Derivation of some modern arc magmas by melting of young subducted lithosphere

MOST volcanic rocks in modern island and continental arcs are probably derived from melting of the mantle wedge, induced by hydrous fluids released during dehydration reactions in the subducted lithosphere1. Arc tholeiitic and calc-alkaline basaltic magmas are produced by partial melting of the mantle, and then evolve by crystal fractionation (with or without assimilation and magma mixing) to more silicic magmas2—basalt, andesite, dacite and rhyolite suites. Although most arc magmas are generated by these petrogenetic processes, rocks with the geochemical characteristics of melts derived directly from the subducted lithosphere are present in some modern arcs where relatively young and hot lithosphere is being subducted. These andesites, dacites and sodic rhyolites (dacites seem to be the most common products) or their intrusive equivalents (tonalites and trondhjemites) are usually not associated with parental basaltic magmas3. Here we show that the trace-element geochemistry of these magmas (termed 'adakites') is consistent with a derivation by partial melting of the subducted slab, and in particular that subducting lithosphere younger than 25 Myr seems to be required for slab melting to occur.