Mantle dynamics of the Andean Subduction Zone from continent-scale teleseismic S-wave tomography

The Andean Subduction Zone is one of the longest continuous subduction zones on Earth. The relative simplicity of the two-plate system has makes it an ideal natural laboratory to study the dynamics in subduction zones. We measure teleseismic S and SKS traveltime residuals at >1000 seismic stations that have been deployed across South America over the last 30 yr to produce a finite-frequency teleseismic S-wave tomography model of the mantle beneath the Andean Subduction Zone related to the Nazca Plate, spanning from ~5°N to 45°S and from depths of ~130 to 1200 km. Within our model, the subducted Nazca slab is imaged as a fast velocity seismic anomaly. The geometry and amplitude of the Nazca slab anomaly varies along the margin while the slab anomaly continues into the lower mantle along the entirety of the subduction margin. Beneath northern Brazil, the Nazca slab appears to stagnate at ~1000 km depth and extend eastward subhorizontally for >2000 km. South of 25°S the slab anomaly in the lower mantle extends offshore of eastern Argentina, hence we do not image if a similar stagnation occurs. We image several distinct features surrounding the slab including two vertically oriented slow seismic velocity anomalies: one beneath the Peruvian flat slab and the other beneath the Paraná Basin of Brazil. The presence of the latter anomaly directly adjacent to the stagnant Nazca slab suggests that the plume, known as the Paraná Plume, may be a focused upwelling formed in response to slab stagnation in the lower mantle. Additionally, we image a high amplitude fast seismic velocity anomaly beneath the Chile trench at the latitude of the Sierras Pampeanas which extends from ~400 to ~1000 km depth. This anomaly may be the remnants of an older, detached slab, however its relationship with the Nazca-South America subduction zone remains enigmatic.Fil: Rodríguez, Emily E.. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Portner, Daniel Evan. No especifíca;Fil: Beck, Susan L.. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Rocha, Marcelo P.. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Bianchi, Marcelo B.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Assumpção, Marcelo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Ruiz, Mario. Escuela Politécnica Nacional; EcuadorFil: Alvarado, Patricia Monica. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Geofísica y Astronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Condori, Cristobal. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Lynner, Colton. University Of Delaware; Estados Unido

Geology of the Alarcon Rise, Southern Gulf of California

Abstract Meter-scale AUV bathymetric mapping and ROV sampling of the entire 47 km-long Alarcon Rise between the Pescadero and Tamayo transforms show that the shallowest inflated portion of the segment hosts all four active hydrothermal vent fields and the youngest, hottest, and highest effusion rate lava flows. This shallowest inflated part is located ~1/3 of the way between the Tamayo and Pescadero transforms and is paved by a 16 km2 channelized flow that erupted from 9 km of en echelon fissures and is larger than historic flows on the East Pacific Rise or on the Gorda and Juan de Fuca Ridges. Starting ~5 km south of the Pescadero transform, 6.5 km of the Alarcon Rise is characterized by faulted ridges and domes of fractionated lavas ranging from basaltic andesite to rhyolite with up to 77.3 wt % SiO2. These are the first known rhyolites from the submarine global mid-ocean ridge system. Silicic lavas range from \u3e11.7 ka, to as young as 1.1 ka. A basalt-to-basaltic andesite sequence and an andesite-to-dacite-to-rhyolite sequence are consistent with crystal fractionation but some intermediate basaltic andesite and andesite formed by mixing basalt with dacite or rhyolite. Magmatism occurred along the bounding Tamayo and Pescadero transforms as extensive channelized flows. The flows erupted from ring faults surrounding uplifted sediment hills inferred to overlie sills. The transforms are transtensional to accommodate magma migration from the adjacent Alarcon Rise. Plain Language Summary This study combines 1 m resolution bathymetry collected using an autonomous underwater vehicle, with chemical compositions of precisely located lava samples and ages of lava flows determined from short sediment cores collected using a remotely operated vehicle. The objective was to determine the history of an entire 47 km long segment of the global mid-ocean ridge system. The ridge segment studied is named the Alarcon Rise and is located at the mouth of the Gulf of California. The Rise is bounded to the north and south by strike-slip faults that offset the Rise from adjacent segments of the spreading ridge system. Such faults are usually thought to be parallel to the direction of seafloor spreading, but these have an oblique component to their movement that makes space for magma to be injected along the faults where it uplifts hills of sediment and sometimes erupts. Most lavas erupted along midocean ridges are basalts, but some highly unusual silica-rich lavas were identified by their rough surface texture and sampled. These lavas include the most silica-rich ones found along the entire global submarine mid-ocean ridge system. They formed, not by melting of nearby continental crust, but from common basalt by extreme amounts of crystallization of minerals, leaving a small volume of remaining high-silica magma. The complete mapping and closely spaced sampling along the Rise show that old ideas indicating a central point of magma delivery from the underlying mantle for each ridge segment followed by shallow transport of the magmas along the ridge are supported by the central distribution of (1) hydrothermally active sites, (2) the youngest, hottest, most fluid lava flows, and (3) the most voluminous lava flows that accumulate to form the shallowest portion of the ridge segment. The study shows how magmas are transported at shallow depths along the ridge and even around the corners in the adjacent faults

Geology of the Alarcon Rise, Southern Gulf of California

Meter‐scale AUV bathymetric mapping and ROV sampling of the entire 47 km‐long Alarcon Rise between the Pescadero and Tamayo transforms show that the shallowest inflated portion of the segment hosts all four active hydrothermal vent fields and the youngest, hottest, and highest effusion rate lava flows. This shallowest inflated part is located ∼1/3 of the way between the Tamayo and Pescadero transforms and is paved by a 16 km2 channelized flow that erupted from 9 km of en echelon fissures and is larger than historic flows on the East Pacific Rise or on the Gorda and Juan de Fuca Ridges. Starting ∼5 km south of the Pescadero transform, 6.5 km of the Alarcon Rise is characterized by faulted ridges and domes of fractionated lavas ranging from basaltic andesite to rhyolite with up to 77.3 wt % SiO2. These are the first known rhyolites from the submarine global mid‐ocean ridge system. Silicic lavas range from \u3e11.7 ka, to as young as 1.1 ka. A basalt‐to‐basaltic andesite sequence and an andesite‐to‐dacite‐to‐rhyolite sequence are consistent with crystal fractionation but some intermediate basaltic andesite and andesite formed by mixing basalt with dacite or rhyolite. Magmatism occurred along the bounding Tamayo and Pescadero transforms as extensive channelized flows. The flows erupted from ring faults surrounding uplifted sediment hills inferred to overlie sills. The transforms are transtensional to accommodate magma migration from the adjacent Alarcon Rise

Geology of the Alarcon Rise, Southern Gulf of California

Meter‐scale AUV bathymetric mapping and ROV sampling of the entire 47 km‐long Alarcon Rise between the Pescadero and Tamayo transforms show that the shallowest inflated portion of the segment hosts all four active hydrothermal vent fields and the youngest, hottest, and highest effusion rate lava flows. This shallowest inflated part is located ∼1/3 of the way between the Tamayo and Pescadero transforms and is paved by a 16 km2 channelized flow that erupted from 9 km of en echelon fissures and is larger than historic flows on the East Pacific Rise or on the Gorda and Juan de Fuca Ridges. Starting ∼5 km south of the Pescadero transform, 6.5 km of the Alarcon Rise is characterized by faulted ridges and domes of fractionated lavas ranging from basaltic andesite to rhyolite with up to 77.3 wt % SiO2. These are the first known rhyolites from the submarine global mid‐ocean ridge system. Silicic lavas range from \u3e11.7 ka, to as young as 1.1 ka. A basalt‐to‐basaltic andesite sequence and an andesite‐to‐dacite‐to‐rhyolite sequence are consistent with crystal fractionation but some intermediate basaltic andesite and andesite formed by mixing basalt with dacite or rhyolite. Magmatism occurred along the bounding Tamayo and Pescadero transforms as extensive channelized flows. The flows erupted from ring faults surrounding uplifted sediment hills inferred to overlie sills. The transforms are transtensional to accommodate magma migration from the adjacent Alarcon Rise

Geologic history of the summit of Axial Seamount, Juan de Fuca Ridge

Multibeam (1 m resolution) and side scan data collected from an autonomous underwater vehicle, and lava samples, radiocarbon-dated sediment cores, and observations of flow contacts collected by remotely operated vehicle were combined to reconstruct the geologic history and flow emplacement processes on Axial Seamount’s summit and upper rift zones. The maps show 52 post-410 CE lava flows and 20 precaldera lava flows as old as 31.2 kyr, the inferred age of the caldera. Clastic deposits 1–2 m thick accumulated on the rims postcaldera. Between 31 ka and 410 CE, there are no known lava flows near the summit. The oldest postcaldera lava (410 CE) is a pillow cone SE of the caldera. Two flows erupted on the W rim between ~800 and 1000 CE. From 1220 to 1300 CE, generally small eruptions of plagioclase phyric, depleted, mafic lava occurred in the central caldera and on the east rim. Larger post-1400 CE eruptions produced inflated lobate flows of aphyric, less-depleted, and less mafic lava on the upper rift zones and in the N and S caldera. All caldera floor lava flows, and most uppermost rift zone flows, postdate 1220 CE. Activity shifted from the central caldera to the upper S rift outside the caldera, to the N rift and caldera floor, and then to the S caldera and uppermost S rift, where two historical eruptions occurred in 1998 and 2011. The average recurrence interval deduced from the flows erupted over the last 800 years is statistically identical to the 13 year interval between historical eruptions.Keywords: Lava flows, Juan de Fuca Ridge, Geologic, Mapping, Axial Seamoun