Arturo Gómez-Tuena

The subduction of carbonate-rich biogenic sediments influences Earth’s carbon cycle and regulates long-term climate. Yet, the processes controlling their behavior at the subduction interface remain debated. Here, we investigate the role of carbonate subduction through the petrogenesis of Quaternary rear-arc monogenetic volcanoes in Colombia. These volcanoes display unusual compositions resembling intraplate carbonated peridotite melts and experimental melts from peridotite + CO ₂ systems. Their geochemistry reflects an anomalous mantle source modified by subducted sediments from the Panama Basin, a large-scale region of high primary productivity and carbonate accumulation. However, pristine subducted sediments alone cannot explain the full compositional range of rear-arc Colombian lavas. Instead, we propose that sediment partial melting beneath the arc front produces carbonate- and apatite-rich restites that act as a recycled carbonated component, contributing to mantle chemical heterogeneity. This model helps explain the geochemical diversity of mantle-derived intraplate lavas and establishes a direct link between biogeochemical cycles, subduction, and the evolution of the solid Earth.

High heat fluxes occurring in rift settings are expected to generate partially melted low‐pressure–high‐temperature granulites (LP–HTG). Therefore, studying these rocks can offer valuable insights into crustal reworking during extension. However, our interpretations are limited by the rarity of LP–HTG in the metamorphic record. To better assess the genesis of partially melted LP–HTG, it is relevant to identify their protolith and associated melt as well as to characterize their P‐T evolution. We study the Tejupilco area in Mexico to present the case of the Pepechuca metapelitic xenoliths and the Tizapa metagranite, the latter belonging to the Nazas Igneous Province (NIP). This site serves as an excellent location to outline the partial melting history of the eastern and southern regions of the Mexican crust during the Jurassic. Geochemical and geochronological data, combined with thermodynamic modeling, show that the mid‐ to upper‐crustal protoliths of the Pepechuca xenoliths—a metamorphosed portion of Triassic turbidite sequences—experienced anomalously high T/P (>1700°C/GPa) regional prograde metamorphism and hydrate‐breakdown partial melting during the Early Jurassic (182.2 ± 2.4 Ma). A combination of isotopic, geochronological, and modeling data demonstrates that the Tizapa metagranite originated from the melting of rocks akin to the Pepechuca xenoliths. We also show that the LP–HTG metamorphism occurred in a rift setting during the breakup of Western Pangea. Hence, our results demonstrate that rifting is a viable mechanism for crustal reworking during LP–HTG metamorphism and for the generation of peraluminous felsic igneous rocks, such as those found in the anatectic Jurassic NIP.

Oceans and continents mingle at convergent margins. However, the effects of this interaction in the construction and evolution of the continental crust remain poorly understood. Here we use geochemical data from the Panama Basin and the Northern Volcanic Province of Colombia to reveal that the oceanological and biogeochemical processes of a subducted ocean basin are imprinted in the compositions of continental arc volcanoes. The Panama Basin is a biologically highly productive area of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific in which the strongly biogenic sedimentation is reclassified and preserved differently depending on tectonically controlled depositional environments. Due to a shallow lysocline, sediments deposited on newly formed spreading centers are carbonate‐rich, whereas those accumulated on older subsiding seafloor become gradually richer in terrigenous components, organic carbon and authigenic U. Volcanoes of the North Volcanic Province of Colombia erupt high‐Mg# andesites that are common in some arcs, but display unusually high U contents and a symmetrical or “parabolic‐shaped” along‐arc trace element and isotopic variations that appear unrelated to differentiation or the pre‐existent crustal architecture. Instead, the parabolic‐shaped elemental trends mirror the reconstructed compositional variations of sediments deposited across axis on the currently subducted Sandra and Buenaventura ocean ridges. We interpret that subduction of these ocean ridges delivered a compositionally variable sediment influx that influenced the compositions of arc magmas. These findings demonstrate a strong connectivity between oceans and continents, and further imply that arc volcanoes can be reliable records of the oceanological and biogeochemical conditions of long subducted ocean basins.

The Ventura Espiritu Santo Volcanic Field (VESVF) and the Sierra Chichinautzin (SCN) are two monogenetic volcanic fields originated in different tectonic environments in the central portion of Mexico (continental rift and subduction). The VESVF is located 35 km NE of the city of San Luis Potosí in the south of the Basin and Range extensional province. This volcanic field was formed by the eruption of alkaline magmas of mafic composition transporting mantle xenoliths described as spinel lherzolites and pyroxenites (Luhr et al., 1989; Aranda -Gómez and Luhr, 1996). The SCN is a Quaternary volcanic field located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) between two Quaternary arc-volcanoes (Popocatepetl and Nevado de Toluca[AR1] ). Some authors believe that its origin has been related to the subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the North American plate (Marquez et al., 1999; Meriggi et al., 2008); however, the basalts present in the SCN are geochemically similar to OIBs.New isotopic data of noble gases and CO2 in fluid inclusions from the VESVF and SCN are presented in this work, since these two areas offer a great opportunity to study the local lithospheric mantle features and related processes (e.g., metasomatism, partial melting) occurring beneath Mexico. Twelve fresh xenoliths from the VESVF and two aliquots of olivine phenocrysts of andesites from SCN were selected. Based on the petrographic analysis, it was determined that the set of xenoliths exhibit same paragenesis: Ol> Opx>> Cpx> Spinel; all samples are plagioclase-free and are classified as spinel-lherzolites and harzburgites. Both the boundaries and the fractures of the crystals develop veins composed of yellowish glass and tiny crystals of carbonates. Lavas from SCVF were previously described as olivine andesites mainly aphanitic and porphyritic with few (<10%) phenocrysts of olivine and orthopyroxene (Marquez et al., 1999; Straub et al., 2011).The mantle xenoliths and the olivine phenocrysts have comparable Rc/Ra values (where Rc/Ra is the 3He/4He corrected for air contamination and normalized to air He). We find Rc/Ra compositions of 6.9-7.7 and 7.2-7.3, respectively, which are within the MORB-like upper-mantle range (Graham, 2002). The highest CO2 concentrations are observed in olivine phenocrysts from SCN (9.2·10-7 mol/g and 1.3·10-6 mol/g), while the xenoliths cover a wide range of concentrations with values as high as 3.9·10-7 mol/g in Cpx. The isotopic composition of CO2 (d13C vs PDB) in the olivine phenocrysts is around -6.2‰ with CO2/3He ratios of 3.3·109, which are comparable to MORB-like range (-8‰<d13C<-4‰); the mantle xenoliths in contrast, although displaying similar CO2/3He ratios (2.8·109), exhibit more positive d13C signature between -1.0 and -2.7%. We propose that these differences testify for isotopic heterogeneity in the mantle beneath the two areas, with and reflect mantle metasomatism underneath VESVF driven by interaction with carbonate rich-melts (likely consequence of carbonate recycling during the subduction process), as also evidenced by the petrographic analysis.

Geochemical studies of Plio-Quaternary volcanic rocks from the Valle de Bravo–Zitácuaro volcanic field (VBZ) in central Mexico indicate that slab melting plays a key role in the petrogenesis of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Rocks from the VBZ are typical arc-related high-Mg andesites, but two different rock suites with distinct trace element patterns and isotopic compositions erupted concurrently in the area, with a trace element character that is also distinct from that of other Mexican volcanoes. The geochemical differences between the VBZ suites cannot be explained by simple crystal fractionation and/or crustal assimilation of a common primitive magma, but can be reconciled by the participation of different proportions of melts derived from the subducted basalt and sediments interacting with the mantle wedge. Sr/Y and Sr/Pb ratios of the VBZ rocks correlate inversely with Pb and Sr isotopic compositions, indicating that the Sr and Pb budgets are strongly controlled by melt additions from the subducted slab. In contrast, an inverse correlation between Pb(Th)/Nd and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios, which extend to lower isotopic values than those for Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalts, indicates the participation of an enriched mantle wedge that is similar to the source of Mexican intraplate basalts. In addition, a systematic decrease in middle and heavy rare earth concentrations and Nb/Ta ratios with increasing SiO₂ contents in the VBZ rocks is best explained if these elements are mobilized to some extent in the subduction flux, and suggests that slab partial fusion occurred under garnet amphibolite-facies conditions.