Estimating excess bound water content due to serpentinisation in mature slow-spreading oceanic crust using Vp/Vs
Estimating excess bound water content due to serpentinisation in mature slow-spreading oceanic crust using Vp/Vs
Mature oceanic crust carries chemically bound water which may be released in subduction zones or delivered to the deep mantle. Estimating water content in slow-spreading crust is challenging due to its complex lithology, requiring both P- and S-wave seismic velocity (Vp and Vs), the latter of which has been limited. Here we show 2D high-resolution Vp, Vs and excess bound water models due to serpentinisation of mature Atlantic crust near the Lesser Antilles. The ridge-parallel line crosses eight seafloor-spreading segments with equal numbers of magma-robust and magma-poor. Hydration is highly variable and mainly accommodated in strongly serpentinised peridotites, dominantly in magma-poor segments, which are not preferentially located near fracture zones. Serpentinised peridotites (17% of the crust) host four times more water than normal magmatic crust, increasing Atlantic subduction bound water budget by ~ 50%. This has implications back in geological time such as during supercontinent breakups when slow-spreading crust subduction was more common.
Li, Lianjun
28d4e41f-25ff-4304-9443-f9ed2e8e408e
Collier, Jenny
76fed74d-bdd8-4299-be78-f65ca6f7e0b9
Henstock, Tim
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Goes, Saskia
8da1004a-3f5b-44c9-9889-046c5b6c537e
23 July 2025
Li, Lianjun
28d4e41f-25ff-4304-9443-f9ed2e8e408e
Collier, Jenny
76fed74d-bdd8-4299-be78-f65ca6f7e0b9
Henstock, Tim
27c450a4-3e6b-41f8-97f9-4e0e181400bb
Goes, Saskia
8da1004a-3f5b-44c9-9889-046c5b6c537e
Li, Lianjun, Collier, Jenny, Henstock, Tim and Goes, Saskia
(2025)
Estimating excess bound water content due to serpentinisation in mature slow-spreading oceanic crust using Vp/Vs.
Nature Communications, 16 (1), [6772].
(doi:10.1038/s41467-025-62052-x).
Abstract
Mature oceanic crust carries chemically bound water which may be released in subduction zones or delivered to the deep mantle. Estimating water content in slow-spreading crust is challenging due to its complex lithology, requiring both P- and S-wave seismic velocity (Vp and Vs), the latter of which has been limited. Here we show 2D high-resolution Vp, Vs and excess bound water models due to serpentinisation of mature Atlantic crust near the Lesser Antilles. The ridge-parallel line crosses eight seafloor-spreading segments with equal numbers of magma-robust and magma-poor. Hydration is highly variable and mainly accommodated in strongly serpentinised peridotites, dominantly in magma-poor segments, which are not preferentially located near fracture zones. Serpentinised peridotites (17% of the crust) host four times more water than normal magmatic crust, increasing Atlantic subduction bound water budget by ~ 50%. This has implications back in geological time such as during supercontinent breakups when slow-spreading crust subduction was more common.
Text
s41467-025-62052-x (2)
- Version of Record
More information
Submitted date: 25 June 2025
Accepted/In Press date: 9 July 2025
Published date: 23 July 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 504073
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/504073
ISSN: 2041-1723
PURE UUID: 61a0fa9c-11c8-4098-9ef7-c5bf05601503
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 22 Aug 2025 16:38
Last modified: 23 Aug 2025 01:44
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Lianjun Li
Author:
Jenny Collier
Author:
Saskia Goes
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
