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The divergent fates of primitive hydrospheric water on Earth and Mars

Nature volume 552, pages 391–394 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Despite active transport into Earth’s mantle, water has been present on our planet’s surface for most of geological time1,2. Yet water disappeared from the Martian surface soon after its formation. Although some of the water on Mars was lost to space via photolysis following the collapse of the planet’s magnetic field3,4,5, the widespread serpentinization of Martian crust6,7 suggests that metamorphic hydration reactions played a critical part in the sequestration of the crust. Here we quantify the relative volumes of water that could be removed from each planet’s surface via the burial and metamorphism of hydrated mafic crusts, and calculate mineral transition-induced bulk-density changes at conditions of elevated pressure and temperature for each. The metamorphic mineral assemblages in relatively FeO-rich Martian lavas can hold about 25 per cent more structurally bound water than those in metamorphosed terrestrial basalts, and can retain it at greater depths within Mars. Our calculations suggest that in excess of 9 per cent by volume of the Martian mantle may contain hydrous mineral species as a consequence of surface reactions, compared to about 4 per cent by volume of Earth’s mantle. Furthermore, neither primitive nor evolved hydrated Martian crust show noticeably different bulk densities compared to their anhydrous equivalents, in contrast to hydrous mafic terrestrial crust, which transforms to denser eclogite upon dehydration. This would have allowed efficient overplating and burial of early Martian crust in a stagnant-lid tectonic regime, in which the lithosphere comprised a single tectonic plate, with only the warmer, lower crust involved in mantle convection. This provided an important sink for hydrospheric water and a mechanism for oxidizing the Martian mantle. Conversely, relatively buoyant mafic crust and hotter geothermal gradients on Earth reduced the potential for upper-mantle hydration early in its geological history, leading to water being retained close to its surface, and thus creating conditions conducive for the evolution of complex multicellular life.

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Figure 1: Calculated petrophysical properties for each modelled basaltic protolith.
Figure 2: Degree of mantle hydration on Earth and Mars as a function of dewatering of metamorphosed basalts.
Figure 3: Schematic cross-sections through primitive Martian and terrestrial mafic crust.

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Acknowledgements

J.W. acknowledges receipt of an NERC Independent Research Fellowship NE/K009540/1. J.D.P.M. was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Singapore under the NRF Fellowship scheme (National Research Fellow award NRF-NRFF2013-04) and by the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the NRF, and the Singapore Ministry of Education under the Research Centres of Excellence initiative.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK

    Jon Wade

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK

    Brendan Dyck

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, V5A 1S6, British Columbia, Canada

    Brendan Dyck

  4. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, 80401, Colorado, USA

    Richard M. Palin

  5. Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

    James D. P. Moore

  6. Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16801, USA

    Andrew J. Smye

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Contributions

J.W. conceived the idea in discussion with A.J.S. and performed initial calculations. R.M.P. and B.D. performed the petrological modelling. Thermal modelling was performed by J.D.P.M. All authors contributed to writing the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jon Wade.

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Reviewer Information Nature thanks T. Usui and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Figure 1 Palaeo-Archaean high-Mg basalt pressure–temperature pseudosection.

Pressure–temperature pseudosection calculated for the bulk-rock composition of Palaeo-Archaean high-Mg basalt sample 02MB25663. Some small fields are unlabelled for clarity. Bold dashed line labelled ‘Early-Earth geotherm’ represents the pressure–temperature profile calculated via thermal modelling, and is enveloped by short-dashed lines representing upper and lower confidence intervals on these values. Some small fields are not labelled for clarity, and others are numbered and contain assemblages listed to the right of the phase diagram. Phase abbreviations are as follows: Ab, albite; Act, actinolite; Aug, augite; Bt, biotite; Chl, chlorite; Ep, epidote; Gln, glaucophane; Grt, garnet; Hbl, hornblende; H2O, aqueous fluid (water); Ilm, ilmenite; Ms, muscovite; Mt, magnetite; Ol, olivine; Opx, orthopyroxene; Pl, plagioclase; Qtz, quartz; Rt, rutile; Spn, sphene.

Extended Data Figure 2 N-MORB pressure–temperature pseudosection.

Pressure–temperature pseudosection calculated for the bulk-rock composition of N-MORB64. Some small fields are unlabelled for clarity. Bold dashed line labelled ‘Modern-day terrestrial geotherm’ represents the pressure–temperature profile calculated via thermal modelling, and is enveloped by short-dashed lines representing upper and lower confidence intervals on these values. Some small fields are not labelled for clarity, and others are numbered and contain assemblages listed to the right of the phase diagram. Phase abbreviations are as listed for Extended Data Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 3 Fastball (Mars) pressure–temperature pseudosection.

Pressure–temperature pseudosection calculated for the bulk-rock composition of Fastball19. Some small fields are unlabelled for clarity. Bold dashed line labelled ‘Early Martian aerotherm’ represents the pressure–temperature profile calculated via thermal modelling, and is enveloped by short-dashed lines representing upper and lower confidence intervals on these values. Some small fields are not labelled for clarity, and others are numbered and contain assemblages listed to the right of the phase diagram. Phase abbreviations are as listed for Extended Data Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 4 Backstay (Mars) pressure–temperature pseudosection.

Pressure–temperature pseudosection calculated for the bulk-rock composition of Backstay65. Some small fields are unlabelled for clarity. Bold dashed line labelled ‘Late-stage Martian aerotherm’ represents the pressure–temperature profile calculated via thermal modelling, and is enveloped by short-dashed lines representing upper and lower confidence intervals on these values. Some small fields are not labelled for clarity, and others are numbered and contain assemblages listed to the right of the phase diagram. Phase abbreviations are as listed for Extended Data Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 5 Hydrated terrestrial and Martian basalt mineral proportions.

Calculated mineral proportions, bulk-rock densities, and water contents during metamorphism of hydrated terrestrial and Martian basalts along their respective planetary geotherms and aerotherms. Vertical dashed lines represent pressure–temperature points at which melt extraction events occurred (see Methods). Phase abbreviations are as listed for Extended Data Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 6 Nominally anhydrous terrestrial and Martian basalts mineral proportions.

Calculated mineral proportion and bulk-rock densities during metamorphism of nominally anhydrous terrestrial and Martian basalts along their respective planetary geotherms and aerotherms. Vertical dashed lines represent pressure–temperature points at which melt extraction events occurred (see Methods). Phase abbreviations are as listed for Extended Data Fig. 1.

Extended Data Table 1 Bulk compositions of mafic crustal components used in this work (wt% oxides)
Full size table
Extended Data Table 2 Bulk compositions used in phase-equilibrium modelling (mol% oxides) under minimally fluid-saturated conditions
Full size table
Extended Data Table 3 Bulk compositions used in phase-equilibrium modelling (mol% oxides) under nominally dry conditions
Full size table

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Wade, J., Dyck, B., Palin, R. et al. The divergent fates of primitive hydrospheric water on Earth and Mars. Nature 552, 391–394 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25031

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