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Look between the grains

Nature Geoscience volume 15, pages 856–857 (2022)Cite this article

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Rocks are seen as aggregates of minerals, with specific compositions, crystallographic characteristics and capacities for the substitution and storage of trace elements, such as volatiles. But rocks are not mere aggregates of crystals; the grains have imperfect interfaces and nano- to micro-interstitial phases are commonly found within this interstitial media. We argue that this interstitial component could represent an underappreciated repository for water-derived species and other volatile elements.

Grain boundaries have specific geochemical properties, distinct atomic structures and less strain and order than crystalline lattices of individual minerals1, resulting in a higher density of vacancies along these interfaces. Thus, grain boundaries in rocks influence processes controlling mass transfer in the Earth’s lithosphere and asthenosphere, such as ionic diffusion, ductile deformation, and grain growth. Furthermore, the high vacancy density of grain boundaries offers the possibility to store larger ions, such as incompatible elements, that typically do not fit into the tight crystal lattice of mantle minerals such as olivine for example2. Grain boundaries could therefore act as a sink for all of the misfit elements that were initially incorporated into the grain lattice or that pass through during the percolation of and the reaction with small volume-melts.

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Fig. 1: A peridotite xenolith from Patagonia showing a typical upper-mantle mineral assemblage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Olivier Alard & Ananuer Halimulati

  2. Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France

    Olivier Alard & Sylvie Demouchy

  3. Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, IRD, OPGC, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Sylvie Demouchy

Authors
  1. Olivier Alard
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  2. Ananuer Halimulati
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  3. Sylvie Demouchy
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Correspondence to Olivier Alard.

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Alard, O., Halimulati, A. & Demouchy, S. Look between the grains. Nat. Geosci. 15, 856–857 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01065-3

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