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Volcanic arcs fed by rapid pulsed fluid flow through subducting slabs

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 489–492 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

At subduction zones, oceanic lithosphere that has interacted with sea water is returned to the mantle, heats up during descent and releases fluids by devolatilization of hydrous minerals. Models for the formation of magmas feeding volcanoes above subduction zones require largescale transport of these fluids into overlying mantle wedges1,2,3. Fluid flow also seems to be linked to seismicity in subducting slabs. However, the spatial and temporal scales of this fluid flow remain largely unknown, with suggested timescales ranging from tens to tens of thousands of years3,4,5. Here we use the Li–Ca–Sr isotope systems to consider fluid sources and quantitatively constrain the duration of subduction-zone fluid release at ∼ 70 km depth within subducting oceanic lithosphere, now exhumed in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains. Using lithium-diffusion modelling, we find that the wall-rock porosity adjacent to the flowpath of the fluids increased ten times above the background level. We show that fluids released by devolatilization travelled through the slab along major conduits in pulses with durations of about ∼ 200 years. Thus, although the overall slab dehydration process is continuous over millions of years and over a wide range of pressures and temperatures, we conclude that the fluids produced by dehydration in subducting slabs are mobilized in short-lived, channelized fluid-flow events.

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Figure 1: Outcrop photograph and apparent Rb/Sr-‘whole-rock isochron’ of an eclogite facies vein and its associated reaction halo in the Tianshan, China.
Figure 2: Calcium isotope ratios of the silicate rock fraction versus CaO concentration as a measure of the degree of Ca metasomatism.
Figure 3: Diffusion modelling of Li concentrations and δ7Li across the sampling profile perpendicular to the vein.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge discussions with and proofreading by K. Mezger and A. Putnis. We thank S. Penniston-Dorland and H. Marschall for their constructive criticisms. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft financially supported this research through grant JO 349/5-1. Samples of AOC were provided by the Ocean Drilling Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Mineralogie, Universität Münster, Corrensstr. 24, D-48149 Münster, Germany

    Timm John, Nikolaus Gussone & Tomas Magna

  2. Institut de Géophysique, University of Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Sorge, Bâtiment Amphipôle, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    Yuri Y. Podladchikov

  3. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA

    Gray E. Bebout

  4. Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Geophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, Germany

    Ralf Dohmen

  5. Institut für Geowissenschaften and SFB 574, Universität Kiel, Ludewig-Meyn-Str. 10, D-24118 Kiel, Germany

    Ralf Halama

  6. GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Schlossgarten 5a, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany

    Reiner Klemd

  7. Czech Geological Survey, CZ-118 21 Prague 1, Klárov 3, Czech Republic

    Tomas Magna

  8. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Frankfurt, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Altenhöferallee 1, Germany

    Hans-Michael Seitz

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  1. Timm John
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Contributions

All authors participated in collecting the data and interpretation of the results; T.J. and N.G. took the lead in developing the final model. T.J. and R.K. focused on the fieldwork, N.G., T.J., R.H., G.E.B., H-M.S. and T.M. on geochemical methods and T.J., Y.Y.P. and R.D. on the Li chronometry.

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Correspondence to Nikolaus Gussone.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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John, T., Gussone, N., Podladchikov, Y. et al. Volcanic arcs fed by rapid pulsed fluid flow through subducting slabs. Nature Geosci 5, 489–492 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1482

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