Trans-lithospheric ascent processes of the deep-rooted magma plumbing system underneath the ultraslow-spreading SW Indian Ridge

Abstract

Processes of magma generation and transportation in global mid-ocean ridges are key to understanding lithospheric architecture at divergent plate boundaries. These magma dynamics are dependent on spreading rate and melt flux, where the SW Indian Ridge represents an end-member. The vertical extent of ridge magmatic systems and the depth of axial magma chambers (AMCs) are greatly debated, in particular at ultraslow-spreading ridges. Here we present detailed mineralogical studies of high-Mg and low-Mg basalts from a single dredge on Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) at 45°E. High-Mg basalts (MgO = ∼7.1 wt.%) contain high Mg# olivine (Ol, Fo = 85–89) and high-An plagioclase (Pl, An = 66–83) as phenocrysts, whereas low-Mg basalts contain low-Mg# Ol and low-An Pl (Fo = 75–78, An = 50–62) as phenocrysts or glomerocrysts. One low-Mg basalt also contains normally zoned Ol and Pl, the core and rim of which are compositionally similar to those in high-Mg and low-Mg basalts, respectively. Mineral barometers and MELTS simulation indicate that the high-Mg melts started to crystallize at ∼32 ± 7.8 km, close to the base of the lithosphere. The low-Mg melts may have evolved from the high-Mg melts in an AMC at a depth of ∼13 ± 7.8 km. Such great depths of magma crystallization and the AMC are likely the result of enhanced conductive cooling at ultraslow-spreading ridges. Combined with diffusion chronometers, the basaltic melts could have ascended from the AMC to seafloor within 2 weeks to 3 months at average rates of ∼0.002–0.01 m/s, which are the slowest reported to date among global ridge systems and may characterize mantle melt transport at the slow end of the ridge spreading spectrum.