Aqueous fluids derived from a subducting slab: Observed high 3He emanation and conductive anomaly in a non-volcanic region, Kii Peninsula southwest Japan

Abstract: It has long been recognized that the Kii Peninsula in the southwest Japan arc is peculiar in a non-volcanic region, indicated by the presence of high temperature hot springs, high terrestrial heat flow and high 3He content in hot spring gases. Geophysical and geochemical studies were carried out to understand the geotectonic environment in the southern part of the Kii Peninsula. Most of the measured 3He/ 4He ratios are similar or higher than air, indicating wide spread incorporation of mantle-derived helium into meteoric water. A region with rather high 3He/ 4He ratios (>4 RA) on the west side of the Omine Mountains coincides with the occurrence of high temperature hot springs. A deep crustal resistivity structure across the Omine Mountains was imaged by wide-band magnetotelluric soundings. A 2-D inversion with N–S strike using both TM and TE modes reveals two conductors, one in the upper (3–7 km depth) and the other in lower crust (25–35 km depth) to the west of the Omine Mountains. The distribution of microearthquakes and low-frequency tremors, and the existence of seismic reflectors indicate that the large conductor in the lower crust is related to aqueous fluids derived from the Philippine Sea plate. The upper-crustal conductive zone may also reflect the aqueous fluids trapped in the upper crust, which are presumably derived from the subducting slab. Considering the occurrence of seismic events in the subducting slab beneath the southern Kii Peninsula, the aqueous fluids generated by dehydration of the slab mantle could plausibly include MORB-type helium derived from the residual lithospheric mantle. Therefore, the high temperature hot springs and high 3He emanations in hot spring gases and other geotectonic events in the southern Kii Peninsula may be due to heat flux and mantle-derived helium discharged from aqueous fluid in the upper crust. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]