Person: Jeffrey Ryan

Abstract

Geological processes at subduction zones control seismicity, plutonism and volcanism, and geochemical cycling between the oceans, crust, and mantle. The down-going plate experiences metamorphism, and the associated dehydration and fluid flow alters the physical properties of the plate interface and mantle wedge, as well as controlling the composition of material descending into the mantle. Any direct study of slab evolution during subduction is inhibited by the prohibitive depths at which these processes occur. To examine these processes we use serpentinite mud volcanoes in the Mariana forearc, that permit sampling of serpentinite materials and their pore waters that ascend from the subduction channel. We present new pore water chemical data from the summit and flanks of three serpentinite mud volcanoes that were drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 366 which are reflective of reactions within the crust and mantle during the early, shallow (<20 km) stages of subduction. We show, via thermodynamic modelling, that our new data on the evolution of pore water chemical compositions reflect mineralogical characteristics of a predominately basaltic source from the downgoing Pacific Plate. However, a component from sedimentary sources is likely, especially for those mud volcanoes near the trench. Other potential slab-derived constituents, such as lithospheric serpentinite, carbonate-rich sediments, or seamount basalts with an intraplate geochemical character, are not required to explain our results. Our results indicate that with progressive subduction the lawsonite-epidote mineral transformation boundary at ∼250 °C may help drive slab carbonate destabilisation, despite its apparent thermodynamic stability at such temperatures and projected pressures (∼300 °C and ∼0.6 GPa). New dissolved gas data also point to primary thermodynamic controls over methane/ethane production within the subduction channel as depths-to-slab increase. Our findings provide direct evidence for the progressive mineralogical and chemical evolution of a subducting oceanic plate, which liberates a progressively evolving fluid phase into the subduction channel.

Abstract

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 366 focused, in part, on the study of geochemical cycling, matrix alteration and transport, and deep biosphere processes in the Mariana subduction zone. This research was accomplished by sampling the summit and flank regions of three active serpentinite mud volcanoes in the Mariana forearc: Yinazao (Blue Moon), Fantangisña (Celestial), and Asùt Tesoro (Big Blue) Seamounts. These mud volcanoes represent a transect with increasing distance from the trench. Because these mud volcanoes discharge fluids and materials from the subduction channel, they provide a means to characterize thermal, geochemical, and pressure conditions within the seismogenic zone. Previous coring on Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 125 and 195 at two other serpentinite mud volcanoes (Conical and South Chamorro Seamounts, respectively) and piston, gravity, and push cores from several other Mariana serpentinite mud volcanoes add to this transect of deep-sourced material that is discharged at the seafloor.

Pore waters were squeezed from cored serpentinite materials to determine the composition of deep-sourced fluid from the subduction channel and to assess the character, extent, and effect of diagenetic reactions and mixing with seawater on the flanks of three serpentinite seamounts (Yinazao, Fantangisña, and Asùt Tesoro). In addition, two water-sampling temperature probe (WSTP) fluid samples were collected in two of the cased boreholes, each with at least 30 m of screened casing that allowed formation fluids to discharge into the borehole. Here we report shore-based Li, Rb, Cs, Ba, V, Mo, and U measurements of pore waters and one of the WSTP samples. The alkali metals were analyzed to constrain the temperature of reaction in the subduction channel. The other elements were analyzed to assess potential biogenic and diagenetic reactions as the serpentinite material weathers and exchanges with bottom seawater via diffusion. Results were generally consistent with earlier coring and drilling operations, resulting in systematic changes in the composition of the deep-sourced fluid with distance from the trench.