Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Noble gas transport into the mantle facilitated by high solubility in amphibole

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 562–565 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The chemical evolution of both the Earth’s atmosphere and mantle can be traced using noble gases1,2,3,4,5. Their abundance in mantle and atmosphere reflects a balance between the flux of noble gases from the Earth’s interior through magmatism, and the recycling of noble gases from the atmosphere back into the mantle at subduction zones. The flux of noble gases back into the mantle has long been thought to be negligible1. However, analyses of samples from the mantle now suggest that this recycling flux is more significant6,7,8, but the responsible mechanisms are unclear. Here we present high-pressure experimental measurements that demonstrate high solubility of noble gases in amphibole, an important hydrous mineral in altered oceanic crust9,10,11. Noble gas solubility correlates with the concentration of unoccupied A-sites, which consist of a pair of opposing tetrahedra rings. We conclude that A-sites are energetically favourable locations for noble gas dissolution in amphibole that could allow recycling of noble gases into the mantle by subduction of altered oceanic crust. As many hydrous minerals in subducting slabs, such as serpentine and chlorite, have lattice structures similar to the A-site in amphibole, we suggest that these minerals may provide even more significant recycling pathways7,11.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Amphibole lattice structure.
Figure 2: Helium solubility in amphibole.
Figure 3: Neon solubility in amphibole.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Allegre, C. J., Hofmann, A. & Onions, K. The Argon constraints on mantle structure. Geophys. Res. Lett. 23, 3555–3557 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Kurz, M. D., Jenkins, W. J. & Hart, S. R. Helium isotopic systematics of oceanic island and mantle heterogeneity. Nature 297, 43–47 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ballentine, C. J., Marty, B., Lollar, B. S. & Cassidy, M. Neon isotopes constrain convection and volatile origin in the Earth’s mantle. Nature 433, 33–38 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Pujol, M., Marty, B. & Burgess, R. Chondritic-like xenon trapped in Archean rocks: A possible signature of the ancient atmosphere. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 308, 298–306 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Moreira, M., Kunz, J. & Allegre, C. Rare gas systematics in popping rock: Isotopic and elemental compositions in the upper mantle. Science 279, 1178–1181 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Holland, G. & Ballentine, C. J. Seawater subduction controls the heavy noble gas composition of the mantle. Nature 441, 186–191 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kendrick, M. A., Scambelluri, M., Honda, M. & Phillips, D. High abundances of noble gas and chlorine delivered to the mantle by serpentinite subduction. Nature Geosci. 4, 807–812 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sumino, H. et al. Seawater-derived noble gases and halogens preserved in exhumed mantle wedge peridotite. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 294, 163–172 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ito, E., Harris, D. M. & Anderson, A. T. Alteration of oceanic crust and geologic cycling of chlorine and water. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 47, 1613–1624 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Carlson, R. L. Bound water content of the lower oceanic crust estimated from modal analyses and seismic velocities of oceanic diabase and gabbro. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 2142 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hacker, B. R. H2O subduction beyond arcs. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9, Q03001 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ballentine, C. J. & Barfod, D. N. The origin of air-like noble gases in MORB and OIB. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 180, 39–48 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Mukhopadhyay, S. Early differentiation and volatile accretion recorded in deep-mantle neon and xenon. Nature 486, 101–104 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Caffee, M. W. et al. Primordial noble cases from Earth’s mantle: Identification of a primitive volatile component. Science 285, 2115–2118 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Trieloff, M., Kunz, J., Clague, D. A., Harrison, D. & Allegre, C. J. The nature of pristine noble gases in mantle plumes. Science 288, 1036–1038 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Holland, G., Cassidy, M. & Ballentine, C. J. Meteorite Kr in earth’s mantle suggests a late accretionary source for the atmosphere. Science 326, 1522–1525 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Parai, R., Mukhopadhyay, S. & Standish, J. Heterogeneous upper mantle Ne, Ar and Xe isotopic compositions and a possible Dupal noble gas signature recorded in basalts from the Southwest Indian Ridge. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 359, 227–239 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Tucker, J. M., Mukhopadhyay, S. & Schilling, J. G. The heavy noble gas composition of the depleted MORB mantle (DMM) and its implications for the preservation of heterogeneities in the mantle. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 355, 244–254 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Moreira, M. et al. He and Ne isotopes in oceanic crust: Implications for noble gas recycling in the mantle. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 216, 635–643 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Zaikowski, A. & Schaeffer, O. A. Solubility of noble gases in serpentine—implications for meteoritic noble gas abundances. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 45, 141–154 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Staudacher, T. & Allegre, C. J. Recycling of oceanic crust and sediments-the noble gas subduction barrier. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 89, 173–183 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Heber, V. S., Brooker, R. A., Kelley, S. P. & Wood, B. J. Crystal-melt partitioning of noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon) for olivine and clinopyroxene. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 71, 1041–1061 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Parman, S. W., Kurz, M. D., Hart, S. R. & Grove, T. L. Helium solubility in olivine and implications for high 3He/4He in ocean island basalts. Nature 437, 1140–1143 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kelley, S. Excess argon in K–Ar and Ar–Ar geochronology. Chem. Geol. 188, 1–22 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Damon, P. E. & Kulp, J. L. Excess helium and argon in beryl and other minerals. Am. Mineral. 43, 433–459 (1958).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kumagai, H., Dick, H. J. B. & Kaneoka, I. Noble gas signatures of abyssal gabbros and peridotites at an Indian Ocean core complex. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4, 9107 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wartho, J. A., Kelley, S. P. & Elphick, S. C. Estimates of Ar diffusion and solubility in leucite and nepheline: Electron microprobe imaging of Ar distribution in a mineral. Am. Mineral. 90, 954–962 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Chamorro-Perez, E., Gillet, P., Jambon, A., Badro, J. & McMillan, P. Low argon solubility in silicate melts at high pressure. Nature 393, 352–355 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Green, D. H., Hibberson, W. O., Kovacs, I. & Rosenthal, A. Water and its influence on the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary. Nature 467, 448–451 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Lux, G. The Behavior of noble gases in silicate liquids—Solution, diffusion, bubbles, and surface effects, with applications to natural samples. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 51, 1549–1560 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank N. Chatterjee for his assistance with major element analysis and M. Chon for his assistance with the pit volume analysis. This work was supported by NSF EAR-1019229.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA

    Colin R. M. Jackson, Stephen W. Parman & Reid F. Cooper

  2. Department of Environment, Earth and Ecosystems, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    Simon P. Kelley

Authors
  1. Colin R. M. Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephen W. Parman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Simon P. Kelley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Reid F. Cooper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to writing the manuscript and interpretation of the data. C.R.M.J. and S.W.P. developed the hypothesis leading to the experiments. C.R.M.J. conducted the experiments. S.P.K. developed analytical techniques for the noble gas analysis and oversaw analysis of experiments.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Colin R. M. Jackson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 2069 kb)

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (XLS 22 kb)

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (XLS 105 kb)

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (XLS 27 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jackson, C., Parman, S., Kelley, S. et al. Noble gas transport into the mantle facilitated by high solubility in amphibole. Nature Geosci 6, 562–565 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1851

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1851

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing