Abstract:
We carried out a series of melting experiments with hydrous primitive mantle compositions to determine the stability of dense hydrous phases under high pressures. Phase relations in the CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 pyrolite with ˜2 wt% of water have been determined in the pressure range of 10-25 GPa and in the temperature range between 800 and 1400 °C. We have found that phase E coexisting with olivine is stable at 10-12 GPa and below 1050 °C. Phase E coexisting with wadsleyite is stable at 14-16 GPa and below 900 °C. A superhydrous phase B is stable in pyrolite below 1100 °C at 18.5 GPa and below 1300 °C at 25 GPa. No hydrous phases other than wadsleyite are stable in pyrolite at 14-17 GPa and 900-1100 °C, suggesting a gap in the stability of dense hydrous magnesium silicates (DHMS). We detected an expansion in the stability field of wadsleyite to lower pressures (12 GPa and 1000 °C). The H2O content of wadsleyite was found to decrease not only with increasing temperature but also with increasing pressure. The DHMS phases could exist in a pyrolitic composition only under the conditions present in the subducting slabs descending into the lower mantle. Under the normal mantle and hot plume conditions, wadsleyite and ringwoodite are the major H2O-bearing phases. The top of the transition zone could be enriched in H2O in accordance with the observed increase in water solubility in wadsleyite with decreasing pressure. As a consequence of the thermal equilibration between the subducting slabs and the ambient mantle, the uppermost lower mantle could be an important zone of dehydration, providing fluid for the rising plumes.
