Abstract
New analyses of 238U- 230Th disequilibria are reported for four active volcanoes: Merapi and Krakatoa in the Sunda arc (Indonesia), Masaya in Central America (Nicaragua), and Ambrym in the New Hebrides island arc. Despite a large range in ( 230Th 232Th ) ratios (from 0.65 in Merapi andesites to 2.5 in Masaya basalts), 238U and 230Th are close to radioactive equilibrium, as in many other arc magmas. In several mantle sources, Th/U ratios have clearly been modified by metasomatic processes associated with subduction. This is demonstrated in Central America by the correlation between ( 230Th 232Th ) and 10Be 9Be ratios for several active volcanoes along the arc. It is proposed that the 238U- 230Th radioactive equilibrium found in many arc magmas is the result of disequilibrium melting involving an easily melted, slab-derived, metasomatic component which dominates the uranium and thorium budget of the mantle sources. The departure from equilibrium may be either due to mixing with 230Th enriched melts derived from unmetasomatized mantle sources or to a late stage uranium addition by fluids. This latter process, producing uranium enriched magmas, has a greater influence in uranium and thorium poor magmas.
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