From peridotite to fuchsite bearing quartzite via carbonation and weathering: with implications for the Pb budget of continental crust

Extensive carbonation of peridotite results in listvenite, a rock composed of magnesite and quartz. At Gråberget, Røros, SE-Norway, a variably serpentinized peridotite body, surrounded by the Røros schists, a former abyssal sediment displays all stages of transformation of peridotite to quartzite. In this paper we record the sequence of steps in this process by combining the observation of mineral assemblages, textural relationships and geochemistry, and variations in Pb isotopic compositions. Initial serpentinization, a stage that also involved an enrichment in fluid-mobile elements (Pb, Sb and As), was followed by carbonation through CO2 fluids that formed soapstone, and eventually listvenite. The listvenite grades by decreasing amounts of carbonates into fuchsite bearing quartzite. The carbonates dissolved during supergene alteration and formed pores coated with oxides of Fe, Mn and Ni resulting in a brown rock color. The quartzite displays porous stylolites enriched in Pb, As and Sb and fuchsite with porous chromite grains as the only relicts of the original mineralogy in the peridotite. The dissolution of the carbonate occurred at oxidizing conditions at temperatures below 150 °C, where the solubility of magnesite is higher than that of quartz. Formation of quartzite from peridotite is supported by low REE contents and lack of zircons in the two rock types. The transformation involved enrichment of Pb, coupled with the elimination of Mg and enrichment of Si. This chemical fractionation and selective transfer of elements to the continents is an important mechanism and needs to be taken into account in models of continental evolution.

Serpentinized peridotite versus thick mafic crust at the Romanche oceanic transform fault

The crust beneath transform faults at slow-spreading ridges has been considered to be thin, comprising a thin mafic layer overlying serpentinized peridotite. Using wide-angle seismic data, we report the presence of a Moho at ~6 km depth and a low-velocity anomaly extending down to 9 km beneath the 20-km-wide Romanche transform valley floor in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The low crustal velocities above the Moho could be due to either highly serpentinized mantle peridotite or fractured mafic rocks. The existence of clear Moho reflections and the occurrence of a large crustal-depth rupture during the 2016 magnitude 7.1 earthquake suggest that the crust likely consists of fractured mafic material. Furthermore, the presence of low velocities below the Moho advocates for extensive serpentinization of the mantle, indicating that the Moho reflection is unlikely to be produced by a serpentinization front. The crust to the north of the transform fault likely consists of mafic material, but that in the south appears to be more amagmatic, possibly containing serpentinized peridotite. Our results imply that the transform fault structure is complex and highly heterogeneous, and thus would have significant influence on earthquake rupture and alteration processes.

Supplemental Material: Serpentinized peridotite versus thick mafic crust at the Romanche oceanic transform fault

Detailed methods and supplemental Figures S1–S9.<br>

Supplemental Material: Serpentinized peridotite versus thick mafic crust at the Romanche oceanic transform fault

Detailed methods and supplemental Figures S1–S9.<br>

Reaction-enhanced ductile deformation during carbonation of serpentinized peridotite

&lt;p&gt;Carbonated serpentinites record carbon fluxes in subduction zones and are a possible natural analogue for carbon capture and storage via mineralization, but the processes by which the reaction of serpentinite to listvenite (magnesite-quartz rocks) goes to completion are not well understood. Large-scale hydration and carbonation of peridotite in the Oman Ophiolite produced massive listvenites, which have been drilled by the ICDP Oman Drilling Project (OmDP, site BT1) [1]. Here we report evidence for localized ductile deformation during serpentinite carbonation in core BT1B, based on observations from optical microscopy, cathodoluminescence microscopy, SEM, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in segments of the core that lack a brittle overprint after listvenite formation [2].&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Microstructural analysis of the serpentinized peridotite protolith shows a range of microstructures common in serpentinite with local ductile deformation manifested by a shape and crystallographic preferred orientation and kinking of lizardite. Listvenites with ductile deformation microstructures contain a penetrative foliation due to a shape preferred alignment of magnesite spheroids and/or dendritic magnesite, bending around Cr-spinel porphyroclasts. Locally the foliation can be due to aligned dendritic overgrowths on euhedral magnesite grains. Magnesite grains have a weak but consistent crystallographic preferred orientation with the c-axis perpendicular to the foliation, and show high internal misorientations. Locally, the microcrystalline quartz matrix also shows a crystallographic preferred orientation with the c-axes preferentially oriented parallel to the foliation. Folding and ductile transposition of early magnesite veins indicates that carbonation initiated before the ductile deformation stage recorded in listvenites with penetrative foliation. On the other hand, dendritic magnesite overgrowths on folded veins and truncated vein tips suggest that folding likely occurred before complete carbonation, when some serpentine was still present. TEM analysis of magnesite revealed that subgrain boundaries oriented at high angle to the foliation can consist of nano-cracks sealed by inclusion-free magnesite precipitates. High dislocation densities are not evident suggesting that dislocation creep was minor or negligible, in agreement with very low predicted strain rates for magnesite dislocation creep at the low temperatures (100 &amp;#8211; 200 &amp;#176;C) of serpentinite carbonation. This points to dissolution-precipitation, possibly in addition to grain boundary sliding, as the main mechanism for the formation of the shape preferred orientation of magnesite. The weak magnesite crystallographic preferred orientation may be explained by a combination of initial growth competition in an anisotropic (sheared) serpentine medium with subsequent preferred dissolution of smaller, less favorably oriented grains. We infer that transient lithostatic pore pressures during listvenite formation promoted ductile deformation in the reacting medium through grain boundary sliding accommodated by dilatant granular flow and dissolution-precipitation. Because the reaction product listvenite is stronger than the reacting mass, deformation may be preferentially partitioned in the reacting mass, locally enhancing transient fluid flow and, thus, the carbonation reaction progress.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1] Kelemen et al., 2020. Site BT1: fluid and mass exchange on a subduction zone plate boundary. In: Proceedings of the Oman Drilling Project: College Station, TX&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] Menzel et al., 2020, JGR Solid Earth 125(10)&lt;/p&gt;

Heavy iron in large gem diamonds traces deep subduction of serpentinized ocean floor

Subducting tectonic plates carry water and other surficial components into Earth’s interior. Previous studies suggest that serpentinized peridotite is a key part of deep recycling, but this geochemical pathway has not been directly traced. Here, we report Fe-Ni–rich metallic inclusions in sublithospheric diamonds from a depth of 360 to 750 km with isotopically heavy iron (δ56Fe = 0.79 to 0.90‰) and unradiogenic osmium (187Os/188Os = 0.111). These iron values lie outside the range of known mantle compositions or expected reaction products at depth. This signature represents subducted iron from magnetite and/or Fe-Ni alloys precipitated during serpentinization of oceanic peridotite, a lithology known to carry unradiogenic osmium inherited from prior convection and melt depletion. These diamond-hosted inclusions trace serpentinite subduction into the mantle transition zone. We propose that iron-rich phases from serpentinite contribute a labile heavy iron component to the heterogeneous convecting mantle eventually sampled by oceanic basalts.