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

Abstract

We present new 3 He/ 4 He data of CO 2 ‐rich gas exhalations of three presently nonvolcanic areas in Europe. The 3 He/ 4 He ratios from the Cheb basin (Czech Republic) are clearly higher than data obtained ten years ago, whereas the 3 He/ 4 He ratios from the other areas (Laacher See/Germany and Mariánské Lázně/CR) have remained nearly constant. No other locality showing such high 3 He/ 4 He 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 3 He/ 4 He 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.