST IN MODERN PACIFIC RED CLAY , 1964 .

[79]  F. Fanale,et al.  The helium method and the age of the Cornwall, Pennsylvania magnetite ore , 1962 .