Mount St. Helen: the subducted lithosphere in a volcanic arc Marc J. Detant Department of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 93620 Potential example of the partial melting of Mark S. Drummond. Department of Geology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama 35294 ABSTRACT ‘Mount St. Helens, $0 km to the west of Mount Adams and the main Cascade volcanic ‘cain, is only 80 km above the subducting oceanic lithosphere. The elevated temperatures of ‘the subducting slab, because ofthe close proximity of the Juan de Fuca Ridge tothe trench, ‘may induce slab melting at a depth of ~80 km. Dacites from Mount St. Helens have geochern- ical compositions of magmas that are derived by direct partial melting of metamorphosed dasalts at high pressure, ic, relatively high Al (ALO, >15% at 70% SiO,), low Y and Yb (because of garnet and amphibole stability in the source), low Se, and high Sr and Eu. Trace element modeling of the partial melting of mid-oceanc ridge basalt (MORB) from the Juan de Fuca Ridge that yields a hornblende eclogite residue can reproduce the Mount St. Helens data (esults of the model are quite distinct from data derived from the Mount Adams volcanic rocks) In contrast, Mount Adams is —135 km above the subdlcting slab and i associated with ‘normal are magmatism believed tobe derived from the mantle above the subducting plate. The Cascade are has been active in its present locality, because of oblique subduction, forthe past ‘7m,y. The major volcanoes along the arc have existed for at leat S00 ka, but Mount St. Helens has existed for <40 ka. We suggest thatthe subducting plate may have reached elevated temperatures, because of the approach of North America to the Juan de Fuca Ridge, at —40 ‘ka, which initiated melting of the slab. INTRODUCTION ‘Most voleanisi associated with subduc- tion in ares appears to be derived from the ‘mantle above the downgoing oceanic litho sphere. Ina few eases where young crust is Subducted, temperatures. in this newly ormed litiosphere may be hot enough to in- «duce melting in the slab rather than in the mantle (Drummond and Defant, 1990; De- fant and Drummond, 1990). Mount St Helens is associated withthe subduction of ‘young crust and has erupted dacits that are Similar in composition to those produced in ‘experimental studies ofthe partial melting of dasalt (e-g., Rapp et al, 1991). Conse- quently, Mount St. Helens provides an op- Portunty to test the hypothesis that sub- ducted basaltic lithosphere can melt under specific conditions. Studies of Mount St. Helenshave invoked cither a “mantle heat source melting of ‘young erust bearing zircon and garnet, but rot feldspar, followed by intrusion of this crustal reservoir by mantle-derived magna Which caused further melting and contami- nated the crustal magma system with mafic component” (Halliday et al., 1983) or the “melting of metabasaltic crustal rocks that have been enriched in Ba, Rb, Cs, and Sr by cither intercalation of sediments with de- pleted basalt or selective metasomatic en: ‘ichment of the source region,” although possible derivation from the subducted lith- ‘asphere has not been ruled out (Smith and Leeman, 1987). Rather than argue against these hypotheses, this paper simply presents sn alternative interpretation, ie., that the (GEOLOGY, v.21, p. 54-580, ane 1955 felsic rocks from Mount St. Helens are de- rived directly from the partial melting ofthe subducted lithosphere. [Experimental work has shown that dacitie ‘melts can be derived from the partial melting ff basalt during the amphibolite-eclogite transition (Holloway and Bumham, 1972; Helz, 1976; Stem and Wylie, 1978; Sekine etal., 1981; Elis and Thompson, 1986; Rapp ctal., 1991}, Table 1 shows the geochemical signatures expected from these dacitic mag. ‘mas (Gil, 1981; Drummond and Defant, 1990) along with a compilation of data from ‘Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams east of ‘Mount St Helens. The partialmeltingofmet- amorphosed basalt at igh pressure will gen- trate dactic melts relatively high in Al (ALO, >15% at 70% SiO,). The presence of residual gamet and amphibole will ead to melts with ¥ and Yb concentrations of 18, and 1.9 ppm, respectively, and high Sr'¥ and La/Yb ratios (Drummond and Defant, 199%; Defant and Drummond, 1990). It has ‘been suggested that the Cal(Me + Fe) ratios of slab-derived magmas should be relatively high (Stern and Wylie, 1978; Gil, 1981), We have not used this criterion in Table 1 be ‘cause recent experiments (Rapp et al, 1991) {do not support high ratios, and the hydro: thermal alteration ofthe erust prior to melt- ing will tend to reduce this ratio (Drummond and Defant, 1990, a feature not considered in earlier experiments. Hydrothermal alter- ation of MORB would not negatively affect the geochemical criteria for recognizing slab-derived melts (Table 1) but could en= hhance the slab-melt geochemical signatures, For example, an increase in Sr and decrease in Sc contents (Stavdigel and Hart, 1983) may accompany MORB alteration, whereas the rare earth elements Y and Zr behave in relatively immobile fashion (Humphris and ‘Thompson, 1978; Hajash, 1984) Recent experimental results emphasize the enrichment of Na relative to Ca and K uring dehydration melting of amphibolite at various pressures (Rapp etal, 1991) (Fig 1)- Many Archean trondhjemites and tonalite, believed to have been derived from meta ‘morphosed basaltic sources, show a Na en- richment (trondhjemitic tread in Fig. 1) (Barker ct a., 1981). This is in strong con- lrastto the typiealealealkalcdiferentation trend characteristic of most are voleanic suites (Fig. 1). Fels rocks from Mount St Helens show Na enrichment, whereas most ff the Mount Adams felsic volcanic rocks follow the cal-akalic trend, ‘There are ~13 and perhaps as many as 17 ‘TABLE 1. GEOCHEMICAL SIGNATURES EXPECTED FROM DACITIC MELTS ‘DERIVED FROM METAM ‘Characteristic ALO, (1) 315 ¥0 (ppm) =19 Y (ppm) 28 Se(pem) 10 Su 320-40 Lavo 320 iS 350 Euanomaly Sranomaly HOSED BASALT. ‘Mount St Helens ‘Mount Adams 177-16 (7) 173 15 @) 118 3033 (57) : 21 223 9 296 265 (1) 54 238 G7) 138 359) 412 398 G8) 145 369 (1) 305 225 G7) - Si 2102 (43) : Positive Positive ‘Not: From Gill (981) and Drummond and Defant (1990), Averages ae presented along with standard deviations; amber of samples i In parentheses, Moun St Helen SiO range = 56 9-66.%, 85 fount Adams S103 rn 60-763; 6182611Island-are Figure 1. Ternary dlagram of Ca, Na, snd K with calcalkaline Nockholds and Allen, 1959) and trondhjeitc (Barker etal, 1981) trends superimposed. Experimental data (Rapp etal, 1981): open ‘squares 32 kbar, stars—27 Kar, open elcles 22 kbar, tlangles-—16 Kar, and diamonds kbar. Solid clrtes represent data om Mount St. Helen, solid squares from Mount Adem. sland- ‘are fell encompasses 95% of the >000 lland-are samples plotted. Tronahjemit, tonalite, and 2. ‘.0 kbar (slab dehydration elect); and high ‘oxygen fugactes, >NNO + 1 baler (a tered MORB is oxidized). Some dacies Mount St Helens have erupted at temp tures inconsistent with eummingtoite sta- bility (~900 °C; Smith and Leeman, 1987), which Geschwind and Rutherford (1992) a tributed to thermal input from invading, noncogenetc basaltic melis into the dace ‘magma chambers. “The Cascade volcanic arc has been setive inits present locality forthe past 7 my. b ‘ease of oblique subduction, and the major stratovoleanoes along the are have existed for at least the past 500 ka (Leeman eta, GEOLOGY, June 1983, Mount Adams (crosses) (Gammond and Kerosee, ‘083; Smith, 1984; Smith and Leeman, 1987; Loo- ‘man eta, 1990). Adakte (@etant and Drummond, 43000), isandare andes: ites, dactes, and hyo. ‘Mes (Detant and Drum- conte Dao ye Fels e ge Fes 10 20 Y (p=) (= 488 ppm: 30 ‘ppm; tangle) ‘used for partal-melt Ing model (curve 1). Residual minerals: 35% clinopyroxene, 30% amphibole, and 35% gamet. Var lous F valuoe (amount of melt) are ven along cure 1. Sample 2 (Hammond and Korosec, 1983) (Y= 25 ppm; Sr = 576 ppm) was used for erystaactionation model (curve 2). Fractionaing ‘phases: 20% clinopyroxene, 30% orthopyroxene, and 40% plagioclase. Various F values (elt Femaning) are given slong curve 2 Figure 3. Chondrite-nor. 1000 ‘malized trace element do fram (normallzng valu | from Waite st a 1971; Sunand Nesbit, 1977; Sun ft al, 1979) of sample SH-2i trom Mount St Helene (Smith and Leeman, 1967), Mount Adama sam ple 3 (Hammond and Ko- fosec, 1883), MORB sam- ple from Juan de Fuca Ridge (Church and Tatau- ‘moto, 1976), 20% partial. melting model derived from Juan de Fuca basalt ‘wth residual minerals con Siting of 35% ellnopyrox: oven Adams our ‘amie Crone Ba ND la Ce SZ Sm Eu Y YD ao 80" oe 8 5 "War SCALE im! Figure 4. Map of Mount St. Helons reglon wih associated contours to top of subducted ithosphere Dbaned on earthquake hypocentere (Crosson and Owens, 1287, Cross section was constructed {tom extension of Crosson and Owens"(1967} model below Moumt St.Helens (MSH), which Crosson (901, personal commun thinks Isa vald approach, and tomographic imaging where slab plunges 10.65" (lasmussen and Humphreys, 1868). Depth of slab below Mount St. Helens (75-80 km) cor responds to amphibolite eclogite transition and potential dehydration meting. in contrast, Mount ‘Adams (UA) 120-150 km above slab, whichis characterttic depth of me