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Preface to the Hydrous Minerals at High Pressure Special Issue

Mark Welch^1,* and George Lager^2,

¹ Division of Mineral Sciences and Systematics, Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.
² Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, U.S.A.

Correspondence: ^* E-mail: M.Welch@nhm.ac.uk

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

The behavior of hydrous phases at non-ambient conditions is an important topic in the Earth sciences because the water stored in their structures as OH or H₂O can dramatically affect geological processes. For example, it is well known that the release of structural water during subduction is responsible for metasomatism and partial melting of the overlying mantle wedge, and associated volcanic activity at the surface. There is also a good correlation between the location of intermediate depth earthquake foci (~70–300 km) and the occurrence of hydrous minerals in subducted slabs. Many of the hydrous phases in subduction zones are "sinks" for water and can contain several wt% H₂O. However, even trace amounts (ppm levels or defect concentrations) of water in minerals can significantly affect physical properties. Dehydration of nominally anhydrous minerals may explain the increased strength and seismicity of the lower crust beneath ancient shield areas. . . . [Full Text of this Article]