Sunda arc mantle source delta O-18 value revealed by intracrystal isotope analysis

Magma plumbing systems underlying subduction zone volcanoes extend from the mantle through the overlying crust and facilitate protracted fractional crystallisation, assimilation, and mixing, which frequently obscures a clear view of mantle source compositions. In order to see through this crustal noise, we present intracrystal Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) delta O-18 values in clinopyroxene from Merapi, Kelut, Batur, and Agung volcanoes in the Sunda arc, Indonesia, under which the thickness of the crust decreases from ca. 30km at Merapi to <= 20km at Agung. Here we show that mean clinopyroxene delta O-18 values decrease concomitantly with crustal thickness and that lavas from Agung possess mantle-like He-Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios and clinopyroxene mean equilibrium melt delta O-18 values of 5.7 (+/- 0.2 1SD) indistinguishable from the delta O-18 range for Mid Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB). The oxygen isotope composition of the mantle underlying the East Sunda Arc is therefore largely unaffected by subduction-driven metasomatism and may thus represent a sediment-poor arc end-member. Subduction zone volcanoes are underlain by extensive magma plumbing systems, which can obscure original mantle source signals. Here, the authors show that intra-crystal oxygen isotope analysis of clinopyroxenes from the Sunda arc (Indonesia) reveal the delta 18 O value of the sub-arc mantle.