Covariation of Slab Tracers, Volatiles, and Oxidation During Subduction Initiation

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

6-1-2021

Abstract

Subduction-related lavas have higher Fe3+/∑Fe than midocean ridge basalts (MORB). Hypotheses for this offset include imprint from subducting slabs and differentiation in thickened crust. These ideas are readily tested through examination of the time-dependent evolution of slab-derived signatures, thickening crust of the overriding plate, and evolving redox during subduction initiation. Here, we present Fe3+/ΣFe and volatile element abundances of volcanic glasses recovered from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 to the Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) forearc. The samples include forearc basalts (FAB) that are stratigraphically overlain by low- and high-silica boninite lavas. The FAB glasses have 0.18–0.85 wt% H2O, 75–233 ppm CO2, S contents controlled by saturation with a sulfide phase (602–1,386 ppm), Ba/La from 3.9-10, and Fe3+/ΣFe ratios from 0.136 to 0.177. These compositions are similar to MORB and suggest that decompression melting of dry and reduced mantle dominates the earliest stages of subduction initiation. Low- and high-silica boninite glasses have 1.51–3.19 wt% H2O, CO2 below detection, S contents below those required for sulfide saturation (5–235 ppm), Ba/La from 11 to 29, and Fe3+/∑Fe from 0.181 to 0.225. The compositions are broadly similar to modern arc lavas in the IBM arc. These data demonstrate that the establishment of fluid-fluxed melting of the mantle, which occurs in just 0.6–1.2 my after subduction initiation, is synchronous with the production of oxidized, mantle-derived magmas. The coherence of high Fe3+/∑Fe and Ba/La ratios with high H2O contents in Expedition 352 glasses and the modern IBM arc rocks strongly links the production of oxidized arc magmas to signatures of slab dehydration.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

Volume

22

Issue

6

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