Geochemistry of newly discovered quaternary Shiribeshi Volcano, Northeast Japan Sea

Abstract

Shiribeshi Seamount is located to the east of the Okushiri Ridge, in the northeast Japan Sea. Whole rock K-Ar age of olivine-augite andesite dredged from the Seamount was determined to be 0.9 ± 0.2 Ma (Tsuchiya et al., 1989), indicating that Shiribeshi Seamount is a Quaternary volcano in the back-arc region off the junction of the Northeast Japan and Kurile arcs. Shiribeshi volcano is composed of basalt to rhyolite, which show a typical island arc calc-alkaline nature on the basis of petrographical characteristics of 95 samples dredged from four sites. Abundances of incompatible elements including K, Rb, Sr, Nb, P, Ti, Y and Zr in 16 representative rocks are discussed, together with those in the Quaternary volcanic rocks from the NE Japan and Kurile arcs in terms of compositional variation across the arcs. The estimated composition of the primary magma of Shiribeshi volcano is characterized by higher incompatible element contents and a higher Zr/Y ratio than primary magmas in the volcanic front side. Based on HFS element concentrations the degree of partial melting for three primary magmas of Oshima-Oshima, Shiribeshi and Rishiri volcanoes in the northeast Japan Sea may decrease gradually with increasing distance from the volcanic front. However, LIL element contents, especially K and Rb are lower in the primary magma of Rishiri volcano located far from the volcanic front than in the remaining two primary magmas, which would imply that LIL/HFS ratios (or degree of contribution of LIL elements originating from the subducted oceanic crust) become minimal at Rishiri volcano. One basalt and three andesites from Shiribeshi volcano have the restricted range of low87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.70297–0.70300, which indicates that the magma source for Shiribeshi volcano may be slightly more enriched in Sr isotopic compositions than theN-type MORB source.