Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex

Arai, Shoji; Ishimaru, Satoko; Miura, Makoto; Akizawa, Norikatsu; Mizukami, Tomoyuki

doi:10.3390/min10090806

Open AccessArticle

Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex

by

Shoji Arai

^1,*

,

Satoko Ishimaru

²,

Makoto Miura

³,

Norikatsu Akizawa

⁴

and

Tomoyuki Mizukami

⁵

¹

Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan

²

Department of Earth Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

³

Identification Department, GIA Tokyo Godo Kaisha, Yamaguchi Building 7, 4-19-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016, Japan

⁴

Department of Ocean Floor Geoscience, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan

⁵

Department of Earth Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Minerals 2020, 10(9), 806; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10090806

Submission received: 23 August 2020 / Revised: 8 September 2020 / Accepted: 11 September 2020 / Published: 13 September 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Insights into Serpentinites)

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Abstract

Rare nickel hydroxide-hydroxyl carbonate, theophrastite (Ni(OH)₂)-zaratite (Ni₃(CO₃)(OH)₄·4H₂O) aggregates were found from a partially serpentinized dunite from Fujiwara, the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt of high-pressure intermediate type, Japan. The dunite was regionally metamorphosed within the Sanbagawa subduction complex of Cretaceous age. The theophrastite-zaratite aggregate from Fujiwara most typically occurs in association with nickel sulfides, which form a composite grain with awaruite and magnetite within an antigorite-rich part of the rock. The theophraste-zaratite formed possibly together with millerite (NiS) from heazlewoodite (Ni₃S₂). This represents a partial desulfurization of heazlewoodite, which contains or interlocks with laths of antigorite, suggesting their cogenesis. The desulfurization occurred at an early stage of, or during, exhumation of the subduction complex toward the surface, where sulfur was oxidized and removed as sulfate ions. Serpentinization of olivine has not been associated with the formation of theophrastite-zaratite, and an oxidized condition has been kept at this post-serpentinization stage. The sulfate ions liberated in part precipitated anhydrite where calcium was available in the surrounding rocks. This shows one of the shallow migration pathways of sulfur in the subduction zone, especially to the forearc area.

Keywords: theophrastite; zaratite; serpentinization; heazlewoodite; millerite; desulfurization; subduction; exhumation; Sanbagawa metamorphic belt; Japan

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MDPI and ACS Style

Arai, S.; Ishimaru, S.; Miura, M.; Akizawa, N.; Mizukami, T. Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex. Minerals 2020, 10, 806. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10090806

AMA Style

Arai S, Ishimaru S, Miura M, Akizawa N, Mizukami T. Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex. Minerals. 2020; 10(9):806. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10090806

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arai, Shoji, Satoko Ishimaru, Makoto Miura, Norikatsu Akizawa, and Tomoyuki Mizukami. 2020. "Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex" Minerals 10, no. 9: 806. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10090806

APA Style

Arai, S., Ishimaru, S., Miura, M., Akizawa, N., & Mizukami, T. (2020). Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex. Minerals, 10(9), 806. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10090806

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Post-Serpentinization Formation of Theophrastite-Zaratite by Heazlewoodite Desulfurization: An Implication for Shallow Behavior of Sulfur in a Subduction Complex

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