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Epidote as a conveyor of water into the Earth’s deep mantle in subduction zones: Insights from coupled high-pressure and high-temperature experiments

  • Lin Li , Chao Li and Sheng-Rong Li
Published/Copyright: January 3, 2023
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 108 Issue 1

Abstract

Epidote is a major hydrous mineral in subducted mafic oceanic crust. Understanding its stability in the subduction zone environment is important for evaluating its role as a conveyor of water into the deep Earth. Here we report experimental results on epidote by simulating the high-pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions of the plate subduction environment. We used a diamond-anvil cell with an external resistance heating system, combined with in situ X‑ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Experiments at ambient pressure and high temperatures indicate that epidote starts to decompose at 1223 K and breaks down completely at 1373 K. In situ XRD analyses show no phase transition at temperatures up to 1272 K and pressures up to 14.0 GPa. Raman spectra indicate that epidote is stable at 1272 K and 14.0 GPa, but the energies of two Si-O bonds (ν2,ν5) and one M-O bond (ν3) increase with increasing temperature. The cation H+ moves for a distance when the P-T is increased to 13.0 GPa and 1123 K. Based on the thermal structure of subducted slabs in typical hot and cold subduction zones, we infer that epidote can convey water downward into the mantle transition zone through subducted mafic oceanic crust.

Keywords: Epidote; high pressure; high temperature; phase stability; structural variation; mantle transition zone

Acknowledgments and Funding

We appreciate associate editors Sergio Speziale and Bin Chen and anonymous reviewers for valuable and constructive comments and suggestions which greatly helped improve the quality of this paper. We are grateful to M. Santosh and M. Alam for their kind help during the manuscript preparation and correction. This work was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91962101, 41603063) and Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (2017-BEPC-PT-000851).

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Received: 2021-08-15
Accepted: 2022-01-22
Published Online: 2023-01-03
Published in Print: 2023-01-27

© 2023 Mineralogical Society of America

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8252
Keywords for this article
Epidote; high pressure; high temperature; phase stability; structural variation; mantle transition zone

Articles in the same Issue

  1. MSA Review
  2. Nickel in olivine as an exploration indicator for magmatic Ni-Cu sulfide deposits: A data review and re-evaluation
  3. Repeat, fast, and high-resolution mapping of fine-scale trace element distribution in pyrite and marcasite by LA-Q-ICP-MS with the Aerosol Rapid Introduction System (ARIS)
  4. Continuous Be mineralization from two-mica granite to pegmatite: Critical element enrichment processes in a Himalayan leucogranite pluton
  5. An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part VI: Earth’s earliest Hadean crust (>4370 Ma)
  6. Oxidation or cation re-arrangement? Distinct behavior of riebeckite at high temperature
  7. Fe3+/FeT ratios of amphiboles determined by high spatial resolution single-crystal synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy
  8. How clay delamination supports aseismic slip
  9. The influence of Al2O3 on the structural properties of MgSiO3 akimotoite
  10. Atomistic insight into the ferroelastic post-stishovite transition by high-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction
  11. Epidote as a conveyor of water into the Earth’s deep mantle in subduction zones: Insights from coupled high-pressure and high-temperature experiments
  12. Potential link between antigorite dehydration and shallow intermediate-depth earthquakes in hot subduction zones
  13. Stability of Fe5O6 and its relation to other Fe-Mg-oxides at high pressures and temperatures
  14. From schwertmannite to natrojarosite: Long-term stability and kinetic approach
  15. Trace element and isotopic (S, Pb) constraints on the formation of the giant Chalukou porphyry Mo deposit, NE China
  16. Textural and chemical evolution of magnetite from the Paleozoic Shuanglong Fe-Cu deposit: Implications for tracing ore-forming fluids
  17. Jingwenite-(Y) from the Yushui Cu deposit, South China: The first occurrence of a V-HREE-bearing silicate mineral
  18. Wenjiite, Ti10(Si,P,◻)7, and kangjinlaite, Ti11(Si,P)10, new minerals in the ternary Ti-P-Si system from the Luobusa ophiolite, Tibet, China
  19. Evaluating the physicochemical conditions for gold occurrences in pyrite
  20. Letter
  21. Synthesis and structural analysis of CaFe2O4-type single crystals in the NaAlSiO4-MgAl2O4-Fe3O4 system
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