SQUEEZING OUT THE SLAB - MODELLING THE RELEASE OF Li, Be AND B DURING PROGRESSIVE HIGH-PRESSURE METAMORPHISM

Abstract

A model for the release of Li, Be and B from progressively dehydrating altered oceanic crust during subduction is presented. Combining clinopyroxene/fluid partition coefficients determined experimentally in an earlier study Brenan et al. [Brenan, J.M., Ryerson, F.J., Shaw, H.F., 1998. The role of aqueous fluids in the slab-to-mantle transfer of boron, beryllium, and lithium during subduction: Experiments and models. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 62, 3337-3347] with apparent mineral/clinopyroxene partition coefficients as observed in natural high-pressure metamorphic rocks Marschall et al. [Marschall, H.R., Altherr, R., Ludwig, T., Kalt, A., Gméling, K., Kasztovszky, Zs., 2006a. Partitioning and budget of Li, Be and B in high-pressure metamorphic rocks. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 4750-4769] results in a set of mineral/fluid partition coefficients for high-pressure metamorphic minerals. Mineral modes of altered oceanic crust as a function of pressure and temperature along a given subduction path can be derived from thermodynamic calculations using the program PerpleX. Combination of these modes with mineral/fluid partition coefficients results in whole rock/fluid partition coefficients at any stage of the P-T path including information on the amount of fluid released at any depth. Based on these data, the concentrations of Li, Be and B in subducting rocks and released fluids along a given P-T path can be modelled. The derived information on B concentrations in rocks and fluids are combined with the temperature-dependent fractionation of B isotopes in order to model the B isotopic evolution of subducting rocks and released fluids. Model calculations are performed for two slightly different chemical compositions (hydrous MORB without K and with 0.5 wt.% K2O), in order to demonstrate the impact of phengite on the boron budget. Provided the necessary input data are available, the concept of such a model could be employed to quantify the trace element release from the slab from any lithology along any reasonable P-T path. © 2006.