Hikurangi Plateau subduction a trigger for Vitiaz arc splitting and Havre Trough opening (southwestern Pacific)

Splitting of the Vitiaz arc formed the Tonga-Kermadec and Lau-Colville Ridges (southwestern Pacific Ocean), separated by the Lau Basin in the north and Havre Trough in the south. We present new trace element and Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotope geochemistry for the Kermadec and Colville Ridges extending ~900 km north of New Zealand (36°S–28°S) in order to (1) compare the composition of the arc remnants with Quaternary Kermadec arc volcanism, (2) constrain spatial geochemical variations in the arc remnants, (3) evaluate the effect of Hikurangi igneous plateau subduction on the geochemistry of the older arc lavas, and (4) elucidate what may have caused arc splitting. Compared to the Kermadec Ridge, the Colville Ridge has higher more-incompatible to less-incompatible immobile element ratios and largely overlapping isotope ratios, consistent with an origin through lower degrees of melting of more enriched upper mantle in the Vitiaz rear arc. Between ca. 8 and 3 Ma, both halves of the arc (~36°S–29°S) included a more enriched (EM1-type) composition (with lower ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and higher Δ8/4 Pb [deviation of the measured ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio from a Northern Hemisphere basalt regression line] and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) compared to older and younger arc lavas. High-Ti basalts from the Manihiki Plateau, once joined to the Hikurangi Plateau, could serve as the enriched Vitiaz arc end member. We propose that the enriched plateau signature, seen only in the isotope ratios of mobile elements, was transported by hydrous fluids from the western margin of the subducting Hikurangi Plateau or a Hikurangi Plateau fragment into the overlying mantle wedge. Our results are consistent with plateau subduction triggering arc splitting and backarc opening.