Geotectonic evolution of Paleozoic oceanic island arc: a key to reconstruction of andesitic continental crust formation

Yoshimitsu SUDA (Meiji University), Kosuke KIMURA and Yasutaka HAYASAKA (Hiroshima University) The intra-oceanic island arc (OIA) has a key to understand the geochemical evolution for the formation of andesitic continental crust from the basaltic oceanic crust. This is because many of seismic investigations have revealed that the OIA crust has andesitic bulk composition. The ophiolite is a remnant of upper mantlecrustal section under the oceanic region, which generally exposes in an orogenic belt and terrane. The middle to lower crustal section of Paleozoic oceanic island arc (i.e. OIA ophiolite) exposes in the SW Japan, Maizuru Terrane. This ophiolite is located in the Asago area, and characterized by an abundance of granitoid intrusives into the mafic basement rocks. The migmatite at the lower crustal level is an evidence of lower crustal anatexis under the oceanic island arc setting. Thus, this is regarded as a prime research target to reveal the lower crustal process related to the formation of andesitic continental crust (Suda, 2004; Suda and Hayasaka, 2009). Geochemistry of the mafic basements are characterized by the hybrid mixture between the MORB and IAB affinities, which is comparable with the geochemistry of the basalts from the marginal sea basin or the back arc basin. On the other hand, the granitoids have typical magmatic arc signatures, which were derived from the anatectic melts produced at the migmatite area. The SHRIMP (Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe) zircon U-Pb ages for the mafic basements yield 28712 Ma, 295.14.2 Ma and 290.13.4 Ma, and those for the migmatitic leucosome (i.e. anatectic melts) yield 280.68.6 Ma, 283.64.6 Ma, 275.57.1 Ma and 280.37.9 Ma. Other geochronological studies have revealed that the granitoid formed during igneous activity at 285282 Ma by TIMS zircon and CHIME monazite ages. The Rb-Sr whole rockmineral isochron age of 2818 Ma is yielded from the metagabbro and metabasalt in a BAB ophiolite. This

ophiolite does not have any inference of arc magmatism (Figure). These geochemical and geochronological data provide us the following geotectonic model for a Paleozoic OIABAB system: initial stage of BAB rifting (295287 Ma) formed the BAB crust, which was brought to the OIA setting, and generated the arc granitoids by the anatexis of BAB crust (285275 Ma). Namely, the BAB crust was brought to the magmatic arc setting soon after their generation at an interval of several million years. The basaltic BAB crust gradually became andesitic because of the formation of anatectic melts of granitoid compositions. The residues produced during this anatectic event were completely missing in this ophiolite, which is remained as investigated in further study. The back arc formation is continued throughout the magmatic arc activity (< 281 Ma), which is also supported from the radiolarian ages of sedimentary rocks occurred in the uppermost crustal level of the BAB ophiolite.
Figure Summary of the isotopic ages for the

Yakuno ophiolite in the Maizuru Terrane.

References Suda, Y. 2004. Crustal anatexis and evolution of granitoid magma in Permian intra-oceanic island arc, the Asago body of the Yakuno ophiolite, Southwest Japan. Journal of Mineralogy and Petrological Sciences 99, 339356. Suda, Y. and Hayasaka, Y. 2009. Genesis and evolutional processes of the Paleozoic oceanic island arc crust, Asago body of the Yakuno ophiolite, southwest Japan. Journal of the Geological Society of Japan 115, 266287 (in Japanese with English Abstract).