Disentangling the Roles of Subducted Volatile Contributions and Mantle Source Heterogeneity in the Production of Magmas Beneath the Washington Cascades

Abstract

The compositional diversity of primitive arc basalts has long inspired questions regarding the drivers of magmatism in subduction zones, including the roles of decompression melting, mantle heterogeneity, and the amount and composition of slab-derived materials. This contribution presents the volatile (H₂O, Cl, and S), major, and trace element compositions of melt inclusions from basaltic magmas erupted at three volcanic centers in the Washington Cascades: Mount St. Helens (two basaltic tephras, 2.0–1.7 ka), Indian Heaven Volcanic Field (two <600 ka basaltic hyaloclastite tuffs), and Glacier Peak (late Pleistocene to Holocene basaltic tephra from Whitechuck and Indian Pass cones). Compositions corrected to be in equilibrium with mantle olivine display variability in Nb and trace element ratios indicative of mantle source variability that impressively spans nearly the entire range of arc magmas globally. All volcanic centers have magmas with H₂O and Cl contributions from the downgoing plate that overlap with other Cascade Arc segments. Volatile abundances and trace element ratios support a model of melting of a highly variably mantle wedge driven by a subduction component of variably saline fluid and/or slab partial melt. Magmas from Glacier Peak in northern Washington have unusually high Th/Yb ratios that are similar to Lassen region basalts, indicating possible contributions of “subcreted” metasediments that geophysical data suggest are not present beneath central Oregon and southern Washington. This data set adds to the growing inventory of primitive magma volatile concentrations and provides insight into spatial distributions of mantle heterogeneity and the role of slab components in the petrogenesis of arc magmas.