Zinc isotope evidence for a large-scale carbonated mantle beneath eastern China

Abstract

A large set of zinc (Zn) stable isotope data for continental basalts from eastern China were reported to investigate the application of Zn isotopes as a new tracer of deep carbonate cycling. All of the basalts with ages of 120 Ma basalts from eastern China (0.27±0.06‰0.27±0.06‰; 2sd). Given that Zn isotope fractionation during magmatic differentiation is limited (≤0.1‰), the elevated δ66Zn values reflect the involvement of isotopically heavy crustal materials (e.g., carbonates with an average δ66Zn of ∼0.91‰) in the mantle sources. SiO2 contents of the <110 Ma basalts negatively correlate with parameters that are sensitive to the degree of partial melting (e.g., Sm/Yb, Nb/Y, [Nb]) and with the concentration of Zn, which also behaves incompatibly during mantle melting. This is inconsistent with a volatile-poor peridotite source and instead suggests partial melting of carbonated peridotites which, at lower degree of melting, generates more Si-depleted (and more Ca-rich) melts. Zinc isotopic compositions are positively correlated with Sm/Yb, Nb/Y, [Nb] and [Zn], indicating that melts produced by lower degrees of melting have heavier Zn isotopic compositions. Carbonated peridotites have a lower solidus than volatile-poor peridotites and therefore at lower melting extents, contribute more to the melts, which will have heavier Zn isotopic compositions. Together with the positive relationships of δ66Zn with CaO and CaO/Al2O3, we propose that the heavy Zn isotopic compositions of the <110 Ma basalts were generated by incongruent partial melting of carbonated peridotites. Combined with previously reported Mg and Sr isotope data, we suggest that the large-scale Zn isotope anomaly indicates the widespread presence of recycled Mg (Zn)-rich carbonates in the mantle beneath eastern China since the Late Mesozoic. Since Zn is a trace element in the mantle and Zn isotopic compositions of marine carbonates and the mantle differ markedly, we highlight Zn isotopes as a new and useful tool of tracing deep carbonate cycling in the Earth's mantle.