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Geochemical characteristics of major and trace elements in the Okinawa Trough basaltic glass

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Abstract

The Okinawa Trough (OT) is a back-arc basin at an initial spreading stage that is under the influence of subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate. In this study, we analyzed the geochemical compositions of basaltic glass in the OT and discussed the effects of different magmatic sources, evolution, and subducted components in basalts. Our results showed that the middle and southern regions of the OT exhibit characteristics consistent with an iron-rich tholeiite series. Trace element proportions conform to the typical spider diagram pattern characteristic of back-arc basin basalts, rich in large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) including Rb, Ba, Pb, U, and Th, while depleted in high field-strength elements (HFSEs) including Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, and Ti. The distribution of rare earth elements (REEs) is also consistent with enrichment by right-leaning light rare earth elements (LREEs). The addition of enriched mantle type I (EMI) materials as well as mantle heterogeneity may have led to variable degrees of enrichment in different regions. The magma source of the middle trough has undergone crystallization towards pyroxene, while development of plagioclase was restricted partly, and the crystallization of spinel and olivine ceased altogether. At the same time, crystallization of the southern OT magma source was dominated by olivine and including the formation of plagioclase, pyroxene, and magnetite (or titanomagnetite). Finally, the results of this study showed that 90% Th, 95% Ba in the southern basalt, 50%–70% Th and 70%–90% Ba in the middle basalt originated from subducted component. Different subducted component influence may be due to different subduction zone structural feature.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Liu Guoqi for help with sample analysis. All authors are thankful to two anonymous reviewers for the thorough revision of the manuscript and their insightful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Kun Guo, Zhigang Zeng, Xiaoyuan Wang & Xuebo Yin

  2. Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Kun Guo

  3. Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences and Prospection of Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Kun Guo, Shikui Zhai & Zenghui Yu

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  1. Kun Guo
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  2. Shikui Zhai
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  4. Zhigang Zeng
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  5. Xiaoyuan Wang
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  6. Xuebo Yin
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Correspondence to Shikui Zhai.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Basic Research Program of China under contract No. 2013CB429702; the open fund project supported by the Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology under contract No. MGQNLM-KF201707; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41476044, 41325021 and 41306053; the Special Fund for the Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province under contract No. ts201511061; the AoShan Talents Program supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology under contract No. 2015ASTP-0S17; the Innovative Talent Promotion Program under contract No. 2012RA2191; the Science and Technology Development Program of Shandong Province under contract No. 2013GRC31502.

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Guo, K., Zhai, S., Yu, Z. et al. Geochemical characteristics of major and trace elements in the Okinawa Trough basaltic glass. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 37, 14–24 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1075-2

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