Distribution and origin of igneous rocks from the landward slopes of the Mariana Trench: Implications for its structure and evolution
The landward slope of the Mariana Trench is composed largely of igneous rocks. Serpentinites and serpentinized ultramafic rocks occur at nearly all structural levels on the slope from depths of 8000 to 1200 m. Seamountlike features on the trench slope break are the surface expression of serpentinite diapirs. Cumulate and massive gabbros are found; several varieties of volcanic rocks are common including boninites, altered and metamorphosed basalts, andesites, and dacites. The chemical characteristics of the volcanic rocks indicate that nearly all are products of island arc volcanism. Together with the gabbros, these volcanic rocks represent what is probably a late Eocene arc complex. These rocks were probably the first volcanic products to result from the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Phillippine Sea plate; their exposure on the trench slope today implies a significant amount of tectonic erosion of the landward slope since Eocene time. Most of this removal of material appears to have occurred during the early stages of subduction. There are isolated occurrences on the landward slope of rock assemblages including alkalic basalts, chert, hyaloclastites, upper Cretaceous siliceous sediments, and shallow water limestones. These assemblages are very similar to rocks dredged from seamounts on the offshore flank of the trench, and their presence on the landward slope suggests that since the cessation of vigorous tectonic erosion, there has been episodic accretion of seamount fragments to the landward slope.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- OSTI ID:
- 5542998
- Journal Information:
- J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Vol. 88:B9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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