Evidence for ascending upper mantle-derived melt beneath the Cheb basin, central Europe

Abstract

We present new 3He/4He data of CO2-rich gas exhalations of three presently nonvolcanic areas in Europe. The 3He/4He ratios from the Cheb basin (Czech Republic) are clearly higher than data obtained ten years ago, whereas the 3He/4He ratios from the other areas (Laacher See/Germany and Mariánské Lázně/CR) have remained nearly constant. No other locality showing such high 3He/4He ratios in free gases supplied by continental mantle degassing is known in the European Cenozoic rift system. At the northeastern edge of the Cheb basin swarm earthquakes repeatedly occur. In the context of contemporaneous periods of seismicity the increased 3He/4He ratios are interpreted as the first geochemical evidence for ascending mantle-derived melt beneath the Cheb basin, which is related to the triggering of earthquake swarms. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.