Physical volcanology of the submarine Mariana and Volcano Arcs

Abstract

Narrow-beam maps, selected dredge samplings, and surveys of the Mariana and Volcano Arcs identify 42 submarine volcanos. Observed activity and sample characteristics indicate 22 of these to be active or dormant. Edifices in the Volcano Arc are larger than most of the Mariana Arc edifices, more irregularly shaped with numerous subsidiary cones, and regularly spaced at 50–70 km. Volcanos in the Mariana Arc tend to be simple cones. Sets of individual cones and volcanic ridges are elongate parallel to the trend of the arc or at 110° counterclockwise from that trend, suggesting a strong fault control on the distribution of arc magmas. Volcanos in the Mariana Arc are generally developed west of the frontal arc ridge, on rifted frontal arc crust or new back-arc basin crust. Volcanos in the central Mariana Arc are usually subaerial, large (> 500 km3), and spaced about 50–70 km apart. Those in the northern and southern Marianas are largely submarine, closer together, and generally less than 500 km3 in volume. There is a shoaling of the arc basement around Iwo Jima, accompanied by the appearance of incompatible-element enriched lavas with alkalic affinities. The larger volcanic edifices must reflect either a higher magma supply rate or a greater age for the larger volcanos. If the magma supply (estimated at 10–20 km3/km of arc per million years at 18° N) has been relatively constant along the Mariana Arc, we can infer a possible evolutionary sequence for arc volcanos from small, irregularly spaced edifices to large (over 1000 km3) edifices spaced at 50–70 km. The volcano distribution and basal depths are consistent with the hypothesis of back-arc propagation into the Volcano Arc.