ALBERT

Description: To investigate the nature and origin of across-arc geochemical variations over time in mantle wedge derived magmas, we have carried out a geochemical study of basalts in the NE Japan arc spanning an age range from 35 Ma to the present. Back-arc basalts erupted at 24–18 Ma, 10–8 Ma, 6–3 Ma and 2·5–0 Ma have higher concentrations of both high field strength elements (HFSE) and rare earth elements (REE) [particularly light REE (LREE) and middle REE (MREE)], and higher incompatible trace element ratios compared with frontal-arc basalts at any given time. Geochemical modeling of Nb/Yb versus Nb shows that the frontal-arc and back-arc compositional differences are independent of subduction modification and can, in many cases, be explained by different degrees of melting (higher degrees of melting for frontal-arc magmas and lower degrees of melting for back-arc magmas) of a nearly homogeneous depleted mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) mantle (DMM)-like source, although there are several exceptions. These include some Pliocene frontal-arc basalts that may originate from a source that is slightly more depleted than DMM, several 35–32 Ma and 24–18 Ma back-arc basalts derived from a lithospheric mantle source that is enriched in HFSE compared with DMM, and a rare 16–12 Ma basalt that was erupted in the back-arc but was produced by a similar degree of melting to frontal-arc basalts erupted at the same time. Variations in ratios of fluid-mobile and -immobile elements and those of melt-mobile and -immobile elements for the 35–0 Ma NE Japan basalts indicate that the principal subduction component added to the source mantle prior to generation of these basalt magmas is a sediment-derived melt. Comparison of Sr and Nd isotopic compositions for Pacific Ocean MORB, the NE Japan basalts and subducting sediments suggests that the isotopic compositions of most post-16 Ma more depleted back-arc basalts can be explained by the addition of 〈2% bulk sediment; the most enriched isotope compositions of the subcontinental lithosphere-derived magmas can be accounted for by addition of a maximum 5–7% Japan Trench Sediment (JTS), if the original Sr and Nd compositions of the lithosphere approximated that of DMM. The Sr and Nd isotope composition of the frontal-arc basalts can be accounted for by the addition of 1–5% JTS. A depleted asthenospheric mantle (DMM-like) upwelling model with interaction between asthenospheric mantle-derived magmas and overlying lithospheric mantle can account for the geochemical characteristics of the 35–0 Ma NE Japan basalts. The frontal-arc magmas were generally generated by higher degrees of melting of the shallower part of the asthenospheric mantle, whereas the back-arc magmas resulted from lower degrees of melting of the deeper part of asthenospheric mantle. These latter magmas underwent interaction with the lithospheric mantle, resulting in more enriched Sr and Nd isotopic signatures for the pre-18 Ma back-arc basalts and post-22 Ma frontal-arc basalts, but less interaction, resulting in more depleted Sr and Nd isotopic signatures, for most of the back-arc basalts younger than 16 Ma.

Description: Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene adakitic andesites are found in the southern part of Okushiri Island, the northern Noto Peninsula and in the Toyama region in the present-day back-arc margin of the SW and NE Japan arcs. On Okushiri Island, adakitic andesite is accompanied by moderately alkaline basalt, whereas on the Noto Peninsula, adakitic andesite has been erupted along with high magnesian andesite (HMA), bronzite andesite and tholeiitic basalt. Adakitic andesites from all three locations are characterized by high Sr/Y and low Y, and have higher MgO contents than adakitic melts generated by experimental melting of metabasalt and amphibolite. They also have higher Ni and Cr contents than either Archaean tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) suites or Early Cretaceous adakitic granites, which have been attributed to partial melting of subducted oceanic crust. The Noto Peninsula adakitic andesite has Sr and Nd isotopic compositions identical to normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB), whereas the Okushiri Island and Toyama adakitic andesites are more isotopically primitive than N-MORB. The Noto Peninsula primary adakitic melt was derived from subducted oceanic N-MORB crust, whereas the Okushiri Island and Toyama primary adakites are interpreted as melts of subducted N-MORB and sediment that have subsequently interacted with the overlying mantle wedge peridotite. To explain the comagmatism of adakite, HMA and basalt, the following model is proposed. A hydrated adakitic diapir ascends from the subducting slab and is heated because it enters the overlying hot mantle wedge. The subsequent establishment of thermal and H 2 O gradients in the adakitic diapir and surrounding mantle wedge peridotite results in concurrent generation of adakitic andesite magma in the inner adakitic diapir region (low temperature and high H 2 O content), HMA and bronzite andesite magmas in the intermediate peridotite region (intermediate temperature and H 2 O content), and tholeiitic basalt magma in the outer peridotite region (high temperature and lower H 2 O content). Comagmatic adakite and mildly alkaline basalt are found in cooler and wetter adakitic diapirs and hotter and drier peridotite regions respectively. The most likely tectono-magmatic situation for the genesis of adakitic magmas in this example of a cool subduction zone involves upwelling of hot asthenosphere into the subcontinental lithosphere beneath the back-arc side of the NE Japan arc and northern end of the SW Japan arc, during the period spanning the pre-Japan Sea opening to syn-opening stages. The unusually high temperature conditions established in the mantle wedge owing to upwelling of hot asthenosphere caused partial melting of the relatively cool subducting Pacific plate, resulting in the generation of adakitic magmas.

Description: In the Okoppe area of North Hokkaido, Japan, the eruption of adakitic and calc-alkaline dacites was followed by high-Mg andesite (HMA) and calc-alkaline dacite during the Middle Miocene (12–10 Ma). Adakitic dacite is characterized by high Sr/Y and low Y, with Sr and Nd isotopic compositions identical to those of mid-ocean ridge basalt. It has higher MgO contents than adakites generated by experimental melting of metabasalt and amphibolite, and higher Ni and Cr contents than either Archean trondhjemite–tonalite–granodiorite or Early Cretaceous adakitic granites, which are considered to represent partial melts of subducted oceanic crust. This provides compelling evidence that adakitic dacite magma from Okoppe resulted from interaction of a melt derived from subducted oceanic basaltic crust and the overlying mantle wedge peridotite, with little modification to the adakitic melt signature and Sr and Nd isotopic values. The compositional variations in the Toyono adakitic dacite and associated calc-alkaline dacite probably resulted from mixing of the reacted magma and an evolved silicic dacite magma formed by fractional crystallization of the reacted magma. A disequilibrium phenocryst assemblage in the HMA may result from mixing of boninite and silicic andesite that resulted from crustal melting. Calc-alkaline dacites associated with the HMA were derived by fractional crystallization of silicic andesite and assimilation of crust with an enriched Sr isotopic signature. The most likely tectono-magmatic model for the production of adakitic dacite and HMA involves upwelling of hot asthenosphere into the subcontinental lithosphere beneath North Hokkaido and the back-arc side of the NE Japan arc, coincident with the spreading of the Kurile back-arc basin and Japan Sea back-arc basin. This resulted in a high geothermal gradient in the mantle wedge beneath North Hokkaido. The subsequent melting of a limited part of the cool oceanic crust subducting beneath Hokkaido produced adakitic magmas, which interacted with the overlying mantle wedge peridotite. These magmas subsequently reacted with an evolved calc-alkaline melt en route to the surface. Boninitic magma derived from the ascending hot asthenosphere in part reacted with crust-derived silicic andesitic magma, undergoing simultaneous fractional crystallization.

Description: The Ryozen Formation, which crops out on the trench side of the NE Japan arc, contains middle Miocene rhyodacite with adakite-like trace element geochemical characteristics (Ryozen adakitic rhyodacite) and spatially and temporally related basalt (Ryozen basalt) and andesite (Ryozen andesite). K–Ar age data for the basalt and a zircon U–Pb age for the adakitic rhyodacite, combined with the stratigraphy, suggest that all of these volcanic rocks were erupted at about 16–14 Ma. The primitive nature of the Ryozen basalt is shown by its high MgO (maximum 14·1 wt %), Ni (392 ppm) and Cr (1193 ppm) contents. Using the olivine maximum fractionation model, the segregation depth of the parental primary magma to this basalt is estimated at c . 50 km (about 1·5 GPa). The Ryozen andesite has slightly higher 87 Sr/ 86 Sr initial (SrI) and lower 143 Nd/ 144 Nd initial (NdI) ratios than the Ryozen basalt. This, and the characteristics of the variation trends defined by basalt and andesite samples in SiO 2 versus major and trace element variation diagrams, suggests that the andesite may have resulted from fractional crystallization of basaltic magma with minor assimilation of pre-Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (i.e. an AFC process). The Ryozen rhyodacite has phenocrysts of plagioclase, amphibole, garnet and titanomagnetite, and is characterized by low Sr/Y ratios (~30), low Y concentrations (〈10 ppm), high chondrite-normalized La/Yb [(La/Yb) cn ] (〉25) and low chondrite-normalized Yb [(Yb) cn ] values (〈5 ppm). These geochemical characteristics are similar to those of a new adakite subgroup (rhyodacite lavas in eastern Jamaica; Jamaican-type adakite). Thus, we define the Ryozen rhyodacite as the Ryozen low Sr/Y adakitic rhyodacite. A potential mechanism for the generation of this rhyodacite is crystal fractionation of plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole, garnet, titanomagnetite and minor apatite from an andesitic parent magma. This mechanism is consistent with mass-balance modeling, which matches the observed major and trace element chemistry, as well as SrI and NdI, for the Ryozen andesite and low Sr/Y adakitic rhyodacite. The most likely tectono-magmatic model for the production of the volcanic rocks of the Ryozen Formation involves the upwelling of depleted hot asthenosphere, which modified the thermal structure of the mantle wedge beneath the trench side of the arc during the middle Miocene. This resulted in partial melting of both mantle wedge peridotite and the relatively cool subducting Pacific plate, leading to the simultaneous production of primitive basalt, normal andesite, high-magnesium andesite and low and high Sr/Y adakitic rhyodacites.