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Title: Hydrous SiO2 in subducted oceanic crust and H2O transport to the core-mantle boundary

Journal Article · · Earth and Planetary Science Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), Beijing (China); Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC (United States); Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (Netherlands)
  2. Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), Beijing (China)
  3. Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC (United States)
  4. Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
  5. Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), Beijing (China); Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom)

Subduction of oceanic lithosphere transports surface H2O into the mantle. Recent studies show that dense SiO2 in the form of stishovite, an abundant mineral in subducted oceanic crust at depths greater than ~270 km, has the potential to host and transport a considerable amount of H2O into the lower mantle, but the H2O storage capacity of SiO2 phases at high pressure and temperature remains uncertain. We investigate the hydration of stishovite and its higher-pressure polymorphs, β-stishovite and seifertite, with in situ X-ray diffraction experiments at high pressures and temperatures. The H2O contents in SiO2 phases are quantified based on observed increases in unit cell volume relative to the anhydrous SiO2 system. Density functional theory (DFT) computations permit calibration of water content as a function of volume change based on interstitial substitution of H2O. Regression of our experimental data indicates an H2O storage capacity in stishovite of ~3.5 wt% in the transition zone and shallow lower mantle, decreasing to about 0.8 wt% at the base of the mantle. We find that SiO2-bearing subducted oceanic crust can accommodate all the H2O in slab lithosphere that survives sub-arc dehydration. Hydration of silica phases in subducted oceanic crust and their unparalleled capacity to host significant amounts of H2O even at high mantle temperatures provides a unique mechanism for transport and storage of water in the deepest mantle.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Carnegie Institution for Science; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); The Dutch Research Council (NWO)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; EAR-1722515; 42150101; U1530402; U1930401
OSTI ID:
1909667
Journal Information:
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 594; ISSN 0012-821X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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