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Water transportation from the subducting slab into the mantle transition zone
Shigenori Maruyama a,, Kazuaki Okamoto b
a
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O-okayama 2-12-1, Meguroku, Tokyo 152, Japan
b
Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, P.O. Box 120, Academic Road Sec. 2, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Received 1 June 2006; accepted 5 June 2006
Available online 14 August 2006
Abstract
Using a recently developed petrogenetic grid for MORB + H2O, we propose a new model for the transportation of water from the subducting
slab into the mantle transition zone. Depending on the geothermal gradient, two contrasting water-transportation mechanisms operate at depth in a
subduction zone. If the geothermal gradient is low, lawsonite carries H2O into mantle depths of 300 km; with further subduction down to the
mantle transition depth (approximately 400 km) lawsonite is no longer stable and thereafter H2O is once migrated upward to the mantle wedge
then again carried down to the transition zone due to the induced convection. At this depth, hydrous -phase olivine is stable and plays a role as a
huge water reservoir. In contrast, if the geothermal gradient is high, the subducted slab may melt at 700900 C at depths shallower than 80 km to
form felsic melt, into which water is dissolved. In this case, H2O cannot be transported into the mantle below 80 km. Between these two endmember mechanisms, two intermediate types are present. In the high-pressure intermediate type, the hydrous phase A plays an important role to
carry water into the mantle transition zone. Water liberated by the lawsonite-consuming continuous reaction moves upward to form hydrous phase
A in the hanging wall, which transports water into deeper mantle. This is due to a unique character of the reaction, because Phase A can become
stable through the hydration reaction of olivine. In the case of low-pressure intermediate type, the presence of a dry mantle wedge below 100 km
acts as a barrier to prevent H2O from entering into deeper mantle.
2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Gondwana Research.
Keywords: MORB + H2O phase diagram; Subduction zone geotherms; Peridotite + H2O phase diagram; Water transportation to deeper mantle
1. Introduction
The role of water in the genesis of magma in subduction zone
environments has been widely recognized (e.g. Wyllie, 1988).
The dehydration has been attributed either to direct melting of the
slab (e.g. Nicolls and Ringwood, 1973; Wyllie and Sekine, 1982;
Brophy and Marsh, 1986) or to the release of fluids to decrease in
the melting temperature of the mantle wedge (e.g. Ringwood,
1975; Delany and Helgeson, 1978; Tatsumi et al., 1986).
Dehydration due to isobaric amphibole breakdown, traditionally
taken as the amphiboliteeclogite transformation reaction, is
believed to provide the H2O necessary to trigger partial melting of
the overlying mantle wedge. However, several high-pressure
hydrous minerals have been documented to be stable at coesite
1342-937X/$ - see front matter 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Gondwana Research.
doi:10.1016/j.gr.2006.06.001
149
Fig. 1. A phase diagram of the MORB + H2O system (Modified after Okamoto and Maruyama, 1999, 2004). Thin solid lines delineate polymorphic transformation of
(1) quartz/coesite (Bohlen and Boettcher, 1982), (2) coesite/stishovite (Zhang et al., 1996), and (3) diamond/graphite (Bundy, 1980), and (4) an univariant reaction,
albite = jadeite + quartz (modified from Holland, 1983, see Maruyama et al., 1996). The pale-colored shadow area delineates the stability field of lawsonite eclogite in
the MORB + H2O system (Poli and Schmidt, 1995; Okamoto and Maruyama, 1999). Dark-colored shadow area delineates the slab melting region in the MORB + H2O
system. Facies boundaries below 4 GPa are after Maruyama et al. (1996). Abbreviations; PA = pumpellyiteactinolite facies, GS = greenschist facies, EA = epidote
amphibolite facies, AM = amphibolite facies, GR = granulite facies, HGR = high-pressure granulite facies, BS = blueschist facies, Am Ec = amphibole eclogite facies, Zo
Ec = zoisite eclogite facies.
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Fig. 3. PT diagram showing the estimated H2O wt.% of the subducted oceanic crust (modified after Okamoto and Maruyama, 2004). Two representative geotherms
(young vs. old slabs) along the slab surface are shown.
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van den Beukel and Wortel, 1988; Toksz and Hsui, 1989;
Peacock, 1990, 1991; Davies and Stevenson, 1992; Staudigel
and King, 1992; Furukawa, 1993a,b; Peacock et al., 1994).
Moreover, although poorly known, (7) the role of fluid
dehydrated from the downgoing slab (Anderson et al., 1976,
1978; Delany and Helgeson, 1978), and (8) the exothermic or
endothermic reaction within it would affect the thermal structure
of the top of the downgoing slab.
Proposed PT paths for the oceanic crust at the top of the
subducted slab differ sharply in the various models shown in the
above papers. The results of selected numerical models are
summarized by Peacock (1996). Although temperature distributions within the mantle wedge and in the subducted slab are
relatively similar in all of these models, dramatic differences
occur at the interface between the mantle wedge and the
subducted slab. In the absence of shear heating, estimates of the
temperature in the subduction shear zone at 100 km depth
ranges from 300 to 750 C. The lower calculated temperatures
result from experiments in which the mantle wedge is assumed
to be rigid. Qualitatively, induced convection in the mantle
wedge brings warm mantle material into close proximity to the
subducting slab; induced convection warms the subducting slab
at the expense of cooling of the adjacent mantle wedge. Most
models suggest that induced mantlewedge convection heats
the top of the slab by several hundred degrees. In the Peacock et
al. (1994) estimation, induced convection increases the
temperatures of the slab surface at 100 km depth from 150 C
to 450 C (Fig. 5a).
In the absence of shear heating, faster convergence rates
result in cooler subduction shear zone temperatures (Fig. 5b).
Below 70 km depth and above 100 km depth, temperatures of
the faster subducting slabs are lower than that of the slower
subducting slabs. At 100 km depth, differing convergence rates
do not cause a large temperature difference on the slab surface;
T = 450 C if the V = 100 mm/yr and T = 550 C if the
V = 10 mm/yr.
The thermal structure (age) of the oceanic lithosphere prior to
subduction strongly influences the thermal structure of the
subduction zone (Fig. 5c). If the age is 50 Myr, the temperature
of the slab surface is approximately 450 C at 100 km depth. If
the age is less than 2 Myr, although the convergence rate is
as fast as 100 mm/yr, subducting slab causes partial melting.
Fig. 4. Schematic cross section of subduction zone and the parameters to control the thermal structure of subduction zone (modified from Peacock, 1996).
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Fig. 5. Steady-state PT paths along the subduction shear zone calculated by Peacock et al. (1994). (a) Calculated steady-state PT conditions based on analytical
expressions (Molnar and England, 1990) and numerical calculations (Peacock et al., 1994). V = 100 mm/yr. Age of subducting lithosphere = 50 Ma. (b) Subduction
shear zone T conditions for the two different convergence rates (10 and 100 mm/yr). Age of incoming lithosphere = 50 Ma. (c) Subduction shear zone PT conditions
as a function of age of the subducting lithosphere. = 0. V = 100 mm/yr. (d) Subduction zone PT conditions for different shear stresses. Age of incoming
lithosphere = 50 Ma.
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absorbed by dehydration reactions taking place in the subducting slab (Anderson et al., 1976, 1977; Delany and Helgeson,
1978). Presence of H2O also lowers rock strengths and frictional
dissipation even lowers shear stress at depth.
Additional variables that lead to significant uncertainties in
calculating the thermal structure of subduction zones include
hydrothermal circulation in the oceanic lithosphere, the variation
of thermal conductivity with T and P, the amount of heat consumed and released by metamorphic reactions, and the effects of
fluid flow at shallow depths. Metamorphic dehydration reactions
in the subducting slab may consume significant amounts of heat
(Anderson et al., 1976, 1978; Delany and Helgeson, 1978).
Fig. 6. (a) Y or Yb content in the adakites and island arc volcanics as a function of age of subducting lithosphere (Drummond and Defant, 1990). (b) PT conditions on
the top surface of young slab calculated by Peacock et al., 1994).
to estimate, but several studies show that it is less than several tens
of MPa, giving a negligible effect at depth larger than 50 km. Thus
we further argue the PT conditions in various subduction zones
reconstructed from the age of the lithosphere.
4.2. Field constraints
4.2.1. (1) Adakites from slab melting of MORB
The trace element and REE patterns of adakites and high-Al
Archean TTG suites suggest that they are derived from partial
melting of a garnet-bearing MORB source (Kay, 1978; Martin,
1986). Recently, several researchers have described adakites in
modern-arc environments where < 25 Ma oceanic crust is currently being subducted (Fig. 6a; Drummond and Defant, 1990).
These recent volcanics crop out between the main calcalkaline
arc and the trench, do not have typical arc geochemical
signatures, and may represent direct partial melts of subducting
oceanic crust. If the source of these volcanics is direct partial
melting of the downgoing slab, then these magmas provide a
powerful constraint on the thermal structure of subduction
zones. The slab surface of the subducting lithosphere younger
than 25 Myr may reach temperatures over 650 C at 50 km
depth or further; that is, when it reaches the wet solidus in the
high-P amphibolite and granulite facies (Fig. 6b). Applying the
convergence rate and the age of subducted lithosphere beneath
southernmost Chile and Mt. St Helens suites, PT paths for the
top of the subducted lithosphere were estimated (Peacock et al.,
1994). The estimated PT paths (condition satisfying both
induced mantle wedge convection- and shear heating-free) also
reach the wet solidus.
4.2.2. (2) T-estimates based on the depth range of the
seismogenic zone of subduction thrust faults
Subduction zone faults generate earthquakes over a limited
depth range. Hyndman et al. (1997) demonstrated that the up
dip (upper limit) and the down dip (lower limit) of the
seismogenic zone are thermally controlled by the slab surface.
The subduction zone faults are aseismic in their seaward updip
portions and landward downdip of a critical point (Fig. 7; see
above). The seaward shallow aseismic zone, commonly
beneath accreted sediments, may be a consequence of
unconsolidated sediments, especially stable-sliding smectite
clays. If the clays are dehydrated and transformed to illite, then
the fault may become seismogenic where the temperature
reaches 100150 C (e.g. Hower et al., 1976), at 515 km
depth (Fig. 7; see above). The downdip seismogenic limit for
subduction of young, hot oceanic lithosphere is also temperature-controlled. The maximum temperature for seismic
behavior in crustal rocks is 350 C (brittleductile transition).
For subduction beneath thin island arc crust and beneath
continental crust in some areas, the forearc mantle is attached to
the subducting oceanic crust at temperatures higher than the
350 C. In such a case, the effect of the serpentinization is
avoided. Using the determined seismogenic zone from
Cascadia and Southwest Japan, where very young and hot
plates are subducting, and from Alaska and most of Chile,
where the forearc mantle is reached in the crust, updip and
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Fig. 7. Subduction zone PT conditions deduced from the depth and temperature of the updip and the downdip seismogenic zone (see text for details). The updip and
downdip temperatures are estimated by the temperatures of smectiteillite transformation and of the brittleductile transition of the crustal material, respectively (see
Hyndman et al., 1997; Oleskevich et al., 1999).
157
Fig. 8. The fossil geotherm of the high PT Sanbagawa metamorphic belt (e.g. Banno and Sakai, 1989; Maruyama et al., 1996), and Alpine UHPHP metamorphic
belt (e.g. Chopin, 1984; Kienast et al., 1991, etc.).
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Fig. 9. (a) A phase diagram of the MORB + H2O system and subduction zone geotherms. Open area: hydrous minerals are unstable, shaded areas: hydrous minerals are
stable. Broken lines: phengite stability limit in pelitic rocks (D&H by Domanik and Holloway, 1996; S by Schmidt, 1996). (b) A phase diagram of peridotite + H2O
system (Kawamoto et al., 1996, 1997; Bose and Ganguly, 1995; Ulmer and Trommsdorf, 1995). Open area: hydrous minerals are unstable, shaded areas: hydrous
minerals are stable. A, B, C and D; representative PT paths of the slab surfaces.
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Fig. 10. Schematic profile showing the transportation mechanism of H2O down to the mantle. Case A, B, C and D correspond to the PT paths in Fig. 9. See detail in
the text.
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