Water content of primitive low-K tholeiitic basalt magma from Iwate Volcano, NE Japan arc: implications for differentiation mechanism of frontal-arc basalt magmas

The water content of low-K tholeiitic basalt magma from Iwate volcano, which is located on the volcanic front of the NE Japan arc, was estimated using multicomponent thermodynamic models. The Iwate lavas are moderately porphyritic, consisting of similar to 8 vol.% olivine and similar to 20 vol.% plagioclase phenocrysts. The olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts show significant compositional variations, and the Mg# of olivine phenocrysts (Mg#78-85) correlates positively with the An content of coexisting plagioclase phenocrysts (An(85-92)). The olivine phenocrysts with Mg# > similar to 82 do not form crystal aggregates with plagioclase phenocrysts. It is inferred from these observations that the phenocrysts with variable compositions were primarily derived from mushy boundary layers along the walls of a magma chamber. By using thermodynamic calculations with the observed petrological features of the lavas, the water content of the Iwate magma was estimated to be 4-5 wt.%. The high water content of the magma supports the recent consensus that frontal-arc magmas are remarkably hydrous. Using the estimated water content of the Iwate magma, the water content and temperature of the source mantle were estimated. Given that the Iwate magma was derived from a primary magma solely by olivine fractionation, the water content and temperature were estimated to be similar to 0.7 wt.% and similar to 1,310 degrees C, respectively. Differentiation mechanisms of low-K frontal-arc basalt magmas were also examined by application of a thermodynamics-based mass balance model to the Iwate magma. It is suggested that magmatic differentiation proceeds primarily through fractionation of crystals from the main molten part of a magma chamber when it is located at <similar to 200 MPa, whereas magma evolves through a convective melt exchange between the main magma and mushy boundary layers when the magma body is located at >similar to 200 MPa.