Experimentally based water budgets for dehydrating slabs and consequences for arc magma generation

TLDR: In this article, phase diagrams of hydrous mid-ocean ridge (MOR) basalts to 330 km depth and hydrous peridotites to 250 km depth are compiled for conditions characteristic for subduction zones.

About: This article is published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.The article was published on 1998-11-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1763 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Subduction zone metamorphism & Mantle wedge.

Figures

Fig. 3. Maximum H2O contents bound in hydrous phases in H2O-saturated MOR basalt. For assemblages and references see Table 3.

Table 4 Modal amounts (wt%) and maximum H2O contents (wt%) bound in hydrous phases in hydrous peridotites

Table 1 Bulk compositions

Fig. 4. Modal amounts of phases in MOR basalt with 0.5 wt% K2O along a typical subduction geotherm. Phengite continuously decomposes when potassium solubility in clinopyroxene increases.

Table 3 Assemblages, modal amounts of hydrous phases (wt%) and H2O (wt%) bound in hydrous phases in MOR basalt

Table 2 Average phase compositions

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What have the authors contributed in "Experimentally based water budgets for dehydrating slabs and consequences for arc magma generation" ?

The authors propose that the volcanic front simply forms above the mantle wedge isotherm where the extent of melting is sufficient to allow for the mechanical extraction of parental arc magmas.