Subduction-Related Volcanism on the Loyalty and Three Kings Ridges, Sw Pacific: A Precursor to the Tonga-Kermadec Arc

Abstract

The SW Pacific region contains several ridges and basins that are inferred to represent pre-Quaternary volcanic arcs and back-arc basins. The geology of these features is less well characterized than that of the active Tonga-Kermadec and Vanuatu arcs. We report new major and trace element, and Pb, Hf, Sr and Nd isotope data for 27 lavas dredged from the Loyalty and Three Kings ridges during the 2015 VESPA cruise of N/O l’Atalante . Low-K basalts were dredged from the seabed deeper than 3300 m, and high-K to shoshonitic suites from shallower ridge crests at 2000-3300 m.  Their trace element and isotopic compositions can be explained in terms of mixing between three distinct geochemical endmembers in the mantle resembling DMM, HIMU and EM-2 sources. Our study confirms voluminous subduction-related magmatism on the Loyalty and Three Kings ridges, mostly of Late Oligocene – Early Miocene age. The issue of polarity of subduction to generate these rocks remains open, but the composition-space-time distribution of the igneous rocks can be explained using a west-dipping Pacific slab model.

Keywords: Zealandia, Loyalty Ridge, Three Kings Ridge, igneous rocks, geochemistry, subduction