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Sulfur And Trace Metal Cycling At Convergent Margins, Jesse B. Walters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Subduction zones are the site of long-term chemical exchange between Earth’s surface and interior geochemical reservoirs. Subducting slabs are progressively depleted in volatiles and other mobile elements through dehydration and melting reactions. These elements are then introduced to the mantle wedge and volcanic arc. One consequence of this cycle is that volcanic arcs produce the most oxidized magmas on Earth. Sulfur, which exhibits a range in valence states from S^2- to S⁶⁺, is one of the few elements in the subducting slab capable of oxidizing the arc and mantle wedge. Sulfides in the slab may also act …