Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Using first principle simulations we calculated the elasticity of chlorite. At a density ρ~ 2.60 g cm−3, the elastic constant tensor reveals significant elastic anisotropy: VP ~27%, VS1 ~56%, and VS2 ~43%. The shear anisotropy is exceptionally large for chlorite and enhances upon compression. Upon compression, the shear elastic constant component C44 and C55 decreases, whereas C66 shear component stiffens. The softening in C44 and C55 is reflected in shear modulus, G, and the shear wave velocity, VS. Our results on elastic anisotropy at conditions relevant to the mantle wedge indicates that a 10-20 km layer of hydrated peridotite with serpentine and chlorite could account for the observed shear polarization anisotropy and associated large delay times of 1-2 s observed in some subduction zone settings. In addition, chlorite could also explain the low VP/VS ratios that have been observed in recent high-resolution seismological studies.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-01053707
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053707
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053707/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053707/file/Mookherjee_et_al-2014-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2014GL059334

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Over the last decades, numerous studies have emphasized the role of serpentinites in the subduction zone geodynamics. Their presence and role in subduction environments are recognized through geophysical, geochemical and field observations of modern and ancient subduction zones and large amounts of geochemical database of serpentinites have been created. Here, we present a review of the geochemistry of serpentinites, based on the compilation of ~ 900 geochemical data of abyssal, mantle wedge and exhumed serpentinites after subduction. The aim was to better understand the geochemical evolution of these rocks during their subduction as well as their impact in the global geochemical cycle. When studying serpentinites, it is essential to determine their protoliths and their geological history before serpentinization. The geochemical data of serpentinites shows little mobility of compatible and rare earth elements (REE) at the scale of hand-specimen during their serpentinization. Thus, REE abundance can be used to identify the protolith for serpentinites, as well as magmatic processes such as melt/rock interactions before serpentinization. In the case of subducted serpentinites, the interpretation of trace element data is difficult due to the enrichments of light REE, independent of the nature of the protolith. We propose that enrichments are probably not related to serpentinization itself, but mostly due to (sedimentary-derived) fluid/rock interactions within the subduction channel after the serpentinization. It is also possible that the enrichment reflects the geochemical signature of the mantle protolith itself which could derive from the less refractory continental lithosphere exhumed at the ocean-continent transition. Additionally, during the last ten years, numerous analyses have been carried out, notably using in situ approaches, to better constrain the behavior of fluid-mobile elements (FME; e.g. B, Li, Cl, As, Sb, U, Th, Sr) incorporated in serpentine phases. The abundance of these elements provides information related to the fluid/rock interactions during serpentinization and the behavior of FME, from their incorporation to their gradual release during subduction. Serpentinites are considered as a reservoir of the FME in subduction zones and their role, notably on arc magma composition, is underestimated presently in the global geochemical cycle.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00903601
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00903601
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2013.05.019

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany) Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The Cerro del Almirez massif (Spain) represents a unique fragment of serpentinized oceanic lithosphere that has been first equilibrated in the antigorite stability field (Atg-serpentinites) and then dehydrated into chlorite–olivine–orthopyroxene (Chl-harzburgites) at eclogite facies conditions during subduction. The massif preserves a dehydration front between Atg-serpentinites and Chl-harzburgites. It constitutes a suitable place to study redox changes in serpentinites and the nature of the released fluids during their dehydration. Relative to abyssal serpentinites, Atg-serpentinites display a low Fe3+/FeTotal(BR) (=0.55) and magnetite modal content (=2.8–4.3 wt%). Micro-X-ray absorption near-edge structure (μ-XANES) spectroscopy measurements of serpentines at the Fe–K edge show that antigorite has a lower Fe3+/FeTotal ratio (=0.48) than oceanic lizardite/chrysotile assemblages. The onset of Atg-serpentinites dehydration is marked by the crystallization of a Fe3+-rich antigorite (Fe3+/FeTotal = 0.6–0.75) in equilibrium with secondary olivine and by a decrease in magnetite amount (=1.6–2.2 wt%). This suggests a preferential partitioning of Fe3+ into serpentine rather than into olivine. The Atg-breakdown is marked by a decrease in Fe3+/FeTotal(BR) (=0.34–0.41), the crystallization of Fe2+-rich phases and the quasi-disappearance of magnetite (=0.6–1.4 wt.%). The observation of Fe3+-rich hematite and ilmenite intergrowths suggests that the O2 released by the crystallization of Fe2+-rich phases could promote hematite crystallization and a subsequent increase in fo2 inside the portion of the subducted mantle. Serpentinite dehydration could thus produce highly oxidized fluids in subduction zones and contribute to the oxidization of the sub-arc mantle wedge.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-01172310
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172310
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-015-1130-y

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Serpentinites from subduction environments represent an important sink for fluid-mobile elements. In order to constrain geochemical behavior of fluid-mobile elements hosted by serpentine phases during subduction processes, we carried out a geochemical study (trace elements and Pb isotopes) of a series of serpentinites and cumulates from the accretionary wedge of Greater Caribbean (Cuba and Dominican Republic). The trace element compositions of the primary and alteration-related phases were analyzed in situ using LA-HR-ICP-MS techniques. The studied samples represent parts of the subducted proto-Atlantic oceanic lithosphere, which has experienced low to high grade metamorphism (greenschist to eclogite facies), before being exhumed; a subset of these samples were derived from the mantle wedge. This sampling provides the opportunity to trace the chemical mobility of fluid-mobile elements during prograde metamorphism along a cold geotherm in an oceanic subduction setting.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00720895
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00720895
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.04.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Serpentinites are one of the major components of the oceanic lithosphere and are stable in the slab and the mantle wedge up to 100-150 km depth in subduction zones. During oceanic mantle hydration and alteration, they trap trace and fluid mobile (FME: B, Li, As, Sb, Rb, Ba, Cs, Sr, U and Pb) elements that participate to elemental transfer occurring between the dehydrating slab and the mantle wedge in subduction context. The Lanzo massif is an eclogitized oceanic lithosphere that preserved its oceanic structure and recorded different steps of serpentinization/de-serpentinization from oceanic lizardite to prograde antigorite in subduction context, up to its dehydration and secondary olivine crystallization, and finally retrograde antigorite during massif exhumation. It constitutes a suitable place to study trace element behavior during serpentinization/de-serpentinization processes and associated chemical transfers between the different envelopes of the oceanic lithosphere and the mantle wedge. Geochemical analyses of serpentine and associated minerals show that the serpentinization/de-serpentinization of the Lanzo massif took place in a relatively closed system without significant trace element transfer between the different parts of the oceanic lithosphere. In the deeper part of the lithosphere, from the slightly serpentinized mantle peridotites (SSP, < 20% serpentinization) to the paleo-Moho, composed of massive serpentinites (MS, 80% serpentinization), the trace elements mobility is reduced. The chemical composition of lizardite and antigorite is homogenized with the local degree of serpentinization: in SSP, serpentine veins composition is inherited from the host mineral while, in MS, their composition is homogenous between destabilized phases at the scale of the outcrop (~ 5 m). In the shallowest part of the oceanic lithosphere, from the paleo-Moho to the oceanic paleo-seafloor, the serpentinites are foliated (FS, > 90% serpentinization). In that zone, the alpine deformation enhances the mobility of trace elements and permits their redistribution and the homogenization of antigorite composition at massif scale. Locally, in the SSP and MS, the crystallization of metamorphic veins of ~ 1-2 m corresponds to channelized fluid flows that allowed fluid transfers - and thereby trace elements - to longer distance. The successive crystallizations of antigorite and then olivine are accompanied by a diminution of some FME (B, Li, As, Sb, Ba, Rb) and Eu contents attesting that these elements are removed from slab to mantle wedge during subduction.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00937661
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00937661
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.08.025

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Kimberlites of the Udachnaya-East pipe (Siberia) include a uniquely dry and serpentine-free rock type with anomalously high contents of chlorine (Cl ≤ 6.1 wt%), alkalies (Na2O + K2O ≤ 10 wt%) and sulfur (S ≤ 0.50 wt%), referred to as a “salty” kimberlite. The straightforward interpretation is that the Na-, K-, Cl- and S-rich components originate directly from a carbonate-chloride kimberlitic magma that is anhydrous and alkali-rich. However, because brines and evaporites are present on the Siberian craton, previous studies proposed that the kimberlitic magma was contaminated by the assimilation of salt-rich crustal rocks. To clarify the origin of high Cl, alkalies and S in this unusual kimberlite, here we determine its sulfur speciation and isotopic composition and compare it to that of non-salty kimberlites and kimberlitic breccia from the same pipe, as well as potential contamination sources (hydrothermal sulfides and sulfates, country-rock sediment and brine collected in the area). The average δ34S of sulfides is − 1.4 ± 2.2‰ in the salty kimberlite, 2.1 ± 2.7‰ in the non-salty kimberlites and 14.2 ± 5.8‰ in the breccia. The average δ34S of sulfates in the salty kimberlites is 11.1 ± 1.8‰ and 27.3 ± 1.6‰ in the breccia. In contrast, the δ34S of potential contaminants range from 20 to 42‰ for hydrothermal sulfides, from 16 to 34‰ for hydrothermal sulfates, 34‰ for a country-rock sediment (Chukuck suite) and the regional brine aquifer. Our isotope analyses show that (1) in the salty kimberlites, neither sulfates nor sulfides can be simply explained by brine infiltration, hydrothermal alteration or the assimilation of known salt-rich country rocks and instead, we propose that they are late magmatic phases; (2) in the non-salty kimberlite and breccia, brine infiltration lead to sulfate reduction and the formation of secondary sulfides – this explains the removal of salts, alkali-carbonates and sulfates, as well as the minor olivine serpentinization; (3) hydrothermal sulfur was added to the kimberlitic breccia, but not to the massive kimberlites. In situ measurements of sulfides confirm this scenario, clearly showing the addition of two sulfide populations in the breccia (pyrite-pyrrhotites with average δ34S of 7.9 ± 3.4‰ and chalcopyrites with average δ34S of 38.0 ± 0.4‰) whereas the salty and non-salty kimberlites preserve a unique population of djerfisherites (Cl- and K-rich sulfides) with δ34S values within the mantle range. This study provides the first direct evidence of alkaline igneous rocks in which magmatic sulfate is more abundant than sulfide. Although sulfates have been rarely reported in mantle materials, sulfate-rich melts may be more common in the mantle than previously thought and could balance the sulfur isotope budget of Earth's mantle.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01571982
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571982
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.10.037