This project will investigate the geographic & temporal geochemical variations among Eocene-Miocene lavas from the Philippine Sea which will dead to better understanding of Philippine plate magma genesis and island arc & back arc magma genesis in general. The proposed study will address the following questions: 1) what is the extent & cause of chemical variation in West Philippine, Parece Vela, and Shikoku basin lavas? How do these basin lavas compare with other back-arc basins? 2) What are trace element differences between Palau Kyushu arc lavas & basin lavas erupted before & after them? What is the cause of these and the systematic isotope differences found? 3) What is the Benham Rise? How do these lavas compare with oceanic island basalts? 4)Are there systematic geochemical differences between the Eocene-Oligocene Palau-Kyushu arc, the Miocene West Philippine arc and modern active island arcs? What do these differences mean about evolution of Philippine plate?
