Mantle Sources

Plate tectonic processes introduce basaltic crust (as eclogite) into the peridotitic mantle. The proportions of these two sources in mantle melts are poorly understood. Silica-rich melts formed from eclogite react with peridotite, converting it to olivine-free pyroxenite. Partial melts of this hybrid pyroxenite are higher in nickel and silicon but poorer in manganese, calcium, and magnesium than melts of peridotite. Olivine phenocrysts' compositions record these differences and were used to quantify the contributions of pyroxenite-derived melts in mid-ocean ridge basalts (10 to 30%), ocean island and continental basalts (many >60%), and komatiites (20 to 30%). These results imply involvement of 2 to 20% (up to 28%) of recycled crust in mantle melting.

Plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signaling coordinates nuclear gene expression with chloroplast function and is essential for the photoautotrophic life-style of plants. Three retrograde signals have been described, but little is known of their signaling pathways. We show here that GUN1, a chloroplast-localized pentatricopeptide-repeat protein, and ABI4, an Apetala 2 (AP2)-type transcription factor, are common to all three pathways. ABI4 binds the promoter of a retrograde-regulated gene through a conserved motif found in close proximity to a light-regulatory element. We propose a model in which multiple indicators of aberrant plastid function in Arabidopsis are integrated upstream of GUN1 within plastids, which leads to ABI4-mediated repression of nuclear-encoded genes.

Oceanic flood basalts are poorly understood, short-term expressions of highly increased heat flux and mass flow within the convecting mantle. The uniqueness of the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP, 92–74 Ma) with respect to other Cretaceous oceanic plateaus is its extensive sub-aerial exposures, providing an excellent basis to investigate the temporal and compositional relationships within a starting plume head. We present major element, trace element and initial Sr–Nd–Pb isotope composition of 40 extrusive rocks from the Caribbean Plateau, including onland sections in Costa Rica, Colombia and Curaçao as well as DSDP Sites in the Central Caribbean. Even though the lavas were erupted over an area of ∼3×106 km2, the majority have strikingly uniform incompatible element patterns (La/Yb=0.96±0.16, n=64 out of 79 samples, 2σ) and initial Nd–Pb isotopic compositions (e.g. 143Nd/144Ndin=0.51291±3, ϵNdi=7.3±0.6, 206Pb/204Pbin=18.86±0.12, n=54 out of 66, 2σ). Lavas with endmember compositions have only been sampled at the DSDP Sites, Gorgona Island (Colombia) and the 65–60 Ma accreted Quepos and Osa igneous complexes (Costa Rica) of the subsequent hotspot track. Despite the relatively uniform composition of most lavas, linear correlations exist between isotope ratios and between isotope and highly incompatible trace element ratios. The Sr–Nd–Pb isotope and trace element signatures of the chemically enriched lavas are compatible with derivation from recycled oceanic crust, while the depleted lavas are derived from a highly residual source. This source could represent either oceanic lithospheric mantle left after ocean crust formation or gabbros with interlayered ultramafic cumulates of the lower oceanic crust. High 3He/4He in olivines of enriched picrites at Quepos are ∼12 times higher than the atmospheric ratio suggesting that the enriched component may have once resided in the lower mantle. Evaluation of the Sm–Nd and U–Pb isotope systematics on isochron diagrams suggests that the age of separation of enriched and depleted components from the depleted MORB source mantle could have been ≤500 Ma before CLIP formation and interpreted to reflect the recycling time of the CLIP source. Mantle plume heads may provide a mechanism for transporting large volumes of possibly young recycled oceanic lithosphere residing in the lower mantle back into the shallow MORB source mantle.

Given that oceanic basalts form by partial melting of mantle peridotites that rise below mid-ocean ridges, peridotite and basalt should have identical Sr and Nd isotope ratios. We tested this concept on parallel sets of peridotites and basalts sampled from an exposed section of lithosphere representing 20 m.y. of accretion at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The 143Nd/144Nd ratios of the basaltic

Given that oceanic basalts form by partial melting of mantle peridotites that rise below mid-ocean ridges, peridotite and basalt should have identical Sr and Nd isotope ratios. We tested this concept on parallel sets of peridotites and basalts sampled from an exposed section of lithosphere representing 20 m.y. of accretion at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratios of the basaltic glasses stay constant, whereas those of the peridotitic clinopyroxenes extend both higher and lower than the basalt ratios, suggesting that the constant isotopic composition of the basalts results from mixing of melts released by pe-ridotites from a broad region of the subridge mantle. The degree of melting undergone by the peridotites correlates inversely with their 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratios. Small-scale isotopic heterogeneity of the peridotites may result from variable premelting metasomatism in the mantle, mostly during periodic, dynamic, subridge upwelling, possibly superimposed upon time-integrated radioactive decay of ancient heterogeneities.

Plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signaling coordinates nuclear gene expression with chloroplast function and is essential for the photoautotrophic life-style of plants. Three retrograde signals have been described, but little is known of their signaling pathways. We show here that GUN1, a chloroplast-localized pentatricopeptide-repeat protein, and ABI4, an Apetala 2 (AP2)-type transcription factor, are common to all three pathways. ABI4 binds the promoter of a retrograde-regulated gene through a conserved motif found in close proximity to a light-regulatory element. We propose a model in which multiple indicators of aberrant plastid function in Arabidopsis are integrated upstream of GUN1 within plastids, which leads to ABI4-mediated repression of nuclear-encoded genes.