SUBDUCTIONRELATEDVOLCANISM

VolcanismatconvergentmarginsisamajorphysicalandchemicalprocessontheEarth.Itisrelatedto
subductionofoceancrustbelowotheroceancrust(islandarcvolcanism)orbelowthecontinental
crust(andesiticvolcanism).Theyaregeneratedalongactivemarginsoftectonicplates.
PhysicalCharacteristicsofSubductionzoneVolcanism

AndesiticvolcanoesoccuroverBenioffzones,theseismicallyactiveregionsattheinterface
betweenthesubductinglithosphereandoverlyingcrustormantle.
Subductionrelatedvolcanoesaretypicallystratavolcanoes,incontrasttoshieldvolcanoes
formedhotspotvolcanism.
Inislandarcs,theremaybeadevelopmentofabackarcbasin,wheretholeiiticmagmasmay
erupt.Thisisobserved,forexample,intheJapanesearc.Backarcstructuresarelacking
andesitictypesubductions.

PrincipalChemicalandMineralogicCharacteristics:

Themajorityandaverageoferuptedlavasareandesites(~5560wt.%SiO2)buttheyrange
fromtholeiiticbasalt,andesites,dacites,torhyolites.
Equivalentplutonicrocksthatcrystallizeinsubvolcanicmagmachambersrangefrom
equivalentgabbro,diorite,granodiorite,granite.Plutonicrocksare,however,minor.
Becausemostofthemagmashaverelativelyhighcalciumandsodiumconcentrations,theyare
calledcalcalkaline.However,tholeiitesalsooccur.
Amajordistinctionofvolcanismatsubductionzonescomparedtooceanfloorvolcanismisthe
usualexplosivenatureofsubductionrelatedvolcanism.Thisisduetothefairlyhighcontentof
waterinandesiticmagmas.
Asidefromplagioclaseandclinopyroxeneasimportantminerals,hornblendeandbiotitealso
occur.TheirpresenceimpliesthepresenceofH2Ointhemagmas.

DetailedChemicalCharacteristicsofSubductionzoneLavas
Widerangeofcompositions
Asnotedabove,magmaserupted
outofasinglevolcanorangein
compositionfrombasaltto
rhyolite.Harkerdiagramsshow
smoothtrendsindicativeofa
continuousgeneticrelationship,
probablyfractionalcrystallization.

Al 2 O3

15

10
CaO

FeO

MgO
Na 2 O
K2 O

55

60

65

70

wt. % SiO 2
variation of oxides in Crater Lake lavas
(after Williams, 1942)

CalcalkalineandTholeiiticTrends
Subductionrelatedrocksshowtwotrendscalcalkalineandtholeiitic.Thetrendsareillustratedwell
onanAFMdiagram:
FeO
tholeiitic

calc-alkaline

Na2O + K2O

MgO

A)Tholeiitictrendismarkedbyironenrichmentcausedbycrystallizationofolivineandpyroxene,
whichhavehighMg/Feratiosrelativetomelt.TheFeenrichmentisthenfollowedbylateswing
towardalkalis.Tholeiitictrendsoccurmostlyinislandarcs.
B)Calcalkalinetrendexhibitsonlysmallamountofironenrichmentduringdifferentiation.Thisis
becauseofthecrystallizationofamphibole,whichhasapproximatelythesameMg/Feratioasthe
coexistingmelt.ThecalcalkalineseriesgenerallyhasmoreH2Othanthetholeiiticseries.Calc

alkalineseriesaredominantinandesitictypesubductionzones.Rocksinbothseriescanrangefrom
basalttorhyolite.
K2Oconcentration(classificationofGill,1981)
TheconcentrationofK2Oinsubductionzonerocksrangefrom~0.5to~2.5wt.%.TherearelowK,
mediumKandhighKsuites.ThetholeiiticseriesismostlylowK,whereasthecalcalkalineseriesis
mostlymediumtohighK.ThehighconcentrationofK2Oincalcalkalinemeltsmayberelatedtoits
enrichmentinthesourceregionduringfluxingbywater(seebelow).
Thus,comparedtothetholeiiticseriesmagmas,thecalcalkalineseriesmagmashave
higherwatercontents,indicatedbythepresenceofabundanthydrousminerals;
higherK2Oconcentrations;
onaverage,somewhathigherSiO2concentrations;
isthedominantseriesinandesitictypesubductionzones,wherethetholeiiticseriesisnotvery
common.
PetrogenesisTheImportanceofWater
Waterplaysaverysignificantroleinthegenerationofmagmasinsubductionzoneenvironments
frommagmagenerationtoeruption.
Bythetimetheoceancrustbeginstosubduct,maficmineralsinithavebecomehydrated,where
olivineandpyroxenemayhaveturnedtoserpentineandpyroxenealsotoamphibole,dependingonthe
amountofseawaterthathasinteractedwiththecrust.Inaddition,overlyingsedimentsmayhave
substantialamountofwater.Astheoceancrust,togetherwiththeunderlyingmantlelithosphere,
beginstosubductandheatup,metamorphicdehydrationreactionsresultinexpulsionofwaterfrom
theslabintotheoverlyingmantlewedge(seeattached).
Theslabeventuallybecomeseclogitic,meaningthatithaslotofgarnet,andbecomesverydense.
Garnetisproducedbyreactionofpyroxeneswithplagioclase.Notethatsubductingslabsusuallydo
notbecomehotenoughnearBenioffzonestomelt.
Inthemantlewedge,theinfluxofwaterhasseveraleffects:
1)waterreducesthesolidustemperatureoftheperidotitemantlewedge.
Waterhasaprofoundeffectonthemeltingtemperatureofrocks.Astheattachedfigureshows,
ifthereisfreewateraround,thesolidiofrockscanbeloweredseveralhundredsofdegrees.Therefore,
theinfluxofwaterintotheoverlyingmantlewedgeinducesitsmelting.Typically,calcalkaline
magmasaremorewaterrichthantholeiiticmagmas.

water saturated

dry

30

20

10

500

1000
Temperature (C)

1500

2)watercarriessolubleelementsfromthesubductingslabintothesourceregion.
Manyelements,includingK,Ba,U,B,aresolubleinaqueousfluids.Therefore,theescaping
watermaycarrytheseelementsfromthesubductingslab(wheretheymayalsobeincorporatedin
subductedsediments),intotheoverlyingsourceregionofthemagmainthemantlewedge.This
processmayexplainthegenerallyhigherconcentrationoftheelementsinthecalcalkalineseriesthan
tholeiiticseries.
3)wateraffectsthemajorelementcompositionofmeltsgeneratedinthemantle.
MeltingofthemantleperidotiteunderconditionsofhighP(H2O)resultsintopologyofthe
Mg2SiO4CaMgSi2O6SiO2phasediagramthatlookslikeits1atmanaloguemeltingofenstatiteis
incongruentandtheperitecticmeltcompositionhashighSiO2/(MgO+FeO)ratio.
Ca(Mg,Fe)Si2O6
cpx

cpx+L
e
10 kbar

high P(H2 O)

ol+L

p
opx+L

ol
(Mg,Fe)2SiO4

opx

qtz
SiO2

after Stolper, 1983 and Kushiro & Yoder, 1969

Allthecontrastingcharacteristicsofthecalcalkalinevs.tholeiiticseriesthatarenotedabovesuggest
thatwaterplaysgreaterroleinpetrogenesisofthedominantcalcalkalineseries.

4)waterpromotesexplosivevolcanism.
Thesolubilityofwaterinsilicate
meltsdecreaseswithdecreaseinpressure
(seethediagrambelow).Furthermore,as
crystallizationproceeds,mostwaterthatis
dissolvedinthemelthastoexsolvefromit.
Becausethemolarvolumeofthe
supercriticalvaporisverylarge,exsolution
ofwaterduringascentofmeltthroughthe
crustandcrystallizationofthemeltina
subvolcanicmagmachamberbothpromote
explosiveeruptions,astheexsolvedwater
createsoverpressureinthemagmachamber
underavolcano.

wt.% H 2O

10

15

Water solubility in melts of various compositions as a

function of pressure at 1100C (after Burnham, 1979).