Subduction zones and back arc basins — A review
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Abstract The Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica plus the Virgin Islands host fragments of the fossil convergent margin that records Cretaceous subduction (operated for about 90 m.y.) of the American plates beneath the Caribbean plate and ensuing arc‐continent collision in Late Cretaceous‐Eocene time. The “soft” collision between the Greater Antilles Arc (GAA) and the Bahamas platform (and the margin of the Maya Block in western Cuba) preserved much of the convergent margin. This fossil geosystem represents an excellent natural laboratory for studying the formation and evolution of an intra‐oceanic convergent margin. We compiled geochronologic (664 ages) and geochemical data (more than 1,500 analyses) for GAA igneous and metamorphic rocks. The data was classified with a simple fourfold subdivision: fore‐arc mélange, fore‐arc ophiolite, magmatic arc, and retro‐arc to inspect the evolution of GAA through its entire lifespan. The onset of subduction recorded by fore‐arc units, together with the oldest magmatic arc sequence shows that the GAA started in Early Cretaceous time and ceased in Paleogene time. The arc was locally affected (retro‐arc region in Hispaniola) by the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP) in Early Cretaceous and strongly in Late Cretaceous time. Despite multiple biases in the database presented here, this work is intended to help overcome some of the obstacles and motivate systematic study of the GAA. Our results encourage exploration of offshore regions, especially in the east where the forearc is submerged. Offshore explorations are also encouraged in the south, to investigate relations with the CLIP.
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Pacific Plate
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The Uyandino-Yasachnaya magmatic arc is the largest volcanic-plutonic belt in the north-east of Russia. However, there is yet to be a consensus on the nature of the arc, despite a long study of the rocks composing it. Most researchers consider it to be an island arc formation, however, some researchers also believe that it of a riftogenic or heterogeneous nature. The arc is composed of volcanogenic-sedimentary strata of variegated composition and associated subvolcanic formations. The rocks were formed during the Oxfordian-Volgian stage; their formation either preceded that of the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous granitoid massifs, or was synchronous with it. The research focused on volcanogenic and subvolcanic formations of the southeastern part of the arc in the midstream of the Indigirka River. The purpose of the research was to determine their composition and geodynamic conditions of formation. For this purpose, the study of the structure of volcanogenic strata and sub-volcanoes, their petrographic and chemical compositions, relations with granitoids was carried out. The volcanogenic strata within the territory are represented by two formations of rhyolite and their clastolavas: low-alkaline tholeiitic Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian formation and calcalkaline Medium Kimmeridgian � Early Volgian formation. The lower formation developed in the island-arc setting the upper formation developed under transitional conditions of the island-arc to the marginal-continental regime. The subvolcanic massifs have a dacite-rhyodacite composition; they intrude volcanogenic strata of both these suites and are metamorphosed near the contacts of the Early Cretaceous massifs. Their parental melt was produced at the boundary of amphibolite and dacite-tonalite substrates at maximum temperature (up to 1050oC) and pressure (up to 11.1 kbar). They are of Middle or Late Volga age and formed in the initial stages of the development of the active margin of the continent.
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Abstract Back‐arc basins are essential geological units, formation and development of which are controlled by subduction dynamics. In the previous modeling studies, evolution of back‐arc basins was widely investigated under single subduction scenarios, suggesting that development of a back‐arc basin is only influenced by the adjacent single subduction zone. However, natural observations show that in the case of face‐to‐face double subduction, such as the New Hebrides and Tonga subduction systems in the Southwest (SW) Pacific region, evolution of back‐arc basins is likely affected by double subduction. How double subduction affects back‐arc basin evolution remains enigmatic. Here, we use 2D thermomechanical numerical modeling to investigate the dynamic evolution of back‐arc basins affected by double subduction. Our results suggest that episodic back‐arc spreading could be induced by double subduction, i.e., back‐arc spreading is first retarded by the development of a second subduction and then promoted by its slab break‐off. The double subduction further enhances upwelling of the deep mantle, facilitating the material circulation between the shallow and deep mantle. The major parameters influencing double subduction and back‐arc spreading are the distance between the two subduction zones and slab ages. Our results provide a new perspective for interpreting the episodic back‐arc spreading and the enriched back‐arc basalts in the SW Pacific region, and suggest the importance of double subduction in the geodynamic evolution of this region.
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Accretionary wedge
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Combination of deep-sea coring and land-based studies has provided a quantitative view of volcano genic sediments in and around the Lesser Antilles arc in the late-Quaternary. Of the total of $$527 km^{3}$$ of volcanics produced in the arc in the last $$10^{5}$$ years, over 80% has been deposited as volcanogenic sediments in the adjacent marine basins as ash-fall layers, pyroclastic debris flow deposits and volcanic sands. Over 70% of total volcanogenic sedimentation from the arc is received by the back-arc Grenada Basin west of the arc in the form of sediment gravity flows. The volumetric role of ash-fall layers is thus relatively small. Approximately 40% of the ash-fall in the Atlantic is dispersed in the sediment. The asymmetric distribution of volcanogenic sediments around the arc, with pyroclastic debris flow deposits predominating west of the arc and ash-fall layers in the Atlantic east of the arc, is attributed to the effects of prevailing high-altitude wind direction, different submarine arc slope and ocean currents. The magma production rate in the arc during the last $$10^{5}$$ years is approximately $$0.1 m^{3}/sec$$ Magma generation in this period has taken place along 400 km of arc and thus the eruption rate in this arc (excluding intrusions) amounts to $$7 km^{3}$$ per km of arc per million years.
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