Intraplate volcanism influenced by distal subduction tectonics at Jeju Island, Republic of Korea

Abstract

The drivers behind the inception of, and the variable, pulsatory eruption rates at distributed intraplate volcanic fields are not well understood. Such broad areas of monogenetic volcanism cover vast areas of the world and are often heavily populated. Reliable models to unravel their behaviour require robust spatio-temporal frameworks within the fields, but an analysis of the potential proximal and distal regional volcano-tectonic processes is also needed. Jeju Island (Republic of Korea) is a volcanic field that has been extensively drilled and dated. It is also located near one of the world’s best-studied tectonic plate boundaries: the subduction zone in southwestern Japan, which generates the Ryukyu and SW Japan arcs. A new set of 40Ar/39Ar ages collected from cores penetrating the entire Jeju eruptive pile, along with geochemical information, is used to construct a temporal and volumetric model for the volcano’s growth. The overall pattern indicates inception of volcanism at ~1.7 Ma, with an initial 1.2 Myr of low-rate activity, followed by over an order of magnitude rise over the last 0.5 Myr. The magma flux at Jeju correlates well with increased extension rates in the arc/backarc region. In particular, we infer that the increased trenchward mantle flow, caused by the greater rollback of the Philippine Sea Plate, activated pre-existing shear weaknesses in the mantle beneath Jeju, resulting in mantle upwelling and decompression melting that caused a change in compositions and an increase in eruption rates at Jeju. Thus, the volcanic activity of an intraplate field system can be modulated by regional subduction processes occurring more than 650 km away. This model may explain the frequent observation of pulsatory behaviour seen in many monogenetic volcanic fields worldwide that lie within 1,000 km of subduction zones.