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Earth science

Hot stuff under southern Chile

Nature volume 394, pages 523–524 (1998)Cite this article

The isotopes of the uranium decay series are a wonderful tool for exploring geological processes that have taken place on the Earth's surface and in its interior1. On page 566of this issue2, Sigmarsson and colleagues describe how they have taken advantage of these isotopes to ‘image’ the melting of a slab of oceanic plate being subducted along a stretch of southwestern South America. The results tell us how melting of the slab relates to volcanism at the surface, and may also bear on our knowledge of the generation of continental crust in the distant past.

Since then, a more complex model for the relationship between subduction and modern arc volcanism has been developed. While moving from mid-ocean ridge to subduction trench, the ocean plate incorporates sea water. Water is bound in hydrous minerals in the basaltic layer and in hydrous sediments deposited atop the plate, and also occupies the space between sediment grains. As the oceanic plate (which is usually old and cold) subducts, the water between sediment grains is squeezed out. The hydrous minerals formed at low pressure and temperature transform to minerals that are stable at increasing pressure and temperature, or break down and release their water to the overlying plate. The oceanic plate itself is generally too cold to melt beneath the arc.

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Figure 1: Slab melting beneath modern volcanic arcs.

References

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  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St Louis, 63130-4899, Missouri, USA

    Julie D. Morris

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  1. Julie D. Morris
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Morris, J. Hot stuff under southern Chile. Nature 394, 523–524 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/28951

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