Melt Inclusion Evidence for Subduction-modified Mantle Beneath the Woodlark Spreading Center, Solomon Islands

Abstract:

The Woodlark Spreading Center (WSC) to the east of Papua New Guinea separates the Indo-Australian plate and Solomon Sea microplate. At its eastern terminus, the WSC is being subducted at the New Britain trench, forming a triple junction near the New Georgia Group arc in the Solomon Islands. Previous studies have shown that lavas recovered from greater than 100 km from the trench on the WSC are N-MORB, but closer to the trench they have arc-like Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic ratios, enrichments in LILE, and depletions in HFSE. In the complex triple junction area of the WSC on the Simbo and Ghizo Ridges, island arc tholeiites to medium-K calc-alkaline andesites and dacites have been recovered, many with trace element and isotopic characteristics that are similar to the true arc lavas in the New Georgia Group on the other side of the trench. We suggest that subduction-modified arc mantle migrates through slab windows created by the subduction of the WSC as the plates continue to diverge after subduction. This transfer of mantle across the plate boundary leads to variable mixing between arc and N-MORB end-members, forming the hybrid to arc-like lavas recovered on the WSC. To test this hypothesis and to characterize the end-member compositions, we have analyzed melt inclusions in olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase phenocrysts in Simbo and Ghizo Ridge lava samples. Major elements were analyzed using the electron microprobe facility at Fayetteville State University and volatiles were analyzed on the ion probe facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The melt inclusions show a wide diversity of magmas from basalts to dacites, and mixing modeling shows that most Woodlark Spreading Center lava compositions are explained by mixing between the most extreme mafic (MORB) and felsic (arc) inclusion compositions.