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Published Online July 27, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1128235

Reports

Submitted on April 3, 2006
Accepted on July 12, 2006

Volcanism in Response to Plate Flexure

Naoto Hirano 1*, Eiichi Takahashi 2, Junji Yamamoto 3, Natsue Abe 4, Stephanie P. Ingle 5, Ichiro Kaneoka 6, Takafumi Hirata 7, Jun-Ichi Kimura 8, Teruaki Ishii 9, Yujiro Ogawa 10, Shiki Machida 9, Kiyoshi Suyehiro 4

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive 0225, La Jolla, California, 92093-0225, USA.
2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan; Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, 237-0061, Japan.
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan; Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Kyoto University, Noguchibaru, Beppu 874-0903, Japan.
4 Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, 237-0061, Japan.
5 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan; School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, 1680 East-West Road POST 606, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.
6 Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
7 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
8 Faculty of Science and Engineering, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu, Matsue 690-8504, Japan.
9 Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan.
10 Institute of Geoscience, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8571, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Naoto Hirano , E-mail: nhirano{at}ucsd.edu

Volcanism on Earth occurs in three tectonic settings: divergent plate boundaries (e.g., mid-ocean ridges), convergent plate boundaries (e.g., island arcs), and hotspots. We report volcanism on the 135 Ma Pacific plate not belonging to any of these categories. Small alkalic volcanoes form from few percent melts and originate in the asthenosphere as implied by their trace element geochemistry and noble gas isotopic compositions. We propose that these small volcanoes erupt along lithospheric fractures in response to plate flexure during subduction. Minor extents of asthenospheric melting and the volcanoes' tectonic alignment and age progression in the direction opposite that of plate motion provide evidence for the presence of a few percent melt in the asthenosphere.


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