Redox variations in Mauna Kea lavas, the oxygen fugacity of the Hawaiian plume, and the role of volcanic gases in Earth’s oxygenation

Brounce, Maryjo; Stolper, Edward; Eiler, John

doi:10.1073/pnas.1619527114

Redox variations in Mauna Kea lavas, the oxygen fugacity of the Hawaiian plume, and the role of volcanic gases in Earth’s oxygenation

Journal Article · Mon Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619527114· OSTI ID:1376255

^[1]; Stolper, Edward ^[2]; Eiler, John ^[2]

California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)

The behavior of C, H, and S in the solid Earth depends on their oxidation states, which are related to oxygen fugacity (fO₂). Volcanic degassing is a source of these elements to Earth’s surface; therefore, variations in mantle fO₂ may influence the fO₂ at Earth’s surface. However, degassing can impact magmatic fO₂ before or during eruption, potentially obscuring relationships between the fO₂ of the solid Earth and of emitted gases and their impact on surface fO₂. We show that low-pressure degassing resulted in reduction of the fO₂ of Mauna Kea magmas by more than an order of magnitude. The least degassed magmas from Mauna Kea are more oxidized than midocean ridge basalt (MORB) magmas, suggesting that the upper mantle sources of Hawaiian magmas have higher fO₂ than MORB sources. One explanation for this difference is recycling of material from the oxidized surface to the deep mantle, which is then returned to the surface as a component of buoyant plumes. It has been proposed that a decreasing pressure of volcanic eruptions led to the oxygenation of the atmosphere. Extension of our findings via modeling of degassing trends suggests that a decrease in eruption pressure would not produce this effect. If degassing of basalts were responsible for the rise in oxygen, it requires that Archean magmas had at least two orders of magnitude lower fO₂ than modern magmas. As a result, estimates of fO₂ of Archean magmas are not this low, arguing for alternative explanations for the oxygenation of the atmosphere.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1376255

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 34 Vol. 114; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: ENGLISH

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Redox variations in Mauna Kea lavas, the oxygen fugacity of the Hawaiian plume, and the role of volcanic gases in Earth’s oxygenation

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