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Water input into the Mariana subduction zone estimated from ocean-bottom seismic data

Author

Listed:
  • Chen Cai

    (Washington University in St Louis)

  • Douglas A. Wiens

    (Washington University in St Louis)

  • Weisen Shen

    (Washington University in St Louis
    Stony Brook University)

  • Melody Eimer

    (Washington University in St Louis)

Abstract

The water cycle at subduction zones remains poorly understood, although subduction is the only mechanism for water transport deep into Earth. Previous estimates of water flux1–3 exhibit large variations in the amount of water that is subducted deeper than 100 kilometres. The main source of uncertainty in these calculations is the initial water content of the subducting uppermost mantle. Previous active-source seismic studies suggest that the subducting slab may be pervasively hydrated in the plate-bending region near the oceanic trench4–7. However, these studies do not constrain the depth extent of hydration and most investigate young incoming plates, leaving subduction-zone water budgets for old subducting plates uncertain. Here we present seismic images of the crust and uppermost mantle around the central Mariana trench derived from Rayleigh-wave analysis of broadband ocean-bottom seismic data. These images show that the low mantle velocities that result from mantle hydration extend roughly 24 kilometres beneath the Moho discontinuity. Combined with estimates of subducting crustal water, these results indicate that at least 4.3 times more water subducts than previously calculated for this region3. If other old, cold subducting slabs contain correspondingly thick layers of hydrous mantle, as suggested by the similarity of incoming plate faulting across old, cold subducting slabs, then estimates of the global water flux into the mantle at depths greater than 100 kilometres must be increased by a factor of about three compared to previous estimates3. Because a long-term net influx of water to the deep interior of Earth is inconsistent with the geological record8, estimates of water expelled at volcanic arcs and backarc basins probably also need to be revised upwards9.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen Cai & Douglas A. Wiens & Weisen Shen & Melody Eimer, 2018. "Water input into the Mariana subduction zone estimated from ocean-bottom seismic data," Nature, Nature, vol. 563(7731), pages 389-392, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:563:y:2018:i:7731:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0655-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0655-4
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jinyu Tian & Zhitu Ma & Jian Lin & Min Xu & Xun Yu & Ba Manh Le & Xubo Zhang & Fan Zhang & Laiyin Guo, 2023. "Mantle heterogeneity caused by trapped water in the Southwest Basin of the South China Sea," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Hong-Yan Li & Rui-Peng Zhao & Jie Li & Yoshihiko Tamura & Christopher Spencer & Robert J. Stern & Jeffrey G. Ryan & Yi-Gang Xu, 2021. "Molybdenum isotopes unmask slab dehydration and melting beneath the Mariana arc," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Hong-Yan Li & Xiang Li & Jeffrey G. Ryan & Chao Zhang & Yi-Gang Xu, 2022. "Boron isotopes in boninites document rapid changes in slab inputs during subduction initiation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

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