MoVEMENT · Mobility of Volatiles in the Earth’s Mantle by Experimental and Numerical Technics
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-02-01 → 2022-04-01
- EU contribution
- €162,806
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Mobility of Volatiles in the Earth’s Mantle by Experimental and Numerical Technics
Volatiles cycle has a leading place in the evolution and fate of a planet, such as typically by defining the habitability conditions at the surface. On Earth, CO2 and H2O are the two most abundant volatiles in the upper mantle, playing a critical role on melting of mantle rocks, and triggering the production of magmatic liquids whose composition ranges from carbonatites (i.e. low silica content) deep in the mantle to basanites-basalts (i.e. high silica content) closer to the surface. These melts are the major hosts of carbon (and hydrogen) and their mobility through the mantle controls the distribution of carbon in the mantle, and at a larger scale the global deep carbon cycle with fluxes between surficial and deep reservoirs. The aim of the project MoVEMENT is to combine fundamental constraints on the physical properties, namely density and viscosity, of CO2-H2O-bearing melts with complex modelling to gain a quantitative understanding of the mobility and geophysical signature of these important phases during mantle magmatic processes. Better constraints on these processes will lead in turn to a new understanding of volatiles circulation and recycling in the deep Earth, and their impact in surficial processes. Especially, we identified three main research questions to be answered by the MoVEMENT project: 1. What is the density and viscosity of carbonatite-kimberlite-basalt melts in the upper mantle (WP1)? What are the effects of pressure, temperature, composition (e.g., change in SiO2 and H2O content) on these properties? 2. What is the most appropriate parameterization to describe the physical properties (density, viscosity) as a function of compositional variations in mantle melts with P-T (WP2)? 3. What is the mobility of volatile-bearing melts in the upper mantle (WP3)? What is the geophysical signature of melts in the upper mantle and their role in mantle geodynamics? To answer these questions, we have provided new data on the viscosity of carbonate-rich melts by classical Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations and further designed, implemented and applied thermodynamics-based models predicting density and viscosity of mantle melts covering a broad range of relevant pressures, temperatures and compositions. Further, we applied these models to predict geophysical signatures of such melts within the Earth’s mantle.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Volatiles cycle plays a critical role in the humanity’s existence by defining the habitability conditions prevailing at the Earth’s surface. Mantle is a major actor of this cycle by hosting considerable proportions of carbon, and also hydrogen. Understanding the exchanges and fluxes of carbon (and water) between the upper mantle and exosphere remains a primary goal in the Earth sciences community, but critically prevented by the lack of fundamental constrains on the mobility and migration rates of volatile-bearing melts (i.e., CO2-H2O-bearing melts) that are important conveyors for the distribution of volatiles. Therefore, the aim of the MoVEMENT project is to combine fundamental constraints on the physical properties (density and viscosity) of volatile-bearing melts with complex modelling to gain a quantitative understanding of the deep volatile cycles and related geophysical processes inside the planet. The applicant will achieve these scientific breakthroughs by combining two novel approaches: first, he will capitalize on new experimental methods at synchrotron sources to acquire missing data on the density and viscosity of carbon-bearing melts at high pressure; second, he will integrate the novel data into rigorous and continuous computer models for the density and viscosity of volatile-bearing melts. The new models will allow predictions of the mobility of volatile-bearing melts in a range of pressure, temperature (20 GPa – 2500 °C ) and compositions, i.e. from carbonatites (CO2-rich melts) to basalts (SiO2-rich melts), that span the conditions for melts stabilized in the upper mantle. Specifically, the results will be applied to quantify volatile-mediated processes in the upper mantle, including the migration/ascent/emplacement of melts through the mantle, ultimately leading to a new understanding of volatile mobility and recycling in the deep Earth.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITAET MUENSTER · MuensterCoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union