Deep crustal assimilation during the 2021 Fagradalsfjall Fires, Iceland

Abstract

Active basaltic eruptions enable time-series analysis of geochemical and geophysical properties, providing constraints on mantle composition and eruption processes1–4. The continuing Fagradalsfjall and Sundhnúkur fires on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, beginning in 2021, enable such an approach5,6. Earliest lavas of this volcanic episode have been interpreted to exclusively reflect a change from shallow to deeper mantle source processes7. Here we show using osmium (Os) isotopes that the 2021 Fagradalsfjall lavas are both fractionally crystallized and strongly crustally contaminated, probably by mid-ocean-ridge gabbros and older basalts underlying the Reykjanes Peninsula. Earliest eruptive products (187Os/188Os ≤ 0.188, platinum (Pt)/iridium (Ir) ≤ 76) are highly anomalous for Icelandic lavas or global oceanic basalts and Os isotope ratios remain elevated throughout the 2021 eruption, indicating a continued but diluted presence of contaminants. The 2022 lavas show no evidence for contamination (187Os/188Os = 0.131, Pt/Ir = 30), being typical of Icelandic basalts (0.132 ± 0.007). Initiation of the Fagradalsfjall Fires in 2021 involved pre-eruptive stalling, fractional crystallization and crustal assimilation of earliest lavas. An established magmatic conduit system in 2022 enabled efficient magma transit to the surface without crustal assimilation. Using osmium isotopes, the 2021 Fagradalsfjall lavas in Iceland are shown to be both fractionally crystallized and strongly crustally contaminated, probably by mid-ocean-ridge gabbros and older basalts underlying the Reykjanes Peninsula.