Geochemistry of peridotites from the Yap Trench,Western Pacific: implications for subduction zone mantle evolution

ABSTRACT

This study examines the major and trace elements of peridotites from the Yap Trench in the western Pacific to investigate mantle evolution beneath a subduction zone. Major element results show that the peridotites are low in Al₂O₃ (0.31–0.65 wt.%) and CaO (0.04–0.07 wt.%) contents and high in Mg# (Mg/(Mg+Fe)) (0.91–0.92) and have spinels with Cr# (Cr/(Cr+Al)) higher than 0.6 (0.61–0.73). Trace element results show that the peridotites have extremely low heavy rare earth element (HREE) contents compared with abyssal peridotites but have U-shaped chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns. The degree of mantle melting estimated based on the major elements, HREEs, and spinel Cr# range from 19% to 25%, indicating that the Yap Trench peridotites may be residues of melting associated with the presence of water in the mantle source. In addition to light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment, the peridotites are characterized by high contents of highly incompatible elements, positive U and Sr anomalies, negative Ti anomalies, and high Zr/Hf ratios. The correlations between these elements and both the degree of serpentinization and high field strength element (HFSE) contents suggest that fluid alteration alone cannot account for the enrichment of the peridotites and that at least the enrichment of LREEs was likely caused by melt–mantle interaction. Comparison between the peridotites and the depletion trend defined by the primitive mantle (PM) and the depleted mantle (DM) suggests that the Yap Trench mantle was modified by subduction-related melt characterized by high contents of incompatible elements, high Zr/Hf ratios, and low HFSE contents. Hydrous melting may have been enhanced by tectonic erosion of the subducting Caroline Plate with complex tectonic morphostructures at the earliest stages of subduction initiation.     

Geochemistry of southern Pagan Island lavas,Mariana arc: the role of subduction zone processes

New major and trace element abundances, and Pb, Sr, and Nd isotopic ratios of Quaternary lavas from two adjacent volcanoes (South Pagan and the Central Volcanic Region, or CVR) located on Pagan Island allow us to investigate the mantle source (i.e., slab components) and melting dynamics within the Mariana intra-oceanic arc. Geologic mapping reveals a pre-caldera (780–9.4 ka) and post-caldera (<9.4 ka) eruptive stage for South Pagan, whereas the eruptive history of the older CVR is poorly constrained. Crystal fractionation and magma mixing were important crustal processes for lavas from both volcanoes. Geochemical and isotopic variations indicate that South Pagan and CVR lavas, and lavas from the northern volcano on the island, Mt. Pagan, originated from compositionally distinct parental magmas due to variations in slab contributions (sediment and aqueous fluid) to the mantle wedge and the extent of mantle partial melting. A mixing model based on Pb and Nd isotopic ratios suggests that the average amount of sediment in the source of CVR (~2.1%) and South Pagan (~1.8%) lavas is slightly higher than Mt. Pagan (~1.4%) lavas. These estimates span the range of sediment-poor Guguan (~1.3%) and sediment-rich Agrigan (~2.0%) lavas for the Mariana arc. Melt modeling demonstrates that the saucer-shaped normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns observed in Pagan lavas can arise from partial melting of a mixed source of depleted mantle and enriched sediment, and do not require amphibole interaction or fractionation to depress the middle REE abundances of the lavas. The modeled degree of mantle partial melting for Agrigan (2–5%), Pagan (3–7%), and Guguan (9–15%) lavas correlates with indicators of fluid addition (e.g., Ba/Th). This relationship suggests that the fluid flux to the mantle wedge is the dominant control on the extent of partial melting beneath Mariana arc volcanoes. A decrease in the amount of fluid addition (lower Ba/Th) and extent of melting (higher Sm/Yb), and an increase in the sediment contribution (higher Th/Nb, La/Sm, and Pb isotopic ratios) from Mt. Pagan to South Pagan could reflect systematic cross-arc or irregular along-arc melting variations. These observations indicate that the length scale of compositional heterogeneity in the mantle wedge beneath Mariana arc volcanoes is small (~10 km).     

马里亚纳俯冲系统的构造特征

西太平洋马里亚纳俯冲带具有典型的"沟-弧-盆"体系,是由太平洋板块向西俯冲到菲律宾海板块之下形成的洋-洋俯冲带。前人研究成果为理解该区上覆板块地壳结构、弧前蛇纹岩化过程、岛弧及弧后岩浆作用、俯冲板块形态及其相关俯冲动力学过程提供了良好的约束。本文对马里亚纳地区现有研究成果,特别是构造研究内容,进行了总结,发现马里亚纳俯冲带的三维精细构造特征并没有得到很好的厘定,导致马里亚纳弧后扩张的动力学机制存在较大争议。这主要是因为缺乏观测数据以及反演方法的局限性。为此,未来围绕马里亚纳俯冲带的构造特征研究,应首先开展长期系统的海底观测。     

On melting of the subducted oceanic crust: Effects of subduction induced mantle flow

Based on petrological and geochemical arguments, it is possible that arc magma is derived from subducted oceanic crust. In this paper, regional thermal models have been constructed to study the feasibility of melting cold subducted oceanic crusts at shallow depth (i.e. at depths of about 100 km) by a dynamic mantle. Calculated results suggest that plate subduction will generate an induced flow in the wedge above the subducting slab. This current continuously feeds hot mantle material into the corner and onto the slab surface. A high temperature thermal environment can be maintained in the vicinity of the wedge corner, immediately beneath the over-riding plate. Our regional models further demonstrate quantitatively that production of local melting is possible just about 30 km down dip from the asthenosphere wedge corner. Additional geological processes such as reasonable amounts of shear heating and minor dehydration (which will lower the local melting temperature) will further increase the probability of melting a cold subducted oceanic crust at shallow depth.     

Chemistry of springs across the Mariana forearc shows progressive devolatilization of the subducting plate

Cold springs upwelling through large serpentinite mud volcanoes in the outer half of the Mariana forearc provide a unique window into processes of devolatilization of the subducting Pacific Plate. We have sampled upwelling pore waters with lower chlorinity than seawater from six sites on five serpentinite mud volcanoes, by conventional gravity and piston coring, by push coring from the ROV Jason, by drilling on ODP Legs 125 and 195, and by manned submersible. The sites range from 13°47′N to 19°33′N and 52 to 90 km from the Mariana trench axis, corresponding to approximate depths to the top of the downgoing plate of 16 to 29 km. The composition of the springs varies systematically over this distance: nearer the trench the upwelling waters have much higher Ca and Sr than seawater and much lower carbonate alkalinity, sulfate, Na/Cl, K, Rb, and B. Farther from the trench the waters show the opposite trends relative to seawater. Chlorinity is consistently lower than in seawater and shows large variations that are not systematic with distance from the trench. Cs is consistently higher than in seawater and increases with distance from the trench. All of the waters have high pH and are heavily depleted in Mg, Si, Li, F, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr relative to seawater. They tend to be enriched in O¹⁸/O¹⁶. Except for ODP drilling, none of the cores was long enough to produce an asymptotic compositional trend with depth. We have inferred the end-member compositions of the upwelling waters by extrapolation against Mg. At two sites we were able to compare data from gravity cores with data from drill cores or push cores collected at springs to estimate the effects of reactions that occur at shallow depth below the seafloor, on mixing of the upwelling waters with seawater. These effects are different for sites high in dissolved Ca, nearer the trench, vs. those high in alkalinity, farther from the trench. Common to both are large losses from solution of 1) Ca, as CaCO₃ and in exchange for Na; 2) Mg, in exchange for Na or Ca and as brucite; 3) sulfate, probably reduced by microbes or possibly precipitated as gypsum; 4) Sr, Ba, Si, and F. Na is consistently leached from the solids into solution, whereas K and O¹⁸/O¹⁶ are relatively unreactive.We infer that the upwelling waters are uniformly saturated with CaCO₃ and that the excess H₂O and the trends in Ca, Sr, alkalinity, and sulfate with distance from the trench result from introduction of H₂O and dissolved carbonate and sulfate from an external source, the sediment and altered basalt at the top of the subducting plate. The concurrent trends in Na/Cl, B, Cs, and especially K and Rb indicate that these species originate from the top of the subducting plate in response to increasing temperature. These systematic variations across the outer forearc imply that the solutions ascend more or less vertically from the source region and do not travel long distances laterally along the décollement before ascending. Based on leaching of K, the 150°C isotherm is crossed approximately beneath Big Blue Seamount at a depth of ∼22 km below the seafloor, 70 km behind the trench. By this point it appears that carbonate dissolution has joined dehydration as a significant process at the top of the subducting plate.     

原特提斯洋俯冲起始——来自北祁连早寒武世弧前岩浆作用的新证据

形成于弧前背景的岩浆岩可能记录了俯冲起始的重要证据。本文以北祁连走廊南山蛇绿混杂岩带新识别出的富铌辉长岩和斜长花岗岩为研究对象,在野外观察的基础上,结合岩石学、地球化学、同位素地球化学和年代学的综合研究,对原特提斯洋初始俯冲的时间进行约束,并探讨其形成过程及构造意义。锆石U-Pb定年结果显示富铌辉长岩样品锆石加权平均²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U年龄为512±4 Ma;两个斜长花岗岩样品的锆石加权平均²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U年龄分别为522±3 Ma和519±1 Ma。全岩地球化学结果显示富铌辉长岩的Nb含量为7.49×10^-6～10.80×10^-6,TiO₂含量为1.50%～2.08%,Nb/U值为11.9～13.4,(Nb/La)_N>0.5,明显高于岛弧玄武岩,其εNd(t)值介于+4.38～+5.78之间。斜长花岗岩样品K₂O含量(0.31%～1.66%)和K₂O/Na<...     

Neocene and Quaternary extent and geometry of the subducted Pacific Plate beneath North Island, New Zealand: Implications for Kaikoura tectonics

The extent and geometry of the obliquely subduced oceanic Pacific Plate beneath North Island, New Zealand, for five million year intervals through the mid-Miocene to Quaternary, are presented in a series of maps and cross-sections. These show that the subducted plate progressively increased its extent from NE to SW beneath the North Island, and in the more northern regions where it was first emplaced, concomitantly increased its dip from 10° to 50°.The changing extent and geometry of the subducted slab has been established from the age pattern of orogenic andesites and from the geochemical K₂O-h parameter of depth of magma generation. The radiometric dates show a migration of the volcanic front back towards the trench at an average rate of 20 km/My. The trenchward migration is explained by a model of increasing slab dip which is corroborated by the K₂O data calibrated against the presently active arc (Taupo Volcanic Zone). With the exception of northern Coromandel Peninsula, the andesitic magmas were generated at 85–100 km depth. The interpretation of the dates adopted here indicates that the subducted slab originated at the NE-SW trending Kermadec-Hikurangi Trench, and implies a different and much simpler evolution of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary in the vicinity of North Island than other recent models.Subduction geometry has been found elsewhere to be a principal influence upon the state of stress and deformational style in an over-riding plate. The possibility is explored that the timing, nature and pattern of the Neogene to Quaternary Kaikoura Orogeny in North Island is due to this influence. Apart from the effect of oblique subduction in eastern North Island, there is an accord between the onset of deformation and the emplacement sequence of the shallow slab beneath North Island, and between the change in subduction geometry and a progressive north to south change in northern North Island from compression to extension.     

Geochemistry and paleotectonic setting of Ediacaran metabasites from the Ossa-Morena Zone (SW Iberia)

New results on the geochemistry of Neoproterozoic (late Ediacaran) metabasites of the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ, Iberian Massif) are presented. The metabasite suite exhibits N- and E-MORB signatures, as well as volcanic arc signatures. The three amphibolite groups are discerned on the basis of major and trace element contents, and the Nd isotope relations help unravel the existence of a diverse magmatism during late Ediacaran times across the OMZ. N-MORB “Serie Negra” metabasites are distributed in the southern and, mostly, the central OMZ (Monesterio antiform). Calc-alkaline metabasites are exclusively constrained to the Coimbra-Córdoba sector of the northern OMZ. Finally, E-MORB-type metabasites are widespread across the entire OMZ. In present-day active geodynamic settings, such magma types are typical of younger island arcs, notably of forearc zones that are affected by extension soon after the initiation of subduction. The new geochemical data permit us to postulate a petrological zonation congruent with a N-dipping subduction zone located to the S of the current OMZ during the late Ediacaran. We argue that the metabasite host units represent (continental) shallow-crustal forearc segments of a convergent margin. The volcanic arc edifice would have developed during the latest Ediacaran to early Cambrian times and has been preserved, often without major orogenic reworking, in the central and northern OMZ.     

Geochemistry of metabasites from the Nevado-Filabride complex,betic cordilleras,Spain: Relics of a dismembered ophiolitic sequence

Major- and trace-element distribution, including REE data, in the metabasites of the Nevado-Filabride Complex (Betic Cordilleras, Spain) suggests that the whole mafic-ultramafic association represents a dismembered ophiolitic sequence. All the analyzed samples have been affected by sea-floor alteration. Yet only the fine-grained rocks have suffered some significant mobilization of the LREE. Life the other Western Mediterranean ophiolites, this sequence is related to the opening of the Liguro-Piemontese basin during Mesozoic times. However, the metabasites from Betic Cordilleras differ from the ophiolitic basalts by higher values of the more incompatible over less incompatible element ratios. The entire variation of these ratios in the Liguro-Piemontese basin is related to a dynamic melting process coupled with a diapiric uprise of the mantle source from the stability field of garnet peridotites. possibly up to the spinel-plagioclase facies transition. In this process, the ophiolites of the Betic Cordilleras would record the deepest stages and the lowest degrees of melting. This feature is related to the peculiar location of these ophiolites at the western end of the Liguro-Piemontese basin.     

Unstable forearc stress in the eastern Nankai subduction zone for the last 2 million years

Transpressional tectonics characterizes the SW Japan arc. However, we will show in this article that offshore seismic profiles and onshore mesoscale faults indicate that the eastern part of the forearc was subject to transtensional tectonics since ca. 2.0 Ma. Offshore normal faults imaged on the profiles run parallel to the Nankai Trough, and started activity at 1.0 Ma, but transtensional tectonics commenced the onshore area earlier. In order to understand the stress history in the forearc region, we collected fault-slip data from onshore mesoscale faults in Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary rocks in the Kakegawa area at the northeastern extension of the offshore normal faults. Most of the mesoscale faults are oblique-normal, indicating that the area was subject to transtensional tectonics. The faults suggest that the compressional tectonic regime was followed by the transtensional one at 2.0 Ma, in agreement with regional tectonostratigraphic data, which indicate that folding ceased at that time. Present compressional stress followed the transtensional tectonic regime sometime in the late Pleistocene. Transtensional or extensional tectonic zone shifted from the Kakegawa area to the offshore region.These observations indicate that the state of stress just behind the accretionary prism of the eastern Nankai subduction zone has been unstable in the last 2 million years, suggesting that the forearc wedge has been at critical state in that gravitational force and basal shear traction on the wedge have been balanced, but the forearc tectonics has been susceptible to small perturbations. Possible factors compatible with the observed stress history include the change of subduction direction of the plate at 1.0 Ma, and the rapid uplift of Central Japan thereafter.     

西准噶尔海山俯冲的地质效应:来自泥盆纪—石炭纪火山岩地球化学证据

海山或火山岛链俯冲与洋壳俯冲具有明显不同的动力学和岩浆效应,主要表现在俯冲带的地貌、发生地震的频度和烈度及火山弧岩浆作用和资源效应。西准噶尔地区泥盆纪—石炭纪火山岩分布有限,多以夹层产出,岩性主要为玄武岩和安山岩,地球化学特征显示:钙碱性和碱性系列均有发育,具有E-MORB或OIB特征,较高的Nd/Sm及~(206)Pb/~(204)Pb比值,明显亏损Nb、Ta、Ti,具有岛弧岩浆特点。结合西准噶尔蛇绿混杂岩中不断识别出OIB特征玄武岩并认为其形成于大洋板内海山的地质事实,提出泥盆纪—石炭纪火山岩具有E-MORB和OIB特征很可能是受早期形成海山在俯冲带内部部分熔融的影响,即为海山俯冲的地质效应,而这种海山俯冲的地质效应可能在整个古亚洲洋的演化过程中都存在,然而需要后续进一步工作。海山俯冲模式的提出不仅丰富了西准噶尔火山岩成因理论,而且为研究西准噶尔构造岩浆事件提供了新思路。     

Geochemistry of metabasites of the Kolpakov Group of the Sredinny crystalline Massif in Kamchatka

Metabasites (amphibolites, garnet amphibolites, and basic crystalline schists) compose numerous sheeted bodies (often highly boudined) from a few to 100 meters thick in the plagiogneisses and migmatites of the Kolpakov Group. Chemically, they are reconstructed as basalts and picrites that were metamorphosed, as host terrigenous rocks, under the kyanite-sillimanite subfacies of the amphibolite facies (t = 620–650°C, P _s = 5.9–6.9 kbar). Metabasites are dominated by amphibolites and basic crystalline schists distributed throughout the entire section of the Kolpakov Group, whereas garnet amphibolites are more typical of the upper parts of the group, where they are intercalated with amphibolites, basic crystalline schists, plagiogneisses, and quartzites. Metaultrabasites (plagioclase-free amphibolites) occur much more rarely as small boudins up to few meters in size. According to U-Pb SHRIMP zircon dating, the plagiogneiss protolith age corresponds to the end of the Early-Late Cretaceous (90–100 Ma), which is similar in age to the weakly metamorphosed terrigenous deposits of the Kikhchik Group of the Sredinny Range. This allows us to consider the terrigenous rocks of these groups as isofacial sedimentary rocks. The same age (Early-Late Cretaceous boundary) was taken for protoliths of metabasites forming interbeds among metaterrigenous deposits of the Kolpakov Group. The interval of 100?90 Ma coincides with the beginning of the formation of the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanogenic marginal-continental belt in East Asia. It is shown that the Kolpakov Group possesses the geochemical features of tholeiitic basalts of different geodynamic settings and comprises both typically island arc (low-Ti) and oceanic (moderate to high-Ti) tholeiites associated with ultrabasic volcanic rocks—picrites. Such a chemical peculiarity of basic rocks is typical of the marginal-continental extension zones (pull-apart basin) that were initiated on the sialic crust. It is obvious that similar geodynamic setting of the basite magmatism existed for the Sredinny Range of Kamchatka. The ascent of the mantle matter beneath the extension zone of the continental crust of the sedimentary basin and its intersection by faults that formed simultaneously with the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanogenic belt served as the beginning of the basite volcanism in the sedimentary basin. They provided an intense fluid effect and a temperature increase in the crust with subsequent granitization and metamorphism of volcanogenic-terrigenous deposits and, finally, the development of the modern structure of the Sredinny Kamchatka Massif. The intense Late Cretaceous basite volcanism and associated granitoid magmatism in Kamchatka were presumably caused by the ascent of mantle plumes bearing hydrogen fluids.     

On the origin of andesite in the northern Mariana Island Arc: Implications from Agrigan

Magmatic evolution on the active volcano of Agrigan in the northern Mariana Island Arc is interpreted as resulting in the production of calc-alkaline andesites by the fractional crystallization of high-alumina basalt. Basaltic products predominate, but the ratio of andesites to basalts increases with time up to an event of voluminous andesitic pyroclastic ejection accompanied by caldera-collapse; post-collapse lavas are entirely basaltic. Moderate iron-enrichment is demonstrated for the volcanic suite, with indications of a progressive, pre-caldera decrease in iron-enrichment; post-caldera lavas display a return to moderate Fe-enrichment. Overall, the lavas are enriched in the LIL elements (K, Rb, Ba, Sr) and depleted in Ti, Mg, Cr, and Ni. From the oldest to the youngest pre-caldera volcanic sequence, the LIL elements increase 3-6X while Ca and Mg decrease by 50% or more. Approximately constant K/ Rb (430±60) and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7032–0.7034) indicate consanguinity of the basalts and the andesites. Cumulate plutonic xenoliths, common in the lavas, are composed of mineral phases also encountered as phenocrysts. The following order of crystallization is indicated: olivine; anorthite-bytownite; clinopyroxene; orthopyroxene and titanomagnetite. Co-existing xenolithic olivines (Fo_74–83) and plagioclase (An_88–96) are typical of calc-alkaline island-arc assemblages and contrast with assemblages in the tholeiites from the Mariana Trough to the west. The relatively fayalitic composition and low abundances of Ni in olivines and Cr in clinopyroxenes indicate equilibrium with an already-fractionated liquid. These data, along with structural evidence, high Ca in the olivines, and comparison of the observed assemblages with experimental studies, suggests that these xenoliths formed as crystal cumulates at the floor of a shallow ( 7 km) crustal magma chamber.Major element modeling studies using the separation of observed xenocrystic and phenocrystic phases from assumed parental liquids reproduce the observed temporal and geochemical variations in the lavas. Trace element modeling parallels this evolution with the exception of Cr and Ni in the andesites. An extensive (16.3 km³) gabbroic body is required by this modeling to be present beneath Agrigan to produce the inferred volumes of the various lithologies preserved in the volcano's evolution. The sum of stratigraphic, geochemical, and isotopic evidence on Agrigan supports the derivation of calc-alkaline andesite by the removal of about 75% solids from a high-alumina basalt accompanied by a process of K and Rb enrichment, such as volatile-transfer. Considerations of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, and ³He/⁴He isotopic data indicate that the source region of these parental liquids lies in the mantle, not subducted crust. In the northern Marianas, the model of a shallow-crustal origin for andesite is preferred over one requiring andesite generation in the deeper mantle and/or subducted slab.     

Geochemistry and origin of metabasites from the granulite-gneiss complex of the Angara-Kan block,southwestern Siberian craton

In this paper, we present data on major and trace elements in highly metamorphosed mafic rocks from the granulite-gneiss complex of the Angara-Kan block (southwestern Siberian craton), identify igneous protoliths of the metabasites, and assess the mobility of elements during metamorphism. Two types of rocks with different geologic relations and compositions were recognized. Garnet-bearing two-pyroxene granulites (Cpx + Pl + Grt + Opx) occur as sheet- and boudin-like bodies, which were folded and deformed with their host paragneisses. Dikes, which in most cases underwent only brittle deformation, are composed of metabasites characterized by the assemblage Cpx + Hbl + Pl + Grt. The major element compositions of igneous protoliths for the mafic granulites and metabasite dykes correspond to variously differentiated basaltic magmas. The protoliths of the metabasites are depleted in K₂O, LILE, Zr, Nb, and LREE and were derived from a depleted mantle source. The major and trace element compositions of the dike metabasites are similar to those of low-K tholeiitic basalts of oceanic island arcs. Continental intraplate basalts derived from an enriched mantle source are possible igneous protoliths for the mafic granulites enriched in Ba, LREE, Nb, Ta, Zr, and Hf. It is assumed that lower Rb, Th, and U contents in the mafic granulites compared with continental flood basalts, high K/Rb and La/Th, and moderate Th/U ratios reflect the loss of Rb, Th and U during granulite-facies metamorphism.     

Evidence for southward subduction of the Mongol-Okhotsk oceanic plate: Implications from Mesozoic adakitic lavas from Mongolia

A combination of new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating results, major- and trace-element data, plus Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope data, are used to investigate the petrogenesis of Triassic high-Si adakite (HSA), Cretaceous low-Si adakite-like (LSA) lavas, and Cretaceous high-K and shoshonitic trachyandesite lavas, from eastern and south-central Mongolia. All samples are light rare-earth element and large-ion lithophile element enriched but depleted in some high-field strength elements (notably Nb, Ta and Ti). Two alternative models are proposed to explain the petrogenesis of the HSA samples. (1) A southward-subducting Mongol-Okhotsk slab underwent partial melting in the Triassic during the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean, with the resultant melts assimilating mantle and crustal material. Alternatively (2), a basaltic underplate of thickened (>50 km; >1.5 GPa), eclogitic lower crust foundered into the underlying mantle, and underwent partial melting with minor contamination from mantle material and some shallow-level crustal contamination. The LSA samples are interpreted as melts derived from a lithospheric mantle wedge that was previously metasomatised by slab melts. Similarly, the trachyandesite lavas are interpreted as melts deriving from a subduction-enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle. The spatial distribution of these samples implies that metasomatism likely occurred due to a southward-subducting Mongol-Okhotsk slab associated with the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean. When this interpretation is combined with previous evidence for a northward-subducting Mongol-Okhotsk slab it advocates that the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean closed with double-sided subduction.     

Geochemistry of axial lavas from the mid- and southern Mariana Trough,and implications for back-arc magmatic processes

Mineralogy and Petrology - The Mariana Trough, a relatively simple intra-oceanic back-arc basin, is ideal for investigating magmatic processes and mantle-crust interaction in a subduction setting....     

西南天山变质俯冲杂岩带的内部结构——来自木扎尔特剖面的启示

西南天山高压-超高压变质带是世界上少有的经历深俯冲的增生杂岩带,是古天山洋向北俯冲的结果。针对该俯冲杂岩带内部结构的研究目前仍存在争论。本文以木扎尔特地区一条长约4 km的南北向剖面为例,对西南天山高压-超高压变质带的野外特征、矿物学和变质演化研究进行了综述。目前的研究表明,木扎尔特地区存在超高压和高压两类硬柱石榴辉岩,但绝大部分都经历了强烈的退变质和变形改造,被蓝片岩相或绿片岩相矿物组合取代。这些变基性岩在空间上构成北部和南部两个榴辉岩带,二者为构造接触。木扎尔特超高压硬柱石榴辉岩与其围岩经历相似的峰期压力,构成西南天山超高压带的西端。与东侧阿克牙孜地区超高压榴辉岩相比,它们在变形特征、岩石组合和变质演化方面表现出一定的独特性,很可能说明深俯冲板片在折返过程中沿构造带走向存在差异变质-变形演化。这些基础研究对全面认识冷俯冲增生杂岩带的变质演化及其俯冲和折返的地球动力学机制具有重要意义。     

Geochemistry of Quaternary lavas from NE Sulawesi: transfer of subduction components into the mantle wedge

Major and trace element, and Sr-Nd isotope compositions were determined for Quaternary volcanic rocks from NE Sulawesi (the Sangihe are), Indonesia, in order to examine the origin of across-arc variation in lava and magma source chemistry. The arc is formed in an intraoceanic tectonic setting and is not associated with a backarc basin, thereby minimizing possible contributions from non-arc geochemical reservoirs. The geochemistry of these arc lavas is likely to provide essential information about the chemical characteristics of subduction components. All incompatible elements, except Pb, increase away from the volcancic front. Major element data for Mg-rich lavas together with available experimental data, suggest that primary magmas are produced at higher pressured by smaller degrees of partial melting beneath the backarc-side volcanoes. Rb/K and Ba/Pb are higher, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd are lower in backarc-side lavas. These variations may be attributed to generation of hydrous fluids in the downdragged hydrous peridotite layer at the base of the mantle wedge through the following reactions: decompositions of pargasitic amphibole to form phlogopite and breakdown of phlogopite to crystallize K-richterite, beneath the volcanic front and the backarc-side volcanoes, respectively.     

Geochemistry of basaltic lavas from the southern Lau Basin: input of compositionally variable subduction components

We present new major element, trace element, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data for 18 basaltic lavas and six glasses collected in situ from the Eastern Lau Spreading Centre (ELSC) and the Valu Fa Ridge (VFR). All lava samples are aphanitic and contain rare plagioclase and clinopyroxene microlites and microphenocrysts. The rocks are sub-alkaline and range from basalt and basaltic andesite to more differentiated andesite. In terms of trace element compositions, the samples are transitional between typical normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) and island arc basalt. Samples from the VFR have higher large ion lithophile element/high field strength element ratios (e.g. Ba/Nb) than the ELSC samples. VFR and ELSC Sr–Nd isotopic compositions plot between Indian MORB and Tonga arc lavas, but VFR samples have higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr for a given ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio than ELSC analogues. The Pb isotopic composition of ELSC lavas is more Indian MORB-like, whereas that of VFR lavas is more Pacific MORB-like. Our new data, combined with literature data for the Central Lau Spreading Centre, indicate that the mantle beneath the ELSC and VFR spreading centres was originally of Pacific type in composition, but was displaced by Indian-type mantle as rifting propagated to the south. The mantle beneath the spreading centres also was variably affected by subduction-induced metasomatism, mainly by fluids released from the altered, subducting oceanic crust; the influence of these components is best seen in VFR lavas. To a first approximation, the effects of underflow on the composition and degree of partial melting of the mantle source of Lau spreading centre lavas inversely correlate with distance of the spreading centres from the Tonga arc. Superimposed on this general process, however, are the effects of the local geographic contrasts in the composition of subduction components. The latter have been transferred mainly by dehydration-generated fluids into the mantle beneath the Tonga supra-subduction zone.