Abstract
According to new estimates, more than 2 km3 of terrestrial material is transported every year with the subducting lithospheric plates to depths greater than 20-30 km. A comparable amount of subducted material is partly restored to the nearby margins through underplating, diapirism or forearc volcanism; partly rejuvenated through arc and back-arc magmatism; and the rest is recycled into the deep mantle. This study emphasizes the connection between the consumption of some arcs and the intensity of arc volcanism. In many cases (Japan, Peru, Izu-Bonin, Guatemala), interruption in tectonic erosion of the margin is followed by a hiatus of arc volcanism. The delay between the presumed cause (i.e. absence of subducted arc-type crust) and the response (i.e. lack of explosive volcanism) corresponds to the time required for the subducting slab to reach the melting depth (i.e. 2-4 million years). Alternately, intense tectonic erosion of the margin is followed by paroxysms of arc volcanism. Crustal contamination of volcanic rocks may be caused directly by magma sources which may contain arc material derived from the subcrustal erosion of the margin.