11 research outputs found
Volcanic CO2 output at the Central American subduction zone inferred from melt inclusions in olivine crystals from mafic tephras
The volatile contents of olivineâhosted (Fo89â71) melt inclusion glasses in rapidly quenched mafic tephras
from volcanic front volcanoes of the Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA) in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and
Costa Rica, were analyzed by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in order to derive the minimum eruptive
output of CO2, along with H2O, Cl, and S. Details of the analytical method are provided that establish
melt inclusion CO2 analyses with the Cameca ims6f at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam. The highest CO2 concentrations
(up to 1800 mg/g) are observed in Nicaraguan samples, while melt inclusions from Guatemala and
Costa Rica have CO2 contents between 50 and 500 mg/g. CO2 does not positively covary with sediment/slab
fluid tracers such as Ba/La, Ba/Th, or U/La. Instead, the highest CO2 concentrations occur in the inclusions
with the most depleted incompatible element compositions and low H2O, approaching the composition
of midâocean ridge basalts (MORBs), whereas the most H2Oârich inclusions are relatively CO2âpoor
(<800 mg/g). This suggests that CO2 degassing was more extensive in the melts with the highest slab contribution.
CO2/Nb ratios in the least degassed CAVA melt inclusions are similar to those of primitive MORBs.
These are interpreted here as recording a minimum CO2 output rate from the mantle wedge, which amounts to
2.8 Ă 104 g/s for the âŒ1100 km long CAVA. Previously published estimates from quiescent degassing and
numerical modeling, which also encompassed the slab contribution, are 3 times higher. This comparison
allows us to estimate the proportion of the total CO2 output derived from the mantle wedge
Across-arc geochemical variations in the Southern Volcanic Zone, Chile (34.5- 38.0°S): Constraints on Mantle Wedge and Input Compositions
Crustal assimilation (e.g. Hildreth and Moorbath, 1988) and/or subduction erosion (e.g. Stern, 1991; Kay et al., 2005) are believed to control the geochemical variations along the northern portion of the Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone. In order to evaluate these hypotheses, we present a comprehensive geochemical data set (major and trace elements and O-Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopes) from Holocene primarily olivine-bearing volcanic rocks across the arc between 34.5-38.0°S, including volcanic front centers from Tinguiririca to Callaqui, the rear arc centers of Infernillo Volcanic Field, Laguna del Maule and Copahue, and extending 300 km into the backarc. We also present an equivalent data set for Chile Trench sediments outboard of this profile. The volcanic arc (including volcanic front and rear arc) samples primarily range from basalt to andesite/trachyandesite, whereas the backarc rocks are low-silica alkali basalts and trachybasalts. All samples show some characteristic subduction zone trace element enrichments and depletions, but the backarc samples show the least. Backarc basalts have higher Ce/Pb, Nb/U, Nb/Zr, and Ta/Hf, and lower Ba/Nb and Ba/La, consistent with less of a slab-derived component in the backarc and, consequently, lower degrees of mantle melting. The mantle-like Ύ18O in olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts (volcanic arc = 4.9-5.6 and backarc = 5.0-5.4 per mil) and lack of correlation between Ύ18O and indices of differentiation and other isotope ratios, argue against significant crustal assimilation. Volcanic arc and backarc samples almost completely overlap in Sr and Nd isotopic composition. High precision (double-spike) Pb isotope ratios are tightly correlated, precluding significant assimilation of older sialic crust but indicating mixing between a South Atlantic Mid Ocean-Ridge Basalt (MORB) source and a slab component derived from subducted sediments and altered oceanic crust. Hf-Nd isotope ratios define separate linear arrays for the volcanic arc and backarc, neither of which trend toward subducting sediment, possibly reflecting a primarily asthenospheric mantle array for the volcanic arc and involvement of enriched Proterozoic lithospheric mantle in the backarc. We propose a quantitative mixing model between a mixed-source, slab-derived melt and a heterogeneous mantle beneath the volcanic arc. The model is consistent with local geodynamic parameters, assuming water-saturated conditions within the slab
Geochemical variations in the Central Southern Volcanic Zone, Chile (38-43°S): The role of fluids in generating arc magmas
We present new Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-O isotope data from the volcanic arc (VA, volcanic front and rear arc) in Chile and the backarc (BA) in Argentina of the Central Southern Volcanic Zone in Chile (CSVZ; 38-43°S). Compared to the Transitional (T) SVZ (34.5-38°S; Jacques et al., 2013), the CSVZ VA has erupted greater volumes over shorter time intervals (Völker et al., 2011) and produced more tholeiitic melts. Although the CSVZ VA monogenetic cones are similar to the TSVZ VA samples, the CSVZ VA stratovolcanoes have higher ratios of highly fluid-mobile to less fluid-mobile trace elements (e.g. U/Th, Pb/Ce, Ba/Nb) and lower more- to less-incompatible fluid-immobile element ratios (e.g. La/Yb, La/Sm, Th/Yb, Nb/Yb), consistent with an overall higher fluid flux and greater degree of flux melting beneath the CSVZ stratovolcanoes compared to the CSVZ monogenetic centers and the TSVZ VA. The CSVZ monogenetic centers overlap the TSVZ in Sr and Nd isotopes, but the stratovolcanoes are shifted to higher Sr and/or Nd isotope ratios. The Pb isotopic composition of the CSVZ overlaps the TSVZ, which is clearly dominated by the composition of the trench sediments, but the CSVZ monogenetic samples extend to less radiogenic Pb isotope ratios. Ύ18Omelt from the CSVZ stratovolcano samples are below the MORB range, whereas the CSVZ monogenetic and the TSVZ samples fall within and slightly above the MORB range. The Nd and Hf isotopic ratios of the CSVZ VA extend to more radiogenic compositions than found in the TSVZ VA, indicating a greater contribution from a more depleted source. These correlations are interpreted to reflect derivation of fluids from hydrothermally altered oceanic crust and/or serpentinized upper mantle of the subducting plate. CSVZ BA basalts largely overlap TSVZ BA basalts, displaying less or no subduction influence compared to the VA, but some CSVZ BA basalts tap more enriched mantle, possibly subcontinental lithosphere, with distinctively lower Nd and Hf and elevated 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb isotope ratios
Arc-parallel flow in the mantle wedge beneath Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Resolving flow geometry in the mantle wedge is central to understanding the thermal and chemical structure of subduction zones, subducting plate dehydration, and melting that leads to arc volcanism, which can threaten large populations and alter climate through gas and particle emission. Here we show that isotope geochemistry and seismic velocity anisotropy provide strong evidence for trench-parallel flow in the mantle wedge beneath Costa Rica and Nicaragua. This finding contradicts classical models, which predict trench-normal flow owing to the overlying wedge mantle being dragged downwards by the subducting plate. The isotopic signature of central Costa Rican volcanic rocks is not consistent with its derivation from the mantle wedge1, 2, 3 or eroded fore-arc complexes4 but instead from seamounts of the Galapagos hotspot track on the subducting Cocos plate. This isotopic signature decreases continuously from central Costa Rica to northwestern Nicaragua. As the age of the isotopic signature beneath Costa Rica can be constrained and its transport distance is known, minimum northwestward flow rates can be estimated (63â190 mm yr-1) and are comparable to the magnitude of subducting Cocos plate motion (approx85 mm yr-1). Trench-parallel flow needs to be taken into account in models evaluating thermal and chemical structure and melt generation in subduction zones
Oceanic Plateaus
Oceanic plateaus are vast areas (> 0.1 Ă 106 km2) of overthickened oceanic crust (up to, and sometimes > 30 km) that are widely interpreted to have formed by decompression melting of hot mantle plumes. Oceanic plateaus have formed throughout most of Earth's history and, due to their excess crustal thicknesses, are difficult to subduct; typically, their uppermost sections are accreted to continental margins. In addition to providing a means of preserving sections of these plateaus in the geological record, the accretion of oceanic plateaus has been an important contributor to crustal growth throughout Earth's history
Insights from trace element geochemistry as to the roles of subduction zone geometry and subduction input on the chemistry of arc magmas
Subduction zones of continental, transitional, and oceanic settings, relative to the nature of the overriding plate, are compared in terms of trace element compositions of mafic to intermediate arc rocks, in order to evaluate the relationship between subduction parameters and the presence of subduction fluids. The continental Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) and the transitional to oceanic Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA) show increasing degrees of melting with increasing involvement of slab fluids, as is typical for hydrous flux melting beneath arc volcanoes. At the SVZ, the central segment with the thinnest continental crust/lithosphere erupted the highest-degree melts from the most depleted sources, similar to the oceanic-like Nicaraguan segment of the CAVA. The northern part of the SVZ, located on the thickest continental crust/lithosphere, exhibits features more similar to Costa Rica situated on the Caribbean Large Igneous Province, with lower degrees of melting from more enriched source materials. The composition of the slab fluids is characteristic for each arc system, with a particularly pronounced enrichment in Pb at the SVZ and in Ba at the CAVA. A direct compositional relationship between the arc rocks and the corresponding marine sediments that are subducted at the trenches clearly shows that the compositional signature of the lavas erupted in the different arcs carries an inherited signal from the subducted sediments