The geochemistry, mineralogy, and petrology of basalts at DSDP Leg 59 Holes

Legs 59 and 60 of the International Phase of Oceanic Drilling (IPOD) were designed to study the nature and history of volcanism of the active Mariana arc, its currently spreading inter-arc basin (the Mariana Trough), and the series of inactive basins and intervening ridges that lie to the west. The older basins and ridges were drilled during Leg 59 as the first part of a transect of single-bit holes drilled in each major basin and ridge. The eastern part of the transect - the technically active region - was drilled during Leg 60.
The evolution of island-arc volcanos and magma genesis associated with lithospheric subduction remain some of the most complex petrologic problems confronting us. Many types of source material (mantle, oceanic crust, continental crust) and an unusually wide range of possible physical conditions at the time of magma genesis must be identified even before the roles of partial melting and subsequent magma fractionation, mixing, and contamination can be assessed.