Hf–Nd isotope evidence for contemporaneous subduction processes in the source of late Archean arc lavas from the Superior Province, Canada

Volcanic suites from Wawa greenstone belts in the southern Superior Province comprise an association of typical late Archean arc volcanic rocks including adakites, magnesian andesites (MA), niobium-enriched basalts (NEB), and ‘normal’ tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalts to rhyolites. The adakites represent melts from subducted oceanic crust and all other suites were derived from the mantle wedge above the subducting oceanic lithosphere. The magnesian andesites are interpreted to be the product of hybridization of adakite melts with arc mantle wedge peridotite. The initial ɛHf values of the ∼2.7 Ga Wawa adakites (+3.5 to +5.2), magnesian andesites (+2.6 to +5.1), niobium-enriched basalts (+4.4 to +6.6), and ‘normal’ tholeiitic to calc-alkaline arc basalts (+5.3 to +6.4) are consistent with long-term depleted mantle sources. The niobium-enriched basalts and ‘normal’ arc basalts have more depleted ɛHf values than the adakites and magnesian andesites. The initial ɛNd values in the magnesian andesites (+0.4 to +2.0), niobium-enriched basalts (+1.4 to +2.4), and ‘normal’ arc tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalts (+1.6 to +2.9) overlap with, but extend to lower values than, the slab-derived adakites (+2.3 to +2.8). The lower initial ɛNd values in the mantle-wedge-derived suites, particularly in the magnesian andesites, are attributed to recycling of an Nd-enriched component with lower ɛNd to the mantle wedge. As a group, the slab-derived adakites plot closest to the 2.7 Ga depleted mantle value in ɛNd versus ɛHf space, additionally suggesting that the Nd-enriched component in the mantle wedge did not originate from the 2.7 Ga slab-derived melts. Accordingly, we suggest that the enriched component had been added to the mantle wedge at variable proportions by recycling of older continental material. This recycling process may have occurred as early as 50–70 Ma before the initiation of the 2.7 Ga subduction zone. The selective enrichment of Nd in the sources of the Superior Province magmas can be explained by experimental studies and geochemical observations in modern subduction systems, indicating that light rare earth elements (e.g., La, Ce, Sm, Nd) are more soluble than high field strength elements (e.g., Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta) in aqueous fluids that are derived from subducted slabs. As a corollary, we suggest that the recycled Nd-enriched component was added to the mantle source of the Wawa arc magmas by dehydration of subducted sediments.