Hf isotopic compositions of the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project Core and the source mineralogy of Hawaiian basalts

A large suite of Mauna Kea basalts from the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project core show a progressive enrichment in radiogenic Hf with time (ϵHf = +11.4 to +13.1) well‐correlated with the increasingly radiogenic character of Nd. The alkali basalts erupted at the termination of the Mauna Kea stage are isotopically indistinguishable from the underlying and intercalated tholeiites. The overlying Mauna Loa flows show the return of a less depleted character (ϵHf = +10.5 to +11.6). The Hf and Nd isotopic compositions of the two volcanoes are distinct, even though they may marginally overlap. The isotopic succession can be interpreted with the concentrically zoned plume model of Hauri et al. [1994, 1996] and Lassiter et al. [1996]. Comparing the Lu/Hf and Sm/Nd ratios of the HSDP basalts with those inferred from the isotopic properties of their mantle source and the mineral compositions deduced from literature mineral partitioning data indicates that the basalts can be derived by extraction of 10–15 percent melt from a garnet‐peridotite residue.