tertiary tectonics of the border ranges fault system chugach mountains alaska deformation and uplift in a forearc setting the border ranges fault system brfs locally separates supracrustal upper cretaceous tertiary rocks of the cook inlet matanuska valley forearc basin on the peninsular terrane from metamorphosed cretaceous subduction complex rocks of the chugach terrane to the south this 5 to 10 km wide zone of concentrated deformation along the inboard edge of southern alaska s accretionary prism has suffered a protracted history beginning with its inception as a megathrust by early cretaceous time and continuing into early tertiary time when it was transected by a system of steeply arcward dipping normal and dextral slip faults based on detailed geologic mapping structural analysis metamorphic mineral assemblage data and k ar and fission track geochronology the tertiary history of displacements along a central part of this forearc fault system has been divided into several phases of deformation these include a paleocene phase of regional uplift of the forearc basin together with block faulting along the brfs to rapidly uplift and subaerially expose low grade metamorphic rocks of the subduction complex upper cretaceous valdez group within 15 ma of their inferred underplating at deep structural levels of the accretionary prism continued normal separation faulting along the brfs in late paleocene early eocene time to further uplift the subduction complex was recorded by deposition of a syntectonic alluvial fan system chickaloon formation across the brfs and along the southern margin of the forearc basin a third mid eocene increment of normal separation faulting along the brfs juxtaposed greenschist facies fabrics of early eocene age in the subduction complex against the chickaloon formation this latter uplift event predated intrusion of early late eocene 43 48 ma zircon fission track minimum ages felsic dikes into the present terrane bounding fault and was accompanied by no more than a few tens of kilometers of dextral slip faulting along the brfs a conclusion that does not accord with recent suggestions for thousands of kilometers of displacement along that fault system in early middle tertiary time based on paleomagnetic data field observations in the study area indicate that the great oroclinal bend of southern alaska is postearly eocene and possibly prelate oligocene in age a final period of deformation in middle to late tertiary time was marked by periods of minor north south contraction of the forearc basin and by local reverse slip reactivation of earlier faults fission track age data on apatite indicate rapid cooling and probably uplift of both subduction complex and adjacent parts of the forearc basin in miocene time 17 24 ma episodic uplift of the subduction complex either locally by normal separation faulting along its backstop or by a more regional uplift also affecting the adjacent forearc basin overlapped in time or closely followed discrete pulses of large scale sediment underplating along the gulf of alaska subduction margin this coincidence suggests that major pulses of sediment underplating along southern alaska s convergent margin may have led to isostatic uplift of its critical taper accretionary prism an uplift that was in part accommodated by normal separation faulting along its mechanical backstop

late cretaceous through cenozoic strike slip tectonics of southwestern alaska abstract new geologic mapping and geochronology show that margin parallel strike slip faults on the western limb of the southern alaska orocline have experienced multiple episodes of dextral motion since 100 ma these faults are on the upper plate of a subduction zone 350 450 km inboard of the paleotrench in southwestern alaska dextral displacement is 134 km on the denali fault at least 88 94 km on the iditarod nixon fork fault and perhaps tens of kilometers on the dishna river fault the strike slip regime coincided with late cretaceous sedimentation and then folding in the kuskokwim basin and with episodes of magmatism and mineralization at 70 60 and 30 ma no single driving mechanism can explain all of the 95 million year history of strike slip faulting since 40 ma the observed dextral sense of strike slip has run contrary to the sense of subduction obliquity this may be explained by northward motion of the pacific plate driving continental margin slivers into and or around the oroclin

paleogene evolution of the kodiak islands alaska consequences of ridge trench interaction in a more southerly latitude the kodiak islands of alaska are principally composed of a late cretaceous and paleogene complex of accreted deep sea rocks an early paleocene magmatic event invaded the accretionary complex with mid ocean ridge basalt morb andesite and granodiorite geochemical evidence suggests both the andesite and granodiorite are mixtures of morb and sediment the volcanic rocks are interlayered with coarse clastic sediments and deformed with the latter the granodioritic intrusions with k ar ages as old as 62 ma postdate emplacement of the early paleocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks interaction of the subduction complex with the kula farallon ridge most simply explains this early paleocene magmatic episode paleomagnetic studies of the volcanic rocks indicate this interaction occurred at 40 3 6 north latitude which is 25 3 9 south of the expected position of the kodiak islands relative to north america the magmatic arc presently northwest of the kodiak accretionary complex was active during the late cretaceous and early paleocene diminished after the ridge trench interaction and resurged from late eocene into miocene time the magmatic resurgence is coeval with the obductive offscraping of eocene to oligocene submarine fan deposits in the kodiak islands the petrology of these fan deposits indicates they are the most likely proximal equivalent for the zodiac fan thereby limiting its relative motion with respect to the kodiak islands possible models accounting for the northward motion of the kodiak accretionary complex include 1 coupling the accretionary complex and possibly related arc to the northward moving kula plate and closing an ocean basin north of the arc in paleogene time 2 emplacing the kodiak accretionary complex at the northward limit of the paleomagnetic data with subsequent northward motion accomplished by closure of a small back arc basin and or intracontinental shortening and 3 transcurrent faulting and northward motion of the kodiak accretionary complex without the presently adjacent arc

adakites from continental collision zones melting of thickened lower crust beneath southern tibet adakites are geochemically distinct intermediate to felsic lavas found exclusively in subduction zones here we report the first example of such magmas from southern tibet in an active continental collision environment the tibetan adakites were emplaced from ca 26 to 10 ma and their overall geochemical characteristics suggest an origin by melting of eclogites and or garnet amphibolites in the lower part 50 km of thickened tibetan crust this lower crustal melting required a significantly elevated geotherm which we attribute to removal of the tectonically thickened lithospheric mantle in late oligocene time the identification of collision type adakites from southern tibet lends new constraints to not only the himalayan tibetan orogenesis how and when the indian lithosphere started underthrusting asia can be depicted but also the growth of the early continental crust on earth that consists dominantly of the tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite suites marked by adakitic geochemical affinities

boundary lines within petrologic diagrams which use oxides of major and minor elements use of some petrologic diagrams applied to analyses of volcanic rocks is unnecessarily difficult due to lack of data for construction of discriminant lines between rock series coordinates are provided for sufficient points to enable accurate plotting of the boundary lines within seven diagrams viz 1 tas total alkalies na2o k2o vs sio2 2 k2o vs sio2 3 afm 4 jensen 5 ktp k2o tio2 p2o5 6 fms feo mgo vs sio2 and 7 taktip k2o na2o k2o vs tio2p2o5 different versions of these boundaries are collated to indicate their variable position and it is demonstrated that inter laboratory analytical precision suffices to account for almost all of their spread on the tas and k2o vs sio2 diagrams

geological manifestations of ridge collision evidence from the golfo de penas taitao basin southern chile recent geological and geophysical studies in the southern andes adjacent to the intersection of the chile rise with the peru chile trench ant naz sam triple junction have revealed a number of features and a neogene geologic history that are unique along the pacific margin of south america this history includes 1 development of a tertiary quaternary marine basin with up to 3 km of sediment infill golfo de penas taitao basin gtb 2 disruption of the region by a series of faults with both normal and strike slip movements and 3 localization of silicic near trench volcanism and epizonal plutonism and related hydrothermal activity the northern portion of the gtb began to subside in the late miocene possibly earlier and has subsequently been deformed uplifted and exposed gravity and seismic reflection data suggest that the basin continues offshore where it is still actively subsiding today golfo de penas subsidence and uplift have thus occurred diachronously in the region although it is unclear when subsidence began in the golfo de penas tectonic disruption of the region is likely related to the liquine ofqui fault lof a major ns trending crustal shear zone that curves westward and terminates in the golfo de penas the lof has both down to the west and right lateral offset and separates the main andean cordillera on the east from a large crustal block the chiloe block on the west we hypothesize that the gtb has developed as a pull apart basin in response to northward movement of the chiloe block along the lof we propose a dynamic model whereby a stress gradient that decreases longitudinally away from the chile rise peru chile trench intersection is set up because the youngest most buoyant oceanic lithosphere is being subducted at the triple junction the chile rise is viewed as a type of indenter which is acting to drive the chiloe block northward in front of the northward migrating triple junction this model explains the unique set of geologic features found in the region and suggests that ridge trench interactions may be an important factor in orogenesis at active continental margins

miocene magnesian andesites and dacites evia greece adakites associated with subducting slab detachment and extension abstract mid miocene volcanic rocks are rare in the aegean region although early miocene and late miocene quaternary volcanism is widespread at oxylithos island of evia 14 ma dacites form a dome or sub volcanic complex phreatomagmatic eruptions formed nearby rhyolitic pyroclastic surge deposits the calc alkaline dacites contain bronzite mg rich clinopyroxene phlogopite and plagioclase phenocrysts the magma results from mixing of a mg rich andesitic magma similar to that in the nearby island of skyros with more felsic magmas represented by the rhyolitic pyroclastics the dacites are geochemically similar to adakites which are derived by partial melting of eclogitic subducted oceanic crust and have low y and yb and high sr y ratio 87 sr 86 sr 0 7095 is found in both dacite and rhyolite lead isotopic composition from the high mg andesite from skyros with 207 pb 204 pb 15 70 and 208 pb 204 pb 38 90 forms a linear trend with evia dacite and rhyolite with 207 pb 204 pb 15 71 and 208 pb 204 pb 39 05 the high temperatures required to produce such magma resulted from decompression due to extension of the aegean basin at the same time as the initial intrusion of the detached subducted slab in the western aegean that has been imaged by seismic tomography the oxylithos rocks extend the known occurrences of adakite series rocks this series is not restricted to sites with subduction of young oceanic crust

an assessment and calibration of formulations for bagnold s bedload equation abstract bagnold s bedload equation in the form q u ucr 3 has frequently been employed to predict sediment mass transport rates in tidal flows and to assist with the interpretation of ancient tidal deposits however physical considerations suggest that the form q u2 u2cr u is more correct this latter formulation is therefore calibrated with experimental data and the coefficient of proportionality is shown to be strongly dependent on the sediment grain size

paleogene metamorphism of an accretionary flysch terrane eastern gulf of alaska reconnaissance field studies have identified a regional metamorphic complex at least 200 km long and 25 to 50 km wide in the eastern chugach mountains southern alaska the metamorphic complex was developed within the cretaceous valdez group a flysch sequence that was accreted to the continental margin during the late cretaceous or early tertiary the metamorphic complex shows the progressive development from subgreenschist and green schist facies slate phyllite and semischist that is regionally characteristic of the valdez group to biotite plagioclase quartz schist muscovite cordierite andalusite staurolite garnet and sillimanite in an intermediate zone and amphibolite facies muscovite biotite plagioclase quartz schist and gneiss sillimanite and garnet in a higher grade central zone k feldspar is characteristically absent in the amphibolite facies schists but it is present in migmatitic rocks that are common to the central zone the mineral assemblages and petrographic relations indicate that metamorphism took place under low pressure intermediate facies series conditions partial melting took place at the highest grade of metamorphism melting produced granodioritic magmas in migma titic rocks of the central zone that were emplaced as discrete plutons in both the intermediate zone and peripheral rocks of the complex the timing of metamorphism as indicated by field relations and k ar data is about 50 to 65 m y ago and overlaps or is coeval with the emplacement throughout the gulf of alaska region of early tertiary plutons that are thought to be anatectic in origin the distribution of these plutons suggests that a high temperature low pressure metamorphic belt about 1 800 km long developed along the leading edge of the continental margin in late paleocene to early eocene time

evidence in cerro pampa volcanic rocks for slab melting prior to ridge trench collision in southern south america late miocene approx 12 ma hornblende bearing andesitic to dacitic documentclass aastex usepackage amsbsy usepackage amsfonts usepackage amssymb usepackage bm usepackage mathrsfs usepackage pifont usepackage stmaryrd usepackage textcomp usepackage portland xspace usepackage amsmath amsxtra usepackage wasysym pagestyle empty declaremathsizes 10 9 7 6 begin document mathrm 63 to 68 sio 2 1 2 to 1 9 k 2 o end document adakite flows at the small cerro pampa center in patagonia 47 55 s 71 25 have some of the clearest slab melt geochemical signatures yet seen in a phanerozoic center on continental crust these magmas formed in response to melting of the hot thin slab that was subducting beneath south america prior to the collision of the chile rise at approx 6 ma or at approx 10 ma their n morb like 87 sr 86 sr 0 70285 0 70309 and low 206 pb 204 pb 18 44 18 59 ratios show that they could have been generated by

geology and geochemistry of volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits and related igneous rocks prince william sound south central alaska the prince william sound region is located approximately 100 km east southeast of anchorage alaska and contains the geologically diverse late cretaceous to eocene valdez and orca groups which comprise a portion of the accretionary prism complex of south central alaska the rocks host more than 600 known massive sulfide deposits and prospects historically the deposits have been described as epigenetic vein replacement and shear zone hosted ores we define the prince william sound massive sulfide deposits in terms of two genetically related yet geochemically distinct types of deposits both related to submarine volcanism the first type is hosted in submarine pillow basalt massive basalt flows and mafic tuffs and is analogous to cyprus type deposits the second type is hosted in intercalated slate and graywacke and is analogous to besshi type deposits both types are similar morphologically and are characteristically stratiform to strata bound the deposits vary in size from less than 1 million tons to greater than 5 million tons with the majority of the largest deposits forming in sediment dominated besshi type environments the massive sulfide deposits are fe cu zn systems dominated mineralogically by pyrite pyrrhotite chalcopyrite and sphalerite minor phases include cubanite arsenopyrite tetrahedrite and secondary marcasite silicate gangue is comprised predominantly of quartz and chlorite with minor sericite talc and calcite primary sedimentary features preserved within massive sulfide are ubiquitous within the deposits and include planar bedding crossbedding and graded bedding fluid inclusion microthermometry of quartz gangue from the massive sulfide deposits is consistent with hydrothermal fluid temperatures found in genetically related modern seafloor hydrothermal environments minimum trapping temperatures of fluid inclusions in quartz from the stockwork feeder zone of the volcanic hosted deposits generally range from 210 degrees to 260 degrees c fine grained anhedral quartz gangue in massive sulfide layers also contains sparse primary fluid inclusions typically the homogenization temperature is lower in the sediment hosted deposits hydrothermal fluids in the volcanic hosted settings exited the volcanic pile directly into seawater and were rapidly quenched thus fluid inclusions only record high temperature fluid conditions similar hydrothermal fluids in the sediment hosted settings exited the volcanic pile into warm seawater saturated sediments and were cooled more slowly in an environment where lower temperature fluid inclusions were formed and preserved sulfur and oxygen isotope data support a submarine origin for the deposits sulfur isotope values range from delta 34 s gdt 0 8 to 5 9 per mil for volcanic hosted deposits and from 2 7 to 9 2 per mil for sediment hosted deposits the higher values for sediment hosted ores reflect increased amounts of reduced seawater sulfate in the hydrothermal fluid with sulfate reduction occurring in the seawater hydrothermal fluid mixing zone within the sediment pile below the seawater sediment interface oxygen isotope values for quartz gangue associated with massive sulfide also reflect the lower temperature deposition that is characteristic of the sediment hosted deposits delta 18 o quartz 7 0 to 7 8 per mil smow for volcanic hosted deposits and delta 18 o quartz 9 6 to 16 9 per mil for sediment hosted ores whole rock geochemical analyses of the basalts and related igneous rocks from both the valdez and orca groups show that these rocks are consistent with formation in midocean ridge and or seamount environments the geochemistry of the valdez group rocks suggests that sediment contamination of basaltic magma has occurred imparting a primitive arclike signature discrimination diagrams show that the rocks from both groups have normal midocean ridge basalt enriched midocean ridge basalt and low k arc tholeiite affinities and plot along the tholeiitic calc alkaline boundary the fluid inclusion stable isotope and whole rock data collected in this study are all consistent with the hypothesis that the massive sulfide deposits in the prince william sound district are sea floor volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits that formed in both sediment starved and sedimented midocean ridge settings

paleogene history of the kula plate offshore evidence and onshore implications paleocene to middle eocene magnetic anomalies were mapped over oceanic crust that accreted at the kula pacific spreading center and is now obliquely entering the western aleutian trench between 179 e and 168 e the strike of anomalies and the pattern of abyssal hills and fracture zones changed abruptly during 56 55 ma when north south spreading veered to northwest southeast 310 130 kula pacific spreading ceased in 43 ma a 75 km long section of the fossil kula rift axis has avoided subduction although it now intersects the trench axis almost orthogonally near 171 5 e a narrow remnant of the former kula plate northwest of this fossil spreading center is bounded by a fossil kula pacific transform with a high transverse ridge alongside a sediment filled transform valley anomalies on this remnant show that eocene kula pacific spreading was highly asymmetric 2 1 the 56 55 ma change in kula plate rotation inferred from the change in spreading direction coincided with birth of the aleutian subduction zone and was probably a consequence of the resulting change in slab pull stresses on the oceanic lithosphere the change in direction of kula north american motion is a plausible explanation for the detachment of continental terranes from the pacific northwest and their migration around the gulf of alaska and for the early eocene demise of alaska range are volcanism the cessation of kula pacific spreading coincides with a major change in pacific plate rotation and the subsequent direction of convergence of the pacific plate with the aleutian arc was similar to the 55 43 ma direction of kula plate convergence

the geologic history of redoubt volcano alaska abstract redoubt volcano is a composite cone built on continental crust at the northeast end of the aleutian arc magmas erupted at redoubt are medium k calc alkaline basalts andesites and dacites the eruptive history of the volcano can be divided into four parts the early explosive stage early cone building stage late cone building stage and post glacial stage the most silicic products of the volcano were erupted during the early explosive stage about 0 888 ma and include pumiceous pyroclastic flow deposits block and ash flow deposits and a dome or shallow intrusive complex basalt and basaltic andesite lava flows and scoria and ash flows were produced during the early cone building stage which was underway by 0 340 ma during the late cone building stage andesitic lava flows and block and ash flows were emplaced airfall deposits produced during post glacial eruptions are silicic andesite in composition since the early cone building stage magmas have become progressively more silicic but none are as silicic as those in the early explosive stage limited pb and sr isotopic data suggest that redoubt magmas were contaminated by north american continental crust

subduction of diverging plates and the principles of slab window formation consumption of an ocean basin by subduction commonly brings a sea floor spreading ridge toward a deep sea trench if plate divergence and convergence continue after the ridge intersects the subduction zone a slab window forms between the subducted parts of the diverging oceanic plates producing anomalous thermal physical and chemical effects in the surrounding asthenospheric mantle in turn these conditions alter the tectonic and magmatic evolution of the overriding plate usually disturbing ordinary fore arc and arc regimes differential lithospheric stresses on opposite sides of the triple junction contribute to disturbances in the overriding plate anomalous magmatism from fore arc to back arc may be accompanied by fore arc metamorphism strike slip faulting uplift extension and in extreme cases rifting the shape and size of the window are controlled mainly by the pre subduction ridge transform trench configuration slab dip angles and vectors of plate convergence subducted ridge segments expand into windows whose margins approximately parallel the motion vectors between the triple junction and the subducting plates subducted transform faults continue to be active usually as oblique slip faults until the plates separate as transform faults subduct they become longer on the plate which occupies the acute angle between ridge and trench and shorter on the other plate trains of isolated windows produced by subduction of a segmented ridge transform system progressively expand during descent commonly merging together to form a composite slab window oblique subduction of a highly segmented ridge is likely to produce two or more fraternal slab windows one at each site of ridge trench intersection above a slab window arc volcanism diminishes and may be replaced by volcanism of mid ocean ridge or rift affinity the change in chemical character reflects various processes including elevated heat flow decreasing hydration of the upper mantle juxtaposition of supra and sub slab mantle reservoris asthenospheric upwelling and melting of the trailing plate edges if the slab window migrates the anomalous magmatic regime may be replaced by renewed arc volcanism identifying the effects of slab windows in ancient convergent margin assemblages requires an understanding of slab window principles and implications

eocene volcanism above a depleted mantle slab window in southern alaska the caribou creek volcanic fi eld lies along the continent side edge of forearc basin rocks in south central alaska and consists of over 1000 m of shallow dipping basalt and andesite lavas with minor mafi c pyroclastic deposits dacite and rhyolite lavas along with shallow intrusions form dome complexes with associated pyroclastic deposits that overlie and crosscut the basalt and intermediate lavas the basalts are tholeiitic and strongly depleted in the light rare earth elements la yb 0 18 1 5 with concentrations of high fi eld strength elements e g zr hf ti y similar to mid ocean ridge basalt and with variable enrichment in fl uid mobile elements e g cs ba and pb intermediate and felsic rocks show enrichment in the rare earth elements and fl uid mobile elements plus rb and k but retain low la yb ratios 0 48 3 6 a few andesite and dacite samples are strongly depleted in the heavy rare earth elements and are geochemically similar to adakites e g sr y up to 52 ten 40 ar 39 ar ages for the caribou creek volcanic rocks range from 49 4 2 2 to 35 6 0 2 ma an adakite like tuff beneath the other volcanic rocks yields an age of 59 0 0 4 ma caribou creek basalts were derived from mid ocean ridge like depleted mantle that was emplaced beneath the southern margin of alaska through a slab window following spreading ridge subduction caribou creek volcanism was coeval with oblique subduction oroclinal bending and right lateral strike slip faulting in south central alaska all of which could have induced crustal extension to allow adiabatic melting of the depleted mantle reservoir to form basaltic magmas the basalts then evolved by fractional crystallization with moderate to high degrees of assimilation of jurassic arc basement rocks to form the intermediate and felsic magmas enrichment of the basaltic parent magmas in fl uid mobile elements occurred by contamination from the jurassic arc rocks and or by contamination with metasomatic mantle remnant from preceding subduction high heat fl ow through the slab window induced partial melting of garnet bearing mafi c parts of the jurassic arc basement to form the adakite like rocks the caribou creek volcanic rocks demonstrate that slab windows can directly infl uence magmatism inboard of accretionary prism and forearc basin settings given a suitable deformation regime e g crustal extension and that the infl uence of a slab window on continental margin magmatism can be long lived 20 m y

the mckinley sequence of granitic rocks a key element in the accretionary history of southern alaska the mckinley sequence of granitic rocks consists of several discrete plutons in the central alaska range most of these plutons crop out south of the denali fault system dfs in the talkeetna quadrangle plutons of the mckinley sequence largely intrude deformed upper meszoic flysch between the dfs and the northern edges of wrangellia and the peninsular terrane which jointly make up the talkeetna superterrane the average k ar age of biotite from nine granites of the mckinley sequence is 57 3 ma rb sr data for whole rock samples indicate that the mckinley sequence cannot be older than 60 ma a selected suite of 20 samples of granite and granodiorite range in sio2 from 65 9 to 77 6 all 20 samples are corundum normative and 18 are moderately peraluminous initial 87sr 86sr ratios range from 0 7054 to 0 7085 the 18o values range from 11 2 to 14 6 these high and variable sr isotopic ratios peraluminous nature rare earth element patterns and high 18o values suggest that granitic rocks of the mckinley sequence crystallized from hybrid magmas produced by assimilation of sedimentary rocks by a mantle derived melt mesozoic flysch is the likely source of the crustal component of the hybrid magmas geologic evidence suggests that the talkeetna superterrane collided with stable alaska after early cretaceous time the flysch basin lying south of stable alaska was closed by northward movement of the talkeetna superterrane maximum age for basin closure and terrane accretion is middle cretaceous cenomanian paleomagnetic evidence indicates that all terranes north of the dfs have been part of stable alaska since the paleocene and that northward movement of wrangellia was completed by 50 ma granitic rocks of the mckinley sequence may be products of terrane accretion the granitic rocks crystallized from hybrid magmas produced during terrane collision and deformation of the flysch basin isotopic ages of the mckinley sequence establish the time of final accretion of the talkeetna superterrane as paleocene

relationships between plate motions and late cretaceous to paleogene magmatism in southwestern alaska four major late cretaceous to paleogene magmatic belts have been recognized in southwestern alaska and tentative boundaries have been drawn for each the belts indicate minimum ages by which the tectonostratigraphic terranes they overprint must have been linked together though there has been significant postmagmatic tectonism the kuskokwim mountains belt 73 60 m y b p the alaska range belt 74 55 m y b p and the gulf of alaska belt 62 57 m y b p all may have been related to a period of rapid north northeastward motion of the kuia plate from about 74 to 56 m y b p the angle of convergence was low with respect to the present orientation of the belts suggesting the possibility of postmagmatic rotation of the belts a higher angle of convergence may have existed with respect to the alaska range belt a probable arc if postmagmatic rotation resulted from 300 400 km of right lateral displacement on the denali fault the gulf of alaska belt is in an anomalous forearc position with respect to the alaska range belt but probably formed by a convergence related mechanism the kuskokwim mountains belt is in an apparent back arc position but the mechanism of its origin is uncertain it may have been part of an unusually broad alaska range arc or less likely it may have been a separate arc magmatic quiescence occurred throughout south western alaska during a period of plate reorganization from about 56 to 43 m y b p a period which began with extremely rapid northward motion of the kuia plate magmatism resumed when the present period of rather slow northwestward pacific plate motion began at about 43 m y b p the aleutian arc probably formed at this time and has been episodically active in about the same location ever since

possible manifestations of slab window magmatisms in cretaceous southwest japan abstract the slab window system related to ridge subduction is studied to explain the conspicuous activity and the along arc migration of the magmatisms in the eastern margin of eurasian continent in the late mesozoic the trend of the granite ages is scrutinized with systems approach and analyzed by the statistical method in cretaceous southwest japan a reference field of the eurasian eastern margin the magmatic distribution of simultaneous activity was determined to be the v shape of the slab window excluding dating errors from the located age data the slab window magmatism has the most dominant zone of the acidic rocks at or near the centerline of the window the spreading center of two plates and also has the subdominant zone of the acidic to intermediate rocks on either side of the window as the slab window opens due to the plate motions the upwelling current is adiabatically induced in the asthenosphere to fill the window gap the partial melt is generated in the upwelling flux and transports heat to the lower crust to make greater granitic magma chambers by heat conduction to and assimilation with the crustal matter the younger and hotter slabs outside the window also play a role in partial slab melting and or dehydration to the asthenosphere and generate the subdominant granodioritic and adakitic and or high magnesian andesitic magmatisms as the pre and post activities of the main granite genesis the slab window formed by the subducted ridge between the kula and pacific plates was the strong heat source of the active magmatisms and migrated at the rate of 2 8 cm year from southwest to northeast about 8000 km along the continental margin the growth of the continent associated with the active acidic to intermediate magmatisms including the adakitic and or high magnesian andesitic activities is modeled by the slab window system

mid pleistocene lavas from the seguam volcanic center central aleutian arc closed system fractional crystallization of a basalt to rhyodacite eruptive suite in contrast to adjacent volcanic centers of the modern central aleutian arc seguam island developed on strongly extended arc crust k ar dates indicate that mid pleistocene late pleistocene and holocene eruptive phases constitute seguam this study focuses on the petrology of the mid pleistocene 1 07 07 ma turf point formation tpf which is dominated by an unusual suite of porphyritic basalt and basaltic andesite lavas with subordinate phenocryst poor andesite to rhyodacite lavas increasing whole rock feo mgo from basalt to dacite the anhydrous plag ol cpx opx mt phenocryst assemblage groundmass pigeonite and the reaction ol liq opx preserved in the mafic lavas indicate a tholeiitic affinity thermometry and comparison to published phase equilibria suggests that most tpf basalts crystallized plag ol cpx mt at 1160 c between about 3 5 kb 1 2 h2o andesites crystallized plag cpx opx mt at 1000 c between 3 4 kb with 3 5 h2o and dacites crystallized plag cpx opx mt at 1000 c between 1 2 kb with 2 3 h2o all lavas crystallized at f o 2 close to the nno buffer mineral compositions and textures indicate equilibrium crystallization of the evolved lavas petrographic evidence of open system mixing or assimilation is rare mgo cao al2o3 cr ni and sr abundances decrease and k2o na2o rb ba zr and pb increase with increasing sio2 50 71 lree enrichment ce yb n 1 7 0 2 characterizes most tpf lavas total ree contents increase and eu anomalies become more negative with increasing sio2 relative to other aleutian volcanic centers tpf basalts and basaltic andesites have lower k2o na2o tio2 rb ba sr zr y and lree abundances 87sr 86sr ratios 0 70361 0 70375 and ratios of 206pb 204pb 18 88 18 97 207pb 204pb 15 58 15 62 208pb 204pb 38 46 38 55 are the highest measured for any suite of lavas in the oceanic portion of the aleutian arc conversely end values 5 8 to 6 7 are among the lowest from the aleutians sr nd and pb ratios are virtually constant from basalt through rhyodacite whereas detectable isotopic heterogenity is observed at most other aleutian volcanic centers major and trace element ree and sr nd and pb isotopic compositions are consistent with the basaltic andesitic andesitic dacitic and rhyodacitic liquids evolving from tpf basaltic magma via closed system fractional crystallization alone fractionation models suggest that removal of 80 wt cumulate 61 plag 17 cpx 12 opx 7 ol and 3 mt can produce 20 wt rhyodacitic residual liquid per unit mass of parental basaltic liquid petrologic and physical constraints favor segregation of small batches of basalt from a larger mid crustal reservoir trapped below a low density upper crustal lid in these small magma batches the degree of cooling crystallization and fractionation are functions of the initial mass of basaltic magma segregated the thermal state of the upper crust and the magnitude of extension tholeiitic magmas erupted at seguam evolved by substantially different mechanisms than did calc alkaline lavas erupted at the adjacent volcanic centers of kanaga and adak on unextended arc crust these variable differentiation mechanisms and liquid lines of descent reflect contrasting thermal and mechanical conditions imposed by the different tectonic environments in which these centers grew at seguam intra arc extension promoted eruption of voluminous basalt and its differentiates unmodified by interaction with lower crustal or upper mantle wallrocks

geochemical evidence for the melting of subducting oceanic lithosphere at plate edges most island arc magmatism appears to result from the lowering of the melting point of peridotite within the wedge of mantle above subducting slabs owing to the introduction of fluids from the dehydration of subducting oceanic crust1 volcanic rocks interpreted to contain a component of melt not just a fluid from the subducting slab itself are uncommon but possible examples have been recognized in the aleutian islands baja california patagonia and elsewhere2 3 4 the geochemically distinctive rocks from these areas termed adakites are often associated with subducting plates that are young and warm and therefore thought to be more prone to melting5 but the subducting lithosphere in some adakite locations such as the aleutian islands appears to be too old and hence too cold to melt6 7 this implies either that our interpretation of adakite geochemistry is incorrect or that our understanding of the tectonic context of adakites is incomplete here we present geochemical data from the kamchatka peninsula and the aleutian islands that reaffirms the slab melt interpretation of adakites2 but in the tectonic context of the exposure to mantle flow around the edge of a torn subducting plate we conclude that adakites are likely to form whenever the edge of a subducting plate is warmed or ablated by mantle flow the use of adakites as tracers for such plate geometry may improve our understanding of magma genesis and thermal structure in a variety of subduction zone environments

geochemistry of the 1989 1990 eruption of redoubt volcano part i whole rock major and trace element chemistry the 1989 1990 eruption of redoubt volcano produced medium k calc alkaline andesite and dacite of limited compositional range 58 2 63 4 sio2 and entrained quenched andesitic inclusions 55 sio2 which bear chemical similarities to the rest of the ejecta the earliest december 15 magmas are pumiceous often compositionally banded and the majority is relatively mafic 59 sio2 the most silicic magmas of the eruption are the late december to early january domes up to 63 4 sio2 subsequent magmas formed domes and rare pumices which converge on 60 sio2 chemical variations among ejecta comprise tight linear two component arrays for all elements for which the analytical uncertainty is much less than the compositional range the two component arrays are interpreted as mixing arrays between unrelated magmas because several of the arrays are at steep angles to the normal liquid line of descent additionally the felsic endmember cannot be easily related to the mafic endmember by normal high temperature igneous processes e g the silicic endmember has higher zr yet lower hf than the mafic endmember also relative enrichments of highly incompatible elements are dramatically different across the arrays the mixing event must have preceded eruption by a significant yet unspecified amount of time because groundmass glass compositions are homogeneous for all post december samples swanson et al 1994 this volume in spite of the whole rock chemical diversity this implies time for additional crystallization after the mixing event swanson et al 1994 this volume discuss evidence for a potentially different mixing event recorded only in december 15 magmas cognate cumulate xenoliths composed of pl cpx opx hb mt melt were recovered from january and april deposits these blocks differ from local batholithic country rock in their low concentrations of incompatible elements e g rb 60 wt they have mg cr ni sc and v contents higher than the andesites but lower than redoubt basalts and basaltic andesites thus they may be crystallization products of andesites but do not represent the cumulate residue of basalt fractionation the xenoliths were probably derived from a shallow or intermediate crustal chamber

mount st helens potential example of the partial melting of the subducted lithosphere in a volcanic arc mount st helens 50 km to the west of mount adams and the main cascade volcanic chain is only 80 km above the subducting oceanic lithosphere the elevated temperatures off the subducting slab because of the close proximity of the juan de fuca ridge to the trench may induce slab melting at a depth of 80 km dacites from mount st helens have geochemical compositions off magmas that are derived by direct partial melting of metamorphosed basalts at high pressure i e relatively high ai al2o3 15 at 70 sio2 low y and yb because of garnet and amphibole stability in the source low sc and high sr and eu trace element modeling of the partial melting of mid oceanic ridge basalt morb from the juan de fuca ridge that yields a hornblende eclogite residue can reproduce the mount st helens data results off the model are quite distinct from data derived from the mount adams volcanic rocks in contrast mount adams is 135 km above the subducting slab and is associated with normal arc magmatism believed to be derived from the mantle above the subducting plate the cascade are has been active in its present locality because of oblique subduction for the past 7 m y the major volcanoes along the arc have existed for at least 500 ka but mount st helens has existed for 40 ka we suggest that the subducting plate may have reached elevated temperatures because of the approach of north america to the juan de fuca ridge at 40 ka which initiated melting of the slab