Evolution of Magmatism in the NE Honshu Arc and its relation to the mantle-crust structures

Abstract

Recent advances in seismic tomography enable visualization of the crust-mantle structures beneath the NE Honshu arc. Combined with geology and petrology, the seismic images have become valuable tools for revealing the mantle-crust thermal structures of the arc. The thermal structure of the present mantle wedge inferred from geological and petrological data correlates well with the mantle seismic structures. Intra-crustal thermal structures would have been affected by intensive magma intrusions to form large magma storages beneath the late Miocene to Pliocene calderas. The remnants of these thermal disturbances are still detectable by seismology. The mantle-crust thermal structures of the NE Honshu arc appear to have developed in relation to the development of the igneous arc.