Carbon cycle and deep carbon storage during subduction and magamatic processes

ZHANG Guoliang; ZHAN Mingjun

doi:10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019092201

Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology > 2019 > 39(5): 36-45. > DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019092201

ZHANG Guoliang, ZHAN Mingjun. Carbon cycle and deep carbon storage during subduction and magamatic processes[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2019, 39(5): 36-45. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019092201

Citation:

PDF (1755 KB)

Carbon cycle and deep carbon storage during subduction and magamatic processes

ZHANG Guoliang^1,2,,
ZHAN Mingjun^1,2,3

1.
Deep Sea Research Center & Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
2.
Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of sciences, Qingdao 266071,China
3.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049,China

More Information

Received Date: September 21, 2019
Revised Date: October 08, 2019
Available Online: November 06, 2019

Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

Most of the Earth’s carbon is stored in the deep interior of the Earth, and CO₂ plays a key role over the geologic history. Magmatism is a process, which releases CO₂ and increases the carbon on the Earth’s surface. Plate subduction is a major process that brings Earth’s surface carbon back to its interior since its initiation globally. Therefore, plate subduction and magmatic processes constitute a deep carbon cycle between the Earth’s surface and interior. The cycle will affect the total amount of carbon of the Earth’s surface and makes contributions to the formation to the livable Earth environment and some important mineral resources. However, in contrast to the carbon cycle in the Earth’s surface system, the knowledge on deep carbon cycle is lacking. There are still controversies about the enrichment mechanism of the deep carbon, the location of its occurrence, and the exchanges of carbon among the solid Earth’s spheres. In this study, we made a thorough review on the deep carbon reservoirs, the carbon composition of magmas and its influences on the genesis of magmas, as well as the geochemical behavior of the carbon during plate subduction. It is recognized that, for the mid-ocean ridge basalts and the ocean island basalts, the CO₂ compositions of their mantle sources are highly heterogeneous. Compared to the mid-ocean ridge basalts, the deeper-sourced ocean island basalts have relatively higher concentrations of carbon, indicating that the deep mantle is more enriched in carbon than the shallow upper mantle. The continental lithosphere mantle, transition zone, and even lower mantle may be important reservoirs of carbon. There is a chemical disequilibrium between the carbonated melts and the lithospheric peridotites. The continental lithosphere mantle may be an important carbon reservoir because of the long-term metasomatism of carbonated melts, and the high pressure and strong reducing environment in the mantle transition zone may cause the carbon from the upwelling mantle or subducted slab to be stored in a form of diamond. Carbon in the mantle transition zone or the even deeper sources may be converted to CO₂ by redox melting during mantle upwelling and decompression, which plays a key role in the initiation of mantle melting and genesis of the intraplate volcanic rocks (especially for alkali volcanic rocks). It is concluded that the long-term plate subduction in the Earth’s geologic history is most likely the reason that has caused enrichment of carbon in the deep Earth. However, the geochemical behaviors of carbon and the carbon fluxes estimation related to plate subduction remains a subject of debate. In the future study, it is required to focus more on the CO₂ activities in the magmatic processes, and the geochemical behaviors (i.e., decarbonation) of carbon in the subducting slab.
- magma,
- mantle,
- carbon storage,
- diamond,
- carbon cycle,
- plate subduction

FullText(HTML)

References (61)

References

[1]	Sleep N H, Zahnle K. Carbon dioxide cycling and implications for climate on ancient Earth [J]. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2001, 106(E1): 1373-1399. doi: 10.1029/2000JE001247
[2]	Kelemen P B, Manning C E. Reevaluating carbon fluxes in subduction zones, what goes down, mostly comes up [J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015, 112(30): E3997-E4006. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1507889112
[3]	Van Der Meer D G, Zeebe R E, Van Hinsbergen D J J, et al. Plate tectonic controls on atmospheric CO₂ levels since the Triassic [J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014, 111(12): 4380-4385. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1315657111
[4]	Dasgupta R, Walker D. Carbon solubility in core melts in a shallow magma ocean environment and distribution of carbon between the Earth’s core and the mantle [J]. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2008, 72(18): 4627-4641. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2008.06.023
[5]	Marty B, Tolstikhin I N. CO₂ fluxes from mid-ocean ridges, arcs and plumes [J]. Chemical Geology, 1998, 145(3-4): 233-248. doi: 10.1016/S0009-2541(97)00145-9
[6]	Dasgupta R, Hirschmann M M, Smith N D. Water follows carbon: CO₂ incites deep silicate melting and dehydration beneath mid-ocean ridges [J]. Geology, 2007, 35(2): 135-138. doi: 10.1130/G22856A.1
[7]	Dalou C, Koga K T, Hammouda T, et al. Trace element partitioning between carbonatitic melts and mantle transition zone minerals: implications for the source of carbonatites [J]. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2009, 73(1): 239-255. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2008.09.020
[8]	Kono Y, Kenney-Benson C, Hummer D, et al. Ultralow viscosity of carbonate melts at high pressures [J]. Nature Communications, 2014, 5(1): 5091. doi: 10.1038/ncomms6091
[9]	Dasgupta R, Hirschmann M M. The deep carbon cycle and melting in Earth's interior [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2010, 298(1-2): 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2010.06.039
[10]	Giuliani A, Kamenetsky V S, Phillips D, et al. Nature of alkali-carbonate fluids in the sub-continental lithospheric mantle [J]. Geology, 2012, 40(11): 967-970. doi: 10.1130/G33221.1
[11]	Hoernle K, Tilton G, Le Bas M J, et al. Geochemistry of oceanic carbonatites compared with continental carbonatites: mantle recycling of oceanic crustal carbonate [J]. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 2002, 142(5): 520-542. doi: 10.1007/s004100100308
[12]	宋文磊, 许成, 刘琼, 等. 火成碳酸岩的实验岩石学研究及对地球深部碳循环的意义[J]. 地质论评, 2012, 58(4):726-744. [SONG Wenlei, XU Cheng, LIU Qiong, et al. Experimental petrological study of carbonatite and its significances on the earth deep carbon cycle [J]. Geological Review, 2012, 58(4): 726-744. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0371-5736.2012.04.014
[13]	Dasgupta R, Hirschmann M M, Smith N D. Partial melting experiments of peridotite + CO₂ at 3 GPa and genesis of Alkalic Ocean Island basalts [J]. Journal of Petrology, 2007, 48(11): 2093-2124. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egm053
[14]	Zhang G L, Chen L H, Jackson M G, et al. Evolution of carbonated melt to alkali basalt in the South China Sea [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2017, 10(3): 229-235. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2877
[15]	Liu S A, Wang Z Z, Li S G, et al. Zinc isotope evidence for a large-scale carbonated mantle beneath eastern China [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2016, 444: 169-178. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2016.03.051
[16]	Li S G, Yang W, Ke S, et al. Deep carbon cycles constrained by a large-scale mantle Mg isotope anomaly in eastern China [J]. National Science Review, 2017, 4(1): 111-120.
[17]	Thomson A R, Walter M J, Kohn S C, et al. Slab melting as a barrier to deep carbon subduction [J]. Nature, 2016, 529(7584): 76-79. doi: 10.1038/nature16174
[18]	Foley S F, Fischer T P. An essential role for continental rifts and lithosphere in the deep carbon cycle [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2017, 10(12): 897-902. doi: 10.1038/s41561-017-0002-7
[19]	Michael P J, Graham D W. The behavior and concentration of CO₂ in the suboceanic mantle: inferences from undegassed ocean ridge and ocean island basalts [J]. Lithos, 2015, 236-237: 338-351. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2015.08.020
[20]	Le Voyer M, Kelley K A, Cottrell E, et al. Heterogeneity in mantle carbon content from CO₂-undersaturated basalts [J]. Nature Communications, 2017, 8(1): 14062. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14062
[21]	Miller W G R, Maclennan J, Shorttle O, et al. Estimating the carbon content of the deep mantle with Icelandic melt inclusions [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2019, 523: 115699. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2019.07.002
[22]	Cartigny P, Pineau F, Aubaud C, et al. Towards a consistent mantle carbon flux estimate: Insights from volatile systematics (H₂O/Ce, δD, CO₂/Nb) in the North Atlantic mantle (14°N and 34°N) [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2008, 265(3-4): 672-685. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2007.11.011
[23]	Hauri E H, Maclennan J, McKenzie D, et al. CO₂ content beneath northern Iceland and the variability of mantle carbon [J]. Geology, 2017, 46(1): 55-58.
[24]	Helo C, Longpré M A, Shimizu N, et al. Explosive eruptions at mid-ocean ridges driven by CO₂-rich magmas [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2011, 4(4): 260-263. doi: 10.1038/ngeo1104
[25]	Koleszar A M, Saal A E, Hauri E H, et al. The volatile contents of the Galapagos plume; evidence for H₂O and F open system behavior in melt inclusions [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2009, 287(3-4): 442-452. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2009.08.029
[26]	Anderson K R, Poland M P. Abundant carbon in the mantle beneath Hawaii [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2017, 10(9): 704-708. doi: 10.1038/ngeo3007
[27]	Wanless V D, Shaw A M. Lower crustal crystallization and melt evolution at mid-ocean ridges [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2012, 5(9): 651-655. doi: 10.1038/ngeo1552
[28]	Shaw A M, Behn M D, Humphris S E, et al. Deep pooling of low degree melts and volatile fluxes at the 85°E segment of the Gakkel Ridge: evidence from olivine-hosted melt inclusions and glasses [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2010, 289(3-4): 311-322. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2009.11.018
[29]	Wanless V D, Shaw A M, Behn M D, et al. Magmatic plumbing at Lucky Strike volcano based on olivine‐hosted melt inclusion compositions [J]. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2015, 16(1): 126-147. doi: 10.1002/2014GC005517
[30]	Tucker J M, Hauri E H, Pietruszka A J, et al. A high carbon content of the Hawaiian mantle from olivine-hosted melt inclusions [J]. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2019, 254: 156-172. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2019.04.001
[31]	Métrich N, Zanon V, Créon L, et al. Is the ‘Azores hotspot’ a wetspot? Insights from the geochemistry of fluid and melt inclusions in olivine of Pico basalts [J]. Journal of Petrology, 2014, 55(2): 377-393. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egt071
[32]	Huang J L, Zhao D P. High‐resolution mantle tomography of China and surrounding regions [J]. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2006, 111(B9): B09305.
[33]	Zhao D P, Tian Y, Lei J S, et al. Seismic image and origin of the Changbai intraplate volcano in East Asia: role of big mantle wedge above the stagnant Pacific slab [J]. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2009, 173(3-4): 197-206. doi: 10.1016/j.pepi.2008.11.009
[34]	Rohrbach A, Schmidt M W. Redox freezing and melting in the Earth’s deep mantle resulting from carbon–iron redox coupling [J]. Nature, 2011, 472(7342): 209-212. doi: 10.1038/nature09899
[35]	Sun W D, Hawkesworth C J, Yao C, et al. Carbonated mantle domains at the base of the Earth's transition zone [J]. Chemical Geology, 2018, 478: 69-75. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.08.001
[36]	Zeng G, Chen L H, Xu X S, et al. Carbonated mantle sources for Cenozoic intra-plate alkaline basalts in Shandong, North China [J]. Chemical Geology, 2010, 273(1-2): 35-45. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2010.02.009
[37]	Ray J S, Pande K, Bhutani R, et al. Age and geochemistry of the Newania dolomite carbonatites, India: implications for the source of primary carbonatite magma [J]. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 2013, 166(6): 1613-1632. doi: 10.1007/s00410-013-0945-7
[38]	Dalton J A, Wood B J. The compositions of primary carbonate melts and their evolution through wallrock reaction in the mantle [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 1993, 119(4): 511-525. doi: 10.1016/0012-821X(93)90059-I
[39]	Russell J K, Porritt L A, Lavallée Y, et al. Kimberlite ascent by assimilation-fuelled buoyancy [J]. Nature, 2012, 481(7381): 352-356. doi: 10.1038/nature10740
[40]	Lee H, Muirhead J D, Fischer T P, et al. Massive and prolonged deep carbon emissions associated with continental rifting [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2016, 9(2): 145-149. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2622
[41]	Stachel T, Luth R W. Diamond formation—Where, when and how? [J]. Lithos, 2015, 220-223: 200-220. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2015.01.028
[42]	Eggler D H, Baker D R. Reduced volatiles in the system C–O–H: implications to mantle melting, fluid formation, and diamond genesis[M]//Akimoto S, Manghnani M H. High-Pressure Research in Geophysics[M]. Tokyo: Center for Academic Publications, 1982: 237-250.
[43]	Luth R W. Diamonds, eclogites, and the oxidation state of the Earth's mantle [J]. Science, 1993, 261(5117): 66-68. doi: 10.1126/science.261.5117.66
[44]	Dorfman S M, Badro J, Nabiei F, et al. Carbonate stability in the reduced lower mantle [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2018, 489: 84-91. doi: 10.1016/j.jpgl.2018.02.035
[45]	Raffone N, Chazot G, Pin C, et al. Metasomatism in the lithospheric mantle beneath Middle Atlas (Morocco) and the origin of Fe-and Mg-rich wehrlites [J]. Journal of Petrology, 2009, 50(2): 197-249. doi: 10.1093/petrology/egn069
[46]	Weidendorfer D, Schmidt M W, Mattsson H B. Fractional crystallization of Si-undersaturated alkaline magmas leading to unmixing of carbonatites on Brava Island (Cape Verde) and a general model of carbonatite genesis in alkaline magma suites [J]. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 2016, 171(5): 43. doi: 10.1007/s00410-016-1249-5
[47]	Clague D A, Dalrymple G B. Age and petrology of alkalic postshield and rejuvenated-stage lava from Kauai, Hawaii [J]. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 1988, 99(2): 202-218. doi: 10.1007/BF00371461
[48]	Phillips E H, Sims K W W, Sherrod D R, et al. Isotopic constraints on the genesis and evolution of basanitic lavas at Haleakala, Island of Maui, Hawaii [J]. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2016, 195: 201-225. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.08.017
[49]	Jackson M G, Price A A, Blichert-Toft J, et al. Geochemistry of lavas from the Caroline hotspot, Micronesia: evidence for primitive and recycled components in the mantle sources of lavas with moderately elevated ³He/⁴He [J]. Chemical Geology, 2017, 455: 385-400. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.10.038
[50]	Andersen T, Neumann E R. Fluid inclusions in mantle xenoliths [J]. Lithos, 2001, 55(1-4): 301-320. doi: 10.1016/S0024-4937(00)00049-9
[51]	Neumann E R, Wulff-Pedersen E, Pearson N J, et al. Mantle xenoliths from Tenerife (Canary Islands): evidence for reactions between mantle peridotites and silicic carbonatite melts inducing Ca metasomatism [J]. Journal of Petrology, 2002, 43(5): 825-857. doi: 10.1093/petrology/43.5.825
[52]	Sobolev A V, Hofmann A W, Kuzmin D V, et al. The amount of recycled crust in sources of mantle-derived melts [J]. Science, 2007, 316(5823): 412-417. doi: 10.1126/science.1138113
[53]	Hofmann A W, White W M. Mantle plumes from ancient oceanic crust [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 1982, 57(2): 421-436. doi: 10.1016/0012-821X(82)90161-3
[54]	Zhang G L, Smith‐Duque C. Seafloor basalt alteration and chemical change in the ultra thinly sedimented South Pacific [J]. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2014, 15(7): 3066-3080. doi: 10.1002/2013GC005141
[55]	Alt J C, Teagle D A H. The uptake of carbon during alteration of ocean crust [J]. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1999, 63(10): 1527-1535. doi: 10.1016/S0016-7037(99)00123-4
[56]	Kawamoto T, Yoshikawa M, Kumagai Y, et al. Mantle wedge infiltrated with saline fluids from dehydration and decarbonation of subducting slab [J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013, 110(24): 9663-9668. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1302040110
[57]	Gorman P J, Kerrick D M, Connolly J A D. Modeling open system metamorphic decarbonation of subducting slabs [J]. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2006, 7(4): Q04007.
[58]	Matsumoto R, Iijima A. Origin and diagenetic evolution of Ca–Mg–Fe carbonates in some coalfields of Japan [J]. Sedimentology, 1981, 28(2): 239-259. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.1981.tb01678.x
[59]	Pedersen T F, Price N B. The geochemistry of manganese carbonate in Panama Basin sediments [J]. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1982, 46(1): 59-68. doi: 10.1016/0016-7037(82)90290-3
[60]	Galvez M E, Beyssac O, Martinez I, et al. Graphite formation by carbonate reduction during subduction [J]. Nature Geoscience, 2013, 6(6): 473-477. doi: 10.1038/ngeo1827
[61]	Dasgupta R. Ingassing, storage, and outgassing of terrestrial carbon through geologic time [J]. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 2013, 75(1): 183-229. doi: 10.2138/rmg.2013.75.7

[1]	WANG Youkun, ZHOU Zhiyuan, LIN Jian, ZHANG Fan. Subduction plate boundary thrust system and dynamic characteristics in the Western Pacific[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2023, 43(5): 173-180. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2023082502
[2]	MA Fangfang, LOU Da, DAI Liming, LI Sanzhong, DONG Hao, TAO Jianli, LI Fakun, WANG Liangliang, LIU Ze. Numerical simulation of subduction-induced molten plume: Destruction of overriding plate and its dynamic topographic responses[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2019, 39(5): 186-196. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019040102
[3]	WANG Yidan, YU Fusheng, LIU Zhina, WANG Yuheng, WANG Yiqun. Two-dimensional discrete element simulation of plate subduction deformation process: An insight into the genesis of East China Sea Shelf Basin[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2019, 39(5): 163-173. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019070306
[4]	GONG Wei, JIANG Xiaodian, XING Junhui, LI Deyong, XU Chong. Subduction dynamics of the New-Guinea-Solomon arc system: Constraints from the subduction initiation of the plate[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2019, 39(5): 115-130. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019062801
[5]	DING Weiwei, LI Jiabiao. Seismic detection of deep structure for Southern Kyueshu-Palau Ridge and its possible implications for subduction initiation[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2019, 39(5): 98-103. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019071601
[6]	LI Chunfeng, LI Gang, LI Zilong, LIU Wenxiao, ZHANG Lulu, LU Zhezhe, CHEN Xuegang, YAO Zewei. Study of the Caroline plate: Initial subduction, initial spreading and fluid-solid interaction[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2019, 39(5): 87-97. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2019031501
[7]	ZHANG Zhengyi, DONG Dongdong, ZHANG Guangxu, ZHANG Guoliang. TOPOGRAPHIC CONSTRAINTS ON THE SUBDUCTION EROSION OF THE YAP ARC, WESTERN PACIFIC[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2017, 37(1): 41-50. DOI: 10.16562/j.cnki.0256-1492.2017.01.005
[8]	LI Sanzhong, YU Shan, ZHAO Shujuan, ZHANG Guowei, LIU Xin, CAO Huahua, XU Liqing, DAI Liming, LI Tao. PERSPECTIVES OF SUPERCONTINENT CYCLE AND GLOBAL PLATE RECONSTRUCTION[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2015, 35(1): 51-60. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1140.2015.01051
[9]	CHEN Ping, ZHENG Yanpeng, LIU Baohua. GEOPHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE NANKAI TROUGH SUBDUCTION ZONE AND THEIR DYNAMIC SIGNIFICANCE[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2014, 34(6): 153-160. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1140.2014.06153
[10]	LI Sanzhong, YU Shan, ZHAO Shujuan, ZHANG Guowei, LIU Xin, CAO Huahua, XU Liqing, DAI Liming, LI Tao. SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ON SUPERCONTINENT AND GLOBAL PLATE RECONSTRUCTION[J]. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 2014, 34(6): 97-117. DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1140.2014.06097

Cited By

Cited by

Periodical cited type(4)

1.	彭文睿，邢磊，李倩倩，王旭. CO_2海底咸水层封存波及范围地震监测方法研究：以Sleipner CCS项目为例. 海洋地质与第四纪地质. 2025(01): 210-224 . 本站查看
2.	李海勇，张锦昌，胡静远，叶俊民. 俯冲和岩浆过程中的地球深部碳循环. 科技导报. 2023(02): 80-88 .
3.	王国建，凌明星，许德如，夏菲，魏颖，陈加杰，高成，薛硕. 地球深部碳循环与碳酸岩成因研究进展. 大地构造与成矿学. 2023(04): 824-838 .
4.	郑昕雨，丘志力，邓小芹，马瑛，陆太进. 超深金刚石包裹体:对深部地幔物理化学环境的指示. 地球科学进展. 2020(05): 452-464 .

Other cited types(3)

Get Citation

PDF

XML

Article views (4228) PDF downloads (134) Cited by(7)

Turn off MathJax

Article Contents

Abstract

References

Carbon cycle and deep carbon storage during subduction and magamatic processes