Description: The subduction of partially serpentinized oceanic mantle may potentially be the key geologic process leading to the regassing of Earth’s mantle and also has important consequences for subduction zone processes such as element cycling, slab deformation, and intermediate-depth seismicity. Little is known about the quantity of water that is retained in the slab during mantle serpentinization. Recent studies using thermodynamical and/or experimental models of subduction zone processes have assumed that the mantle is uniformly serpentinized to a depth determined from the equilibrium stability of serpentine minerals in P-T space. This approach yields an incomplete picture of the pattern of serpentinization that may occur during bending-related faulting; an initial state that is essential for quantifying subsequent dehydration processes. In order to provide further constraints on the pattern of hydration and the amount of water trapped in the subducting mantle, we build a 2-D reactive-flow model incorporating the kinetic rate-dependence of serpentinization based on experimental results. After simulating hydration processes at the trench outer-rise, we find that the water content in serpentinized mantle strongly depends on the age of the subducting lithosphere and subduction rate, with values ranging between 1.8x105 and 4.0x106 kgm-2 reactive water uptake into the subducting mantle column. Serpentinization also results in a reduction in surface heat flux towards the trench caused by advective downflow of seawater into the reaction region. Observed heat flow reductions are larger than the reduction due to the minimum-water downflow needed for partial serpentinization, predicting that active hydrothermal vents and chemosynthetic communities should also be associated with bend-fault serpentinization. Model results agree with previous studies that the lower plane of double Benioff zones can be generated due to dehydration of serpentinized mantle at depth. The depth-dependent pattern of serpentinization including reaction kinetics predicts a separation between the two Benioff planes consistent with seismic observations.

Description: The understanding of the Earth’s water cycle is inherently linked to the subduction of water at deep sea trenches. The transfer of water into the deep Earth’s interior is related to the alteration and hydration of the incoming lithosphere. The release of water from subducting lithospheres affects the composition of the mantle wedge, enhances partial melting and triggers intermediate-depth earthquakes. Water is transferred with the incoming plate into the subduction zone as water trapped in sediments and open void spaces in the igneous crust and as chemically bound water in hydrous minerals in sediments and oceanic crust (Jarrad, 2003). However, if water reaches upper mantle rocks, significant amounts can be transferred into the deep subduction zone as water-bearing mineral serpentine (Peacock, 2004). Serpentinites have nearly the same chemical composition as mantle peridotite except that they contain approximately 13 wt% water in mineral structures. Seismic refraction and wide-angle data were collected at a number of active continental margins in the trench-outer rise to investigate the impact of bending related normal faulting on the seismic properties of the oceanic lithosphere prior to subduction. Surveys provided data from offshore of Nicaragua (Grevemeyer et al., 2007; Ivandic et al., 2008), Chile (Contreras-Reyes et al., 2008), and Tonga (Contreras-Reyes et al., 2011). At all settings tomographic joint inversion of seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection data yielded anomalously low seismic P-wave velocities in the crust and uppermost mantle seaward of the trench axis. Crustal velocities are reduced by 0.2-0.8 km/s compared to normal mature oceanic crust. Seismic velocities of the uppermost mantle are 7.4-7.8 km/s and hence 5-12% lower than the typical velocity of mantle peridotite. These systematic changes in P-wave velocity from the outer rise towards the trench axis indicate an evolutionary process in the subducting slab consistent with percolation of seawater through the faulted and fractured lithosphere and serpentinization of mantle peridotites. The observed velocity reduction suggests that mantle serpentinization reaches 12-25%. Thus, processes occurring in the trench-outer rise affect indeed the Earth’s water cycle and indicate that significant amount of waters are transferred into the subducting lithosphere and hence carried to the deep Earth interior. References Contreras-Reyes, E., Grevemeyer, I., Flueh, E.R., and Reichert, C. (2008), Upper lithospheric structure of the subduction zone offshore of southern Arauco peninsula, Chile, at 38°S, J. Geophys. Res., 113, B07303, doi:10.1029/2007JB005569. Contreras-Reyes, E., Grevemeyer, I., Watts, A.B., Flueh, E.R., Peirce, C., Moeller, S., and Papenberg, C., 2011. Deep seismic structure of the Tonga subduction zone: Implications for mantle hydration, tectonic erosion, and arc magmatism, J. Geophys. Res., 116, doi:10.1029/2011JB008434. Grevemeyer, I., Ranero, C.R., Flueh, E., Kläschen, D., Bialas, J. (2007). Passive and active seismological study of bendingrelated faulting and mantle serpentinization at the Middle America trench. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 258, 528-542. Ivandic, M., Grevemeyer, I., Berhorst, A., Flueh, E.R. and McIntosh, K. (2008), Impact of bending related faulting on the seismic properties of the incoming oceanic plate offshore of Nicaragua, J. Geophys. Res., 113, B05410, doi:10.1029/2007JB005291. Jarrad, R.D. (2003). Subduction fluxes of water, carbon dioxid, chlorine, and potassium. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 4: doi: 10.1029/2002GC000392. Peacock, S.M. (2004). Insight into the hydrogeology and alteration of oceanic lithosphere based on subduction zones and arc volcanisms. In: Davis E.E, Elderfield, H. (Eds.), Hydrogeology of Oceanic Lithosphere. Cambridge University Press, pp. 659-676.