Revisiting geochemical perspectives on degassing of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle

Abstract

In general, mantle-derived volatiles are mainly released into the atmosphere through volcanoes in mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the emission of volatiles from continents on the Earth’s surface. It has recently been shown that significant amounts of gases such as carbon dioxide of mantle origin are emitted from continental rifts. Continental degassing has been reported in various ways around the world, however compared to mid-ocean ridges where the depleted upper mantle contributes significantly or arc volcanoes affected by subduction slabs, geochemical generalization is still in progress. In particular, in continental environments, other volatile sources may be added due to the distribution of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. In the previously reported mantle xenolith samples, components such as noble gases are distinct from the mid-ocean ridge gases, and volcano/fault-related gases on some continents also showed different characteristics. Here, this work proposes representative values of volatiles of the lithosphere by synthesizing the geochemical data of gases emitted from the continent that have been reported until recently. In addition, this study provides a new perspective by considering the recently reported gas results from South Korea.