Experimental constraints on the effects of pressure and H2O on the fractional crystallization of high-Mg island arc basalt

H₂O-undersaturated melting experiments of synthesized basalt (SiO₂ = 50.7 wt.%, MgO = 8.3 wt.%, Mg# = 60) were conducted at fO₂ corresponding to NNO+1 and NNO−1 to clarify the effects of pressure (2–7 kbar) and H₂O on fractional crystallization in island arcs. H₂O content was ranged from nominally anhydrous to 4.4 wt.%. Differentiation trends, namely the liquid lines of descent, change sensitively according to pressure-H₂O relations. Tholeiitic differentiation trends are reproduced with H₂O ≤ ∼2 wt.% in primary magma. With such quantities of H₂O, fractional crystallization is controlled by olivine + plagioclase at 2 kbar. Increasing the pressure from 2 to ≥4 kbar induces early crystallization of orthopyroxene instead of olivine and therefore SiO₂ enrichment in the residual melts is suppressed. Increasing H₂O (≥ ∼2 wt.% in primary magma) stabilizes clinopyroxene relative to orthopyroxene and/or magnetite. Although the phase relations and proportions strongly depend on fO₂ and H₂O content, differentiation trends are always calc-alkaline.     

Subducting seamounts and deformation of overriding forearc wedges around Japan

Two subducting seamounts under inner trench slopes have been identified around Japan on the basis of magnetic anomalies, morphology and geological structure. The first one is located under the foot of the inner trench slope at the junction between the Japan Trench and the Kuril Trench. Another one occurs beneath the slope slightly seaward of the Tosabae (the basement high at the trench slope break along the Nankai Trough off Shikoku). The magnetic anomalies of seamount origin are accompanied by the characteristic morphology of a forearc wedge i.e., a swell landward and a depression seaward. The seamounts beneath the inner trench slopes have preserved magnetization showing reasonably consistent directions, which suggests that the subducting seamounts have kept roughly their original shapes. The morphology of the forearc wedge can be explained by a subducting seamount on the oceanic crust pushing the forearc material forward and upward. Deformation of the forearc wedge by the subducting seamount extends to the forearc basin. The seamounts are stronger and less deformable than the inner slope material and are not offscraped onto inner trench slopes.

Two other examples of deformed inner trench slopes around Japan which can be explained by subduction of topographic highs are presented. One example is a depression on the foot of the inner trench slope northeast of the junction between the Kyushu-Palau Ridge and the Nankai Trough. Another one is an area of complex morphology of the inner trench slope along the Japan Trench around the Daiichi-Kashima Seamount.     

Crystal settling in a sill

A quantitative model for the settling of a spherical body in a Newtonian fluid is developed and is applied to the distribution of phenocrystic olivine in a differentiated dolerite sill. Satisfactory agreement was obtained between the model calculation and the observed modal olivine distribution in the sill.     

Evolution of Mount Fuji,Japan: Inference from drilling into the subaerial oldest volcano,pre‐Komitake

A buried, old volcanic body (pre‐Komitake Volcano) was discovered during drilling into the northeastern flank of Mount Fuji. The pre‐Komitake Volcano is characterized by hornblende‐bearing andesite and dacite, in contrast to the porphyritic basaltic rocks of Komitake Volcano and to the olivine‐bearing basaltic rocks of Fuji Volcano. K‐Ar age determinations and geological analysis of drilling cores suggest that the pre‐Komitake Volcano began with effusion of basaltic lava flows around 260 ka and ended with explosive eruptions of basaltic andesite and dacite magma around 160 ka. After deposition of a thin soil layer on the pre‐Komitake volcanic rocks, successive effusions of lava flows occurred at Komitake Volcano until 100 ka. Explosive eruptions of Fuji Volcano followed shortly after the activity of Komitake. The long‐term eruption rate of about 3 km³/ka or more for Fuji Volcano is much higher than that estimated for pre‐Komitake and Komitake. The chemical variation within Fuji Volcano, represented by an increase in incompatible elements at nearly constant SiO₂, differs from that within pre‐Komitake and other volcanoes in the northern Izu‐Bonin arc, where incompatible elements increase with increasing SiO₂. These changes in the volcanism in Mount Fuji may have occurred due to a change in regional tectonics around 150 ka, although this remains unproven.     

Preliminary report on the activity at Unzen Volcano (Japan), November 1990-November 1991: Dacite lava domes and pyroclastic flows

The eruption of Unzen Volcano commenced on 17 November 1990. Phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions occurred by early May 1991. No large-scale explosive eruptions preceded the extrusion of lava domes. Lava domes appeared in a summit crater on 20 May 1991, and they grew on the steep slope of Mt. Fugen at Unzen Volcano. Rockfalls from the margins of the domes frequently generated pyroclastic flows. Major pyroclastic flows occurred on 3 June, 8 June, and 15 September 1991. The 3 June pyroclastic flow killed forty-three persons. Many of the pyroclastic flows seem to have resulted from the simple rockfalls, except one flow on 8 June, which was accompanied by an explosion from the crater. Many of the rockfalls that generated pyroclastic flows were witnessed. As of November 1991. Unzen Volcano was still active with a nearly constant magma-supply rate of about 0.3 × 10⁶ m³/d. The total magma output exceeded 45 × 10⁶ m³ by the beginning of November 1991. The volume of the lava domes is more than 23 × 10⁶ m³.     

The composition of back-arc basin lower crust and upper mantle in the Mariana Trough: A first report

Abstract The Mariana Trough is an active back-arc basin, with the rift propagating northward ahead of spreading. The northern part of the Trough is now rifting, with extension accommodated by combined stretching and igneous intrusion. Deep structural graben are found in a region of low heat flow, and we interpret these to manifest a low-angle normal fault system that defines the extension axis between 19°45' and 21°10'N. A single dredge haul from the deepest (∼5.5 km deep) of these graben recovered a heterogeneous suite of volcanic and plutonic crustal rocks and upper mantle peridotites, providing the first report of the deeper levels of back-arc basin lithosphere. Several lines of evidence indicate that these rocks are similar to typical back-arc basin lithosphere and are not fragments of rifted older arc lithosphere. Hornblende yielded an ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 1.8 ± 0.6 Ma, which is interpreted to approximate the time of crust formation. Harzburgite spinels have moderate Cr# (<40) and coexisting compositions of clinopyroxene (CPX) and plagioclase (PLAB) fall in the field of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) gabbros. Crustal rocks include felsic rocks (70-80% SiO₂) and plutonic rocks that are rich in amphibole. Chemical compositions of crustal rocks show little evidence for a 'subduction component', and radiogenic isotopic compositions correspond to that expected for back-arc basin crust of the Mariana Trough. These data indicate that mechanical extension in this part of the Mariana Trough involves lithosphere that originally formed magmatically. These unique exposures of back-arc basin lithosphere call for careful study using ROVs and manned submersibles, and consideration as an ocean drilling program (ODP) drilling site.     

Composition of liquids coexisting with spinel lherzolite at 10 kbar and the genesis of MORBs

Because of the controversy over the nature of the parental magma for MORBs, experiments have been performed at 10 kbar in order to assess the effect of modal variations in the source peridotite and the effect of temperature (degree of partial melting) on the composition of partial melts. A peridotite-basalt sandwich method was used and a run duration of 72 h was found to be necessary to equilibrate basalt and peridotite. A range of melt compositions, coexisting with olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel, was produced at 10 kbar, indicating that partial melting of peridotite cannot be regarded as isobarically pseudoinvariant. On projections in the normative tetrahedron OL-PL-CPX-SIL, the liquids obtained in this study define an area, rather than a point or narrow band. The compositions of some liquids in this study are similar to magnesian MORBs (MgO>9.5 wt%), providing evidence in support of the derivation of magnesian MORBs by partial melting of mantle lherzolite at about 10 kbar.     

Peridotites from the Mariana Trough: first look at the mantle beneath an active back-arc basin

Two dives of the DSV Shinkai 6500 in the Mariana Trough back-arc basin in the western Pacific sampled back-arc basin mantle exposures. Reports of peridotite exposures in back-arc basin setting are very limited and the lack of samples has hindered our understanding of this important aspect of lithospheric evolution. The Mariana Trough is a slow-spreading ridge, and ultramafic exposures with associated gabbro dykes or sills are located within a segment boundary. Petrological data suggest that the Mariana Trough peridotites are moderately depleted residues after partial melting of the upper mantle. Although some peridotite samples are affected by small-scale metasomatism, there is no evidence of pervasive post-melting metasomatism or melt-mantle interaction. Spinel compositions plot in the field for abyssal peridotites. Clinopyroxenes show depletions in Ti, Zr, and REE that are intermediate between those documented for peridotites from the Vulcan and Bouvet fracture zones (the American-Antarctic and Southwest Indian ridges, respectively). The open-system melting model indicates that the Mariana Trough peridotite compositions roughly correspond to theoretical residual compositions after ~7% near-fractional melting of a depleted MORB-type upper mantle with only little melt or fluid/mantle interactions. The low degree of melting is consistent with a low magma budget, resulting in ultramafic exposure. We infer that the mantle flow beneath the Mariana Trough Central Graben is episodic, resulting in varying magma supply rate at spreading segments.     

Composition of aqueous fluid coexisting with mantle minerals at high pressure and its bearing on the differentiation of the Earth’s mantle

In order to understand the role of aqueous fluid on the differentiation of the mantle, the compositions of aqueous fluids coexisting with mantle minerals were investigated in the system MgO-SiO₂-H₂O at pressures of 3 to 10 GPa and temperatures of 1000 to 1500°C with an MA8-type multianvil apparatus. Phase boundaries between the stability fields of forsterite + aqueous fluid, forsterite + enstatite + aqueous fluid, and enstatite + aqueous fluid were determined by varying the bulk composition at constant temperature and pressure. The composition of aqueous fluid coexisting with forsterite and enstatite can be defined by the intersection of these two phase boundaries. The solubility of silicate components in aqueous fluid coexisting with forsterite and enstatite increases with increasing pressure up to 8 GPa, from about 30 wt% at 3 GPa to about 70 wt% at 8 GPa. It becomes almost constant above 8 GPa. The Mg/Si weight ratio of these aqueous fluids is much higher than at low pressure (0.2 at 1.5 GPa) and almost constant (1.2) at pressures between 3 and 8 GPa. At 10 GPa, it becomes about 1.4. Aqueous fluid migrating upward through the mantle can therefore dissolve large amounts of silicates, leaving modified Mg/Si ratios of residual materials. It is suggested that the chemical stratification of Mg/Si in the Earth may have been formed as a result of aqueous fluid migration.     

Mg-Fe partitioning between olivine and ultramafic melts at high pressures

Precise determination of the partitioning of Mg and Fe²⁺ between olivine and ultramafic melt has been made at pressures from 5 to 13 GPa using a MA-8 type multi-anvil high-pressure apparatus (PREM) installed at Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo. A very short rhenium capsule (<100 μm sample thickness) was adopted to minimize temperature variation within the sample container. Synthetic gels with the composition of the upper mantle peridotite were used as starting materials to promote the homogeneity. Analyses of quenched melts and coexisting olivines were made with an electron probe microanalyzer. The obtained partition coefficient, K_D [=(FeO/MgO)^ol/(FeO/MgO)^melt], decreases from 0.35 to 0.25 with increasing pressure from 5 to 13 GPa, suggesting a negative correlation between pressure and K_D above 5 GPa. Our result is consistent with a parabolic relationship between K_D and degree of polymerization (NBO/T) of melts reported by previous studies at lower pressures. The negative correlation between pressure and K_D suggests that olivine crystallizing in a magma ocean becomes more Mg-rich with depth and that primary magmas generated in the upper mantle become more Fe-rich with depth than previously estimated.