Upper mantle low-velocity layer tied to volatile-charged carbonate melts
Yongsheng Huang1,2, Guoji Wu1,2,3, Xuran Liang4
1State Key Laboratory of Deep Earth Processes and Resources, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
None:
Recent geophysical observations indicate the presence of small-volume, carbonate-rich melts in Earth's deep interior. However, the mechanisms by which such minute melt fractions migrate through largely solid rocks and generate large-scale geophysical anomalies have remained unclear. Here, our high-pressure experiments demonstrate that, in the presence of H2O and NaCl, carbonate-rich melts act as super-spreaders, completely wetting and coating the surfaces of surrounding mantle minerals. This perfect wetting enables even trace amounts of melt (0.02 to 0.08 vol%) to form fully interconnected networks. Such connectivity facilitates efficient melt migration and chemical exchange, driving global material recycling between the surface and planetary interior.
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
Isothermal Processes
An ideal gas can also undergo isothermal expansion or compression.
For example, consider 1 mole of an ideal gas inside an isolated cylinder at initial volume V...
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
Volatilization
Alkali Metals
Table 1: Properties of the alkali metals
Magnetic Susceptibility and Permeability
When diamagnetic materials are placed under an external magnetic field, the moments opposite to the field are induced. Hence, the susceptibility for diamagnets has a minimal negative value of 10-5–10-6. Since...


