Ductile deformation during carbonation of serpentinized peridotite

Manuel D. Menzel (), Janos L. Urai, Estibalitz Ukar, Greg Hirth, Alexander Schwedt, András Kovács, Lidia Kibkalo and Peter B. Kelemen
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Manuel D. Menzel: RWTH Aachen University
Janos L. Urai: RWTH Aachen University
Estibalitz Ukar: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology
Greg Hirth: Brown University, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Alexander Schwedt: RWTH Aachen University, Central Facility for Electron Microscopy
András Kovács: Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Lidia Kibkalo: Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Peter B. Kelemen: Columbia University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Carbonated serpentinites (listvenites) in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman, record mineralization of 1–2 Gt of CO2, but the mechanisms providing permeability for continued reactive fluid flow are unclear. Based on samples of the Oman Drilling Project, here we show that listvenites with a penetrative foliation have abundant microstructures indicating that the carbonation reaction occurred during deformation. Folded magnesite veins mark the onset of carbonation, followed by deformation during carbonate growth. Undeformed magnesite and quartz overgrowths indicate that deformation stopped before the reaction was completed. We propose deformation by dilatant granular flow and dissolution-precipitation assisted the reaction, while deformation in turn was localized in the weak reacting mass. Lithostatic pore pressures promoted this process, creating dilatant porosity for CO2 transport and solid volume increase. This feedback mechanism may be common in serpentinite-bearing fault zones and the mantle wedge overlying subduction zones, allowing massive carbonation of mantle rocks.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31049-1

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