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Disentangling the roles of subducted volatile contributions and mantle source heterogeneity in the production of magmas beneath the Washington Cascades
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  • Kristina Walowski,
  • Paul Wallace,
  • Susan M. DeBari,
  • Ikuko Wada,
  • Steven D Shaw,
  • James Rea
Kristina Walowski
Western Washington University

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Paul Wallace
University of Oregon
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Susan M. DeBari
Western Washington University
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Ikuko Wada
University of Minnesota
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Steven D Shaw
Weston and Sampson Engineers
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James Rea
University of Oregon
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Abstract

The compositional diversity of primitive arc basalts has long inspired questions regarding the drivers of magmatism in subduction zones, including the roles of decompression melting, mantle heterogeneity, and amount and compositions of slab-derived materials. This contribution presents the volatile (H2O, Cl, and S), major, and trace element compositions of melt inclusions from basaltic magmas erupted at three volcanic centers in the Washington Cascades: Mount St. Helens (two basaltic tephras, 2.0–1.7 ka), Indian Heaven Volcanic Field (two <600 ka basaltic hyaloclastite tuffs), and Glacier Peak (late Pleistocene to Holocene basaltic tephra from Whitechuck and Indian Pass cones). Compositions corrected to be in equilibrium with mantle olivine display variability in Nb and trace element ratios indicative of mantle source variability that impressively span nearly the entire range of arc magmas globally. All volcanic centers have magmas with H2O and Cl contributions from the downgoing plate that overlap with other Cascade Arc segments. Volatile abundances and trace element ratios support a model of melting of a highly variably mantle wedge driven by a subduction component of either variably saline fluids and/or partial slab melts. Magmas from Glacier Peak have Th/Yb ratios similar to Lassen region basalts, which may be consistent with contributions of “subcreted” metasediments not found in central Oregon and southern Washington magmas that overly the Siletzia Terrane. This dataset adds to the growing inventory of primitive magma volatile concentrations and provides insight into spatial distributions of mantle heterogeneity and the role of slab components in the petrogenesis of arc magmas.
02 Apr 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
12 Apr 2024Published in ESS Open Archive