Cretaceous complexes of the frontal zone of the Moneron-Samarga Island arc: Geochemical data on the basalts from the deep borehole on Moneron Island, the Sea of Japan
The variations of petrogenic oxides and trace elements have been studied in the Cretaceous volcanic rocks recovered by a deep borehole from the depth interval of 1253–4011 m on Moneron Island. The volcanic section is subdivided into two complexes: the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The rocks of the Early Cretaceous Complex occur below 1500 m. Chemically, they belong to low-potassium island arc tholeiites, and their trace element distribution suggests their formation in a suprasubduction mantle wedge under the influence of water fluids that were subsequently released from subducted sediments and oceanic plate during the dehydration of subducted sedimentary rocks and oceanic basalts and, finally, mainly from basalts. The Early Cretaceous basalts from the borehole are interpreted as ascribing to the frontal part of the Moneron-Samarga island arc system. The volcanic rocks of the Late Cretaceous Complex are situated at depths above 1500 m. They also were formed in a suprasubduction setting, but already within the East Sikhote-Alin continental-margin volcanic belt that was initiated after the accretion of the Moneron-Samarga island arc system to the Asian continent. The island-arc section of the Moneron borehole contains basaltic andesite dikes, which are geochemically comparable with the Early-Middle Miocene volcanic rocks of Southwestern Sakhalin.