Origin of the Volcanic Rocks Erupted in the Eastern Manus Basin：Basaltic Andesite-Andesite-Dacite Associations

There has been much recent interest in the origin of intermediate lava and several hypotheses are: 1) direct melting of the mantle under water-saturated conditions, 2) partial melting of altered crust, 3) fractional crystallization of parent magma, and 4) magma mixing of mafic magmas with dacitic/rhyolitic magmas. Volcanic rocks series ranging from basaltic andesite to dacite(SiO_2 ranges from 53.8 to 63.0 wt.%) from the eastern Manus Basin were detected for major and trace element compositions to understand their origin. Low H_2O contents, positive correlations of La-SiO_2 and Yb-SiO_2, oxygen isotope data and the indistinct change of trace element concentrations in oscillatory zoning of plagioclase phenocrysts rule out the models in which silicic lava results from direct melting of hydrous mantle, partial melting of altered oceanic crust or gabbros, and magma mixing, respectively. Besides, the geochemical data of whole rock and melt inclusions indicate that fractional crystallization plays a dominant role in generating the intermediate lava with subduction features.

Mineralogical and geochemical variation in hydrothermal sulfides from Vienna Woods field,Manus Basin,Papua New Guinea：constraints on their evolution

Polymetallic sulfides from two hydrothermal chimneys and talus deposit from the Vienna Woods field of Manus Basin were studied for mineralogy,elemental composition,and S-isotope ratio to understand their evolution.The factors including the nature of source fluid,mineral paragenesis,and related geochemical processes have been discussed.Mineralogy and elemental concentration of Cu and Fe-rich large chimney at the central part of this hydrothermal field was completely different from the smaller Zn-rich peripheral chimney and Fe-rich talus deposit,suggesting the variable degree of alterations generate physico-chemically different source fluids responsible for these hydrothermal structures.Similarly,S-isotope ratios also indicate chemically diverse fluids and different modes of precipitation were involved in their evolution.Distinct mineral zonings and associated elemental and isotopic compositions within individual deposit confirm paragenetic shifts were involved during their growth process.

Silicon and Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Igneous Rocks from the Eastern Manus Basin

This paper reports silicon and oxygen isotopes of 20 kinds of igneous rocks and their major elements from the eastern Manus Basin. Combining silicon and oxygen isotopic data from other studies, we suppose that both δ30Si and δ18O values increase with the increasing of SiO2 content. It means that the fractionation of silicon and oxygen isotopes are affected by the silica content. The positive correlation between CaO/Al2O3 ratios and MgO and that between Si/Al and SiO2 content indicate that clinopyroxene is the predominant mineral phase in our samples. We suppose that the fractionation of silicon and oxygen isotopes are influenced by mineral fractional crystallization. Probably, it is due to their different silicon and oxygen bridges. In this study, the δ30Simean value=-0.17‰±0.17‰ and δ18Omean value= +6.07‰±0.57‰ are higher than normal δ30Si and δ18O values of mantle, and we propose that these igneous rocks in the eastern Manus Basin are affected by hydrothermal alteration.

Petrogenesis of volcanic rocks from Eastern Manus Basin: indications in mineralogy and geochemistry

To understand the petrogenesis and magma evolution history in the Eastern Manus Basin(EMB),geochemistry of pyroxene and plagioclase mineral phenocrysts in basaltic andesites and dacites were reported.The plagioclase-melt thermometry showed that,plagioclase in dacites crystalized in 1027.2–1028.5°C under 3.37–5.08 kbar,whereas in basaltic andesite was 1181.4–1187.0°C under 1.79–4.46 kbar.Pyroxene compositions and invariable La/Sm vs La values of whole rock powders indicate that lavas were erupted in rapid cooling rate and mainly controlled by fractional crystallization(FC).In addition,oscillatory zonings in plagioclase and pyroxene phenocrysts indicated small local perturbations and degassing episodes in the magma chamber.Some high Mg#clinopyroxene antecrysts were found in EMB lavas.The highest Mg#of parental EMB melts is 69,which falls into the range of initial partial melts from upper mantle peridotite source(68–75).In terms of isotopic compositions,the EMB lavas most likely originated from Indian-type MORB mantle which was infl uenced by subduction components.In details,the subduction components are mainly derived from the dehydration of a subducted altered oceanic crust,and the contribution of sediment infl uence is minor.The Pb isotopic compositions and end member modeling further suggest that the source of subduction components is more likely from the Pacifi c Plate instead of the Solomon Plate.

Mineralogical and micromorphological characteristics of Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides from the PACMANUS hydrothermal field, Eastern Manus Basin

The mineralogical and micromorphological characteristics of Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides from the dacite-hosted PACMANUS hydrothermal field were analyzed.The samples are poorly crystallized Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides with minor birnessite, todorokite, nontronite, goethite, and opal-A.There are some microtextures which are rather like fossil microbes such as the filamentous silica and the hollow pipes.Flakes of nontronite crystals are found either forming a honeycomb texture or distrib- uted on the surface of the hollow pipes.Nontronite is the product precipitated from low-temperature hydrothermal fluids, and microbes may play a role in its formation.Si-Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides have two kinds of nuclei: Si-Mn nuclei and Si nuclei, both enveloped by the similar Si-Fe outer layer, existing in the rod-shaped oxyhydroxide and spheroidal oxyhydroxide, respectively.In the Si-Mn nuclei, the concentration of SiO2 is between 39.32 wt% and 86.31 wt%, and MnO concentration is between 4.97 wt% and 27.01 wt%, but Fe2O3 concentration is very low (0.54 wt%-3.43 wt%).In the Si nucleus the concentration of SiO2 is 90.17 wt%, but concentration of MnO and Fe2O3 are low, with 0.06 wt% and 3.47 wt%, respectively.The formation of the Si-Mn nucleus is closely related to microbes, whereas the Si nucleus is of inorganic origin.

The Subduction Structure Beneath the New Britain Island Arc and the Adjacent Region from Double-Difference Tomography

We applied double-difference tomography to relocate seismic events and determine the lithospheric velocity structure beneath the New Britain Island arc and the South Bismarck Sea Basin,based on the local P wave arrival time dataset collected by the International Seismological Centre.Results of the seismic relocation and velocity inversion show that the subduction of Solomon Sea Plate along the New Britain Trench is spatially different above 150 km,and the subduction angle of the slab on the west side is higher than that on the east side.The relocated earthquakes also show that there are double seismic zones at the depths of about 30–90km beneath the New Britain Island Arc.The velocity structure shows that the dehydration of the subducting slab caused the low-velocity anomalies in mantle wedge above the slab,which are associated with the magmatic activities around the New Guinea-New Britain Island arc.Moreover,it shows that there is another low-velocity anomaly zone beneath the Bismarck mid-oceanic ridge with spatial variation.Beneath the west of the Bismarck mid-oceanic ridge,the low-velocity anomaly is weakly connected to the subducted Solomon Sea slab.Conversely,the low-velocity anomaly beneath the Manus Sea Basin is highly intertwined to the subducting slab and its mantle wedge,indicating that the subduction of the Solomon Sea Plate might be a key deep dynamic factor that drives the spreading of the Manus Sea Basin and the separation of the Bismarck Plate.