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Subduction cycling of volatiles and trace elements through the Central American volcanic arc: evidence from melt inclusions

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Abstract

Compositions of melt inclusions in olivine (Fo90-64) from 11 localities in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cost Rica along the Central American Volcanic Arc are used to constrain combined systematics of major and trace elements and volatile components (H2O, S, Cl, F) in parental melts and to estimate volcanic fluxes of volatile elements. The melt inclusions cover the entire range of compositions reported for whole rocks from Central America. They point to large heterogeneity of magma sources on local and regional scales, related to variable contributions of diverse crustal (from the subducting and overriding plates) and mantle (from the wedge and incoming plate) components involved in magma genesis. Water in parental melts correlates inversely with Ti, Y and Na and positively with Ba/La and B/La (with the exception of Irazú Volcano), which indicates mantle melting fluxed by Ba-, B- and H2O-rich, possibly, serpentinite-derived fluid beneath most parts of the arc. Different components with melt-like characteristics (high LREE, La/Nb and probably also Cl, S and F and low Ba/La) control the geochemical peculiarities of Guatemalan and Costa Rican magmas. The composition of parental magmas together with published data on volcanic volumes and total SO2 flux from satellite measurements are used to constrain fluxes of volatile components and to estimate total magmatic flux in Central America. We found that volcanic flux accounts for only 13% of total magmatic and volatile fluxes. The remaining 87% of magmas remained in the lithosphere to form cumulates (∼39%) and intrusives (∼48%). The intrusive fraction of magmatic flux may be significantly larger beneath Nicaragua compared to Costa Rica. Interestingly, total fluxes of magmas and volatiles in Central America are quite similar to the global average estimates.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank W. Strauch, G. Rocha, G. Alvarado, C. Ramirez, O. Mattius and G. Soto for field assistance, M. Thöner and S. Simakin for analytical assistance, and J. Phipps Morgan, L. Rüpke, T. Hansteen, M. Carr, K. Garofolo, A. Freundt, S. Kutterolf, H. Whermann and W. Perez for stimulating discussions on Central American arc magmatism. We are grateful to D. Hilton, L. Patino, P. Wallace, T. Plank and M. Carr for providing constructive and helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. This work was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through Sonderforschungsbereich 574 “Volatiles and Fluids in Subduction Zones” to the University of Kiel and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 06-05-64873-а to M.P.). This is contribution number 76 to SFB 574.

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  1. SFB 574, University of Kiel, Wischhofstr. 1-3, Kiel, 24148, Germany

    Seth J. Sadofsky, Kaj Hoernle & Paul van den Bogaard

  2. Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR), Wischhofstr. 1-3, Kiel, 24148, Germany

    Maxim Portnyagin, Kaj Hoernle & Paul van den Bogaard

  3. Vernadsky Institute, Kosigin st. 19, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    Maxim Portnyagin

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  1. Seth J. Sadofsky
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Correspondence to Maxim Portnyagin.

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Sadofsky, S.J., Portnyagin, M., Hoernle, K. et al. Subduction cycling of volatiles and trace elements through the Central American volcanic arc: evidence from melt inclusions. Contrib Mineral Petrol 155, 433–456 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-007-0251-3

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