Electrical Conductivity in Texturally Equilibrated Fluid-Bearing Forsterite Aggregates at 800°C and 1 GPa: Implications for the High Electrical Conductivity Anomalies in Mantle Wedges

Abstract

Aqueous fluids are one of the principal agents of chemical transport in Earth´s interior. The precise determination of fluid fractions is essential to understand bulk physical properties, such as rheology and permeability, and the geophysical state of the mantle. Laboratory-based electrical conductivity measurements are an effective method for estimating the fluid distribution and fraction in a fluid-bearing rock. In this study, the electrical conductivity of texturally equilibrated fluid-bearing forsterite aggregates was measured for the first time with various fluid fractions at a constant salinity of 5.0 wt.% NaCl at 1 GPa and 800°C. We found that the electrical conductivity nonlinearly increases with increasing fluid fraction, and the data can be well reproduced by the modified Archie's law. The three-dimensional (3-D) microstructure of the interstitial pores visualized by the high-resolution synchrotron X-ray computed micro-tomography (CT) shows a change in fluid distribution from isolated pockets at a fluid fraction of 0.51 vol.% to interconnected networks at fluid fractions of 2.14 vol.% and above due to grain anisotropy and grain size differences, accounting for the nonlinear increase in electrical conductivity. The rapid increase in conductivity indicates that there is a threshold fluid fraction between 0.51 and 2.14 vol.% for forming interconnected fluid networks, which is consistent with the 3-D images. Our results provide direct evidence that the presence of >1.0 vol.% aqueous fluid with 5.0 wt.% NaCl is required to explain the high conductivity anomalies above 0.01 S/m detected in deep fore-arc mantle wedges.