Arc volcanism initiated on the eastern margin of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous: Geochemistry of the Takanokura volcanic rocks in the Abukuma Mountains, Northeast Japan

Abstract

The Early Cretaceous Takanokura Formation in the eastern part of the Abukuma Mountains consists of a lower felsic ignimbrite and upper intermediate lavas and volcaniclastic rocks, representing the initial arc-type in northeast Japan. In this study, I analyzed the major and trace element contents and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic ratios of these eruptive products; then, I discussed their magma genesis based on their geochemical properties. Although igneous rocks of the same period in other localities of northeast Japan are characterized by the occurrence of adakites, these volcanism are composed of non-adakitic high- to medium-K andesite to rhyolite that are rich in large-ion lithophile elements and poor in high-field-strength elements and have low Sr/Y values and flat heavy rare earth element patterns. Furthermore, these rocks have high radiogenic Pb isotopic ratios. The rhyolite and dacite have been thought to derive from crustal melting, whereas the andesite formed by the mixing of crustal felsic melts and mafic magmas generated by melting of the lithospheric mantle. Although previous studies attributed the formation of the Early Cretaceous adakites to the hot subduction of a mid-ocean ridge, recent global plate motion reconstructions reject this model. To generate magma from a cold slab and lithospheric mantle that does not spontaneously melt, the mantle wedge under northeast Japan must have experienced heating. During this period, the volcanic province along the eastern margin of Eurasia expanded rapidly toward the trench, forming grabens. Therefore, I concluded that the advance of the hot asthenosphere into the forearc region that led to this expansion, which caused the retreat of the subduction boundary of the paleo-Pacific plate to retreat and ultimately converted northeast Japan from an accretionary complex into a volcanically active region.