Mantle sources and magma evolution beneath the Cameroon Volcanic Line: Geochemistry of mafic rocks from the Bamenda Mountains (NW Cameroon)

We report the mineralogy, geochemistry and geochronology of the mafic rocks from the Bamenda Mountains, part of the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL), in order to discuss the origin and evolution of the magmas in this part of the CVL. Mafic rocks in the Bamenda Mountains are basanites, basalts, hawaiites and mugearites with an alkaline affinity. K–Ar ages have been obtained on 10 samples and range from 17.6 Myr to present. Trace element and isotopic compositions (Sr–Nd–Pb) show that some samples among the oldest are slightly contaminated by a crustal component with high La/Nb and 87Sr/86Sr ratios and low Pb isotopic ratios. The mafic rocks strongly resemble OIB in their trace element compositions. Some samples possess a positive Sr and Eu anomaly which cannot be explained by a process of plagioclase accumulation. These anomalies are also observed in some pyroxenites found as xenoliths in the Adamawa volcanic province further north. Furthermore, non-contaminated samples have high Pb isotopic ratios and point towards an HIMU component similar to the St. Helena mantle plume. We propose that the Bamenda mafic magmas with positive Sr and Eu anomalies were formed by hybridization of asthenospheric melts with melts formed by the partial melting of pyroxenites. Samples without these anomalies result from the hybridization of the same asthenopheric melts with melts coming from the metasomatized, amphibole-bearing, lithospheric mantle.

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► Mafic rocks from Bamenda range from basanite to basalts, hawaiites and mugearites.
► They were emplaced from 18 Ma to present and strongly resemble OIB from mantle plumes.
► Sr and Eu positive anomalies are explained by partial melting of mantle pyroxenites.