Incorporation of subducted slab-derived sediment and fluid in arc magmas: B-Be-10Be-εNd systematics of the Kurile convergent margin, Russia

Abstract

We present an investigation of B-Be-10Be-eNd systematics of the incoming crust and across the wide, active Kurile arc in the NW Pacific ocean basin to address the role of recent sediment incorporation in arc magmas as a function of depth to the Wadati-Benioff zone. The 10Be flux ratio (8-14%) through the arc constrains the fate of sediments subducted at the trench and requires that a minimum ~10 m of the sediment column must reach the depths of magma generation. Enrichments in subducted sediment-derived 10Be in rear-arc lavas are comparable with those in the volcanic front, despite longer subduction transit times, and require a mechanism for the prolonged release of 10Be from the subducting slab. Cross-arc 10Be enrichments, together with drastic reductions in B/Be, imply a protracted stability of their primary mineralogical host in subducted sediment, white mica (phengite). The persistence of phengite constrains slab surface temperatures to be 59508C to 165 km depth and limits the extent of partial melting of the slab to 520%. The simplest interpretation of combined incoming sediment and cross-arc B/Be-10Be/9Be-eNd systematics is that the agent of element transfer changes from aqueous fluid-dominated beneath the volcanic front to melt-like beneath the deeper regions of the arc. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.