Long-distance lateral magma transport from intra-oceanic island arc volcanoes

Long-distance lateral magma transport in oceanic island arc volcanoes is emerging as a common phenomenon where the regional stress regime is favorable. It should also be recognized as an important factor in the construction and growth of island arcs. In this contribution, we report on recent investigations into the magma plumbing of Izu-Oshima volcano: an active basaltic volcano with an extensive fissure system. Geophysical observations in the Izu-Bonin intra-oceanic island arc indicate that magma is transported long distances laterally from the main basaltic composite volcano. When Miyakejima erupted in 2000, seismic activity migrated about 30km northwestward from the volcanic centre (Geshi et al., 2002). This event is interpreted to reflect northwestward dike injection and propagation from Miyakejima, transporting magma at a depth range between 12 and 20km (Kodaira et al., 2002). We demonstrated that long-distance lateral magma transport also occurred at the Nishiyama volcano on Hachijojima Island using petrological, geochemical and structural studies of satellite vents (Ishizuka et al., 2008). Nishiyama provided evidence for two types of magma transport. In the first type, primitive magma moved laterally NNW for at least 20km in the middle to lower crust (10-20km deep). The other type is characterized by magmas that have experienced differentiation in a shallow magma chamber beneath Nishiyama and have been transported short distances (<5km). The long-distance magma transport seems to be controlled by a regional extensional stress regime, while short distance transport may be controlled by local stress regime affected by the load generated by the main volcanic edifice. Izu-Oshima volcano comprises numerous, subparallel NW-SE trending submarine ridges extending up to 22 km to the NW and SE from the summit of Izu-Oshima. A recent diving survey has revealed that: 1) NW-SE trending ridges are fissures which erupted basaltic spatter and lava flows. 2) Basaltic effusives are petrographically similar among each ridge, while there are noticeable differences between ridges. 3) The ridges are petrographically distinct from interspersed seamounts. These seamounts are identical to the Higashi-Izu-Oki monogenetic volcanoes (HIMV) found across this area of the rear-arc. Geochemically there is a close similarity between the submarine ridges and the corresponding subaerial chains, implying that each chain represents an episode of magma transport away from the main Izu-Oshima edifice. This scenario also explains the overlapping distribution of the HIMV and NW-SE chains which have clearly distinct magma sources. HIMV appear to be fed by an "in-situ" source, while the NW-SE chains are fed by lateral magma transport from the Izu-Oshima plumbing system. Unlike the Nishiyama volcano, Izu-Oshima does not show a compositional variation along the length of the volcanic chains, and has no evidence of any primitive magmas. Hence, the magma transport from Izu-Oshima seems to occur from a shallow crustal magma chamber where extensive crystal fractionation and plagioclase accumulation has taken place.