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Title: Constraints from the dehydration of antigorite on high-conductivity anomalies in subduction zones

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); State Univ. of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
  2. Lanzhou Univ., Lanzhou (China)
  3. Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  5. State Univ. of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Regions with high electrical conductivities in subduction zones have attracted a great deal of attention. Determining the exact origin of these anomalies could provide critical information about the water storage and cycling processes during subduction. Antigorite is the most important hydrous mineral within deep subduction zones. The dehydration of antigorite is believed to cause high-conductivity anomalies. To date, the effects of dehydration on the electrical conductivity of antigorite remain poorly understood. Here, we report new measurements of the electrical conductivity of both natural and hot-pressed antigorite at pressures of 4 and 3 GPa, respectively, and at temperatures reaching 1073 K. Here, we observed significantly enhanced conductivities when the antigorite was heated to temperatures beyond its thermodynamic stability field. Sharp increases in the electrical conductivity occurred at approximately 848 and 898 K following the decomposition of antigorite to forsterite, enstatite and aqueous fluids. High electrical conductivities reaching 1 S/m can be explained by the presence of an interconnected network of conductive aqueous fluids. Based on these results for the electrical conductivity of antigorite, we conclude that high-conductivity regions associated with subduction zones can be attributed to dehydration-induced fluids and the formation of interconnected networks of aqueous fluids during the dehydration of antigorite.

Research Organization:
Research Foundation for the State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002907
OSTI ID:
1500092
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Anomalous Sound Velocities of Antigorite at High Pressure and Implications for Detecting Serpentinization at Mantle Wedges journal May 2019
Effect of Temperature, Pressure, and Chemical Composition on the Electrical Conductivity of Schist: Implications for Electrical Structures under the Tibetan Plateau journal March 2019

Figures / Tables (7)

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Table 1(p. 3)table Table 1
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