1. Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., Graham, D., Su, S. & Deng, J. Geochemistry of Cenozoic basalts and mantle xenoliths in northeast China. Lithos 96, 108–126 (2007).

2. Wang, X.-C., Wilde, S. A., Li, Q.-L. & Yang, Y.-N. Continental flood basalts derived from the hydrous mantle transition zone. Nat. Commun. 6, 7700 (2015).

3. Chen, C. et al. Mantle transition zone, stagnant slab and intraplate volcanism in northeast Asia. Geophys. J. Int. 209, 68–85 (2017).

4. Hirano, N. et al. Volcanism in response to plate flexure. Science 313, 1426–1428 (2006).

5. Okumura, S. & Hirano, N. Carbon dioxide emission to Earth’s surface by deep-sea volcanism. Geology 41, 1167–1170 (2013).

6. Machida, S. et al. Petit-spot geology reveals melts in upper-most asthenosphere dragged by lithosphere. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 426, 267–279 (2015).

7. Pilet, S. et al. Pre-subduction metasomatic enrichment of the oceanic lithosphere induced by plate flexure. Nat. Geosci. 9, 898–903 (2016).

8. Li, C., Van der Hilst, R. D., Meltzer, A. S. & Engdahl, E. R. Subduction of the Indian lithosphere beneath the Tibetan Plateau and Burma. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 274, 157–168 (2008).

9. Tauzin, B., Debayle, E. & Wittlinger, G. Seismic evidence for a global low-velocity layer within the Earth’s upper mantle. Nat. Geosci. 3, 718–721 (2010).

10. Fukao, Y. & Obayashi, M. Subducted slabs stagnant above, penetrating through, and trapped below the 660 km discontinuity. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 118, 5920–5938 (2013).

11. Liu, Z., Park, J. & Karato, S.-i. Seismological detection of low velocity anomalies surrounding the mantle transition zone in Japan subduction zone. Geophys. Res. Lett. 43, 2480–2487 (2016).

12. Wei, S. S. & Shearer, P. M. A sporadic low-velocity layer atop the 410 km discontinuity beneath the Pacific Ocean. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 122, 5144–5159 (2017).

13. Lustrino, M. & Wilson, M. The circum-Mediterranean anorogenic Cenozoic igneous province. Earth Sci. Rev. 81, 1–65 (2007).

14. Tang, Y. et al. Changbaishan volcanism in northeast China linked to subduction-induced mantle upwelling. Nat. Geosci. 7, 470–475 (2014).

15. Zhao, D., Tian, Y., Lei, J., Liu, L. & Zheng, S. Seismic image and origin of the Changbai intraplate volcano in East Asia: role of big mantle wedge above the stagnant Pacific slab. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 173, 197–206 (2009).

16. Karato, S.-i. Water distribution across the mantle transition zone and its implications for global material circulation. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 301, 413–423 (2011).

17. Kelbert, A., Schultz, A. & Egbert, G. Global electromagnetic induction constraints on transition-zone water content variations. Nature 460, 1003–1006 (2009).

18. Bercovici, D. & Karato, S.-i. Whole-mantle convection and the transition-zone water filter. Nature 425, 39–44 (2003).

19. Liu, Z., Park, J. & Karato, S.-i. Seismic evidence for water transport out of the mantle transition zone beneath the European Alps. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 482, 93–104 (2018).

20. Schmandt, B., Jacobsen, S. D., Becker, T. W., Liu, Z. & Dueker, K. G. Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle. Science 344, 1265–1268 (2014).

21. Hier-Majumder, S. & Tauzin, B. Pervasive upper mantle melting beneath the western US. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 463, 25–35 (2017).

22. Mao, Z. et al. Elasticity of hydrous wadsleyite to 12 GPa: implications for Earth’s transition zone. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035618 (2008).

23. Irifune, T. et al. Sound velocities of majorite garnet and the composition of the mantle transition region. Nature 451, 814–817 (2008).

24. Bezada, M., Faccenda, M. & Toomey, D. Representing anisotropic subduction zones with isotropic velocity models: a characterization of the problem and some steps on a possible path forward. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 17, 3164–3189 (2016).

25. Obayashi, M., Sugioka, H., Yoshimitsu, J. & Fukao, Y. High temperature anomalies oceanward of subducting slabs at the 410-km discontinuity. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 243, 149–158 (2006).

26. Zhao, D. & Tian, Y. Changbai intraplate volcanism and deep earthquakes in East Asia: a possible link? Geophys. J. Int. 195, 706–724 (2013).

27. Cline, C. J. II, Faul, U. H., David, E. C., Berry, A. J. & Jackson, I. Redox-influenced seismic properties of upper-mantle olivine. Nature 555, 355–358 (2018).

28. Xu, W., Lithgow-Bertelloni, C., Stixrude, L. & Ritsema, J. The effect of bulk composition and temperature on mantle seismic structure. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 275, 70–79 (2008).

29. Litasov, K. D., Shatskiy, A., Ohtani, E. & Yaxley, G. M. Solidus of alkaline carbonatite in the deep mantle. Geology 41, 79–82 (2013).

30. Kuritani, T. et al. Buoyant hydrous mantle plume from the mantle transition zone. Sci. Rep. 9, 6549 (2019).

31. Green, H. W., II, Chen, W.-P. & Brudzinski, M. R. Seismic evidence of negligible water carried below 400-km depth in subducting lithosphere. Nature 467, 828–831 (2010).

32. Mazza, S. E. et al. Sampling the volatile-rich transition zone beneath Bermuda. Nature 569, 398–403 (2019).

33. Wang, X.-J. et al. Mantle transition zone-derived EM1 component beneath NE China: geochemical evidence from Cenozoic potassic basalts. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 465, 16–28 (2017).

34. Kuritani, T., Ohtani, E. & Kimura, J. I. Intensive hydration of the mantle transition zone beneath China caused by ancient slab stagnation. Nat. Geosci. 4, 713–716 (2011).

35. Rohrbach, A. & Schmidt, M. W. Redox freezing and melting in the Earth’s deep mantle resulting from carbon–iron redox coupling. Nature 472, 209–212 (2011).

36. Soltanmohammadi, A. et al. Transport of volatile-rich melt from the mantle transition zone via compaction pockets: implications for mantle metasomatism and the origin of alkaline lavas in the Turkish–Iranian plateau. J. Petrol. 59, 2273–2310 (2018).

37. Gerya, T. V. & Yuen, D. A. Characteristics-based marker-in-cell method with conservative finite-differences schemes for modeling geological flows with strongly variable transport properties. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 140, 293–318 (2003).

38. Karato, S.-i. & Wu, P. Rheology of the upper mantle: a synthesis. Science 260, 771–778 (1993).

39. Kameyama, M., Yuen, D. A. & Karato, S.-i. Thermal-mechanical effects of low-temperature plasticity (the Peierls mechanism) on the deformation of a viscoelastic shear zone. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 168, 159–172 (1999).

40. Connolly, J. Computation of phase equilibria by linear programming: a tool for geodynamic modeling and its application to subduction zone decarbonation. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 236, 524–541 (2005).

41. Litasov, K. Physicochemical conditions for melting in the Earth’s mantle containing a C–O–H fluid (from experimental data). Russ. Geol. Geophys. 52, 475–492 (2011).

42. Andrault, D. et al. Melting of subducted basalt at the core-mantle boundary. Science 344, 892–895 (2014).

43. Zhang, J. & Herzberg, C. Melting experiments on anhydrous peridotite KLB-1 from 5.0 to 22.5 GPa. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 99, 17729–17742 (1994).

44. Nomura, R. et al. Low core–mantle boundary temperature inferred from the solidus of pyrolite. Science 343, 522–525 (2014).

45. Sakamaki, T., Suzuki, A. & Ohtani, E. Stability of hydrous melt at the base of the Earth’s upper mantle. Nature 439, 192–194 (2006).

46. Jing, Z. & Karato, S.-i. Effect of H 2 O on the density of silicate melts at high pressures: static experiments and the application of a modified hard-sphere model of equation of state. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 85, 357–372 (2012).

47. Guillot, B. & Sator, N. A computer simulation study of natural silicate melts. Part II: High pressure properties. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 71, 4538–4556 (2007).

48. Yoshino, T., Nishihara, Y. & Karato, S.-i. Complete wetting of olivine grain boundaries by a hydrous melt near the mantle transition zone. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 256, 466–472 (2007).

49. Freitas, D. et al. Experimental evidence supporting a global melt layer at the base of the Earth’s upper mantle. Nat. Commun. 8, 2186 (2017).

50. Sizova, E., Gerya, T., Brown, M. & Perchuk, L. Subduction styles in the Precambrian: insight from numerical experiments. Lithos 116, 209–229 (2010).

51. Keller, T., May, D. A. & Kaus, B. J. P. Numerical modelling of magma dynamics coupled to tectonic deformation of lithosphere and crust. Geophys. J. Int. 195, 1406–1442 (2013).

52. Lehmann, R. Modelling of Magma Dynamics from the Mantle to the Surface (Universitätsbibliothek Mainz, 2016).

53. Iwamori, H. Phase relations of peridotites under H 2 O-saturated conditions and ability of subducting plates for transportation of H 2 O. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 227, 57–71 (2004).

54. van Keken, P. E., Hacker, B. R., Syracuse, E. M. & Abers, G. A. Subduction factory: 4. Depth-dependent flux of H 2 O from subducting slabs worldwide. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 116, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JB007922 (2011).

55. Faccenda, M., Gerya, T. V. & Burlini, L. Deep slab hydration induced by bending-related variations in tectonic pressure. Nat. Geosci. 2, 790–793 (2009).

56. Faccenda, M., Gerya, T. V., Mancktelow, N. S. & Moresi, L. Fluid flow during slab unbending and dehydration: implications for intermediate-depth seismicity, slab weakening and deep water recycling. Geochem. Geophys. Geosystems 13, Q01010 (2012).

57. Takei, Y. Effect of pore geometry on V p /V s : from equilibrium geometry to crack. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 107, 2043 (2002).

58. von Bargen, N. & Waff, H. S. Permeabilities, interfacial areas and curvatures of partially molten systems: results of numerical computations of equilibrium microstructures. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 91, 9261–9276 (1986).

59. Litasov, K. D. & Ohtani, E. Phase relations in hydrous MORB at 18–28 GPa: implications for heterogeneity of the lower mantle. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 150, 239–263 (2005).

60. Pradhan, G. K. et al. Melting of MORB at core–mantle boundary. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 431, 247–255 (2015).

61. Andrault, D. et al. Solidus and liquidus profiles of chondritic mantle: implication for melting of the Earth across its history. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 304, 251–259 (2011).

62. Andrault, D. et al. Deep and persistent melt layer in the Archaean mantle. Nat. Geosci. 11, 139–143 (2018).

63. Fiquet, G. et al. Melting of peridotite to 140 gigapascals. Science 329, 1516–1518 (2010).

64. Boukaré, C. E., Ricard, Y. & Fiquet, G. Thermodynamics of the MgO–FeO–SiO 2 system up to 140 GPa: application to the crystallization of Earth’s magma ocean. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 120, 6085–6101 (2015).

65. Baron, M. A. et al. Experimental constraints on melting temperatures in the MgO–SiO 2 system at lower mantle pressures. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 472, 186–196 (2017).

66. Walter, M. J. et al. The stability of hydrous silicates in Earth’s lower mantle: experimental constraints from the systems MgO–SiO 2 –H2O and MgO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 –H 2 O. Chem. Geol. 418, 16–29 (2015).

67. Sanloup, C. et al. Structure and density of molten fayalite at high pressure. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 118, 118–128 (2013).

68. Bajgain, S., Ghosh, D. B. & Karki, B. B. Structure and density of basaltic melts at mantle conditions from first-principles simulations. Nat. Commun. 6, 8578 (2015).

69. Agee, C. B. Crystal-liquid density inversions in terrestrial and lunar magmas. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 107, 63–74 (1998).