Yilin Xiao

Arc magmas are enriched in sulfur relative to mid-ocean ridge basalts, commonly attributed to slab-derived sulfur inputs during subduction. However, the contribution of slab fluids remains debated because sulfur concentrations in sub-arc fluids have not been directly measured. Here we quantify sulfur in slab-derived fluids preserved as multiphase fluid inclusions composed of H ₂ O, calcite, and chalcopyrite in omphacite from ultrahigh-pressure eclogites in the Sumdo orogenic belt. Three-dimensional Raman spectroscopy reveals high sulfur concentrations averaging ~6 wt.%. Mass-balance calculations indicate that such fluids can efficiently enrich the mantle wedge and supply up to ~70% of the sulfur emitted by arc volcanism. We further suggest that chalcopyrite formed through post-entrapment reduction of oxidized sulfur species by host omphacite, followed by precipitation with co-entrapped copper and iron. Our findings identify sub-arc depths as a critical window for slab sulfur release and provide key constraints on deep sulfur cycling and copper mobilization in arc systems.

Potential drivers disrupting mid‐Proterozoic (∼1.8–0.8 Ga) environmental stasis remain poorly constrained. Here we examined carbonate Li isotopes from the ∼1.44 Ga Tieling Formation, North China, to evaluate the effects of continental chemical weathering on coeval oxygenation. Our results identify two negative excursions in seawater δ ⁷ Li values, suggesting enhanced continental chemical weathering. Applying a dynamic box model, we demonstrate that 2.5‐fold increase in riverine Li influx coupled with decrease in riverine δ ⁷ Li by 6‰ can generate the observed data pattern. Intermittently enhanced continental chemical weathering could have delivered elevated nutrients to the ocean, stimulating primary productivity and thus organic carbon burial, favoring the ∼1.44 Ga oxygenation event.

Subduction zones regulate Earth's carbon distribution, yet the mechanism of carbon transfer from continental crust to mantle remains elusive. We examined an eclogite‐garnet peridotite interface from the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Program in the Sulu orogen, representing the slab–mantle wedge boundary formed during continental subduction. Whole‐rock magnesium (Mg) isotopic and major‐trace element data, together with in situ mineral analyses, identify the presence of carbonic fluids characterized by notably light Mg isotopic compositions (−0.54 to −0.36‰) and elevated Ca, Mg, Sr, and rare earth elements contents. These fluids, generated by slab decarbonation during prograde metamorphism, mobilized carbon from the subducted crust and enriched the mantle wedge. Modeling indicates that continental subduction rivals oceanic systems in transporting carbon to mantle. However, the paucity of mantle‐derived magmatism limits carbon return, promoting long‐term retention of continental carbon in mantle and establishing continental subduction as a major sink in the global carbon budget.

The largest Ediacaran carbon isotope excursion (the Shuram excursion, SE) has been proposed to coincide with a transient oceanic oxygenation event. However, the mechanisms responsible for the SE and the associated oxygenation remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of silicate weathering during the SE by measuring Li isotope compositions from two suites of marine carbonates in the Ediacaran Doushantuo sections. Our results reveal a pronounced negative lithium isotope excursion during the SE, which cannot be attributed to mineralogical effects and argues against a diagenetic origin for the SE. Instead, box model simulations of lithium-strontium cycles suggest a pulsed phase of enhanced congruent continental weathering during the SE. This increased weathering would have significantly elevated the input of essential nutrients into the ocean, boosting primary production, which in turn led to transient oceanic oxygenation. This process may also explain the negative δ¹³C_carb excursion, as it could result from the oxidation of upwelling dissolved organic carbon in shallow seawater. Continental weathering likely played a crucial role in regulating climate, seawater chemistry, and Earth’s surface oxidation state during the SE.

Fluids in subduction zones significantly influence element mobility, isotope fractionation, and mass transfer. However, unraveling the source, composition, and redox state of fluids in continental subduction zones poses a significant challenge. This study focuses on a granitic melt‐eclogite contact interface, along with adjacent granite and eclogite from the Sulu ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic belt in East China. The interface exhibits complex mineral assemblages, enriched rare earth elements (REEs), and high field strength elements (HFSEs). Zircon grains from the interface show an age of ∼217 ± 9 Ma, slightly later than peak metamorphism, along with the presence of coesite inclusions. These findings suggest that the interfacial fluid likely formed from the mixing of granitic anatectic melt and aqueous fluid from the eclogite during the initial exhumation of the Sulu terrane. The interaction resulted in the eclogite acquiring substantial REEs and HFSEs, suggesting the interfacial fluid's effective element‐transporting capability and potential supercritical fluid properties. Zircon Ce anomaly and Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ oxybarometer data indicate a highly oxidizing interfacial fluid, analogous to arc magmas in oxygen fugacity. This led to the preferential loss of isotopically heavier Cr from the eclogite during fluid‐eclogite interaction, evidenced by heavier Cr isotopic compositions in the interface (δ⁵³Cr = −0.04 to −0.05‰) compared to adjacent eclogite (δ⁵³Cr as low as −0.11‰). In summary, our results highlight the presence of strong oxidizing and element‐mobilizing fluids in continental subduction zones, offering insights into supercritical fluid recognition and the genesis of oxidizing arc magmas in subduction zones.

Subduction is a fundamental geodynamic process that transfers carbon from Earth’s surface into the mantle. However, current understanding of the migration mechanisms, final storage region, and species involved in carbon recycling from continental crust remains limited. Here, we investigated the compositions of polyphasic inclusions and Mg isotopes in postcollisional mafic magmatic rocks from the Dabie Shan region of China. The main rock-forming minerals contained two distinct types of polyphasic inclusions, which displayed systematic differences in daughter mineral/gaseous phase assemblages, including host-like silicates ± carbonates (magnesite, dolomite, and calcite) + CH4 and carbonates + talc ± SiO2 (aqueous) + CH4, respectively. These inclusions indicate that carbon-rich silicate melts and carbon-rich magmatic fluids were trapped by host minerals during magmatic processes. The abundant carbonates and CH4 in both types of inclusions suggest that the mantle source of these postcollisional mafic magmatic rocks was rich in carbon, most likely existing in the forms of CO2 and CH4. Moreover, the studied postcollisional mafic magmatic rocks have mantle-like Mg isotope compositions, with δ26Mg values ranging from −0.23‰ to −0.16‰. The combined observations of polyphase inclusions and Mg isotopes indicate that a substantial carbon-rich mantle domain arose from the metasomatism of silicate melts derived from subducted continental slabs that had dissolved a certain quantity of CO2 and CH4. We proposed that continental subduction is an efficient pathway for transporting crustal carbon into an orogenic subcontinental lithospheric mantle wedge, where the recycled carbon can be stored for >100 m.y. and eventually released to the surface during postcollisional magmatism.