Genesis of high magnesium andesites with high Nb/La ratio from Saga-Futagoyama, Northwest Kyushu, Southwest Japan

Mashima, Hidehisa

Basaltic andesites distributed at Saga-Futagoyama, northwest Kyushu, southwest Japan are high magnesium andesites (HMA) originally equilibrated with Fe-rich mantle. The reasonsfor thinking so are twofold. The andesites contain orthopyroxene phenocrysts with Mg/(Mg+Fe)=0.8. The bulk rock Mg-Fe-Ni compositions suggest that the andesite magmas could equilibrate with mantle olivines. Hydrous components derived from the subducting slab played an insignificant role in the genesis of the Saga-Futagoyama HMA magmas. Lines of evidence for this interpretation are following. KD=1.25 between plagioclase and melt suggests that the HMA magmas originally contain less than 1.8 wt.% HO. Nb/La of the Saga-Futagoyama samples is higher than one and has an insignificant correlation with SiO. All of previously reported mantle xenoliths from NW Kyushu have anhydrous mineral assemblages. The subducted Philippine Sea plate does not extend to NW Kyushu. Normative Jd+CaTs-Ol-Qz compositions of the HMA suggest that they were separated from their source mantle at 0.5 GPa. This abnormally low pressure partial melting would be caused by the weakening of the lithospheric mantle beneath the Karatsu-Sasebo basin during its subsidence and uplift.