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Puel S, Becker TW, Villa U, Ghattas O, Liu D. Volcanic arc rigidity variations illuminated by coseismic deformation of the 2011 Tohoku-oki M9. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl4264. [PMID: 38838148 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl4264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Rock strength has long been linked to lithospheric deformation and seismicity. However, independent constraints on the related elastic heterogeneity are missing, yet could provide key information for solid Earth dynamics. Using coseismic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) data for the 2011 M9 Tohoku-oki earthquake in Japan, we apply an inverse method to infer elastic structure and fault slip simultaneously. We find compliant material beneath the volcanic arc and in the mantle wedge within the partial melt generation zone inferred to lie above ~100 km slab depth. We also identify low-rigidity material closer to the trench matching seismicity patterns, likely associated with accretionary wedge structure. Along with traditional seismic and electromagnetic methods, our approach opens up avenues for multiphysics inversions. Those have the potential to advance earthquake and volcano science, and in particular once expanded to InSAR type constraints, may lead to a better understanding of transient lithospheric deformation across scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Puel
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 78758 TX, USA
| | - Thorsten W Becker
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 78758 TX, USA
- Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Umberto Villa
- Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Omar Ghattas
- Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Dunyu Liu
- Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 78758 TX, USA
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2
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Hicks SP, Bie L, Rychert CA, Harmon N, Goes S, Rietbrock A, Wei SS, Collier JS, Henstock TJ, Lynch L, Prytulak J, Macpherson CG, Schlaphorst D, Wilkinson JJ, Blundy JD, Cooper GF, Davy RG, Kendall JM. Slab to back-arc to arc: Fluid and melt pathways through the mantle wedge beneath the Lesser Antilles. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadd2143. [PMID: 36724230 PMCID: PMC9891694 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add2143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Volatiles expelled from subducted plates promote melting of the overlying warm mantle, feeding arc volcanism. However, debates continue over the factors controlling melt generation and transport, and how these determine the placement of volcanoes. To broaden our synoptic view of these fundamental mantle wedge processes, we image seismic attenuation beneath the Lesser Antilles arc, an end-member system that slowly subducts old, tectonized lithosphere. Punctuated anomalies with high ratios of bulk-to-shear attenuation (Qκ-1/Qμ-1 > 0.6) and VP/VS (>1.83) lie 40 km above the slab, representing expelled fluids that are retained in a cold boundary layer, transporting fluids toward the back-arc. The strongest attenuation (1000/QS ~ 20), characterizing melt in warm mantle, lies beneath the back-arc, revealing how back-arc mantle feeds arc volcanoes. Melt ponds under the upper plate and percolates toward the arc along structures from earlier back-arc spreading, demonstrating how slab dehydration, upper-plate properties, past tectonics, and resulting melt pathways collectively condition volcanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen P. Hicks
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Lidong Bie
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Catherine A. Rychert
- School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, MA, USA
| | - Nicholas Harmon
- School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, MA, USA
| | - Saskia Goes
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | | | - Songqiao Shawn Wei
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Jenny S. Collier
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Timothy J. Henstock
- School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Lloyd Lynch
- Seismic Research Centre, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
| | - Julie Prytulak
- Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | | | | | - Jamie J. Wilkinson
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
- London Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - George F. Cooper
- School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Richard G. Davy
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
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3
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Climatic control on the location of continental volcanic arcs. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22167. [PMID: 36550179 PMCID: PMC9780350 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26158-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Orogens and volcanic arcs at continental plate margins are primary surface expressions of convergent plate tectonics. Although it is established that climate affects the shape, size, and architecture of orogens via orographic erosion gradients, the ascent of magma through the crust and location of volcanoes along magmatic arcs have been considered insensitive to erosion. However, available data reveal westward migration of late-Cenozoic volcanic activity in the Southern Andes and Cascade Range where orography drives an eastward migration of the topographic water divide by increased precipitation and erosion along west-facing slopes. Thermomechanical numerical modeling shows that orographic erosion and the associated leeward topographic migration may entail asymmetric crustal structures that drive the magma ascent toward the region of enhanced erosion. Despite the different tectonic histories of the Southern Andes and the Cascade Range, orographic erosion is a shared causal mechanism that can explain the late-Cenozoic westward migration of the volcanic front along both magmatic arcs.
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Willett CD, Ma KF, Brandon MT, Hourigan JK, Christeleit EC, Shuster DL. Transient glacial incision in the Patagonian Andes from ~6 Ma to present. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaay1641. [PMID: 32195355 PMCID: PMC7065534 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay1641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We report a mountain-scale record of erosion rates in the central Patagonian Andes from >10 million years (Ma) ago to present, which covers the transition from a fluvial to alpine glaciated landscape. Apatite (U-Th)/He ages of 72 granitic cobbles from alpine glacial deposits show slow erosion before ~6 Ma ago, followed by a two- to threefold increase in the spatially averaged erosion rate of the source region after the onset of alpine glaciations and a 15-fold increase in the top 25% of the distribution. This transition is followed by a pronounced decrease in erosion rates over the past ~3 Ma. We ascribe the pulse of fast erosion to local deepening and widening of valleys, which are characteristic features of alpine glaciated landscapes. The subsequent decline in local erosion rates may represent a return toward a balance between rock uplift and erosion.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. D. Willett
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, 307 McCone Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - K. F. Ma
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 210 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - M. T. Brandon
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 210 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - J. K. Hourigan
- Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, UC Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - E. C. Christeleit
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, 210 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - D. L. Shuster
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, 307 McCone Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
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5
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Huang Y, Nakatani T, Nakamura M, McCammon C. Saline aqueous fluid circulation in mantle wedge inferred from olivine wetting properties. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5557. [PMID: 31804479 PMCID: PMC6895192 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13513-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, high electrical conductors have been detected beneath some fore-arcs and are believed to store voluminous slab-derived fluids. This implies that the for-arc mantle wedge is permeable for aqueous fluids. Here, we precisely determine the dihedral (wetting) angle in an olivine–NaCl–H2O system at fore-arc mantle conditions to assess the effect of salinity of subduction-zone fluids on the fluid connectivity. We find that NaCl significantly decreases the dihedral angle to below 60° in all investigated conditions at concentrations above 5 wt% and, importantly, even at 1 wt% at 2 GPa. Our results show that slab-released fluid forms an interconnected network at relatively shallow depths of ~80 km and can partly reach the fore-arc crust without causing wet-melting and serpentinization of the mantle. Fluid transport through this permeable window of mantle wedge accounts for the location of the high electrical conductivity anomalies detected in fore-arc regions. The authors here perform experiments to investigate the dihedral angle of olivine-H2O and olivine-H2O-NaCl systems. The observed effect of NaCl to decrease dihedral angles allows fluids to percolate through forearc mantle wedge and to accumulate in the overlying crust, accounting for the high electrical conductivity anomalies in forearc regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongsheng Huang
- Department of Earth Science, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8578, Japan.
| | - Takayuki Nakatani
- Department of Earth Science, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8578, Japan
| | - Michihiko Nakamura
- Department of Earth Science, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8578, Japan
| | - Catherine McCammon
- Bayerisches Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany
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6
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Ophiolitic Pyroxenites Record Boninite Percolation in Subduction Zone Mantle. MINERALS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/min9090565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The peridotite section of supra-subduction zone ophiolites is often crosscut by pyroxenite veins, reflecting the variety of melts that percolate through the mantle wedge, react, and eventually crystallize in the shallow lithospheric mantle. Understanding the nature of parental melts and the timing of formation of these pyroxenites provides unique constraints on melt infiltration processes that may occur in active subduction zones. This study deciphers the processes of orthopyroxenite and clinopyroxenite formation in the Josephine ophiolite (USA), using new trace and major element analyses of pyroxenite minerals, closure temperatures, elemental profiles, diffusion modeling, and equilibrium melt calculations. We show that multiple melt percolation events are required to explain the variable chemistry of peridotite-hosted pyroxenite veins, consistent with previous observations in the xenolith record. We argue that the Josephine ophiolite evolved in conditions intermediate between back-arc and sub-arc. Clinopyroxenites formed at an early stage of ophiolite formation from percolation of high-Ca boninites. Several million years later, and shortly before exhumation, orthopyroxenites formed through remelting of the Josephine harzburgites through percolation of ultra-depleted low-Ca boninites. Thus, we support the hypothesis that multiple types of boninites can be created at different stages of arc formation and that ophiolitic pyroxenites uniquely record the timing of boninite percolation in subduction zone mantle.
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7
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Episodic zircon age spectra mimic fluctuations in subduction. Sci Rep 2018; 8:17471. [PMID: 30504775 PMCID: PMC6269492 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-35040-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2018] [Accepted: 10/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Decades of geochronological work have shown the temporal distribution of zircon ages to be episodic on billion-year timescales and seemingly coincident with the lifecycle of supercontinents, but the physical processes behind this episodicity remain contentious. The dominant, end-member models of fluctuating magmatic productivity versus selective preservation of zircon during times of continental assembly have important and very different implications for long-term, global-scale phenomena, including the history of crustal growth, the initiation and evolution of plate tectonics, and the tempo of mantle outgassing over billions of years. Consideration of this episodicity has largely focused on the Precambrian, but here we analyze a large collection of Phanerozoic zircon ages in the context of global, full-plate tectonic models that extend back to the mid-Paleozoic. We scrutinize two long-lived and relatively simple active margins, and show that along both, a relationship between the regional subduction flux and zircon age distribution is evident. In both cases, zircon age peaks correspond to intervals of high subduction flux with a ~10–30 Ma time lag (zircons trailing subduction), illuminating a possibly intrinsic delay in the subduction-related magmatic system. We also show that subduction fluxes provide a stronger correlation to zircon age distributions than subduction lengths do, implying that convergence rates play a significant role in regulating the volume of melting in subduction-related magmatic systems, and thus crustal growth.
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8
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Arc-like magmas generated by mélange-peridotite interaction in the mantle wedge. Nat Commun 2018; 9:2864. [PMID: 30030428 PMCID: PMC6054672 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05313-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms of transfer of crustal material from the subducting slab to the overlying mantle wedge are still debated. Mélange rocks, formed by mixing of sediments, oceanic crust, and ultramafics along the slab-mantle interface, are predicted to ascend as diapirs from the slab-top and transfer their compositional signatures to the source region of arc magmas. However, the compositions of melts that result from the interaction of mélanges with a peridotite wedge remain unknown. Here we present experimental evidence that melting of peridotite hybridized by mélanges produces melts that carry the major and trace element abundances observed in natural arc magmas. We propose that differences in nature and relative contributions of mélanges hybridizing the mantle produce a range of primary arc magmas, from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline. Thus, assimilation of mélanges into the wedge may play a key role in transferring subduction signatures from the slab to the source of arc magmas. Mélange rocks are predicted to form at the slab-mantle interface in most subduction zones, but their role in arc magmatism is still debated. Here, the authors show that melting of peridotite hybridized by mélange rocks produces melts that carry the major and trace element abundances of natural arc magmas.
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9
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Volcanism in slab tear faults is larger than in island-arcs and back-arcs. Nat Commun 2017; 8:1451. [PMID: 29129913 PMCID: PMC5682279 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01626-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 10/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Subduction-transform edge propagators are lithospheric tears bounding slabs and back-arc basins. The volcanism at these edges is enigmatic because it is lacking comprehensive geological and geophysical data. Here we present bathymetric, potential-field data, and direct observations of the seafloor on the 90 km long Palinuro volcanic chain overlapping the E-W striking tear of the roll-backing Ionian slab in Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The volcanic chain includes arc-type central volcanoes and fissural, spreading-type centers emplaced along second-order shears. The volume of the volcanic chain is larger than that of the neighbor island-arc edifices and back-arc spreading center. Such large volume of magma is associated to an upwelling of the isotherms due to mantle melts upraising from the rear of the slab along the tear fault. The subduction-transform edge volcanism focuses localized spreading processes and its magnitude is underestimated. This volcanism characterizes the subduction settings associated to volcanic arcs and back-arc spreading centers. The volcanism of subduction settings concentrates in island-arcs and back-arc basins. Here, the authors show that the lithospheric tear faults bounding roll-backing slabs may focus huge volcanism with a volume of the erupted products exceeding that of the island-arcs edifices and back-arcs spreading centres.
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10
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Seismic evidence for a cold serpentinized mantle wedge beneath Mount St Helens. Nat Commun 2016; 7:13242. [PMID: 27802263 PMCID: PMC5097125 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2016] [Accepted: 09/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Mount St Helens is the most active volcano within the Cascade arc; however, its location is unusual because it lies 50 km west of the main axis of arc volcanism. Subduction zone thermal models indicate that the down-going slab is decoupled from the overriding mantle wedge beneath the forearc, resulting in a cold mantle wedge that is unlikely to generate melt. Consequently, the forearc location of Mount St Helens raises questions regarding the extent of the cold mantle wedge and the source region of melts that are responsible for volcanism. Here using, high-resolution active-source seismic data, we show that Mount St Helens sits atop a sharp lateral boundary in Moho reflectivity. Weak-to-absent PmP reflections to the west are attributed to serpentinite in the mantle-wedge, which requires a cold hydrated mantle wedge beneath Mount St Helens (<∼700 °C). These results suggest that the melt source region lies east towards Mount Adams.
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11
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Continental crust formation at arcs, the arclogite “delamination” cycle, and one origin for fertile melting anomalies in the mantle. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s11434-015-0828-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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12
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Pathway from subducting slab to surface for melt and fluids beneath Mount Rainier. Nature 2014; 511:338-40. [PMID: 25030172 DOI: 10.1038/nature13493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2013] [Accepted: 05/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Convergent margin volcanism originates with partial melting, primarily of the upper mantle, into which the subducting slab descends. Melting of this material can occur in one of two ways. The flow induced in the mantle by the slab can result in upwelling and melting through adiabatic decompression. Alternatively, fluids released from the descending slab through dehydration reactions can migrate into the hot mantle wedge, inducing melting by lowering the solidus temperature. The two mechanisms are not mutually exclusive. In either case, the buoyant melts make their way towards the surface to reside in the crust or to be extruded as lava. Here we use magnetotelluric data collected across the central state of Washington, USA, to image the complete pathway for the fluid-melt phase. By incorporating constraints from a collocated seismic study into the magnetotelluric inversion process, we obtain superior constraints on the fluids and melt in a subduction setting. Specifically, we are able to identify and connect fluid release at or near the top of the slab, migration of fluids into the overlying mantle wedge, melting in the wedge, and transport of the melt/fluid phase to a reservoir in the crust beneath Mt Rainier.
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13
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Stern T, Benson A. Wide-angle seismic imaging beneath an andesitic arc: Central North Island, New Zealand. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2011jb008337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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14
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England PC, Katz RF. Global systematics of arc volcano position. Nature 2010; 468:E6-7; discussion E7-8. [PMID: 21150944 DOI: 10.1038/nature09154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2009] [Accepted: 04/12/2010] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Global systematics in the location of volcanic arcs above subduction zones are widely considered to be a clue to the melting processes that occur at depth, and the locations of the arcs have often been explained in terms of the release of hydrous fluids near the top of the subducting slab (see, for example, refs 3-6). Grove et al. conclude that arc volcano location is controlled by melting in the mantle at temperatures above the water-saturated upper-mantle solidus and below the upper limit of stability of the mineral chlorite and in particular, that the arc fronts lie directly above the shallowest point of such melt regions in the mantle. Here we show that this conclusion is incorrect because the calculated arc locations of Grove et al. are in error owing to the inadequate spatial resolution of their numerical models, and because the agreement that they find between predicted and observed systematics arises from a spurious correlation between calculated arc location and slab dip. A more informative conclusion to draw from their experiments is that the limits of chlorite stability (figure 1b of ref. 7) cannot explain the global systematics in the depth to the slab beneath the sharply localized arc fronts.
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