Zinc isotope evidence for sulfate-rich fluid transfer across subduction zones

Pons, Marie-Laure and Debret, Baptiste and Bouilhol, Pierre and Delacour, Adélie and Williams, Helen M. (2016) Zinc isotope evidence for sulfate-rich fluid transfer across subduction zones. Nature Communications (13794). ISSN 2041-1723 DOI 10.1038/ncomms13794

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Abstract

Subduction zones modulate the chemical evolution of the Earth’s mantle. Water and volatile elements in the slab are released as fluids into the mantle wedge and this process is widely considered to result in the oxidation of the sub-arc mantle. However, the chemical composition and speciation of these fluids, which is critical for the mobility of economically important elements, remain poorly constrained. Sulfur has the potential to act both as oxidizing agent and transport medium. Here we use zinc stable isotopes ( δ 66 Zn) in subducted Alpine serpentinites to decipher the chemical properties of slab- derived fluids. We show that the progressive decrease in δ 66Zn with metamorphic grade is correlated with a decrease in sulfur content. As existing theoretical work predicts that Zn-SO42- complexes preferentially incorporate heavy δ 66Zn, our results provide strong evidence for the release of oxidized, sulfate-rich, slab serpentinite-derived fluids to the mantle wedge.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	NILAREP; IA71;
Subjects:	05 - Petrology - Igneous, Metamorphic and Volcanic Studies
Divisions:	05 - Petrology - Igneous, Metamorphic and Volcanic Studies 07 - Gold Open Access
Journal or Publication Title:	Nature Communications
Identification Number:	10.1038/ncomms13794
Depositing User:	Sarah Humbert
Date Deposited:	26 Oct 2016 09:46
Last Modified:	31 Jan 2017 12:46
URI:	http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/id/eprint/3759

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