Island Arcs

A detailed examination of the hypothesis that high-alumina basalts (HAB) in island arcs are primary magmas derived by 50–60% partial melting of subducted ocean crust eclogite shows that this model is unlikely to be viable. Evidence suggests that the overwhelming majority of arc HAB are porphyritic lavas, enriched in Al2O3 either by protracted prior crystallization of olivine and clinopyroxene, or by plagioclase phenocryst accumulation in magmas of basaltic andesite to dacite composition. Experimentally-determined phase relationships of such plagioclase-enriched (non-liquid) compositions have little bearing on the petrogenesis of arc magmas, and do not rule out the possibility that arc HAB can be derived by fractionation of more primitive arc lavas. Although models invoking eclogite-melting can match typical arc HAB REE patterns, calculations indicate that the Ni and Cr contents of proposed Aleutian primary HAB are many times lower than such models predict. In contrast, Ni vs Sc and Cr vs Sc trends for arc HAB are readily explained by olivine (+Cr-sp) and clinopyroxene-dominated fractionation from more primitive arc magmas. GENMIX major element modelling of several HAB compositions as partial melts of MORB eclogite, using appropriate experimentally (26–34 kb)-determined garnet and omphacite compositions yields exceptionally poor matches, especially for CaO, Na2O, MgO and Al2O3. These mismatches are easily explained if the HAB are plagioclase-accumulative. Groundmasses of arc HAB are shown to vary from basaltic andesite to dacite in composition. Crystal fractionation driving liquid compositions toward dacite involves important plagioclase separation, resulting in development of significant negative Eu anomalies in more evolved lavas. Plagioclase accumulation in such evolved liquids tends to diminish or eliminate negative Eu anomalies. Therefore, the absence of positive Eu anomaly in a plagioclase-phyric HAB does not indicate that plagioclase has not accumulated in that lava. In addition, we show that plagioclase phenocrysts in arc HAB are not in equilibrium with the liquids in which they were carried (groundmass). Exceptional volumes of picrite and olivine basalt occur in the Solomons and Vanuatu arcs; the presence in lavas from these and other arcs (Aleutian, Tonga) of olivine phenocrysts to Fo94, finds no ready explanation in the primary eclogite-derived HAB model. We suggest that most lavas in intra-oceanic arcs are derived from parental magmas with >10% MgO; fractionation of olivine (+Cr-sp) and clinopyroxene drives liquids to basalt compositions with <7% MgO, but plagioclase nucleation is delayed by their low but significant (<1%?) H2O contents. Thus evolved liquid compositions in the basaltic andesite—andesite range may achieve relatively high Al2O3 contents (<17.5%). The majority of arc basalts, however, have Al2O3 contents in excess of 18%, reflecting plagioclase accumulation. We give new experimental data to show that HAB liquids may be generated by anhydrous, low-degree (<10%) partial melting of peridotite at P<18 kb. Relative to arc HAB, these experimental melts have notably higher Mg#(69–72) and are in equilibrium with olivine Fo87–89. Only further detailed trace element modelling will show if they might be parental magmas for some arc HAB.

Merapi Volcano (Central Java, Indonesia) has been frequently active during Middle to Late Holocene time producing basalts and basaltic andesites of medium-K composition in earlier stages of activity and high-K magmas from ∼1900 14C yr BP to the present. Radiocarbon dating of pyroclastic deposits indicates an almost continuous activity with periods of high eruption rates alternating with shorter time spans of distinctly reduced eruptive frequency since the first appearance of high-K volcanic rocks. Geochemical data of 28 well-dated, prehistoric pyroclastic flows of the Merapi high-K series indicate systematic cyclic variations. These medium-term compositional variations result from a complex interplay of several magmatic processes, which ultimately control the periodicity and frequency of eruptions at Merapi. Low eruption rates and the absence of new influxes of primitive magma from depth allow the generation of basaltic andesite magma (56–57 wt% SiO2) in a small-volume magma reservoir through fractional crystallisation from parental mafic magma (52–53 wt% SiO2) in periods of low eruptive frequency. Magmas of intermediate composition erupted during these stages provide evidence for periodic withdrawal of magma from a steadily fractionating magma chamber. Subsequent periods are characterised by high eruption rates that coincide with shifts of whole-rock compositions from basaltic andesite to basalt. This compositional variation is interpreted to originate from influxes of primitive magma into a continuously active magma chamber, triggering the eruption of evolved magma after periods of low eruptive frequency. Batches of primitive magma eventually mix with residual magma in the magmatic reservoir to decrease whole-rock SiO2 contents. Supply of primitive magma at Merapi appears to be sufficiently frequent that andesites or more differentiated rock types were not generated during the past ∼2000 years of activity. Cyclic variations also occurred during the recent eruptive period since AD 1883. The most recent eruptive episode of Merapi is characterised by essentially uniform magma compositions that may imply the existence of a continuously active magma reservoir, maintained in a quasi-steady state by magma recharge. The whole-rock compositions at the upper limit of the total SiO2 range of the Merapi suite could also indicate the beginning of another period of high eruption rates and shifts towards more mafic compositions.

Geological, geochronological and geochemical evidence suggest that several distinct parts of the Neoproterozoic orogen developed at the active margin of Gondwana are preserved in Moesia and South Carpathians. Parts of a Neoproterozoic volcanic arc and foreland basin are preserved in East Moesia while the Alpine Danubian Nappes preserve remnants of a Pan- African (Cadomian) volcanic arc and its marginal backarc basin. The East Moesian basement exposed in Central Dobrogea includes Pre-Cambrian tholeiitic metabasites from Altin Tepe showing arc/back arc affi nities, subjected to a &quot;Cadomian&quot; deformation together with the Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian turbidites of Histria Formation. In subsurface of South Dobrogea, a Neoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary suite with alkali basalts, related to rifting of the Precambrian Moesian crust, was deformed during latest Neoproterozoic thusting. The Precambrian basement of the Danubian Nappes includes Pan-African island arc metavolcanics (D...

The Woodlark Basin consists primarily of crust formed at the Woodlark spreading center over the last five million years. The basin and spreading center are
currently being subducted beneath the New Georgia Group, part of the Solomons island arc. The crust of the Woodlark Basin and the overriding plate were dredged
by R/V KANA KEOKI in 1982 to explore the geochemical consequences of ridge subduction. This paper reports on the geochemistry of the dredged volcanics from
the Woodlark spreading center and the triple junction region.

Although the one rock previously recovered from the Woodlark Basin was midocean ridge basalt (MORB), only one of four dredges (RD26) contained normal MORB. The other three dredges recovered (1) basalts with slight backarc basin affinities from RD29 and RD28; (2) basalts and basaltic andesites with marked backarc basin
affinities from RD32; and (3) a unique basalt type with approximately 5% Na20, less than 0.1% K2O, around 220 ppm Sr, less than 5 ppm Ba and relatively high Ti02
contents from RD32.
The Woodlark Basin is apparently chemically zoned orthogonal to the current locus of subduct ion. Crust farther than 150 km from the subduct ion zone is normal
MORB. Nearer the subduction zone the submarine volcanic rocks acquire an increasingly arc-like chemistry. Kavachi volcano, which is 30 km from the subduction zone on the overriding plate, appears to be a continuation of the chemical zoning of the Woodlark Basin. The chemical zonation is difficult to explain in terms of the current plate configuration but may be explicable if the mantle beneath the Woodlark Basin was previously affected by subduction of reversed polarity.

The 5 April 2003 paroxysmal explosion at Stromboli volcano was one of the strongest explosive events of the last century. It occurred while the effusive eruption, begun on 28 December 2002 and finished on 22 July 2003, was still on going and the summit craters of the volcano were obstructed. In this paper, we present a reconstruction of the sequence of events based on thermal and visual images collected from helicopter before, during and immediately after the paroxysm. One month before the blast, ash emission and temperature increase at the bottom of the summit craters were observed. An increasing amount of juvenile components in the emitted ash during March suggested that the magma level within the crater was rising accordingly. Hot degassing vents at the bottom of the summit craters were not persistent, and the craters remained almost entirely obstructed by talus accumulation until the paroxysm occurred. Three minutes before the explosion, we recorded a significant increase in temperature inside Crater 1, accompanied by a thicker gas plume. Thirty-two seconds before the blast, reddish ash was emitted from Crater 1. The paroxysm produced a vulcanian explosion that opened the feeder conduit, obstructed for over three months. The blast was accompanied by a shock wave recorded by the INGV seismic network at 07:13:37 GMT. Explosions with hot material started from Crater 1, and after 15 s propagated to Crater 3, about 100 m away. The velocity of ejecta was ∼80 m s− 1, and increased when the eruptive plumes from both craters merged together during the vulcanian phase. An eruptive column rose 1 km above the top of the volcano, and explosions continued mainly at Crater 3. The paroxysm lasted about 9 min, with bombs up to 4 m wide falling on the village of Ginostra, on the west flank of the island, and destroying two houses. This event signalled the start of the declining phase of the effusive eruption, suggesting that the feeder conduit was returning to its former steady conditions, with open vents and continuous, mild strombolian activity.

The 5 April 2003 paroxysmal explosion at Stromboli volcano was one of the strongest explosive events of the last century. It occurred while the effusive eruption, begun on 28 December 2002 and finished on 22 July 2003, was still on going and the summit craters of the volcano were obstructed. In this paper, we present a reconstruction of the sequence