July 22
2016
2016
Geologists have determined the mechanism of formation of mantle sulfides
Employees of the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy SB RAS and the Novosibirsk State University, have experimentally determined the mechanism of formation of sulfides in the Earth's mantle. Experimenters have proved that mantle sulfides can be formed under the influence of ephemeral sulfur-containing fluids on ultrabasic mantle rocks.
The article of Yulia Bataleva's scientists and co-authors named «Sulfidation of silicate mantle under the influence of reduced sulfur-containing fluids and melts» was published in the journal Geology - high-grade geological journal (Impact Factor 4.9). Specialists in the field of experiment, carrying out research on a grant from the Russian Science Foundation, reproduced possible scenarios for the behavior of sulfur-enriched fluids and melts at great depths in the Earth's mantle and demonstrated their relationship to the origin of mantle sulfides.
The results of the research showed that sulfur-enriched fluid is the most powerful metasomatic agent, which, penetrating ultrabasic mantle rocks, can process them almost completely, modifying their mineral and chemical compositions. In particular, under the influence of this fluid, iron, and nickel are extracted from silicates, and mantle sulfides or sulfide melts are being formed, as well as the process of formation of inclusions of sulfides in silicates.
The results of the research showed that sulfur-enriched fluid is the most powerful metasomatic agent, which, penetrating ultrabasic mantle rocks, can process them almost completely, modifying their mineral and chemical compositions. In particular, under the influence of this fluid, iron, and nickel are extracted from silicates, and mantle sulfides or sulfide melts are being formed, as well as the process of formation of inclusions of sulfides in silicates.