EPSL: Titanium isotope discovery reveals shallow crustal material hidden in the deep mantle

Article source: Release time:2025-04-22 14:28 Author: Views:70 Automatic translation:yes
Plate subduction can transport oceanic crust and shallow sediments to the deep mantle, thereby profoundly affecting the material composition of mantle derived magma source regions. Revealing the occurrence forms of these recycled crustal materials in mantle derived magma source regions is of great significance for understanding the genesis of mantle derived magma composition diversity and mantle dynamics processes. However, due to the formation of various rock types such as eclogite, reactive eclogite, and carbonate eclogite after the circulation of crustal materials into the Earth's interior, accurately identifying their contributions to mantle derived magma still faces considerable challenges. Therefore, it is crucial to find new methods that can effectively trace the contribution of different lithologies to the composition of mantle derived magma. Recent studies have found that compared to silicate melts and common mantle silicate minerals such as olivine, pyroxene, garnet, etc., the common accessory mineral rutile in eclogite is strongly enriched in light Ti isotopes. If garnet remains as hematite during partial melting, its equilibrium melt will significantly enrich heavy Ti isotopes. Therefore, the Ti isotope composition of mantle derived magma may become a new means of identifying the contribution of eclogite melts. This speculation is supported by recent Ti isotope studies on primitive arc magmas and Zanqi rocks (such as Klaver et al., 2024; Spencer et al, 2024). Eclogite is also commonly considered an important component of the mantle source region of intraplate basalt. Can Ti isotopes be used to identify the contribution of eclogite components to intraplate basalt