Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Simulation of Early Earth Hydrothermal Chimneys in a Thermal Gradient Environment
Published on: February 27, 2021
Massive abiotic methane production in eclogite during cold subduction
Lijuan Zhang1, Lifei Zhang1, Ming Tang1
1Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Abstract:
Methane (CH4) is a critical but overlooked component in the study of the deep carbon cycle. Abiotic CH4 produced by serpentinization of ultramafic rocks has received extensive attention, but its formation and flux in mafic rocks during subduction remain poorly understood. Here, we report massive CH4-rich fluid inclusions in well-zoned garnet from eclogites in Western Tianshan, China. Petrological characteristics and carbon-hydrogen isotopic compositions confirm the abiotic origin of this CH4. Reconstructed P-T-fO2-fluid trajectories and Deep Earth Water modeling imply that massive abiotic CH4 was generated during cold subduction at depths of 50-120 km, whereas CO2 was produced during exhumation. The massive production of abiotic CH4 in eclogites may result from multiple mechanisms during prograde high pressure-ultrahigh pressure metamorphism. Our flux calculation proposes that abiotic CH4 that has been formed in HP-UHP eclogites in cold subduction zones may represent one of the largest, yet overlooked, sources of abiotic CH4 on Earth.
More Related Videos
07:31Author Spotlight: Designing Simple and Inexpensive Techniques to Grow Methane-Oxidizing Bacteria in the Laboratory
Published on: September 6, 2024
13:11Using Flexible Gold-Titanium Reaction Cells to Simulate Pressure-Dependent Microbial Activity in the Context of Subsurface Biomining
Published on: October 5, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Archaea III
Diversity of Archaea I
Overview of Archaea
Diversity of Archaea IV
01:31Magma Composition
Hyperthermophilic Bacteria