Morphologic and Geochemical Evolution of the Submarine Kermadec – Tonga Arc

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• Ian Wright, National Oceanography Centre Southampton
• Tuesday 17 November 2009, 16:30-17:30
• Tilley Lecture Theater, Department of Earth Sciences.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact John Maclennan.

The active Kermadec – Tonga arc – back-arc system provides an exemplary analogue for the subtleties of geologic evolution in otherwise largely fragmentary records of fossil intra-oceanic arc – back-arc systems that typically evolve into continental crust. Observations from the Kermadec – Tonga system provide insights into: (1) distribution and complexity of sub-arc magma plumbing, (2) genesis and eruption of silicic melts, including the development of submarine silicic caldera, (3) distribution of hydrothermal venting and associated mineralization, (4) the temporal scale of volcanic construction and destruction, (5) processes of dispersion of volcanic arc eruptives to deeper adjoining sedimentary basins, (6) the interaction between back-arc rifting and arc volcanism, and (7) the initiation of disorganised ridge spreading within back-arc basins. Examples of each of these from the Kermadec – Tonga system will be shown to highlight the spatial and temporal complexity of “island-arc” crust evolution and ultimately continental crust.

Reading List:

de Ronde et al., 2007. Submarine hydrothermal venting activity along the mid-Kermadec arc, New Zealand: large-scale effects on venting. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 8, Q07007 , DOI:10.1029/2006GC001495.

Graham et al., 2008. Structure and petrology of newly discovered volcanic centers in northern Kermadec – southern Tofua arc, South Pacific Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, B08S02 , DOI: 10.1029/2007JB005453.

Wright et al., 2006. New multibeam mapping and geochemistry of the 30° – 35°S sector, and overview, of southern Kermadec arc volcanism. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 149: 263-296.

Wright et al., 2008. Collapse and reconstruction of Monowai submarine volcano, Kermadec arc, 1998-2004. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, B08S03 doi:10.1029/2007JB005138.

Wysoczanski et al., in press. Backarc rifting, constructional volcanism and possible nascent spreading in the southern Havre Trough backarc rifts (SW Pacific). Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2009.04.004

This talk is part of the Department of Earth Sciences Seminars (downtown) series.

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