Rapid endogenic rock recycling in magmatic arcs

In subduction zones, materials on Earth’s surface can be transported to the deep crust or mantle, but the exact mechanisms and the nature of the recycled materials are not fully understood. Here, we report a set of migmatites from western Yangtze Block, China. These migmatites have similar bulk compositions as forearc sediments. Zircon age distribution and Hf–O isotopes indicate that the precursors of the sediments were predominantly derived from juvenile arc crust itself. Using phase equilibria modelling, we show that the sediments experienced high temperature-to-pressure ratio metamorphism and were most likely transported to deep arc crust by intracrustal thrust faults. By dating the magmatic zircon cores and overgrowth rims, we find that the entire rock cycle, from arc magmatism, to weathering at the surface, then to burial and remelting in the deep crust, took place within ~ 10 Ma. Our findings highlight thrust faults as an efficient recycling channel in compressional arcs and endogenic recycling as an important mechanism driving internal redistribution and differentiation of arc crust.