How Subduction Settings can Affect Planetary Nitrogen Cycle: An Experimental Insight

Abstract:

Nitrogen is one of the main building blocks of life on Earth and its elemental cycle is deeply connected with organic matter and the biological system. It is known that nitrogen can be stored in mantellic phases (such as clinopyroxenes) or in metallic alloys under high pressures, meaning that Earth’s mantle, and even the core, could be efficient nitrogen reservoirs. Probably, nitrogen is present in these deep Earth systems since the formation of our planet. Nevertheless, it is possible that superficial nitrogen can be reintroduced in the mantle through tectonic processes along Earth history. This is reinforced by d¹⁵N values in inclusions in diamonds and other deep mantle phases. We believe that subduction zones are efficient enough to transport nitrogen from surface to mantle. Clay minerals with high charge exchange capacity (CEC) are good candidates to convey nitrogen in subduction zones, especially when we take into account the similarities between K⁺ and NH₄⁺. To simulate the high-pressure high-temperature conditions found in subduction zones, we performed a series of experiments with montmorillonite clay mineral undergone to high pressure and high temperature produced by a hydraulic press coupled with toroidal chambers, in pressures ranging from 2.5 to 7.7 GPa and temperatures up to 700^oC. We used ex situ XRD analysis to accompany the main montmorillonite structural changes and FTIR analysis to determine quantitatively the presence of nitrogen. So far, our results show that the main structural transition in montmorillonite happens at ~350^oC at room pressure and ~450^oC at 2.5 and 4.0 GPa and consists in the transformation of an open clay structure to a closed mica structure (tobelite). FTIR data show the presence of nitrogen in all the analysed experiments. With the data obtained, we can presume that clay minerals carried in subduction zones can successfully transport nitrogen and other volatiles to the mantle. However, only cold subduction systems have the correct thermal behaviour to do so (such as Valparaiso). In hot systems (such as Cascadia), melting of clays occur in shallow depths and volatiles are liberated in the volcanic front.