Role of backarc processes in the origin of across-arc geochemical zoning in volcanics of early evolutionary stages in Kunashir Island

Abstract

Geochemical data obtained on volcanic rocks produced during the early evolutionary stages in Kunashir Island provide insight into certain important aspect of the evolution of the subduction system. The mafic lavas of all age intervals exhibit clearly pronounced across-arc geochemical zoning, which implies that these rocks were produced in the environment of a subducted oceanic slab. The high Ba/Th and U/Th ratios of basalts from the frontal zones suggest that an important role in magma generation was played by a low-temperature aqueous fluid. The arc lavas of the Early Miocene, Pliocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene episodes in the evolution of the island arc system provide evidence of the melting of subducted sediments, which testifies, when considered together with the calculated P-T conditions under which the high-Mg basalts were derived, that backarc tectono-magmatic processes affected subduction-related magmatic generation. Active mantle diapirism and volcanic activity in the opening Kurile Basin resulted in the heating of the suprasubduction mantle in the rear zone, the involvement of the upper sedimentary layer of the oceanic slab in the process of melting, and the eventual generation of basaltic magmas with unusual geochemical characteristics.