Deep mantle earthquakes linked to CO2 degassing at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Volatiles (CO<sub>2</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>O) play a fundamental role in mantle melting beneath ocean spreading centers, but what role they play during the melt migration remains unknown. Using seismological data recorded by ocean-bottom seismometers, here we report the presence of deep earthquakes at 10-20 km depth in the mantle along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis, much below the brittle-ductile boundary. Syntheses of regional basaltic rock samples and their geochemical analyses indicate the presence of an abnormally high quantity of CO<sub>2</sub> (~0.4-3.0 wt%) in the primary melts. As the degassing of a high concentration of dissolved CO<sub>2</sub> produces volume change, we suggest that deep earthquakes in the mantle result from the degassing of CO<sub>2</sub>. The large concentration of CO<sub>2</sub> in the primitive melt will influence the presence of melt beneath the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary at sub-solidus temperatures.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-01-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55792-9
Citations
2
Primary Topic
earthquake and tectonic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.73

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article

Deep mantle earthquakes linked to CO2 degassing at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Lorenzo Petracchini, A. Briais, Cédric Hamelin, Marcia Maia et al.
2 citations
Nature Communications
earthquake and tectonic studies
3.73
article

Deep mantle earthquakes linked to CO2 degassing at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Lorenzo Petracchini, A. Briais, Cédric Hamelin, Marcia Maia, Zhiteng Yu, Daniele Brunelli, Léa Grenet, S. C. Singh
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Volatiles (CO<sub>2</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>O) play a fundamental role in mantle melting beneath ocean spreading centers, but what role they play during the melt migration remains unknown. Using seismological data recorded by ocean-bottom seismometers, here we report the presence of deep earthquakes at 10-20 km depth in the mantle along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis, much below the brittle-ductile boundary. Syntheses of regional basaltic rock samples and their geochemical analyses indicate the presence of an abnormally high quantity of CO<sub>2</sub> (~0.4-3.0 wt%) in the primary melts. As the degassing of a high concentration of dissolved CO<sub>2</sub> produces volume change, we suggest that deep earthquakes in the mantle result from the degassing of CO<sub>2</sub>. The large concentration of CO<sub>2</sub> in the primitive melt will influence the presence of melt beneath the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary at sub-solidus temperatures.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Institut de physique du globe de Paris (FR), Ifremer (FR), Université de Bretagne Occidentale (FR), Université Paris Cité (FR), Ministry of Natural Resources (CN), Université de Bretagne Sud (FR), Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering (IT), Second Institute of Oceanography (CN)
Flotte Océanographique Française, ISblue, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Conseil Régional de Bretagne, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
earthquake and tectonic studies
3.73
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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