Volatile Transfer between the Exospheres and the Deep Earth
Untangling de-serpentinisation processes during subduction and their effect on volatile speciation, distribution and budget in the mantle wedge and beyond
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The mechanics and geochemical evolution of the serpentinised mantle during prograde metamorphism at subduction zones remain largely unconstrained. Key questions persist about the efficiency of deserpentinisation fluids in inducing partial melting in the mantle wedge, compared with other subducted lithologies (i.e. altered oceanic crust, sediments). Moreover, the survival of key volatile phases beyond serpentinite dehydration can preserve distinct geochemical fingerprints inherited from prior serpentinisation, thereby influencing long-term elemental cycling and storage in the deep mantle.
This project focuses on the prograde metamorphic evolution of the subducting mantle, probing its geochemical signatures as it progresses from initial seafloor hydration through successive stages of devolatilisation: from oceanic serpentinites to antigorite-serpentinites, then chlorite-harzburgites, and ultimately garnet-peridotites.
Complementary inverse and forward approaches are employed to examine these deserpentinisation sequences and related processes:
- Analysis of natural samples from serpentine massifs (i.e. inverse modelling); and
- Forward modelling of deserpentinisation sequences through experimental petrology.
By integrating analytical data with experimental results, this work aims to provide new, robust insights into the role of deserpentinisation in geodynamic processes involving volatile cycling (i.e. Cl, F, S ±H2O), mantle redox conditions, and deep-mantle heterogeneities.
In collaboration with:
CCFS -GEMOC- Macquarie University:
Prof. Stephen Foley, CCFS, Macquarie University.
Granada – Deep Earth Cycles and Processes (G-DEEP):
Dr. Carlos J. Garrido Marin, IACT-CSIC, Spain.
Dr. José Alberto Padrón-Navarta, IACT-CSIC, Spain.
Luis Samuel Cristóbal Díaz (PhD Student) IACT-CSIC, Spain.
University of Western Australia:
Dr Isra Ezad , School of Earth and Oceans, UWA, Perth, Australia.
Dr. Slava Shcheka, School of Earth and Oceans, UWA, Perth, Australia.
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