Contrasting origins of the upper mantle revealed by hafnium and lead isotopes from the Southeast Indian Ridge

Intrinsically Flexible Phase Change Fibers for Intelligent Thermal Regulation

Owing to the significant latent heat generated at constant temperatures, phase change fibers (PCFs) have recently received much attention in the field of wearable thermal management. However, the phase change materials involved in the existing PCFs still experience a solid-liquid transition process, severely restricting their practicality as wearable thermal management materials. Herein, we, for the first time, developed intrinsically flexible PCFs (polyethylene glycol/4,4'-methylenebis(cyclohexyl isocyanate) fibers, PMFs) through polycondensation and wet-spinning process, exhibiting an inherent solid-solid phase transition property, adjustable phase transition behaviors, and outstanding knittability. The PMFs also present superior mechanical strength (28 MPa), washability (>100 cycles), thermal cycling stability (>2000 cycles), facile dyeability, and heat-induced recoverability, all of which are highly significant for practical wearable applications. Additionally, the PMFs can be easily recycled by directly dissolving them in solvents for reprocessing, revealing promising applications as sustainable materials for thermal management. Most importantly, the applicability of the PMFs was demonstrated by knitting them into permeable fabrics, which exhibit considerably improved thermal management performance compared with the cotton fabric. The PMFs offer great potential for intelligent thermal regulation in smart textiles and wearable electronics.

Sub-basin scale inhomogeneity of mantle in the South China Sea revealed by magnesium isotopes

The South China Sea (SCS) is the largest extensional basin in the western Pacific and was formed after rifting of the Euro-Asian continental margin. The nature of its underlying mantle remains enigmatic due to the lack of sampling of the seafloor's igneous crust. The International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 349 cored seafloor basalts of the southwestern (Site U1433) and eastern (Site U1431) SCS sub-basins. The recovered basalt samples exhibit different source lithologies and geochemistries. The Mg isotopic compositions of seafloor basalts from these sites were investigated to elucidate the origin of this large-scale mantle inhomogeneity. Results indicate that the Site U1431 basalts have a mantle-like average δ²⁶Mg value of -0.27‰ ± 0.06‰ (2SD; n = 10). Together with inhomogeneous Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopic compositions, the Site U1433 basalts have an average δ²⁶Mg value (-0.20‰ ± 0.06‰; 2SD; n = 8) higher than those of the Site U1431 basalts and normal mantle. Their heavier Mg isotopic compositions and low ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios (~17.7) indicate that the Site U1433 basalts were affected by the re-melting of detached continental-arc lithosphere in the sub-ridge mantle. The coupling of Mg and Sr-Nd isotopes provides robust evidence that the mantle-like δ²⁶Mg values of the Site U1431 basalts resulted from mixing between detached continental arc lithosphere and the nearby Hainan plume, with respective supra- and sub-normal δ²⁶Mg values. From the perspective of Mg isotope, the mantles of the southwestern and eastern sub-basins are compositionally inhomogeneous, with their mantle evolutionary histories being distinct.

Whole-mantle convection with tectonic plates preserves long-term global patterns of upper mantle geochemistry

The evolution of the planetary interior during plate tectonics is controlled by slow convection within the mantle. Global-scale geochemical differences across the upper mantle are known, but how they are preserved during convection has not been adequately explained. We demonstrate that the geographic patterns of chemical variations around the Earth’s mantle endure as a direct result of whole-mantle convection within largely isolated cells defined by subducting plates. New 3D spherical numerical models embedded with the latest geological paleo-tectonic reconstructions and ground-truthed with new Hf-Nd isotope data, suggest that uppermost mantle at one location (e.g. under Indian Ocean) circulates down to the core-mantle boundary (CMB), but returns within ≥100 Myrs via large-scale convection to its approximate starting location. Modelled tracers pool at the CMB but do not disperse ubiquitously around it. Similarly, mantle beneath the Pacific does not spread to surrounding regions of the planet. The models fit global patterns of isotope data and may explain features such as the DUPAL anomaly and long-standing differences between Indian and Pacific Ocean crust. Indeed, the geochemical data suggests this mode of convection could have influenced the evolution of mantle composition since 550 Ma and potentially since the onset of plate tectonics.

A highly unradiogenic lead isotopic signature revealed by volcanic rocks from the East Pacific Rise

Radiogenic isotopes in oceanic basalts provide a window into the different geochemical components defining the composition of Earth's mantle. Here we report the discovery of a novel geochemical signature in volcanic glasses sampled at a sub-kilometre scale along the East Pacific Rise between 15°37'N and 15°47'N. The most striking aspect of this signature is its unradiogenic lead ((206)Pb/(204)Pb=17.49, (207)Pb/(204)Pb=15.46 and (208)Pb/(204)Pb=36.83). In conjunction with enriched Sr, Nd and Hf signatures, Pb isotopes depict mixing lines that trend away from any known mantle end-members. We suggest that this unradiogenic lead component sampled by magmatic melts corresponds to a novel upper mantle reservoir that should be considered in the Pb isotope budget of the bulk silicate Earth. Major, trace element and isotope compositions are suggestive of an ancient and lower continental origin for this unradiogenic lead component, possibly sulphide-bearing pyroxenites that were preserved even after prolonged stirring within the ambient upper mantle.

Advances in isotope ratio mass spectrometry and required isotope reference materials

The article gives a condensed version of the keynote lecture held at the International Mass Spectrometry Conference 2012 in Kyoto. Starting with some examples for isotope research the key requirements for metrologically valid procedures enabling traceable and comparable isotope data are discussed. Of course multi-collector mass spectrometers are required which offer sufficiently high isotope ratio precision for the intended research work. Following this, corrections for mass fractionation/discrimination, validation of the analytical procedure including chemical sample preparation and complete uncertainty budgets are the most important issues for obtaining a metrologically valid procedure for isotope ratio determination. Only the application of such metrologically valid procedures enables the generation of traceable and comparable isotope data. To realize this suitable isotope and/or δ-reference materials are required, which currently are not sufficiently available for most isotope systems. Boron is given as an example, for which the situation regarding isotope and δ-reference materials is excellent. Boron may therefore serve as prototype for other isotope systems.

Origin of a 'Southern Hemisphere' geochemical signature in the Arctic upper mantle

The Gakkel ridge, which extends under the Arctic ice cap for approximately 1,800 km, is the slowest spreading ocean ridge on Earth. Its spreading created the Eurasian basin, which is isolated from the rest of the oceanic mantle by North America, Eurasia and the Lomonosov ridge. The Gakkel ridge thus provides unique opportunities to investigate the composition of the sub-Arctic mantle and mantle heterogeneity and melting at the lower limits of seafloor spreading. The first results of the 2001 Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition (ref. 1) divided the Gakkel ridge into three tectonic segments, composed of robust western and eastern volcanic zones separated by a 'sparsely magmatic zone'. On the basis of Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios and trace elements in basalts from the spreading axis, we show that the sparsely magmatic zone contains an abrupt mantle compositional boundary. Basalts to the west of the boundary display affinities to the Southern Hemisphere 'Dupal' isotopic province, whereas those to the east-closest to the Eurasian continent and where the spreading rate is slowest-display affinities to 'Northern Hemisphere' ridges. The western zone is the only known spreading ridge outside the Southern Hemisphere that samples a significant upper-mantle region with Dupal-like characteristics. Although the cause of Dupal mantle has been long debated, we show that the source of this signature beneath the western Gakkel ridge was subcontinental lithospheric mantle that delaminated and became integrated into the convecting Arctic asthenosphere. This occurred as North Atlantic mantle propagated north into the Arctic during the separation of Svalbard and Greenland.

Isotopic portrayal of the Earth’s upper mantle flow field

It is now well established that oceanic plates sink into the lower mantle at subduction zones, but the reverse process of replacing lost upper-mantle material is not well constrained. Even whether the return flow is strongly localized as narrow upwellings or more broadly distributed remains uncertain. Here we show that the distribution of long-lived radiogenic isotopes along the world's mid-ocean ridges can be used to map geochemical domains, which reflect contrasting refilling modes of the upper mantle. New hafnium isotopic data along the Southwest Indian Ridge delineate a sharp transition between an Indian province with a strong lower-mantle isotopic flavour and a South Atlantic province contaminated by advection of upper-mantle material beneath the lithospheric roots of the Archaean African craton. The upper mantle of both domains appears to be refilled through the seismically defined anomaly underlying South Africa and the Afar plume. Because of the viscous drag exerted by the continental keels, refilling of the upper mantle in the Atlantic and Indian domains appears to be slow and confined to localized upwellings. By contrast, in the unencumbered Pacific domain, upwellings seem comparatively much wider and more rapid.

Cryptic striations in the upper mantle revealed by hafnium isotopes in southeast Indian ridge basalts

The Earth's mantle is isotopically heterogeneous on length scales ranging from centimetres to more than 10(4) kilometres. This heterogeneity originates from partial melt extraction and plate tectonic recycling, whereas stirring during mantle convection tends to reduce it. Here we show that mid-ocean ridge basalts from 2,000 km along the southeast Indian ridge (SEIR) display a bimodal hafnium isotopic distribution. This bimodality reveals the presence of ancient compositional striations (streaks) in the Indian Ocean upper mantle. The number density of the streaks is described by a Poisson distribution, with an average thickness of approximately 40 km. Such a distribution is anticipated for a well-stirred upper mantle, in which heterogeneity is continually introduced by plate tectonic recycling, and redistributed by viscous stretching and convective refolding.