Reconstruction of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary zone beneath Ichinomegata maar, Northeast Japan, by geobarometry of spinel peridotite xenoliths

摘要

Accurate estimation of the depths of spinel peridotite xenoliths for which reliable geobarometers are not available is imperative to be able to reconstruct the precise structures of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). The LAB can be defined based on thermal, chemical, rheological, and petrological contrasts, and knowing its depth is crucial to understanding mantle dynamics. We attack this problem by examining spinel peridotite xenoliths from Ichinomegata maar in the back-arc side of Northeast Japan Arc. Extensive mineral compositions of nine xenolith samples revealed various patterns of chemical zoning in pyroxenes, suggesting diverse thermal histories. We examined the timescales of development of each zoning pattern and identified minerals, grain portions, and components closely approached equilibrium just before xenolith extraction as orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, the outermost rims, and Ca-Mg-Fe components, respectively. Applying the best pair of geothermobarometers to the chosen analyses, plausible derivation depths of eight samples were obtained. They range from 0.72-1.6 GPa in pressure and from 830-1080 degrees C in temperature, which defines a high thermal gradient of 10 K/km or 290 K/GPa. There is an intimate correlation between the zoning patterns of pyroxenes and the depth estimates: pyroxenes in the deeper samples have zoning indicating cooling followed by heating just before xenolith extraction, and those of the shallower samples have zoning indicating monotonic cooling.