Back-arc Mantle Evolution inferred from Peridotite Xenotlishs from the Japan Sea

Abstract:

Peridotite xenoliths are recovered in basaltic to andesitic lavas from several localities in the Japan Sea, a Miocene back-arc basin of the Western Pacific region. These peridotites are classified into two groups: two-pyroxene peridotitess and dunite-wehrlite groups. Although slight chemical modifications are observed in these peridotite samples, two-pyroxene peridotite group has retained their original residual mantle geochemical signatures left after partial melting. The dunite-wehrlite group is, on the other hand, probably formed by extensive interaction of the two-pyroxene peridotite group. We examined trace element characteristics of clinopyroxene in these xenoliths. Light REE-depleted clinopyroxenes that are usually interpreted as a simple residual mantle after anhydrous partial melting are similar to those of abyssal peridotite recovered from mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins. Other samples show LREE-enriched patterns that are residues after influx melting caused by hydrous melt/supercritical fluids released from the subducted slab at high pressure conditions. The geotectonic and geochemical variations of the peridotite xenoliths from the Japan Sea (Shirabeshi Seamount, Seifu Seamount and Oshima-Oshima Island) suggest that the mantle beneath the Japan Sea are suffered from hydrous to anhydrous melting as the Japan Sea forms. This is consistent with the geochemical and isotopic results from Miocene basaltic rocks formed during opening of the Japan Sea (Sato et al., Jour. Petrol., 2013). The Japan Sea peridotite xenoliths also shed lights on the origin of ophiolites.