The electrical conductivity during incipient melting in the oceanic low velocity zone

A low viscosity layer in the upper mantle, the Asthenosphere, is a requirement for plate tectonics(1). The seismic low velocities and the high electrical conductivities of the Asthenosphere are attributed either to sub-solidus water-related defects in olivine minerals(2-4) or to a few volume percents of partial melt(5-8) but these two interpretations have shortcomings: (1) The amount of H(2)O stored in olivine is not expected to be higher than 50 ppm due to partitioning with other mantle phases(9), including pargasite amphibole at moderate temperatures(10), and partial melting at high temperatures(9); (2) elevated melt volume fractions are impeded by the too cold temperatures prevailing in the Asthenosphere and by the high melt mobility that can lead to gravitational segregation(11,12). Here we determined the electrical conductivity of CO(2)-H(2)O-rich melts, typically produced at the onset of mantle melting. Electrical conductivity modestly increases with moderate amounts of H(2)O and CO(2) but it dramatically increases as CO(2) content exceeds 6 wt% in the melt. Incipient melts, long-expected to prevail in the asthenosphere(10,13-15), can therefore trigger its high electrical conductivities. Considering depleted and enriched mantle abundances in H(2)O and CO(2) and their effect on the petrology of incipient melting, we calculated conductivity profiles across the Asthenosphere for various plate ages. Several electrical discontinuities are predicted and match geophysical observations in a consistent petrological and geochemical framework. In moderately aged plates (>5Ma), incipient melts most likely trigger both the seismic low velocities and the high electrical conductivities in the upper part of the asthenosphere, whereas for young plates(4), where seamount volcanism occurs(6), higher degree of melting is expected.