Subducted Mg-rich carbonates into the deep mantle wedge

Recent studies have concluded that subducted calcium (Ca-) rich carbonates could be dissolved in slab-derived aqueous fluids and transported upwards into the shallow mantle wedge (75-120 km), while magnesium (Mg-) rich carbonates could be delivered to a greater depth (i.e., the mantle transition zone, ∼410 km), melted, and recycled into the convective upper mantle. However, it remains unknown whether or not Mg-rich carbonates can be transferred to the deep mantle wedge (>∼120 km) by subduction-zone fluids, which, if true, is important for tracing deep carbon. In this paper, we report a comprehensive mineralogical, geochemical, stable (Mg and O) and radiogenic isotopic (zircon U-Pb) study of garnet clinopyroxenites from the Maowu ultra-mafic massif (a slice of the mantle wedge) in the Dabie orogeny, Central China. Whole-rock and mineral trace elemental features and zircon U-Pb ages reveal evidence of mantle wedge metasomatism by a slab-derived melt or supercritical fluid from the subducted rutile-bearing eclogitic Paleo-Tethys oceanic crust, in addition to subsequent metamorphism occurring during the Triassic collision between the South and North China blocks. Combined with the results of previous works, the high Th/U ratios of both whole rocks and metasomatized zircons with no oscillatory zoning lead us to infer that a supercritical liquid rather than a melt was the metasomatic agent during oceanic subduction at peak conditions (5.3-6.3 GPa and ∼800 °C, 160-190 km). Abundant carbonate mineral inclusions (including calcite, dolomite and magnesite) and the high δ18OVSMOW values of the metasomatized zircons (up to 12.2‰) indicate that sedimentary carbonates were leached by the supercritical fluid. Furthermore, whole-rock δ26Mg values (−0.99‰ to −0.65‰) that are lower than normal mantle values (−0.25±0.07‰) imply that the incorporated carbonates contain not only calcites but also a certain amount of dolomites (approximately 1-10 wt.% of the metasomatic supercritical liquid). The dissolved Mg-rich carbonates in the slab-derived supercritical liquid could effectively modify the Mg isotope composition of the deep mantle wedge. Our study represents a critical step towards achieving a broad understanding of the behaviours of recycled carbonate during slab subduction.