The noble gas signature of the 2021 Tajogaite eruption (La Palma, Canary Islands)

Here, we characterize the temporal evolution of volatiles during the Tajogaite eruption by analyzing the elemental (He-Ar-CO2-N2) and isotopic (He-Ar-Ne) composition of fluid inclusions (FI) in phenocrysts (olivine+pyroxene) identified in erupted lavas. Our 2021 lava samples identify substantial temporal variations in volatile composition. We show that, during the 2021 Tajogaite eruption, the He-CO2-N2 concentrations in FI increased since October 15th; this increase was accompanied by increasing 40Ar/36Ar ratios (from ~300 to >500), and paralleled a major shift in bulk lava chemistry, with increasing Mg contents (Mg#, from 47 to 52 to 55–59), CaO/Al2O3 (from 0.65 to 0.74 to 0.75–0.90), Ni and Cr, and decreasing TiO2, P2O5 and incompatible elements. The olivine core composition also became more forsteritic (from Mg# = 80–81 to Mg# = 84–86). Mineral thermobarometry and FI barometry results indicate that the eruption was sustained by magmas previously stored in at least two magma accumulation zones, at respectively ~6–12 km and 15–30 km, corroborating previous seismic and FI evidence. We therefore propose that the compositional changes seen throughout the eruption can be explained by an increased contribution - since early/mid-October - of more primitive, lessdegassed magma from the deeper (mantle) reservoir. Conversely, Rc/Ra values (3He/4He ratios corrected for atmospheric contamination) remained constant throughout the whole eruption at MORB-like values (7.38 ± 0.22 Ra, 1σ), suggesting an isotopically homogeneous magma feeding source. The Tajogaite He isotope signature is within the range of values observed for the 1677 San Antonio lavas (7.37 ± 0.17Ra, 1σ), but is more radiogenic than the 3He/4He values (>9 Rc/Ra) observed in the Caldera de Taburiente to the north. The 3He/4He ratios (6.75 ± 0.20 Ra, 1σ) measured in mantle xenoliths from the San Antonio volcano indicate a relatively radiogenic nature of the mantle beneath the Cumbre Vieja ridge. Based on these results and mixing modeling calculations, we propose that the homogeneous He isotopic signatures observed in volatiles from the Tajogaite/San Antonio lavas reflect three component mixing between a MORB-like source, a radiogenic component and small additions (6–15%) of a high 3He/4He reservoir-derived (>9Ra) fluid components. The simultaneous occurrence of high 3 He/4 He (>9Ra)- and MORB-like He signatures in northern and southern La Palma is interpreted to reflect smallscale heterogeneities in the local mantle, arising from spatially variable proportions of MORB, radiogenic, and high 3He/4He components