The influence of submarine weathering of basalts on their partial melting during subduction

Compositional changes beyond that of simple hydration are present in most of the analyzed examples of submarine weathering of basalt. Recalculations of 278 analyses from the literature of altered basalts to simplified basalt, amphibolite and eclogite mineral assemblages result in significant increases of the quartz contents of the rock relative to fresh basalt in most examples. The increased quartz contents result in mineral assemblages that have enhanced potentials to generate andesitic partial melts from the basalt or amphibolite forms of most altered basalts and trondhjemitic partial melts from the eclogite form of most altered basalts.