Effect of time-evolving age and convergence rate of the subducting plate on the Cenozoic adakites and boninites

Abstract

Partial melting of subducting oceanic crust expressed as high-Mg volcanic rocks such as adakites and boninites has been actively studied for decades, and Lee and King (2010) reported that time-evolving subduction parameters such as the age and the subduction rate of the converging oceanic plate play important roles in transient partial melting of the subducting oceanic crust (e.g., Aleutians). However, few subduction model experiments have considered time-evolving subduction parameters, posing problems for studies of transient partial melting of subducting oceanic crust in many subduction zones. Therefore, we constructed two-dimensional kinematic–dynamic subduction models for the Izu–Bonin, Mariana, Northeast Japan, Kuril, Tonga, Java–Sunda, and Aleutian subduction zones that account for the last 50Myr of their evolution. The models include the time-evolving age and convergence rate of the incoming oceanic plate, so the effect of time-evolving subduction parameters on transient partial melting of oceanic crust can be evaluated. Our model calculations revealed that adakites and boninites in the Izu–Bonin and Aleutian subduction zones resulted from transient partial melting of oceanic crust. However, the steady-state subduction model using current subduction parameters did not produce any partial melting of oceanic crust in the aforementioned subduction zones, indicating that time-evolving subduction parameters are crucial for modeling transient eruption of adakites and boninites. Our model calculations confirm that other geological processes such as forearc extension, back-arc opening, mantle plumes and ridge subduction are required for partial melting of the oceanic crust in the Mariana, Northeast Japan, Tonga, and southeastern Java–Sunda subduction zones.