Sr and O isotopes in western Aleutian seafloor lavas: Implications for the source of fluids and trace element character of arc volcanic rocks

High Mg# andesites and dacites (Mg# = molar Mg/Mg + Fe) from western Aleutian seafloor volcanoes carry high concentrations of Sr (>1000 ppm) that is unradiogenic (87Sr/86Sr < 0.7029) compared to lavas from emergent volcanoes throughout the arc (200–800 ppm Sr, 87Sr/86Sr >0.7030). Data patterns in plots of 87Sr/86Sr vs Y/Sr and Nd/Sr imply the existence of an eclogite-melt source component – formed by partial melting of MORB eclogite in the subducting Pacific Plate – which is most clearly expressed in the compositions of western Aleutian andesites and dacites (Nd/Sr and Y/Sr < 0.02) and which dominates the source budget for Sr in volcanic rocks throughout the arc. When viewed in combination with inversely correlated εNd and 87Sr/86Sr, these patterns rule out aqueous fluids as an important source of Sr because mixtures of fluids from altered oceanic crust with depleted mantle and sediment produce compositions with 87Sr/86Sr higher than in common Aleutian rocks. The unradiogenic nature of Sr in the western Aleutian andesite–dacite end-member may be understood if H2O required to drive melting of the subducting oceanic crust is transported in fluids containing little Sr. Mass balance demonstrates that such fluids may be produced by dewatering of serpentinite in the mantle section of the subducting plate. If the eclogite-melt source component is present throughout the Aleutian arc, melting of the subducting plate must extend into minimally altered parts of the sheeted dike section or upper gabbros, at depths >2 km below the paleo-seafloor. Oxygen isotopes in western Aleutian seafloor lavas, which fall within a narrow range of MORB-like values (δ18O=5.1–5.7), are also consistent with this model. These results indicate that the subducting Pacific lithosphere beneath the Aleutian arc is significantly hotter than indicated my most thermal models.