Work

Intraplate Basalts in Eastern Continental China Record the Subduction History of the Pacific Plate

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: To assess whether intraplate magmatism in eastern continental China records the subduction history of the Pacific plate, we plotted elemental compositions of the volcanic rocks in this region since the Early Cretaceous as a function of age. These rocks show distinct compositional transitions at ∼110 and ∼50 Ma, coinciding with the cessation of paleo‐Pacific plate subduction and initiation of present‐day western Pacific plate subduction, respectively. The dehydration of subducted oceanic slab in the mantle transition zone (MTZ) (410–660 km) governs key parameters such as overlying lithospheric thickness, melt extraction depth, partial melting extent, and asthenospheric mantle enrichment, ultimately controlling the compositions of mantle‐derived melts. Therefore, continental intraplate volcanism in regions with (present or past) subducted oceanic plates stagnant in the MTZ records the subduction history of adjacent oceanic plates.

Source: Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: 10.1029/2024gl114411

Authors: Pu Sun, Yaoling Niu, Pengyuan Guo, Meng Duan, Xiaohong Wang, Hongmei Gong

Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing)

Language: English

Topic: Geological and Geochemical Analysis

Subfield: Geophysics

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,190

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project, National Natural Science Foundation of China-Shandong Joint Fund