A ‘hidden’ 18O-enriched reservoir in the sub-arc mantle

Plate subduction continuously transports crustal materials with high-δ(18)O values down to the mantle wedge, where mantle peridotites are expected to achieve the high-δ(18)O features. Elevated δ(18)O values relative to the upper mantle value have been reported for magmas from some subduction zones. However, peridotites with δ(18)O values significantly higher than the well-defined upper mantle values have never been observed from modern subduction zones. Here we present in-situ oxygen isotope data of olivine crystals in Sailipu mantle xenoliths from South Tibet, which have been subjected to a long history of Tethyan subduction before the India-Asia collision. Our data identify for the first time a metasomatized mantle that, interpreted as the sub-arc lithospheric mantle, shows anomalously enriched oxygen isotopes (δ(18)O = +8.03 ± 0.28 ‰). Such a high-δ(18)O mantle commonly does not contribute significantly to typical island arc basalts. However, partial melting or contamination of such a high-δ(18)O mantle is feasible to account for the high-δ(18)O signatures in arc basalts.