• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.141-156
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• 2010

Dokdo Island, Korea, is located in the East Sea belonging to back arc basin. In this study we examined petrology and geochemistry of massive tuffaceous breccia (MTB) from Dongdo (Eastern islet) and Seodo(Western islet), the two largest islands of Dokdo. Field studies and chemical analysis distinguish the MTB in Dongdo and Seodo. The Dongdo MTB (DMTB) is exposed up to 50 m on the ocean cliff and it has dominant basalt and trachybasalt with moderate amount of trachyte and scoria. On the other hand, Seodo MTB (SMTB), which is preserved between trachyte dike and trachyandesite, is composed of roughly equal amounts of basalt, trachybasalt and trachyte. The location of the islets were related to the source vent having in contact with underlying trachyte lava and differential pyroclastic deposits made them different characteristics. According to trace element analysis of trachytic volcanic clasts, the Ba concentration ranges from 66 to 103 ppm and Sr varies from 44 to 56 ppm in DMTB. However, Br and Sr in SMTB correspondingly showed relatively wide ranges: Br 785-1259 ppm and Sr 466-1230 ppm. These differential trends between DMTB and SMTB, along with the difference in P and Ti, indicate that the crystallization of alkali feldspar, feldspathoid, biotite, apatite and titanium took place differently. Nevertheless, DMTB and SMTB are similar in REE patterns and they are correspondingly characterized by high LREE, low HREE and similar $(La/Yb)_N$ values with 23.9-40.2 in DMTB and 27.4-32.9 in SMTB. These patterns suggest that Dongdo and Seodo might be originated from coeval magma suites. Dokdo island shows high concentrations of Ba, K and Rb. These signatures mark a result attributed to the mantle upwelling because the magma derived from the asthenosphere was metasomatized with subduction-related fluids.