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Evidence suggests slab melting in arc magmas

2001; Wiley; Volume: 82; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/01eo00038

2324-9250

Marc J. Defant, Pavel Kepezhinskas,

earthquake and tectonic studies

Most recent geology textbooks state that subduction‐related volcanism is due to the melting of the down‐going lithosphere. However, for the last 30 years, few in the field have seriously believed that the subducting slab is the source of arc basalts. The accepted hypothesis involves melting of the mantle wedge above the slab via hydrous fluids produced during the transition of the subducting basalt from amphibolite to eclogite. The parental basalts differentiate primarily through crystal fractionation, magma mixing, and differentiation at the Mohorovicic discontinuity into andesites and dacites as they ascend; the basalts are too dense to rise through the lower continental crust. This explains the relative abundance of differentiated rocks in arcs.