Laboratory earthquakes triggered during eclogitization of lawsonite-bearing blueschist

International audienceThe origin of intermediate-depth seismicity has been debated for decades. A substantial fraction of these events occurs within the upper plane of Wadati-Benioff double seismic zones believed to represent subducting oceanic crust. We deformed natural lawsonite-rich blueschist samples under eclogite-facies conditions (1.5 2.5 GPa to maximum temperatures ranging from 762 to 1073 K, during which lawsonite and glaucophane became gradually unstable while entering the stability field of lawsonite-eclogite and the breakdown reaction of lawsonite was only crossed in case of the highest final temperature; ii) heating while deforming at a pressure