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Understanding the age and dynamics of the overriding plates allows an assessment of competing subduction initiation hypotheses. The Izu‐Bonin‐Mariana margin in the Western Pacific is a key example of initiation and hence it is important to constrain the age and origin of the oldest igneous crust of the supra‐subduction Philippine Sea Plate. We present geochronological and geochemical data of igneous rocks from the oldest ocean basins of the Philippine Sea Plate: the West Philippine and Palau Basins. Basalts from these basins have enriched geochemical characteristics similar to the EM‐2‐like mantle component found in OIB‐like basalts associated with the Oki‐Daito mantle plume. Ages of basalts from the northernmost West Philippine Basin (WPB) and the Palau Basin range from 43.5 to 50.5 Ma, which is similar to the oldest samples associated with the Oki‐Daito mantle plume (48–50 Ma). This implies that the plume contributed to magmatism from the onset of basin formation. It also provides support for the proposition that rifting of the Mesozoic arc terrane and subsequent seafloor spreading of the WPB was triggered by the arrival of the Oki‐Daito mantle plume at the base of the lithosphere. The age of these Philippine Sea Basins implies that only the Mesozoic Daito Ridge Group and the Gagua Ridge existed as Philippine Sea Plate crust before subduction initiation. A major fault activity after 37 Ma in the northernmost WPB demonstrates that careful reconstruction of the Eocene Philippine Sea Plate is critical to understanding plate dynamics during subduction initiation in the Western Pacific. Plain Language Summary: This study investigates the formation of the crust beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. An outcome of this research is a clearer understanding of the plate tectonic configuration in the Western Pacific at the point when volcanic activity started. We collected rock samples from what is thought to be the oldest sections of the West Philippine Basin and the Palau Basin, and determined their age and chemical composition. These rocks were erupted between 43.5 and 50.5 million years ago, and are of a similar age and composition to the volcanic rocks known to be associated with the Oki‐Daito mantle plume (48–50 million years old). These similarities imply that the initial volcanism on the Philippine Sea Plate was triggered by the arrival of the upwelling Oki‐Daito mantle plume. A consequence of the hot and buoyant mantle plume was to stretch the existing crust and develop a new ocean basin by volcanic activity. The new ages for the oldest ocean basins in the Philippine Sea Plate reveal that only the Mesozoic arc terrane existed as the Philippine Sea Plate crust before subduction initiation. This provides new constraints on the conditions under which subduction can initiate between the two plates. Key Points: New dating indicates that a major part of the oldest Philippine Sea Plate basins formed after c. 51 MaOcean crust of the oldest Philippine Basins is affected by the Oki‐Daito mantle plumeOnset of spreading of the West Philippine Basin could have been triggered when the Oki‐Daito plume hit the base of preexisting lithosphere [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary andesitic magmas could be an important component of arc magma genesis and might have played a key role in the advent of continents. Recent studies hypothesized that primary andesitic magmas occur in the oceanic arc, where the crust is thin. The Kermadec arc has the thinnest crust among all the studied oceanic arcs (<15 km in thickness); however, there are no studies that corroborate the formation of primary andesitic magmas in the arc. The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of primary andesites in oceanic arcs through the petrology of the Kermadec arc. Here, we present the petrology of volcanic rocks dredged from the Kibblewhite Volcano in the Kermadec arc during the R/V SONNE SO-255 expedition in 2017. Magma types range from andesite to rhyolite at the Kibblewhite Volcano, but basalts dominate at the neighboring cones. This study focuses on magnesian andesites from the northeastern flank of this volcano. The magnesian andesites are nearly aphyric and plagioclase free but contain microphenocrysts of olivine (Fo84–86) and clinopyroxene (Mg# = 81–87). Using olivine addition models, the primary magmas were estimated to contain 55–56 wt % SiO2 and 10–12 wt % MgO, similar to the high-Mg andesites observed in other convergent plate margins, indicating the generation of primary andesitic magma beneath the Kibblewhite Volcano. The trace element and isotopic characteristics of the magnesian andesites are typical of volcanic rocks from the Kermadec arc. This indicates that the subduction of a young plate or melting of a pyroxenitic source is not necessary to produce magnesian andesites. Instead, we propose that the magnesian andesites were produced by the direct melting of the uppermost mantle of the Kermadec arc. The thin crust of the Kermadec arc should yield low-pressure conditions in the uppermost mantle, allowing the sub-arc mantle to generate primary andesitic melts. This study supports the hypothesis that primary andesitic magmas generate in the arc where the crust is thin and provides a new insight into the magma genesis of the Kermadec arc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanometer-sized crystals (nanolites) play an important role in controlling eruptions by affecting the viscosity of magmas and inducing bubble nucleation. We present detailed microscopic and nanoscopic petrographic analyses of nanolite-bearing and nanolite-free pumice from the 2021 eruption of Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba, Japan. The nanolite mineral assemblage includes biotite, which is absent from the phenocryst mineral assemblage, and magnetite and clinopyroxene, which are observed as phenocrysts. The boundary between the nanolite-bearing brown glass and nanolite-free colorless glass is either sharp or gradational, and the sharp boundaries also appear sharp under the transmitted electron microscope. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis of the volcanic glass revealed that the nanolite-free colorless glass records an oxygen fugacity of QFM + 0.98 (log units), whereas the nanolite-bearing brown glass records a higher apparent oxygen fugacity (~ QFM + 2). Thermodynamic modelling using MELTS indicates that higher oxygen fugacities increase the liquidus temperature and thus induced the crystallization of magnetite nanolites. The hydrous nanolite mineral assemblage and glass oxygen fugacity estimates suggest that an oxidizing fluid supplied by a hot mafic magma induced nanolite crystallization in the magma reservoir, before the magma fragmentation. The oxidation-induced nanolite crystallization then enhanced heterogeneous bubble nucleation, resulting in convection in the magma reservoir and triggering the eruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fukutoku‐Oka‐no‐Ba is a submarine volcano located at 24°17.1′ N/141°28.9′ E in the Izu–Bonin arc, and is one of the most active volcanoes in Japan. This volcano produced an explosive eruption in August 2021 that generated a large amount of volcaniclastic material, some of which drifted westward to Japan and the coastal area of East Asia as a pumice raft. The pumice clasts that drifted for >1000 km were mostly homogeneous and identical to those produced by past historical eruptions. The clasts have trachytic compositions (SiO2 = 61–63 mass% and Na2O + K2O = 8.6–10.0 mass%) and contain augite, plagioclase, olivine (Mg# ~65), and magnetite, along with a small number of mafic enclaves containing diopside and high‐Mg olivine (Mg# ~ 92). We undertook a research cruise to investigate the proximal volcaniclastic materials by dredging. The proximal materials include pumice, weakly vesiculated lapilli, and volcanic blocks, which have trachytic composition (SiO2 contents up to 64.5 mass%). The main minerals in the proximal material are similar to those in the drift pumice, although remnants of mafic magma do not occur in the SiO2‐rich samples. The petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the proximal and drift ejecta from Fukutoku‐Oka‐no‐Ba suggest the magma reservoir was stratified into two parts. The major part experienced magma mixing with a limited volume of mafic magma, whereas the other part was more differentiated. The differentiated high‐SiO2 magma accumulated in the upper part of the magma reservoir and avoided the mixing with and feed of volatile from the mafic magma, then were pushed out from the volcanic vent without extensive bubbling to sunk in the proximal area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between plutonic and volcanic components of magmatic plumbing systems continues to be a question of intense debate. The Oki-Dōzen Islands, Sea of Japan, preserve outcrops of temporally associated plutonic, hypabyssal, and volcanic rocks. Post-intrusion uplift juxtaposed Miocene syenites in inferred faulted contact with volcanic trachytes that are cut by rhyolite hypabyssal dikes. This provides a window deep into the timing and origins of magma storage architecture and dynamics. Zircon is ubiquitous in all samples; our aim is to determine what its age and composition can reveal about the plutonic-volcanic connection. Here we show magma source characteristics are recorded in zircon Hf isotopes; source composition and assimilation of heterogeneous hydrothermally altered crust in zircon O isotopes; and extensive fractional crystallization in zircon trace elements. Combined with new U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages, 6.4–5.7 Ma, compositional data show pluton formation was by protracted amalgamation of discrete magma pulses. The rhyolite dike preserves an evolved fraction segregated from these discrete magmas. Synchronous with plutonism was a volcanic eruption of trachyte magma derived from the same source, which may have stalled at a relatively shallow depth prior to eruption. Stalling occurred at least above the amphibole stability zone because amphibole-compatible Sc and Ti were not depleted in the trachyte melt resulting in elevated values of these in volcanic compared to plutonic zircon. Identifying smaller episodic magma pulses in a larger magmatic complex places constraints on potential magma fluxes and eruptible volumes. High-flux, large volume, plume-related ocean island magmatic systems may have extensive vertically distributed multi-stage magmatic reservoirs and subduction-related systems transcrustal magma reservoirs. By contrast, Oki-Dōzen was a low-flux system with incremental pluton growth and small- to moderate-scale eruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common knowledge that the Moho is the boundary between the crust and the Earth's mantle. Here we show along several seismic profiles through the Pacific Plate that a correlation exists between the strength of Moho reflections, crustal thickness, and water depth. Where the Moho can be detected clearly, the overlying oceanic crust is systematically thicker and the water depths are shallower. We suggest that two end‐members of oceanic crust exist in fast spreading environments: one thick, underlain by a clear Moho; the other thinner, without a Moho; with all intermediate situations. In the Oman ophiolite, the best‐preserved on‐land analogue of fossil oceanic lithosphere created by fast‐spreading, the boundary between the mantle peridotites and the lower crustal gabbros mainly consists of a dunitic transition zone (DTZ) ranging from a few meters to a few hundred meters in thickness. A sudden influx of seawater down to the base of the crust at the mid‐ocean ridge (MOR) results in the hydrous (re‐)melting of mantle peridotites, producing a dunitic residue at the crust–mantle boundary that represents the most reflective Moho. At the same time, the hydrous melting, in addition to the normal decompression melting, beneath the MOR, increases the thickness of the oceanic crust by enhancing magma production. In the absence of hydrous melting, the DTZ is thin or absent at the crust–mantle boundary, and instead the uppermost mantle harzburgite is intruded by gabbros, and/or the overlying crustal gabbro is intruded by numerous wehrlite bodies, which will be seismically gradational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pumice rafts that arrived at the Nansei Islands, Japan, provided a unique opportunity to investigate the Fukutoku‐Oka‐no‐Ba (FOB) eruption of August 2021. Despite drifting for 2 months for ~1300 km, the drift pumice raft had a large volume and contained a variety of pumice clasts, some of which were deposited during a high tide in a typhoon, while others were washed up on a sandy beach. Most of the drift pumice clasts are gray in color, vesicular, and have a groundmass containing black enclaves. Rare black pumice and the main gray pumice components have similar trachytic compositions, with SiO2 = 61–62 mass% and total alkalis = 8.6–10 mass% (on an anhydrous basis). Both pumice types contain clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and rare olivine phenocrysts. Thin‐section observations show that the gray pumice has more elongated vesicles as compared with the black pumice that has spherical vesicles, even where the two types of pumice are in the same clast. The glass in the black pumice is transparent and brown in color, while that in the gray pumice is colorless. No micro or nano‐crystals were observed during electron and optical microscopy. Raman spectra of the brown‐colored glass exhibit a clear magnetite peak, suggesting magnetite nanolites cause the brown color. High‐Mg olivine in the black pumice has an equilibrium temperature of c. 1200 °C and a rim diffusion profile indicative of re‐equilibration with the surrounding melt over a period of hours to days. The textural relationships between the gray and black pumice suggest that the black pumice had become black and viscous before the two types of pumice mixed. Therefore, crystallization of magnetite nanolites and a corresponding increase in melt viscosity were important in the eruption preparation process, which then resulted in a large‐scale Plinian eruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How serpentinites in the forearc mantle and subducted lithosphere become involved in enriching the subarc mantle source of arc magmas is controversial. Here we report molybdenum isotopes for primitive submarine lavas and serpentinites from active volcanoes and serpentinite mud volcanoes in the Mariana arc. These data, in combination with radiogenic isotopes and elemental ratios, allow development of a model whereby shallow, partially serpentinized and subducted forearc mantle transfers fluid and melt from the subducted slab into the subarc mantle. These entrained forearc mantle fragments are further metasomatized by slab fluids/melts derived from the dehydration of serpentinites in the subducted lithospheric slab. Multistage breakdown of serpentinites in the subduction channel ultimately releases fluids/melts that trigger Mariana volcanic front volcanism. Serpentinites dragged down from the forearc mantle are likely exhausted at >200 km depth, after which slab-derived serpentinites are responsible for generating slab melts. How the subducted oceanic lithosphere provides fluids and melts to flux the subarc mantle source of arc magmas is controversial. Here the authors use Mo and other isotopes to show serpentinites formed in both the forearc mantle and the subducted lithosphere contribute to generating arc magmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How serpentinites in the forearc mantle and subducted lithosphere become involved in enriching the subarc mantle source of arc magmas is controversial. Here we report molybdenum isotopes for primitive submarine lavas and serpentinites from active volcanoes and serpentinite mud volcanoes in the Mariana arc. These data, in combination with radiogenic isotopes and elemental ratios, allow development of a model whereby shallow, partially serpentinized and subducted forearc mantle transfers fluid and melt from the subducted slab into the subarc mantle. These entrained forearc mantle fragments are further metasomatized by slab fluids/melts derived from the dehydration of serpentinites in the subducted lithospheric slab. Multistage breakdown of serpentinites in the subduction channel ultimately releases fluids/melts that trigger Mariana volcanic front volcanism. Serpentinites dragged down from the forearc mantle are likely exhausted at >200 km depth, after which slab-derived serpentinites are responsible for generating slab melts. A deep neural network is developed to automatically extract ground deformation from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar time series. Applied to data over the North Anatolian Fault, the method can detect 2 mm deformation transients and reveals a slow earthquake twice as extensive as previously recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 350 drilled between two Izu rear‐arc seamount chains at Site U1437 and recovered the first complete succession of rear‐arc rocks. The drilling reached 1806.5 m below seafloor. In situ hyaloclastites, which had erupted before the rear‐arc seamounts came into existence at this site, were recovered in the deepest part of the hole (∼15–16 Ma). Here it is found that the composition of the oldest rocks recovered does not have rear‐arc seamount chain geochemical signatures, but instead shows affinities with volcanic front or some of the extensional zone basalts between the present volcanic front and the rear‐arc seamount chains. It is suggested that following the opening of the Shikoku back‐arc Basin, Site U1437 was a volcanic front or a rifting zone just behind the volcanic front, and was followed at ~ 9 Ma by the start of rear‐arc seamount chains volcanism. This geochemical change records variations in the subduction components with time, which might have followed eastward moving of hot fingers in the mantle wedge and deepening of the subducting slab below Site U1437 after the cessation of Shikoku back‐arc Basin opening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-lived intra-oceanic arcs of Izu-Bonin-Marianas (IBM)-type are built on thick, granodioritic crust formed in the absence of pre-existing continental crust. International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 350, Site U1437, explored the IBM rear arc to better understand continental crust formation in arcs. Detailed petrochronological (U-Pb geochronology combined with trace elements, oxygen and hafnium isotopes) characterizations of zircon from Site U1437 were carried out, taking care to exclude potential contaminants by (1) comparison of zircon ages with ship-board palaeomagnetic and biostratigraphic ages and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, (2) analysing zircon from drill muds for comparison, (3) selectively carrying out in situ analysis in petrographic thin sections, and (4) minimizing potential laboratory contamination through using pristine equipment during mineral separation. The youngest zircon ages in Site U1437 are consistent with 40Ar/39Ar and shipboard ages to a depth of ~1390 m below sea floor (mbsf) where Igneous Unit Ig 1 yielded an 40Ar/39Ar age of 12.9 ± 0.3 Ma (all errors 2σ). One single zircon (age 15.4 ± 1.0 Ma) was recovered from the deepest lithostratigraphic unit drilled, Unit VII (1459.80-1806.5 mbsf). Site U1437 zircon trace element compositions are distinct from those of oceanic and continental arc environments and differ from those generated in thick oceanic crust (Iceland-type) where low-δ18O evolved melts are produced via re-melting of hydrothermally altered mafic rocks. Ti-in-zircon model temperatures are lower than for mid-ocean ridge rocks, in agreement with low zircon saturation temperatures, suggestive of low-temperature, hydrous melt sources. Zircon oxygen (δ18O = 3.3-6.0‰) and hafnium (εHf = + 10-+16) isotopic compositions indicate asthenospheric mantle sources. Trace element and isotopic differences between zircon from Site U1437 rear-arc rocks and the Hadean detrital zircon population suggest that preserved Hadean zircon crystals were probably generated in an environment different from modern oceanic convergent margins underlain by depleted mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the crustal structure of a site proposed for International Ocean Discovery Program drilling, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology carried out seismic surveys in the Izu rear arc between 2006 and 2008, using research vessels Kaiyo and Kairei. High-resolution dense grid surveys, consisting of three kinds of reflection surveys, generated clear seismic profiles, together with a seismic velocity image obtained from a seismic refraction survey. In this paper, we compare the seismic profiles with the geological column obtained from the drilling. Five volcaniclastic sedimentary units were identified in seismic reflection profiles above the 5 km/s and 6 km/s contours of P-wave velocity obtained from the velocity image from the seismic refraction survey. However, some of the unit boundaries interpreted from the seismic images were not recognised in the drilling core, highlighting the difficulties of geological target identification in volcanic regions from seismic images alone. The geological core derived from drilling consisted of seven lithological units (labelled I to VII). Units I to V were aged at 0-9 Ma, and units VI and VII, from 1320-1806.5m below seafloor (mbsf) had ages from 9 to ~15 Ma. The strong heterogeneity of volcanic sediments beneath the drilling site U1437 was also identified from coherence, calculated using cross-spectral analysis between grid survey lines. Our results suggest that use of a dense grid configuration is important in site surveys for ocean drilling in volcanic rear-arc situations, in order to recognise heterogeneous crustal structure, such as sediments from different origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IODP Expedition 350 was the first to be drilled in the rear part of the Izu-Bonin, although several sites had been drilled in the arc axis to fore-arc region; the scientific objective was to understand the evolution of the Izu rear arc, by drilling a deep-water volcaniclastic section with a long temporal record (Site U1437). The Izu rear arc is dominated by a series of basaltic to dacitic seamount chains up to ~100-km long roughly perpendicular to the arc front. Dredge samples from these are geochemically distinct from arc front rocks, and drilling was undertaken to understand this arc asymmetry. Site U1437 lies in an ~20-km-wide basin between two rear arc seamount chains, ~90-km west of the arc front, and was drilled to 1804 m below the sea floor (mbsf) with excellent recovery. We expected to drill a volcaniclastic apron, but the section is much more mud-rich than expected (~60%), and the remaining fraction of the section is much finer-grained than predicted from its position within the Izu arc, composed half of ashes/tuffs, and half of lapilli tuffs of fine grain size (clasts <3 cm). Volcanic blocks (>6.4 cm) are only sparsely scattered through the lowermost 25% of the section, and only one igneous unit was encountered, a rhyolite peperite intrusion at ~1390 mbsf. The lowest biostratigaphic datum is at 867 mbsf (~6.5 Ma), the lowest palaeomagnetic datum is at ~1300 mbsf (~9 Ma), and the rhyolite peperite at ~1390 mbsf has yielded a U–Pb zircon concordia intercept age of (13.6 + 1.6/−1.7) Ma. Both arc front and rear arc sources contributed to the fine-grained (distal) tephras of the upper 1320 m, but the coarse-grained (proximal) volcaniclastics in the lowest 25% of the section are geochemically similar to the arc front, suggesting arc asymmetry is not recorded in rocks older than ~13 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remotely monitored and operated unmanned vessels are effective for the working environment improvement of vessel crew, the solution of crew shortage, and the efficiency of marine survey. However, the development of unmanned vessels is delayed. One of factors is the communication problem. A bit rate of the current maritime communication using the satellite communication is about several hundred kbps from vessels. Therefore, this bit rate is insufficient for remote monitoring and operation. To solve this problem, a use of a long-range Wi-Fi communication is proposed. In this paper, the unmanned system capable of remote monitoring and operation with long-range Wi-Fi is developed and examined at Tokyo bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pagan is one of the largest volcanoes along the Mariana arc volcanic front. It has a maximum elevation of 570 m (Mt. Pagan), but its submarine flanks descend to 2000–3000 m below sea level, and are unexplored. Bathymetric mapping and ROV Hyper-Dolphin dives (HPD1147 and HPD1148) on the submarine NE and SW flanks of Pagan were carried out during cruise NT10-12 of R.V. Natsushima in July 2010. There are no systematic compositional differences between subaerial lavas reported in the literature and differentiated submarine lavas collected in HPD1148, with <7 wt % MgO, suggesting they are derived from the same magmatic system. However, these differentiated lavas show complexities including magma mixing; thus we concentrate on magnesian submarine lavas (>7 wt % MgO). Twenty least-fractionated basalts (48·5–50 wt % SiO2) collected during HPD1147 extend to higher MgO (10–11 wt %) and Mg# (66–70) than the subaerial lavas. Olivine (up to Fo94) and spinel (Cr# up to 0·8) compositions suggest that these Pagan primitive magmas formed from high degrees of mantle melting. Two basalt types can be distinguished based on their geochemistry at similar (10–11 wt %) MgO; these erupted recently, 500 m apart. Both contain clinopyroxene and olivine phenocrysts and are referred to as COB1 and COB2. Lower TiO2, FeO, Na2O, K2O, incompatible trace element abundances, and Nb/Yb suggest that COB1 formed from higher degrees of mantle melting. In addition, light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment and higher Th/Nb in COB2 contrast with LREE depletion and lower Th/Nb in COB1. Higher Ba/Th and Ba/Nb and lower Th/Nb indicate that the main subduction addition in COB1 was dominated by hydrous fluid, whereas that in COB2 was dominated by sediment melt. Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopes are also consistent with this interpretation. These observations suggest that the subduction component responsible for the greater degree of melting of the COB1 source was mostly hydrous fluid. The origin of such different metasomatic agents resulted in different primary magmas forming in the same volcano. Both hydrous fluid and sediment melt components may have unmixed from an originally homogeneous supercritical fluid in or above the subducting slab below the volcanic front. These may have been added separately to the mantle wedge peridotite (mantle diapir) and resulted in two neighboring but completely different primary magmas from the same diapir. Moreover, these primitive lavas suggest that even for intra-oceanic arcs assimilation–fractional crystallization is inevitable when these magmas evolve in the crust and, in addition, that phlogopite is present in their mantle residue and thus played an important role in their genesis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The southern Mariana Arc-Trench system is rapidly deforming, resulting in unusual interactions between arc and back-arc basin (BAB) magmatic systems. New geochemical data for volcanoes in this region are presented and explored. Tracey Seamount, an extinct submarine volcano about 30 km northwest of Guam, is the southernmost stratovolcano of the Mariana Arc. Tracey is built about 125 km above the subducted slab and has erupted a bimodal suite of typical arc mafic and felsic lavas as recently as 0.527 ± 0.023 Ma (40Ar/39Ar age). An unusual cluster of small basaltic volcanoes, informally termed the Alphabet Seamount Volcanic Province (ASVP), is found about where the next arc volcano to the southwest of Tracey Seamount should have grown. Samples from six of these volcanoes were studied here. At least two ASVP volcanoes were recently active, as shown by hydrothermal activity. The lack of magmatic focusing to build a single stratovolcano where the ASVP is situated reflects strong extension in the BAB. Construction of northern ASVP volcanoes is controlled by east-west extension accompanying opening of the Mariana Trough. In contrast, southern ASVP volcanoes are affected by north-south extension due to rapid rollback of a narrow slab of Pacific seafloor that is subducted along the east-west trending Challenger Deep segment of the Mariana Trench to the south. ASVP lava compositions are distinct from Tracey Seamount and other Mariana Arc lavas, instead showing affinities with Mariana Trough BAB basalt (BABBs): they are mafic, tholeiitic, low-K2O and LREE-depleted, with low 87Sr/86Sr, but show a subtle gradient from somewhat more arc-like lavas closer to the trench to BABBs farther west. The unusual tectonic setting of ASVP provides a unique perspective on how different arc magma batches reflect melting of mantle with strong compositional gradients which are mixed together beneath long-lived arc volcanoes but here rise to form scattered small ASVP volcanoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ∼50 Myr old Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc consists mostly of Oligocene middle and lower crust that underlies the upper crust; these units are in turn covered by Quaternary volcanic rocks. Seismic imaging, forearc geology, Ocean Drilling Program drilling and magnetic anomalies suggest that most IBM arc crust was created in Eocene–Oligocene times. However, remnants of this old crust have never been found at the northern end of the arc, where it is colliding with the Honshu arc (Izu collision zone). Two batholiths in this collision zone (the Tanzawa tonalites and the Kofu Granitic Complex) were emplaced during the Miocene (4–17 Ma). Major elements, Zr/Y, rare earth element ratios and normalized abundance patterns, and Sr–Nd isotopic data indicate that these plutonic bodies are compositionally similar to the Oligocene IBM volcanic rocks, and that they are dissimilar to the Miocene, Pliocene and Quaternary IBM lavas and volcaniclastic rocks. We suggest that the Miocene plutonic rocks in the Izu collision zone were derived from partially melted Oligocene middle crust. A model is proposed in which IBM arc middle crust in the collision zone was partially melted during the collision and then intruded into the overlying upper crust of the Honshu and IBM arcs. This resulted in the complete loss of chronological information related to their original source. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

West Rota Volcano (WRV) is a recently discovered extinct submarine volcano in the southern Mariana Arc. It is large (25 km diameter base), shallow (up to 300 m below sealevel), and contains a large caldera (6 × 10 km, with up to 1 km relief). The WRV lies near the northern termination of a major NNE-trending normal fault. This and a second, parallel fault just west of the volcano separate uplifted, thick frontal arc crust to the east from subsiding, thin back-arc basin crust to the west. The WRV is distinct from other Mariana Arc volcanoes: (i) it consists of a lower, predominantly andesite section overlain by a bimodal rhyolite-basalt layered sequence; (ii) andesitic rocks are locally intensely altered and mineralized; (iii) it has a large caldera; and (iv) WRV is built on a major fault. Submarine felsic calderas are common in the Izu and Kermadec Arcs but are otherwise unknown from the Marianas and other primitive, intraoceanic arcs. 40Ar–39Ar dating indicates that andesitic volcanism comprising the lower volcanic section occurred 0.33–0.55 my ago, whereas eruption of the upper rhyolites and basalts occurred 37–51 thousand years ago. Four sequences of rhyolite pyroclastics each are 20–75 m thick, unwelded and show reverse grading, indicating submarine eruption. The youngest unit consists of 1–2 m diameter spheroids of rhyolite pumice, interpreted as magmatic balloons, formed by relatively quiet effusion and inflation of rhyolite into the overlying seawater. Geochemical studies indicate that felsic magmas were generated by anatexis of amphibolite-facies meta-andesites, perhaps in the middle arc crust. The presence of a large felsic volcano and caldera in the southern Marianas might indicate interaction of large normal faults with a mid-crustal magma body at depth, providing a way for viscous felsic melts to reach the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-quarters of the Earth's volcanic activity is submarine, located mostly along the mid-ocean ridges, with the remainder along intraoceanic arcs and hotspots at depths varying from greater than 4,000 m to near the sea surface. Most observations and sampling of submarine eruptions have been indirect, made from surface vessels or made after the fact. We describe here direct observations and sampling of an eruption at a submarine arc volcano named NW Rota-1, located 60 km northwest of the island of Rota (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). We observed a pulsating plume permeated with droplets of molten sulphur disgorging volcanic ash and lapilli from a 15-m diameter pit in March 2004 and again in October 2005 near the summit of the volcano at a water depth of 555 m (depth in 2004). A turbid layer found on the flanks of the volcano (in 2004) at depths from 700 m to more than 1,400 m was probably formed by mass-wasting events related to the eruption. Long-term eruptive activity has produced an unusual chemical environment and a very unstable benthic habitat exploited by only a few mobile decapod species. Such conditions are perhaps distinctive of active arc and hotspot volcanoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Izu–Bonin volcanic arc is an excellent example of an intra-oceanic convergent margin. A total of 1011 chemical analyses of 17 Quaternary volcanoes of the arc are reviewed to estimate relative proportions of magmas erupted. Basalt and basic andesite (SiO2 < 57 wt %) are the predominant eruptive products of the Izu–Bonin arc, and rhyolite (SiO2 > 70 wt %) forms another peak in volume. Such rhyolites possess compositions identical to those of partial melts produced by dehydration-melting of calc-alkaline andesites at low pressure (<7 kbar). Meanwhile, the major element variation of the Shirahama Group Mio-Pliocene volcanic arc suite, Izu Peninsula, completely overlaps that of the Quaternary Izu–Bonin arc volcanoes, and groundmasses of Shirahama Group calc-alkaline andesites have compositions similar to those of Izu–Bonin rhyolites. Moreover, phenocryst assemblages of calc-alkaline andesites of the Shirahama Group resemble restite phase assemblages of dehydration-melting of calc-alkaline andesite. These lines of evidence suggest that the rhyolite magmas may have been produced by dehydration-melting of calc-alkaline andesite in the upper to middle crust. If so, then the presence of large amounts of calc-alkaline andesite (3–5 times more abundant than the rhyolites) within the oceanic arc crust would be expected, which is consistent with a recently proposed structural model across the Izu–Bonin arc. The calc-alkaline andesite magmas may be water saturated, and would crystallize extensively and solidify within the crust. The model proposed here suggests that rhyolite eruptions could be triggered by an influx of hot basalt magma from depth, reheating and partially melting the calc-alkaline andesite component of the crust. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses formation of felsic magmas in an intra‐oceanic magmatic arc. New bathymetric, petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic data for Zealandia Bank and two related volcanoes in the south‐central Mariana arc is presented and interpreted. These three volcanoes are remnants of an older andesitic volcano that evolved for some time and became dormant long enough for a carbonate platform to grow on its summit before reawakening as a rhyodacitic volcano. Zealandia lavas are transitional between low‐ and medium‐K and tholeiitic and calc‐alkaline suites. They define a bimodal suite with a gap of 56–58 wt% SiO2; this suggests that mafic and felsic magmas have different origins. The magmatic system is powered by mantle‐derived basalts having low Zr/Y and flat rare earth element patterns. Two‐pyroxene thermometry yields equilibration temperatures of 1000–1100 °C for andesites and 900–1000 °C for dacites. Porphyritic basalts and andesites show textures expected for fractionating magmas but mostly fine‐grained felsic lavas do not. All lavas show trace element signatures expected for mantle and crustal sources that were strongly melt‐depleted and enriched by subduction‐related fluids and sediment melts. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions fall in the normal range of Mariana arc lavas. Felsic lavas show petrographic evidence of mixing with mafic magma. Zealandia Bank felsic magmatism supports the idea that a large mid‐ to lower‐crustal felsic magma body exists beneath the south‐central Mariana arc, indicating that MASH (mixing, assimilation, storage, and homogenization) zones can form beneath intra‐oceanic as well as continental arcs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The authors reflect on the geology journal "Island Arc." Topics discussed include the silver anniversary of "Island Arc" in 2016, editorial board members for 2012-2015, and the journal's scientific content and editorial processes. In addition, topics covered by the journal are also mentioned including carbonate sedimentation, sediment transport, and fluvial denudation history.