Potential temperature, upwelling rate and eclogite in the formation of the North Atlantic large igneous province

The volumes and compositions of basalts generated by adiabatic decompression melting of the Earth’s mantle depend on mantle potential temperature (T_P), upwelling rate and the fertility of the mantle source. The relative importance of these factors in generating the high productivity magmatism of the Paleogene - Recent North Atlantic large igneous province (NAIP) remains controversial. Each has been proposed as a primary factor in the region. To assess the significance of these mechanisms in NAIP magmatism, we apply our forward melting model, REEBOX PRO, which simulates the melting of a heterogeneous source comprised of peridotite and eclogite lithologies. The model accounts for the thermodynamics of adiabatic decompression melting of a heterogeneous source using constraints from laboratory melting experiments. Input values of T_P and eclogite abundance are used to calculate the buoyancy of the mantle source and maximum upwelling rates. Source buoyancy constrains the maximum amount of eclogite in the mantle source that can ascend beneath the rift axis. All melts generated within the melting regime are pooled to form magmatic crust according to the residual column method. Using the model, variations in magmatic crustal thickness (from geophysics) as a function of eclogite content (from geochemistry) can be related to T_P and upwelling rate. Models with no thermal anomaly, that call on either enhanced upwelling rates due to plate separation (edge - driven convection) or the melting of abundant (> 30%) eclogite at “ambient” T_P (1325 °C), cannot generate the observed igneous crustal thicknesses around the province. Rather, elevated mantle T_P (minimum thermal anomaly ~ 85 - 195 °C) and associated buoyancy - driven upwelling are needed to explain the volume of igneous crust in the province. Involvement of eclogite, while necessary to explain the compositions of many NAIP lavas, does not significantly enhance melt production. These factors, coupled with the long history of high productivity magmatism in the region (~ 56 Ma), point toward a sustained thermal anomaly that is most likely conveyed from deeper mantle.