Water transport to the core–mantle boundary
Michael J. Walter
Abstract
Water is transported to Earth's interior in lithospheric slabs at subduction zones. Shallow dehydration fuels hydrous island arc magmatism but some water is transported deeper in cool slab mantle. Further dehydration at ∼700 km may limit deeper transport but hydrated phases in slab crust have considerable capacity for transporting water to the core-mantle boundary. Quantifying how much remains the challenge.
Topics & Concepts
Mantle (geology)SlabGeologySubductionMagmatismCrustMantle wedgeGeochemistryLithosphereWater transportTransition zonePetrologyEarth scienceGeophysicsSeismologyGeotechnical engineeringTectonicsWater flowHigh-pressure geophysics and materialsGeological and Geochemical Analysisearthquake and tectonic studies