Fluids in accretionary prisms

Fluids play a critical role in subduction zones and arc magmatism. At shallow levels in subduction zones (<40 kilometers depth), expulsion of large volumes of pore waters and CH(4)-H(2)O fluids produced by diagenetic and low-grade metamorphic reactions affect the thermal and rheological evolution of the accretionary prism and provide nutrients for deep-sea biological communities. At greater depths, H(2)O and CO(2) released by metamorphic reactions in the subducting oceanic crust may alter the bulk composition in the overlying mantle wedge and trigger partial melting reactions. The location and conse-quences of fluid production in subduction zones can be constrained by consideration of phase diagrams for relevant bulk compositions in conjunction with fluid and rock pressure-temperature-time paths predicted by numerical heat-transfer models. Partial melting of subducting, amphibole-bearing oceanic crust is predicted only within several tens of million years of the initiation of subduction in young oceanic lithosphere. In cooler subduction zones, partial melting appears to occur primarily in the overlying mantle wedge as a result of fluid infiltration. Show more

Transects of the submersible Alvin across rock outcrops in the Oregon subduction zone have furnished information on the structural and stratigraphic framework of this accretionary complex. Communities of clams and tube worms, and authigenic carbonate mineral precipitates, are associated with venting sites of cool fluids located on a fault-bend anticline at a water depth of 2036 meters. The distribution of animals and carbonates suggests up-dip migration of fluids from both shallow and deep sources along permeable strata or fault zones within these clastic deposits. Methane is enriched in the water column over one vent site, and carbonate minerals and animal tissues are highly enriched in carbon-12. The animals use methane as an energy and food source in symbiosis with microorganisms. Oxidized methane is also the carbon source for the authigenic carbonates that cement the sediments of the accretionary complex. The animal communities and carbonates observed in the Oregon subduction zone occur in strata as old as 2.0 million years and provide criteria for identifying other localities where modern and ancient accreted deposits have vented methane, hydrocarbons, and other nutrient-bearing fluids. Show more