Mantle Melting as a Function of Water Content beneath the Mariana Arc

Abstract

Subduction zone magmas are characterized by high concentrations of pre-eruptive H_2O, presumably as a result of an H_2Oflux originating from the dehydrating, subducting slab. The extent of mantle melting increases as a function of increasing water content beneath back-arc basins and is predicted to increase in a similar manner beneath arc volcanoes. Here, we present new data for olivine-hosted, basaltic melt inclusions from the Mariana arc that reveal pre-eruptive H_2O contents of ~1•5-6•0 wt %, which are up to three times higher than concentrations reported for the Mariana Trough back-arc basin. Major element systematics of arc and back-arc basin basalts indicate that the back-arc basin melting regime does not simply mix with wet, arc-derived melts to produce the observed range of back-arc magmatic H_2O concentrations. Simple melting models reveal that the trend of increasing extents of melting with increasing H_2O concentrations of the mantle source identified in the Mariana Trough generally extends beneath the Mariana volcanic front to higher mantle water contents and higher extents of melting. In detail, however, each Mariana volcano may define a distinct relationship between extent of melting and the H_2O content of the mantle source. We develop a revised parameterization of hydrous melting, incorporating terms for variable pressure and mantle fertility, to describe the distinct relationships shown by each arc volcano. This model is used in combination with thermobarometry constraints to show that hydrous melts equilibrate at greater depths (34-87 km) and temperatures (>1300°C) beneath the Mariana arc than beneath the back-arc basin (21-37 km), although both magma types can form from a mantle of similar potential temperature (~1350°C).The difference lies in where the melts form and equilibrate. Arc melts are dominated by those that equilibrate within the hot core of the mantle wedge, whereas back-arc melts are dominated by those that equilibrate within the shallow zone of decompression melting beneath the spreading center. Despite higher absolute melting temperatures (>1300°C), Mariana arc melts reflect lower melt productivity as a result of wet melting conditions and a more refractory mantle source.

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