Earth would be uninhabitable if water was not returned to exogenous reservoirsat subduction zones, preventing global ocean drainage. Yet the bottleneck mechanism that couples initial fluid release from subducting, zero-porosity rocks with chemically bound water to rocks with high-permeability fluid escape channels is unknown. Using multiscale rock analysis combined with thermodynamic modelling we show that fluid flow initiation in dehydrating serpentinites is controlled by intrinsic chemical heterogeneities, localizing dehydration reactions at specific microsites. Porosity generation is directly linked to the dehydration reactions and resultant fluid-pressure variations force the reactive fluid release to organize into vein networks across a wide range of spatial scales (µm to m). This fluid channelization results in large-scale fluid escape with sufficient fluxes to drain subducting plates. Moreover, our findings suggest that antigorite dehydration reactions do not cause instantaneous rock embrittlement, often presumed as the trigger of intermediatedepth subduction zone seismicity.

In the classical view of metamorphic microstructures, fast viscous relaxation (and so constant pressure) is assumed, with diffusion being the limiting factor in equilibration. This contribution is focused on the only other possible scenario – fast diffusion and slow viscous relaxation – and brings an alternative interpretation of microstructures typical of high‐grade metamorphic rocks. In contrast to the pressure vessel mechanical model applied to pressure variation associated with coesite inclusions in various host minerals, a multi‐anvil mechanical model is proposed in which strong single crystals and weak grain boundaries can maintain pressure variation at geological time‐scales in a polycrystalline material. In such a mechanical context, exsolution lamellae in feldspar are used to show that feldspar can sustain large differential stresses (>10 kbar) at geological time‐scales. Furthermore, it is argued that the existence of grain‐scale pressure gradients combined with diffusional equilibrium may explain chemical zoning preserved in reaction rims. Assuming zero net flux across the microstructure, an equilibrium thermodynamic method is introduced for inferring pressure variation corresponding to the chemical zoning. This new barometric method is applied to plagioclase rims around kyanite in felsic granulite (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic), yielding a grain‐scale pressure variation of 8 kbar. In this approach, kinetic factors are not invoked to account for mineral composition zoning preserved in rocks metamorphosed at high grade.

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Garnet-peridotites often contain veins or layers of pyroxenite and eclogite of uncertain origin. We investigate the Svartberget garnetperidotite from the northernmost ultrahigh-pressure domain in the Western Gneiss Region (WGR) in Norway and show that the observed layering represents a sequence of metasomatic reaction zones developed along a fracture system. From the garnet-peridotite wall-rock to the fractures the following sequential reaction zones are recognized: clinohumite bearing garnet-peridotite, olivine^garnetwebsterite, garnet-websterite, orthopyroxene^phlogopite^garnetwebsterite, coarse-grained phlogopite^garnet-websterite, phlogopiteĝ arnet-websterite, phlogopite-free garnet-websterite, inclusion-rich garnetite, garnetite, eclogite, retrograde omphacitite and felsic amphibole-pegmatite.The MgO, FeO and CaO contents generally decrease from the pristine peridotite towards the most metasomatized samples, with an associated increase in SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 . Concentrations of fluid-mobile elements increase from the most pristine peridotite towards the garnetite, whereas Ni

Mineralogical reactions which generate or consume fluids play a key role during fluid flow in porous media. Such reactions are linked to changes in density, porosity, permeability, and fluid pressure which influence fluid flow and rock deformation. To understand such a coupled system, equations were derived from mass conservation and local thermodynamic equilibrium. The presented mass conservative modeling approach describes the relationships among evolving fluid pressure, porosity, fluid and solid density, and devolatilization reactions in multicomponent systems with solid solutions. This first step serves as a framework for future models including aqueous speciation and transport. The complexity of univariant and multivariant reactions is treated by calculating lookup tables from thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. Simplified cases were also investigated to understand previously studied formulations. For nondeforming systems or systems divided into phases of constant density, the equations can be reduced to porosity wave equations with addition of a reactive term taking the volume change of reaction into account. For closed systems, an expression for the volume change of reaction and the associated pressure increase can be obtained. The key equations were solved numerically for the case of devolatilization of three different rock types that may enter a subduction zone. Reactions with positive Clapeyron slope lead to an increase in porosity and permeability with decreasing fluid pressure resulting in sharp fluid pressure gradients around a negative pressure anomaly. The opposite trend is obtained for reactions having a negative Clapeyron slope during which sharp fluid pressure gradients were only generated around a positive pressure anomaly. Coupling of reaction with elastic deformation induces a more efficient fluid flow for reactions with negative Clapeyron slope than for reactions with positive Clapeyron slope.