Structure and composition of the Southern Mariana Forearc: new observations and samples from Shinkai 6500 dive studies in 2010

The 3000-km long Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) Arc system is an outstanding example of an intraoceanic convergent plate margin, and has become the particular focus of Japanese and US efforts to understand the operation of the “Subduction Factory”. In 2006 and 2008, twelve DSV Shinkai 6500 dives (973-977 and 1091-1097) were performed during YK06-12 and YK08-08 Leg 2 cruises along the landward slope of the southern Mariana Trench. The goal was to sample the remaining early arc crust associated with subduction initiation in the IBM system and upper mantle exposed in the forearc in order to gain a clearer understanding of the structure and evolution of Mariana forearc crust and upper mantle. The fruitful results include the recovery of the entire suite of rocks associated with what could be termed a “supra-subduction zone ophiolite” that formed during subduction initiation. An important discovery is 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 (Reagan et al., 2010, G3). Another important discovery is a region of active forearc rifting at the southern end of the Mariana arc, named SE Mariana Forearc Rift (SEMFR). The SEMFR was firstly mapped with HMR-1 sonar (Martinez et al., 2000, JGR). Two dives at SEMFR recovered less-depleted backarc related peridotites (at Dive 973; Michibayashi et al., 2009, G3), and fresh basalts and basaltic andesites with petrographic characteristics like backarc basin lavas (at Dive 1096; see Ribeiro et al., AGU FM 2010). Although our previous studies have produced a number of important new observations about the geology of the southern Mariana forearc, our understanding of the region is still primitive. We will be conducting another cruise (YK10-12) during late September, 2010 to tackle two important problems by in-situ dive operations using the Shinkai 6500 and deep-tow camera: (1) Increasing the sampling density along the southern Mariana forearc, thereby providing detail for the lithological map of subduction initiation sequences. A particular goal will be to obtain a more complete suite of gabbroic lithologies for better radiometric age control. (2) Increasing the sampling density in the SEMFR to gain a better understanding of this newly indentified active rift and the origin of its near-trench basalts. In this contribution, we will report the results of this cruise, synthesizing our current understanding of the structure and composition of the southern Mariana forearc.