Frau Dr. Sonja Aulbach

The transport of volatile elements from the exosphere to the mantle via subduction, and their long-term storage in Earth’s interior – versus re-entry into the atmosphere via magmatism and tectonic degassing – remain poorly constrained. The lithospheric mantle, at the interface between these two major reservoirs, represents a potentially important sink and source of volatiles. Here, I consider the effects of the orogenic cycle on the volatile element inventory of LM that evolved in a palaeo-convergent plate boundary affected by subduction, tectonic accretion, collapse and rifting, taking the European Variscan Orogen and subsequent development of the European Cenozoic Rift System through parts of the orogen as an example.