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Abstract

The isotopic composition of mafic small-volume intra-plate magmatism constrains the compositions of the sub-continental mantle sources. The Nd, Pb, and Sr isotope signatures of widespread late Mesozoic to Quaternary intra-plate magmatism in NE Africa (Sudan, South Egypt) are surprisingly uniform and indicate the presence of a high-mu (mu = U-238/Pb-204) source in the mantle. The rocks are characterized by small ranges in the initial isotopic composition of Nd, Pb, and Sr and most samples fall within epsilon Nd ca. 3-6, Pb-206/Pb-204 ca. 19.5-20.5, Pb-207/Pb-204 ca. 15.63-15.73, Pb-208/Pb-204 ca. 39-40 and Sr-87/Sr-86 ca. 0.7028-0.7034. We interpret this reservoir as lithospheric mantle that formed beneath the Pan-African orogens and magmatic arcs from asthenospheric mantle, which was enriched in trace elements (U, Th, and light REE). Combining our new data set with published data of intra-plate magmatic rocks from the Arabian plate indicates two compositionally different domains of lithospheric mantle in NE-Africa-Arabia. The two domains are spatially related to the subdivision of the Pan-African orogen into a western section dominated by reworked cratonic basement (NE-Africa; high-mu lithospheric mantle) and an eastern section dominated by juvenile Pan-African basement (easternmost NE-Africa and Arabia; moderate mu lithospheric mantle). The compositions of the Pan-African lithospheric mantle and the MORB-type mantle of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden spreading centers could explain the Nd-Pb-Sr isotopic compositions of the most pristine Afar flood basalts in Yemen and Ethiopia by mixtures of the isotopic composition of regional lithospheric and asthenospheric sources.