Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Spatial Variation Of Subduction Zone Fluids During Progressive Subduction: Insights From Serpentinite Mud Volcanoes, Catriona D. Menzies, Roy E. Price, Jeffrey Ryan, Olivier Sissmann, Ken Takai, C. Geoffrey Wheat

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Geological processes at subduction zones control seismicity, plutonism and volcanism, and geochemical cycling between the oceans, crust, and mantle. The down-going plate experiences metamorphism, and the associated dehydration and fluid flow alters the physical properties of the plate interface and mantle wedge, as well as controlling the composition of material descending into the mantle. Any direct study of slab evolution during subduction is inhibited by the prohibitive depths at which these processes occur. To examine these processes we use serpentinite mud volcanoes in the Mariana forearc, that permit sampling of serpentinite materials and their pore waters that …