Fig. 4: Schematics of the deep water cycle in the presence of hydrous aluminosilicates in the Earth’s mantle.

Hydrous minerals in mantle peridotite, oceanic crust, and sediments of subducting slabs, such as hydrous aluminosilicates, can transport water into the deep mantle and recycle it back to the Earth’s surface. The crystal structures of hydrous aluminosilicates are significantly influenced by the thermal structure of the deep mantle. Notably, high-temperature induced order-to-disorder transitions of hydrous aluminosilicates potentially result in disordered structures pervasive in slowly hot subducting slabs and mantle plumes (e.g., disordered phase Egg), while ordered structures may dominate in relatively cold subducting slabs (e.g., ordered phase Egg).