Trace-element mobility in pelite-derived supercritical fluid-melt at subduction-zone conditions

Abstract

The mobility of trace elements in supercritical fluid-melt derived from pelite rich in volatiles has been studied experimentally at pressures from 3.0 to 7.8 GPa and temperatures from 750 to 1090 °С using the diamond trap method. The experiments simulate the conditions of warm and hot subduction, in which pelite either retains the whole inventory of volatiles or releases a fluid in three successive devolatilization steps. The 3.0 GPa and 750 °С runs with pelite rich in volatiles yield a supercritical fluid (SCF) which attains equilibrium with an eclogitic residue bearing phengite and accessory rutile, zircon, and monazite. At ≥5.5 GPa and ≥850 °С, above the second critical endpoint, the SCF transforms into a supercritical fluid-melt (SCFM) which acquires higher concentrations of almost all incompatible trace elements while the mineral assemblage of the equilibrium eclogitic residue remains the same but lacks monazite. The trace-element enrichment of SCFM is most prominent for Ba, Sr, LREE, Th, and U. At the hot subduction conditions, the fluid-melt likewise contains more K, Rb, Zr, and Hf, though LREE contents become lower. The negative Nb anomaly persists in all cases. SCFM has its trace-element composition generally similar to that of hydrous melt derived from oceanic sediments, but contains more REEs and water. Partitioning of LILE, HFSE, and LREE between the SCFM and residue phases mainly depends on the fluid-melt fraction and stability of host phengite, monazite, zircon, and rutile. Thus, sediment-derived SCFM can carry both fluid-mobile and sediment-melt elements to regions of arc- and back-arc magma generation and can translate the negative Nb anomaly inherited from sediment into the magmas. Early devolatilization of pelite increases the stability of monazite and phengite in the residue and provides efficient LREE, K and Rb transport to the mantle depths of ~ 250 km. Effective LREE and Th depletion of UHP metamorphic rocks is possible by SCFM release near peak metamorphic conditions.