Seismic Evidence for Deep Water Transportation in the Mantle
Kawakatsu, H., and S. Watada,
Science
, 316, 1468-1471, 2007.
We report seismic evidence for the transportation of water into the
deep mantle in the subduction
zone beneath northeastern Japan.
our data indicate that water is released from the hydrated oceanic
crust at shallow depths (<~100 kilometers) and then forms a channel
of hydrated mantle material on
top of the subducting plate that is the pathway for water into the deep mantle.
Our result provides direct
evidence that shows how water is transported from the ocean to the
deep mantle in a cold subduction
zone environment.