Constraints on Lu-Hf and Nb-Ta systematics in globally subducted oceanic crust from a survey of orogenic eclogites and amphibolites

To further understand Lu-Hf and Nb-Ta systematics in globally subducted oceanic crust, this paper evaluates all available Lu-Hf garnet isochron ages and initial ϵ_Hf values in conjunction with present-day bulk-rock Lu-Hf isotope and trace element (K, Nb, Ta, Zr, and Ti in addition to Lu-Hf) data from the world's orogenic eclogites and amphibolites (OEAs). Approximately half of OEAs exhibit Lu-Hf and Nb-Ta systematics mimicking those of unsubducted oceanic crust whereas the rest exhibit variability in one or both systems. For the Lu-Hf system, mixing calculations demonstrate that subduction-related phase transformations, in conjunction with open system behavior, can shift subducted oceanic crust toward higher Lu/Hf, or toward lower Lu/Hf that can also be associated with unradiogenic ϵ_Hf values. However, evaluation of potential mechanisms for fractionating Nb from Ta is more complicated because many of the OEAs have Nb-Ta systematics that are decoupled from Lu-Hf and the behavior of K, Zr, and Ti. Nonetheless, the global data set demonstrates that the association between unradiogenic ϵ_Hf and elevated Nb/Ta observed in some kimberlitic eclogite xenoliths can be inherited from processes that occurred during subduction of their oceanic crustal protoliths. This allows for a geologically based estimate of the Nb concentration in a reservoir composed of deeply subducted oceanic crust. However, mass balance calculations confirm that such a reservoir, when considered as a whole, likely has a Nb concentration similar to unsubducted oceanic crust and is therefore not the solution to the problem of the Earth's "missing" Nb.