Anomalous pressure-dependent viscosity of basaltic melts and its role in asthenosphere melt accumulation

Abstract

The asthenosphere's mechanical weakness enables plate tectonics, but its origin is debated. Partial melt has been proposed to cause this softening, yet recent studies suggest that the measured viscosity minimum in basaltic melts, an essential control on melt mobility, is an experimental artifact. Using quantum mechanics-based, machine learning-accelerated molecular dynamics, we extend simulation timescales by more than a factor of 1000 and achieve percent-level precision. We show that basaltic melt exhibits a robust viscosity minimum (approximately 20% below 1-bar values) at approximately 3 GPa, driven by pressure-induced reorganization of aluminum coordination that facilitates shear relaxation while silicon-oxygen polyhedra remain structurally rigid. Our results reveal a depth-dependent rheological transition: melt mobility peaks below approximately 150 km, promoting efficient extraction, but declines sharply during ascent, causing melt to stagnate beneath the lithosphere. This mechanism provides a physical basis for the dual seismic signatures of a melt-depleted deep asthenosphere and a melt-enriched layer near the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.