Susanne Skora

Origin of geochemical mantle components: Role of subduction filter

We quantitatively explore element redistribution at subduction zones using numerical mass balance models to evaluate the roles of the subduction zone filter in the Earths geochemical cycle. Our models of slab residues after arc magma genesis differ from previous ones by being internally consistent with geodynamic models of modern arcs that successfully explain arc magma genesis and include element fluxes from the dehydration/melting of each underlying slab component. We assume that the mantle potential temperature (Tp) was 1400–1650°C at 3.5–1.7 Ga and gradually decreased to 1300–1350°C today. Hot subduction zones with Tp ∼1650°C have a thermal structure like modern SW Japan where high-Mg andesite is formed which is chemically like continental crust. After 2.5–1.7 Gyr of storage in the mantle, the residual igneous oceanic crust from hot subduction zones can evolve isotopically to the HIMU mantle component, the residual base of the mantle wedge to EMI, the residual sediment becomes an essential part of EMII, and the residual top of the mantle wedge can become the subcontinental lithosphere component. The Common or Focal Zone component is a stable mixture of the first three residues occasionally mixed with early depleted mantle. Slab residues that recycled earlier (∼2.5 Ga) form the DUPAL anomaly in the southern hemisphere, whereas residues of more recent recycling (∼1.7 Ga) underlie the northern hemisphere. These ages correspond to major continental crust forming events. The east-west heterogeneity of the depleted upper mantle involves subcontinental mantle except in the Pacific.

Tracing subducted black shales in the Lesser Antilles arc using molybdenum isotope ratios

Lesser Antilles arc lavas have trace element and radiogenic isotope characteristics indicative of a continent-derived contribution. It is debated vigorously whether this continental signature represents terrigenous sediment that has been subducted with the Atlantic plate and added to the magma sources in the mantle wedge, or portions of the subarc crust that are assimilated during magma ascent. Here we present Mo isotope data for Lesser Antilles arc lavas and sediments offboard the Lesser Antilles trench. Sequences of black shales, present in the subducting sediment piles, are highly enriched in Mo and have unusually high 98Mo/95Mo. Despite their low mass fraction in the sediment package (<10% in Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 144), they dominate the Mo content and isotopic composition of the bulk sediment subducting at the Lesser Antilles trench. We show that lavas from the southern part of the Lesser Antilles arc also have high 98Mo/95Mo ratios, implicating the addition of Mo derived from the subducted black shales to their mantle sources. This establishes a new link between the composition of subducted material and the arc lava output.

Metamorphic history of riebeckite- and aegirine-augite-bearing high-pressure–low-temperature blocks within the Siuna Serpentinite Mélange, northeastern Nicaragua

The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange (SSM) is a subduction-zone-related complex that contains diverse blocks of igneous and sedimentary origin, overprinted by various metamorphic conditions. The SSM is located at the southern border of the Chortís block and marks the boundary between continental and oceanic crusts in the western margin of the Caribbean Plate. The serpentinite matrix mainly consists of lizardite/chrysotile, Cr-rich spinel, and relict orthopyroxene that suggest a harzburgitic protolith and an upper mantle supra-subduction zone origin. Blocks within the southern and central regions range from Jurassic pelagic sediments to mafic/intermediate igneous rocks that are metamorphosed to various degrees, ranging from prehnite-pumpellyite/greenschist to likely blueschist facies (e.g. riebeckite-bearing metashale) conditions. In contrast, the northern section encloses almost exclusively epidote-amphibolite facies metabasite blocks, and minor mica- and chlorite-rich rocks of metasomatic origin, respectively. Some of the epidote-amphibolite blocks contain relic garnet-rich zones embedded in an amphibole-rich matrix. The garnets appear to record two generations of growth and contain mineral inclusions such as amphibole, apatite, titanite, aegirine-augite, and quartz. Thermobarometric estimates for the garnet-rich zones and epidote-amphibolite-rich matrix suggest a prograde blueschist facies at ~1.2 GPa and 400–450°C, an eclogite facies metamorphic peak at 1.5–1.7 GPa and 565–614°C, and a post-peak epidote-amphibolite facies metamorphism. These pressure and temperature estimates indicate a classical clockwise PT path that has been observed in many palaeo-subduction zone environments worldwide. Phengite Ar–Ar dating of mica-rich rock yields 140 Ma and suggests an Early Cretaceous exhumation along the southern edge of the continental Chortís block.

Origin of geochemical mantle components: Role of spreading ridges and thermal evolution of mantle

We explore the element redistribution at mid-ocean ridges (MOR) using a numerical model to evaluate the role of decompression melting of the mantle in Earths geochemical cycle, with focus on the formation of the depleted mantle component. Our model uses a trace element mass balance based on an internally consistent thermodynamic-petrologic computation to explain the composition of MOR basalt (MORB) and residual peridotite. Model results for MORB-like basalts from 3.5 to 0 Ga indicate a high mantle potential temperature (Tp) of 1650–1500°C during 3.5–1.5 Ga before decreasing gradually to ∼1300°C today. The source mantle composition changed from primitive (PM) to depleted as Tp decreased, but this source mantle is variable with an early depleted reservoir (EDR) mantle periodically present. We examine a two-stage Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopic evolution of mantle residues from melting of PM or EDR at MORs. At high-Tp (3.5–1.5 Ga), the MOR process formed extremely depleted DMM. This coincided with formation of the majority of the continental crust, the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, and the enriched mantle components formed at subduction zones and now found in OIB. During cooler mantle conditions (1.5–0 Ga), the MOR process formed most of the modern ocean basin DMM. Changes in the mode of mantle convection from vigorous deep mantle recharge before ∼1.5 Ga to less vigorous afterward is suggested to explain the thermochemical mantle evolution.