HR: 17:45h
AN: V24A-06 [Abstracts]
TI: A possible connection between post-subduction arc magmatism and adakite-NEB rock association in Baja California, Mexico
AU: * Castillo, P R
EM: pcastillo@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
92093-0212, United States
AB:
Late Miocene to Recent arc-related magmatism occurs in Baja California, Mexico despite the cessation of plate
subduction along its western margin at ~12.5 Ma. It includes calcalkaline and K-rich andesites, tholeiitic basalts
and basaltic andesites, alkalic basalts similar to many ocean island basalts (OIB), magnesian and basaltic
andesites with adakitic affinity (bajaiites), adakites, and Nb-enriched basalts (NEB). A popular model for the
close spatial and temporal association of adakite (plus bajaiite) and NEB in Baja California is these are due to
melting of the subducted Farallon/Cocos plate, which in turn is caused by the influx of hot asthenospheric mantle
through a window created in the subducted slab directly beneath the Baja California peninsula [e.g., Benoit, M. et.
al. (2002) J. Geol. 110, 627-648; Calmus, T. et al. (2003) Lithos 66, 77-105]. Here I propose an alternative model
for the cause of post-subduction magmatism in Baja California in particular and origin of adakite-NEB rock
association in general. The complicated tectonic configuration of the subducting Farallon/Cocos plate and
westward motion of the North American continent caused western Mexico to override the hot, upwelling Pacific
mantle that was decoupled from the spreading centers abandoned west of Baja California. The upwelling
asthenosphere is best manifested east of the peninsula, beneath the Gulf of California, and is most probably due
to a tear or window in the subducted slab there. The upwelling asthenosphere is compositionally heterogeneous
and sends materials westward into the mantle wedge beneath the peninsula. These materials provide sources
for post-subduction tholeiitic and alkalic magmas. Portions of tholeiitic magmas directly erupted at the surface
produce tholeiitic lavas, but some get ponded beneath the crust. Re-melting and/or high-pressure fractional
crystallization of the ponded tholeiitic magmas generate adakitic rocks. Alkalic magmas directly erupted at the
surface produce OIB-like lavas but those that get contaminated during transit produce NEB. The influx of
asthenosphere also provides thermal energy to melt the upper portion of the mantle wedge - producing calc-
alkaline lavas, and the amphibolitized deeper portion of the wedge - producing bajaiites, after the cessation of
subduction in Baja California.
DE: 1031 Subduction zone processes (3060, 3613, 8170, 8413)
DE: 1033 Intra-plate processes (3615, 8415)
DE: 1037 Magma genesis and partial melting (3619)
DE: 1038 Mantle processes (3621)
DE: 1065 Major and trace element geochemistry
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology [V]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly