Fluid and deformation regime of an advancing subduction system at Marlborough, New Zealand

A Review of Subsurface Electrical Conductivity Anomalies in Magnetotelluric Imaging

After 70 years of development, magnetotelluric (MT), a remote sensing technique for subsurface electrical resistivity imaging, has been widely applied in resource exploration and the deep tectonic evolution of the Earth. The electrical resistivity anomalies and their quantitative interpretation are closely related to or even controlled by the interconnected high-conductivity phases, which are frequently associated with tectonic activity. Based on representative electrical resistivity studies mainly of the deep crust and mantle, we reviewed principal electrical conduction mechanisms, generally used conductivity mixing models, and potential causes of high-conductivity including the saline fluid, partial melting, graphite, sulfide, and hydrogen in nominally anhydrous minerals, and the general methods to infer the water content of the upper mantle through electrical anomaly revealed by MT.

Crustal Electrical Structure of the Ganzi Fault on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: Implications for the Role of Fluids in Earthquakes

The initiation and evolution of seismic activity in intraplate regions are controlled by heterogeneous stress and highly fractured rocks within the rock mass triggered by fluid migration. In this study, we imaged the electrical structure of the crust beneath the Ganzi fault using a three-dimensional magnetotelluric inversion technique, which is host to an assemblage of resistive and conductive features extending into the lower crust. It presents a near-vertical low-resistance zone that cuts through the brittle ductile transition zone, extends to the lower crust, and acts as a pathway for fluid migration from the crustal flow to the upper crustal depths. Conductors in the upper and lower crust are associated with saline fluids and 7% to 16% partial melting, respectively. The relationship between the earthquake epicenter and the surrounding electrical structure suggests that the intraplate seismicity is triggered by overpressure fluids, which are dependent on fluid volume changes generated by the decompression dehydration of partially molten material during upwelling and native fluid within the crustal flow.

Trans-crustal structural control of CO2-rich extensional magmatic systems revealed at Mount Erebus Antarctica

Erebus volcano, Antarctica, with its persistent phonolite lava lake, is a classic example of an evolved, CO2-rich rift volcano. Seismic studies provide limited images of the magmatic system. Here we show using magnetotelluric data that a steep, melt-related conduit of low electrical resistivity originating in the upper mantle undergoes pronounced lateral re-orientation in the deep crust before reaching shallower magmatic storage and the summit lava lake. The lateral turn represents a structural fault-valve controlling episodic flow of magma and CO2 vapour, which replenish and heat the high level phonolite differentiation zone. This magmatic valve lies within an inferred, east-west structural trend forming part of an accommodation zone across the southern termination of the Terror Rift, providing a dilatant magma pathway. Unlike H2O-rich subduction arc volcanoes, CO2-dominated Erebus geophysically shows continuous magmatic structure to shallow crustal depths of < 1 km, as the melt does not experience decompression-related volatile supersaturation and viscous stalling.

Influence of High Conductive Magnetite Impurity on the Electrical Conductivity of Dry Olivine Aggregates at High Temperature and High Pressure

The electrical conductivity of dry sintered olivine aggregates with various contents of magnetite (0, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 100 vol. %) was measured at temperatures of 873–1273 K and a pressure of 2.0 GPa within a frequency range of 0.1–106 Hz. The changes of the electrical conductivity of the samples with temperature followed an Arrhenius relation. The electrical conductivity of the sintered olivine aggregates increased as the magnetite-bearing content increased, and the activation enthalpy decreased, accordingly. When the content of interconnected magnetite was higher than the percolation threshold (~5 vol. %), the electrical conductivity of the samples was markedly enhanced. As the pressure increased from 1.0 to 3.0 GPa, the electrical conductivity of the magnetite-free olivine aggregates decreased, whereas the electrical conductivity of the 5 vol. % magnetite-bearing sample increased. Furthermore, the activation energy and activation volume of the 5 vol. % magnetite-bearing sintered olivine aggregates at atmospheric pressure were calculated to be 0.16 ± 0.04 eV and −1.50 ± 0.04 cm3/mole respectively. Due to the high value of percolation threshold (~5 vol. %) in the magnetite impurity sample, our present results suggest that regional high conductivity anomalies in the deep Earth’s interior cannot be explained by the presence of the interconnected magnetite-bearing olivine aggregates.

Dehydration of chlorite explains anomalously high electrical conductivity in the mantle wedges

Mantle wedge regions in subduction zone settings show anomalously high electrical conductivity (~1 S/m) that has often been attributed to the presence of aqueous fluids released by slab dehydration. Laboratory-based measurements of the electrical conductivity of hydrous phases and aqueous fluids are significantly lower and cannot readily explain the geophysically observed anomalously high electrical conductivity. The released aqueous fluid also rehydrates the mantle wedge and stabilizes a suite of hydrous phases, including serpentine and chlorite. In this present study, we have measured the electrical conductivity of a natural chlorite at pressures and temperatures relevant for the subduction zone setting. In our experiment, we observe two distinct conductivity enhancements when chlorite is heated to temperatures beyond its thermodynamic stability field. The initial increase in electrical conductivity to ~3 × 10(-3) S/m can be attributed to chlorite dehydration and the release of aqueous fluids. This is followed by a unique, subsequent enhancement of electrical conductivity of up to 7 × 10(-1) S/m. This is related to the growth of an interconnected network of a highly conductive and chemically impure magnetite mineral phase. Thus, the dehydration of chlorite and associated processes are likely to be crucial in explaining the anomalously high electrical conductivity observed in mantle wedges. Chlorite dehydration in the mantle wedge provides an additional source of aqueous fluid above the slab and could also be responsible for the fixed depth (120 ± 40 km) of melting at the top of the subducting slab beneath the subduction-related volcanic arc front.