Extremely light K in subducted low-T altered oceanic crust: Implications for K recycling in subduction zone

In order to investigate the behavior of potassium (K) isotopes during metamorphic dehydration and to further constrain its implications for K recycling in the subduction zone, we measured K isotopic compositions of whole-rocks and separated minerals (phengite, omphacite, amphibole) from Sumdo eclogites, Tibet, using a recently established high-precision analysis method. Our data reveal that the δ⁴¹K (‰) of the whole-rock eclogites (−1.64 to −0.24) displays dramatically lower values than observed in fresh mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) (−0.43 ± 0.17) and altered MORB (−0.76 to −0.11). In addition, the δ⁴¹K values of eclogites show a positive correlation with both K₂O contents and K/Nb ratios, which suggests that the low δ⁴¹K values were most likely caused by dehydration during subduction. Thus, isotopically heavy K may be released into the mantle wedge, while the light component is subducted into the deep mantle. Therefore, the K isotope systems have the potential to trace subducted crustal materials and to create heterogeneity within the mantle. Mineral separates from Sumdo eclogites are highly heterogeneous in K isotopic compositions, ranging from −0.98 to +0.23 in phengite, from −1.25 to −1.10 in omphacite and from −1.16 to −0.09 in amphibole. The K isotope fractionations between amphibole and phengite and between amphibole and omphacite vary from −0.30 to +0.25 and from −0.04 to +0.63, respectively, indicating K isotopic disequilibrium between amphibole and omphacite/phengite, which might result from the multistage growth of minerals during subduction metamorphism. However, generally phengites show heavier K isotopic compositions than the coexisting omphacite (Δ⁴¹K_{phengite-amphibole} = +0.25) and amphibole (Δ⁴¹K_{phengite-amphibole} = +0.03 ∼ +0.30, except TB193 is −0.25), which may imply that the K isotopic fractionation is controlled by the difference in coordination numbers of K between phengite (6) and omphacite (7 to 8)/amphibole (8).