[1] Recent diving with the JAMSTEC Shinkai 6500 manned submersible in the Mariana fore arc southeast of Guam has discovered that MORB-like tholeiitic basalts crop out over large areas. These "fore-arc basalts" (FAB) underlie boninites and overlie diabasic and gabbroic rocks. Potential origins include eruption at a spreading center before subduction began or eruption during near-trench spreading after subduction began. FAB trace element patterns are similar to those of MORB and most Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) back-arc lavas. However, Ti/V and Yb/V ratios are lower in FAB reflecting a stronger prior depletion of their mantle source compared to the source of basalts from mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins. Some FAB also have higher concentrations of fluid-soluble elements than do spreading center lavas. Thus, the most likely origin of FAB is that they were the first lavas to erupt when the Pacific Plate began sinking beneath the Philippine Plate at about 51 Ma. The magmas were generated by mantle decompression during near-trench spreading with little or no mass transfer from the subducting plate. Boninites were generated later when the residual, highly depleted mantle melted at shallow levels after fluxing by a water-rich fluid derived from the sinking Pacific Plate. This magmatic stratigraphy of FAB overlain by transitional lavas and boninites is similar to that found in many ophiolites, suggesting that ophiolitic assemblages might commonly originate from near-trench volcanism caused by subduction initiation. Indeed, the widely dispersed Jurassic and Cretaceous Tethyan ophiolites could represent two such significant subduction initiation events.

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Oceanic core complexes expose gabbroic rocks on the seafl oor via detachment faulting, often associated with serpentinized peridotite. The thickness of these serpentinite units is unknown. Assuming that the steep slopes that typically surround these core complexes provide a cross section through the structure, it has been inferred that serpentinites compose much of the section to depths of at least several hundred meters. However, deep drilling at oceanic core complexes has recovered gabbroic sequences with virtually no serpentinized peridotite. We propose a revised model for oceanic core complex development based on consideration of the rheological differences between gabbro and serpentinized peridotite: emplacement of a large intrusive gabbro body into a predominantly peridotite host is followed by localization of strain around the margins of the pluton, eventually resulting in an uplifted gabbroic core surrounded by deformed serpentinite. Oceanic core complexes may therefore refl ect processes associated with relatively enhanced periods of mafi c intrusion within overall magma-poor regions of slow-and ultra-slow-spreading ridges.

Abstract. The Hydrographic Department of Japan initiated a long-term geological and geophysical survey of the Philippine Sea in 1983. We here summarize the bathymetry and magnetic anomalies of this area, focusing on the structure and the evolutionary process of the marginal basins. The Shikoku and Parece Vela Basins developed as one backarc system in the later phase of their formation; the significant difference between the two basins, however, is clearest near the extinct spreading centers. The steep Oki-Daito Escarpment, located in the northern West Philippine Basin, was mapped for the first time during this survey. The N-S trending spreading fabric north of the escarpment is in striking contrast to the NW-SE to E-W lineament in the south. Our data reveal a more complicated history of the western Philippine Sea than has been prot•osed in previous studies.

[1] The Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR) is a 2600 km long remnant island arc that is separated from the active Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) arc by a series of spreading and rift basins. We present 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages and geochemical data for the entire length of the Kyushu-Palau arc as well as for the conjugate arc which is stranded within the IBM fore arc. New 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages indicate that the KPR was active between 25 and 48 Ma, but the majority of the exposed volcanism occurred in the final phase, between 25 and 28 Ma. Rifting of the Kyushu-Palau arc to form the Shikoku and Parece Vela basins occurred simultaneously along the length of the arc (circa 25 Ma), and at a similar distance from the trench. Unlike the IBM, the KPR has only limited systematic along-arc geochemical trends. Two geochemical components within the KPR indicate an origin in the suprasubduction mantle. First, EM-1-like lavas are identified in a restricted section of the arc, suggesting a localized heterogeneity. Second, EM-2-like arc volcanoes formed on juvenile West Philippine Basin crust, potentially reflecting ingress of mantle from the then active EM-2 province which lies in the west. Another geochemical heterogeneity is found at the KPR-Daito Ridge intersection where the arc developed on preexisting Cretaceous Daito Ridge crust. The geochemical characteristics at this intersection likely result from the involvement of sub-Daito Ridge lithospheric mantle. Subduction flux beneath the KPR generally matches post-45 Ma Eocene/Oligocene lavas in the IBM fore arc, involving fluids and melts derived from altered igneous crust.