Experimental exploration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons stability in subduction zones

Thermodynamic, experimental and field studies have suggested that organic compounds could be stable, and in some cases predominate over inorganic carbon species, within subduction zones under high pressure and high temperature (HP-HT) conditions. Beyond sedimentary organic matter of biological origin, solid organics can be inherited from hydrothermal circulation at mid-ocean ridges or abiotically formed by carbonate destabilization in the slab. To assess the fate of solid organic compounds during subduction, HP-HT experiments using piston-cylinder and multi-anvil presses have been performed at 700–1000 °C and 3–7 GPa. Different starting solids were tested, including either synthetic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) alone, with (i.e., 1-hydroxypyrene, 1-pyrenebutyric acid) or without (pyrene) oxygen-bearing functional groups, or a mixing of pyrene and antigorite. Our results show that increasing P–T conditions lead to the formation of hydrogenated (±oxygenated) graphitic carbon preserving a high level of structural disorder, far from graphite structure. We also observe the formation of aqueous fluids during experiments at 700 °C and 3 GPa with oxygen-functionalized PAHs, suggesting quick water release from solid organic compounds at HP-HT in subduction zones. Pyrene-antigorite experiments reveal various mineral assemblages depending on redox conditions. Oxidizing conditions favor the formation of magnesite-enstatite-coesite while reducing conditions promote forsterite-enstatite-graphitic carbon assemblages. Our results finally highlight the limited reactivity of solid organic compounds when exposed to aqueous fluids derived from serpentinite under reducing conditions which could facilitate the recycling of organic carbon into the deep mantle.