Coupled 186Os and 187Os evidence for core-mantle interaction.

Brandon, AD; Walker, RJ; Morgan, JW; Norman, MD; Prichard, HM · Science · 1998

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Osmium isotopic analyses of picritic lavas from Hawaii show enrichments in the osmium-186/osmium-188 ratio (186Os/188Os) of 0. 008 to 0.018%, relative to a chondritic upper mantle, that are positively correlated with enrichments in 187Os/188Os of 5.4 to 9.0%. The most viable mechanism to produce these coupled 186Os and 187Os enrichments is by addition of 0.5 to 1 weight percent of outer core metal to a portion of the D" layer and subsequent upwelling of the mixture. These data suggest that some plumes originate at the core-mantle boundary and that Os isotopes may be used to distinguish plumes derived from shallow versus deep mantle sources.