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Parental arc magma compositions dominantly controlled by mantle-wedge thermal structure

Nature Geoscience volume 9, pages 772–776 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The processes that lead to the fourfold variation in arc-averaged compositions of mafic arc lavas remain controversial. Control by the mantle-wedge thermal structure is supported by chemical correlations with the thickness of the underlying arc crust1,2,3, which affects the thermal state of the wedge. Control by down-going slab temperature is supported by correlations with the slab thermal parameter3,4,5,6,7. The Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone provides a test of these hypotheses. Here we use chemical data to demonstrate that the Southern Volcanic Zone and global arc averages define the same chemical trends, both among elements and between elements and crustal thickness. But in contrast to the global arc system, the Southern Volcanic Zone is built on crust of variable thickness with a constant slab thermal parameter. This natural experiment, along with a set of numerical simulations, shows that global arc compositional variability is dominated by different extents of melting that are controlled by the thermal structure of the mantle wedge. Slab temperatures play a subordinate role. Variations in the subducting slab’s fluid flux and sediment compositions, as well as mantle-wedge heterogeneities, produce second-order effects that are manifested as distinctive trace element and isotopic signatures; these can be more clearly elucidated once the importance of wedge thermal structure is recognized.

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Figure 1: Variation of Moho depth and the slab ‘thermal parameter’ (Φ) along the SVZ between 33° and 43° S.
Figure 2: Chemical systematics of SVZ volcano and global arc averages.
Figure 3: Results of 2D numerical simulation.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and guidance of D. Sellés and Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería of Chile for assisting with our field campaigns. R. Hickey-Vargas provided us with many of the samples used in this study as well. Z. Chen carried out some of the ICPMS analyses and provided analytical assistance for the rest. L. Cooper provided discussions and scientific input during our joint sampling expeditions and in the years following, and also took on a large amount of the sample preparation. A helpful review by G. Yogodzinski significantly improved this manuscript. This work was supported by NSF grant EAR-0948511, NERC grant NE/M000427/1, and ERC grant 279925.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3AN, UK

    Stephen J. Turner & Richard F. Katz

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Charles H. Langmuir

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

    Michael A. Dungan

  4. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    Stéphane Escrig

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  1. Stephen J. Turner
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Contributions

C.H.L. conceived the SVZ as a natural experiment and obtained the funding. S.J.T., S.E., C.H.L. and M.A.D. collected samples. S.J.T. and S.E. acquired the data. S.J.T., C.H.L. and M.A.D. interpreted the chemical data. S.J.T. carried out the geochemical modelling. R.F.K. wrote the numerical code and guided S.J.T. in its application. S.J.T. wrote the manuscript with assistance from C.H.L.; M.A.D. and R.F.K. helped develop and revise the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Stephen J. Turner.

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Turner, S., Langmuir, C., Katz, R. et al. Parental arc magma compositions dominantly controlled by mantle-wedge thermal structure. Nature Geosci 9, 772–776 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2788

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