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Talc is widely distributed over the Earth's surface and is predicted to be formed in various tectonic settings. Talc is a very soft and anisotropic sheet silicate showing very low friction behavior. Therefore, the formation of talc is expected to weaken the strength of talc-bearing rocks and may be associated with the initiation of subduction, and with a decrease in the coupling coefficient resulting in aseismic movements along faults and shear zones within subduction zones. For these reasons, understanding the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of talc is important to quantify the anisotropy and physical properties of the host rock. However, it is difficult to measure a significant number of talc crystal orientations and to evaluate the accuracy of the measurements using electron-backscattered diffraction (EBSD). Therefore, talc CPO has not been reported, and there is uncertainty regarding the estimation of the strength of deformed talc-bearing rocks. Using methods developed for antigorite, we report the first successful EBSD measurements of talc CPO from a talc schist formed due to Simetasomatism of ultramafic rocks by subduction zone fluids. We used a combination of W-SEM and FE-SEM measurements to examine domains of various grain sizes of talc. In addition, we used TEM measurements to evaluate the accuracy of the EBSD measurements and discuss the results of talc CPO analysis. Talc CPO in the present study shows a strong concentration of the pole to the (001) plane normal to the foliation. The strongest concentration of the [100] direction is parallel to the lineation. The talc schist produces similar S-wave splitting and P- and S-wave anisotropy as antigorite schist in deeper domains, thus identifying talc-rich layers in subduction zones may require a combination of geophysical surveys, seismic observations, and anisotropy modeling. The presence of strong talc CPO in rocks comprising the slab–mantle interface boundary may promote spatial expansion of the slip area during earthquakes along the base of the mantle wedge.

Silica activity in fluids is a key factor that controls reaction pathways during the hydrothermal alteration of olivine in the oceanic lithosphere. In this study, we conducted hydrothermal experiments (300 °C, 8.58 MPa) on the olivine (Ol)–quartz (Qtz)–H2O system to understand the coupling between silica transport and olivine alteration. Mineral powders were reacted with 0.5 mol kg−1 NaCl solution in a tube-in-tube type vessel, and the spatial distribution of reactant and product minerals was investigated after the experiments. Alteration zones formed in the Ol-hosted region after 2055 hours of reaction. With increasing distance from the Ol–Qtz boundary these were: talc; talc + serpentine; and serpentine + magnetite + brucite. Talc formed 0–2.3 mm from the Ol–Qtz boundary in the Ol-hosted region, and brucite formed >5 mm from the Ol–Qtz boundary in the Ol-hosted region. No secondary minerals formed in the Qtz-hosted region. The observed mineral distribution was modeled using a reactive transport model that simulated the coupling between SiO2(aq) diffusion and seven silica-controlling reactions. An inverse modeling framework, which combines a reactive transport model with an exchange Monte Carlo method, was used to parameterize the diffusivity of SiO2(aq) and the rate constants of the seven overall reactions. Our model shows that the rate of hydration in the serpentine + metastable talc zone with intermediate silica activity was higher than in the serpentine, serpentine + brucite, and talc zones, suggesting that the silica activity of the reacting fluid has a significant control on the rate of hydrothermal alteration of mantle peridotite by crustal fluids. Moreover, the model suggests that the rate-control process changed from being surface- to transport-controlled over the course of the experiments. We suggest that dynamic changes in rate control process are important contributors to the formation of metasomatic zoning and heterogeneous hydration patterns within the oceanic lithosphere.

Serpentinization occurs via interactions between mantle peridotite and water that commonly passes through the crust. Given that such a fluid has a high silica activity compared with mantle peridotite, it is thought that serpentinization and silica metasomatism occur simultaneously at the crust–mantle boundary. In this study, we conducted hydrothermal experiments in the olivine (Ol)–quartz (Qtz)–H 2 O system at 250 °C and vapor-saturated pressure under highly alkaline conditions (NaOH aq , pH = 13.8 at 25 °C) to clarify the mechanism of silica metasomatism at the crust–mantle boundary. Composite powders consisting of a Qtz layer and an Ol layer were set in tube-in-tube vessels. After the experiments, the extents of serpentinization and metasomatic reactions were evaluated as a function of distance from the Ol–Qtz boundary. The mineralogy of the reaction products in the Ol-hosted region changed with increasing distance from the Ol–Qtz boundary, from smectite + serpentine (Smc zone) to serpentine + brucite + magnetite (Brc zone). Olivine hydration proceeded in both zones, but the total H 2 O content in the products was greater in the Brc zone than in the Smc zone. Mass balance calculations revealed that olivine hydration occurred without any supply of silica in the brucite zone. In contrast, the Smc zone was formed by silica metasomatism via competitive hydration and dehydration reactions. In the Smc zone, smectite formed via the simultaneous progress of olivine hydration and serpentine dehydration, and around the boundary of the Smc and Brc zones, serpentine formation occurred by olivine hydration and brucite dehydration. The relative extent of hydration and dehydration reactions controlled the along-tube variation in the rate of H 2 O production/consumption and the rate of volume increase. Our findings suggest that the competitive progress of serpentinization and silica metasomatic reactions would cause fluctuations in pore fluid pressure, possibly affecting the mechanical behavior of the crust–mantle boundary.