A plate tectonic origin for Earth's hydrogen isotope dichotomy

A plate tectonic origin for Earth's hydrogen isotope dichotomy | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 15 September 2025 V1 Latest version Share on A plate tectonic origin for Earth's hydrogen isotope dichotomy Authors : Amy L. Ferrick 0000-0002-6547-8414 [email protected] and Jun Korenaga Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175795574.42955792/v1 183 views 157 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract The Earth's hydrogen isotope signature (D/H) is a primary tool for investigating the origins of terrestrial water and other volatiles. However, this signature is not uniform within the Earth. Whereas seawater D/H resembles that of carbonaceous chondrites and falls outside of the enstatite chondrite range, mantle water is consistent with the enstatite chondrite signature. A recently popularized interpretation is that the Earth’s surface and interior had distinct cosmochemical sources for volatiles during planetary accretion: mantle volatiles were initially sourced by enstatite chondrite-like material, followed by a relatively late shift to a carbonaceous chondrite-like source for surface volatiles. This scenario requires that initially disparate isotopic signatures of the early mantle and surface have been preserved until present day, but the likelihood of such preservation is uncertain. To explore the evolution of surface and mantle D/H throughout Earth’s history, we combine geochemical and geodynamic modeling. We find that the fractionation accompanying plate tectonic processes naturally induces the observed D/H dichotomy between Earth’s surface and interior, for a wide range of initial D/H distribution scenarios. Thus, while the bulk silicate Earth D/H, which we estimate is between \(-42‰\) and \(-30‰\) (expressed as \(\delta\)D), may be used to infer the cosmochemical origins of volatiles, the present-day distribution of D/H is likely a fingerprint of plate tectonics, and not leftover from a transition during volatile accretion. Supplementary Material File (manuscript.pdf) Download 567.56 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 15 September 2025 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords cosmochemistry geochemistry geophysics habitability volatiles Authors Affiliations Amy L. Ferrick 0000-0002-6547-8414 [email protected] View all articles by this author Jun Korenaga Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 183 views 157 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Amy L. Ferrick, Jun Korenaga. A plate tectonic origin for Earth's hydrogen isotope dichotomy. Authorea . 15 September 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175795574.42955792/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . 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