Isotopic Composition of Lead and Strontium from Ascension and Gough Islands

Abstract

Isotopic composition of lead and strontium has been determined in a series of rock samples from two islands on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Both interand intra-island variations exist in the abundance of radiogenic isotopes of both elements. Lead from basalt of Ascension Island has a Pb²⁰⁶-Pb²⁰⁴ ratio of 19.5, while the corresponding ratio at Gough Island is only 18.4. The Pb²⁰⁸-Pb²⁰⁴ ratios from the two islands do not differ. Conversely, strontium from basalt of Ascension Island is less radiogenic than that from Gough Island basalts. The trachytes of both islands have lead and strontium that is more radiogenic than that found in the basalts. The inter-island differences indicate the existence of regional variations in the uranium-lead and rubidium-strontium ratios of the upper mantle source of these rocks and show that isotope compositions are a means for investigating chemical heterogeneities in the mantle.