Geochemical Differences of the Hawaiian Shield Lavas: Implications for Melting Process in the Heterogeneous Hawaiian Plume

Numerous geochemical studies have indicated that the Hawaiian mantle plume consists of several distinct components. However, their origin remains controversial, with a number of different interpretations having been proposed. We present new major element, trace element and high-precision Sr-Nd-Pb-He isotope data for a suite of fresh submarine lavas erupted by the Koolau, Kilauea and Loihi volcanoes, which are widely believed to have sampled three distinct Hawaiian plume components. The Sr and Nd isotope compositions of the Loihi lavas are similar to those of Kilauea lavas. However, our double-spike Pb isotopic data show that Loihi lavas have both Kilauea-like and Loihi-like compositions. This discovery implies that the Loihi source region contains a Kilauea-like ('Kea') mantle component. Our new data support the existence of three major types of intrinsic plume component: a Loihi component, an 'enriched' (Koolau) component and a 'depleted' (Kea) component. We propose that the Loihi component is a common component, forming the matrix in the Hawaiian mantle plume, and that the isotopic differences between the various shield lavas reflect different mixing proportions of the Loihi component and recycled oceanic crust components (EM-1-like and HIMU-like). The Koolau component contains a higher proportion of EM-1, whereas the Kea component contains a higher proportion of HIMU. EM-1- and HIMU-like recycled oceanic crust components are distributed on a fine scale throughout the peridotitic matrix within the Hawaiian plume. Both components are present in the sources beneath Kea- and Loa-trend volcanoes. We infer that the thermal structure and spatially distributed compositional heterogeneity of the plume are important in controlling the isotopic composition of lavas from a given Hawaiian volcano.