Electrical conductivity of dense hydrous magnesium silicates with implication for conductivity in the stagnant slab

• EC of Phase A, super-hydrous phase B and phase D were measured under pressures up to 22 GPa.
• EC of DHMS is independent of total water content in their crystal structures.
• Interconnected grain boundary water can enhance the bulk conductivities.
• Conductivities of DHMS phases cannot explain the geophysical observations beneath NE China and the Philippine Sea.

Electrical conductivities of dense hydrous magnesium silicates (DHMS), phase A, super-hydrous phase B (SuB) and phase D, were measured by means of impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range of 10−1–106 Hz at temperatures up to 775, 700 and 700 K and pressures of 10, 18 and 22 GPa, respectively. For all phases, the increase in electrical conductivity (σ  ) with temperature follows the Arrhenian formula: σ=σ0exp(−(ΔH/kT))σ=σ0exp(−(ΔH/kT)). The pre-exponential factors (σ0) and activation enthalpies (ΔH) of phase A, SuB and phase D yield values of 7.28±0.82 S/m and 0.77±0.01 eV, 292±48 S/m and 0.83±0.01 eV and 1342±154 and 0.75±0.01 eV, respectively. Higher pressure DHMS phases show higher conductivity values. The electrical conductivities of phase D and super hydrous phase B are about two and one orders of magnitude higher than that of phase A in the same temperature range, respectively. Although the proton conduction is considered to be a dominant mechanism, there is no clear relationship between water content and conductivity. Rather the conductivity of DHMS phase is closely related to the O⋯OO⋯O distance. The conductivity–depth profiles for a cold subduction zone were constructed based on the phase proportion predicted in the descending slab. The results show distinctly lower conductivity values than those geophysically observed beneath the northeastern China and the Philippine Sea, where the cold slab stagnates in the mantle transition zone. Consequently, the DHMS phases themselves cannot be a main contributor to enhance the conductivity in the stagnant slab. Dehydration of the stagnant slab would strongly enhance the conductivities in the transition zone beneath northeastern China and Philippine Sea.