Potassium isotopic heterogeneity in subducting oceanic plates.

ABSTRACT: Oceanic crust and sediments are the primary K sinks for seawater, and they deliver considerable amounts of K to the mantle via subduction. Historically, these crustal components were not studied for K isotopes because of the lack of analytical precision to differentiate terrestrial variations. Here, we report a high-precision dataset that reveals substantial variability in oceanic plates and provides further insights into the oceanic K cycle. Sixty-nine sediments worldwide yield a broad δ41K range from -1.3 to -0.02‰. The unusually low values are indicative of release of heavy K during continental weathering and uptake of light K during submarine diagenetic alteration. Twenty samples of altered western Pacific crust from ODP Site 801 display δ41K from -0.60 to -0.05‰, averaging at -0.32‰.

SUBMITTER: Hu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7821876 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature