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Updated: Mar 8, 2026
11:19
Measuring Carbon-based Contaminant Mineralization Using Combined CO2 Flux and Radiocarbon Analyses
Published on: October 21, 2016
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Heterogeneity in mantle carbon content from CO2-undersaturated basalts
M Le Voyer1, K A Kelley2, E Cottrell3
1Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, District Of Columbia 20015-1304, USA.
Nature Communications
|January 14, 2017
Summary
Earth
Area of Science:
- Geochemistry
- Geophysics
- Petrology
Background:
- Mantle carbon influences Earth's melting dynamics, volcanic activity, and atmospheric evolution through outgassing.
- Quantifying mantle carbon is challenging due to magma degassing during volcanic eruptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine undegassed carbon concentrations in the upper mantle.
- To investigate the heterogeneity of carbon abundance in the Earth's mantle.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of olivine-hosted melt inclusions from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
- Utilizing correlations between carbon dioxide (CO2) and trace elements to estimate carbon abundance.
Main Results:
- Revealed highly heterogeneous upper mantle carbon content, varying by nearly two orders of magnitude globally.
- Established a method to define average carbon abundance using CO2 and trace element correlations.
Conclusions:
- Upper mantle carbon heterogeneity significantly impacts melt fraction, CO2 fluxes, and lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary depth.
- This heterogeneity has profound implications for understanding mid-ocean ridge processes and mantle conductivity.
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