Geodynamics of kimberlites on a cooling Earth: Clues to plate tectonic evolution and deep volatile cycles
Section snippets
Rationale
Plate tectonics and magmatism are consequences of heat loss from a planet's interior. Earth was significantly hotter in the distant past and has been cooling for most of its history (Korenaga, 2008, Davies, 2009, Michaut et al., 2009, Ganne and Feng, 2017). The effects of an early hotter Earth on the intensity of mantle convection, volcanism, and volatile element cycling continue to be debated, because they had critical influence on the formation of a life-supporting atmosphere (Lyons et al.,
Constraints from an updated global kimberlite age database
We have compiled a high-quality geochronology database for bona fide kimberlites1 to better understand their global magma emplacement patterns (Supplementary file A). The database contains published age information for 1,133 kimberlite localities, which represents approximately 20% of the known kimberlite occurrences worldwide (Fig. 1). Although quality age information is not available for every
Where, when, and how do kimberlites form?
Kimberlites are arguably the deepest and least understood melting products of Earth's mantle. Kimberlite magmatism occurred on every craton (Jelsma et al., 2009, Yaxley et al., 2013), and the pulsed nature over the past 1.2 billion years (Fig. 2, Fig. 7) has provided room for speculation about melt origins and tectonic trigger mechanisms (England and Houseman, 1984, Griffin et al., 2014). Some models prefer kimberlite melt origins from mantle plume sources (Le Roex, 1986, Haggerty, 1994,
Summary and conclusion
Integration of a wide variety of datasets (geochronology, isotope geology, experimental petrology, volcanology, paleogeography; Supplementary files A to E) enables us to refine existing models for the origin and temporal evolution of global kimberlite magmatism. The new model fuses two concepts: (1) secular mantle cooling to below 1400 °C during post-Archean times established a ‘kimberlite-friendly’ incipient melting regime beneath thick continental lithosphere, and (2) supercontinent cyclicity
Acknowledgments
ST acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa through the IPRR grant programme. The DEEP Research Group at the University of Johannesburg is financially supported by the CIMERA DST-NRF Centre of Excellence. We gratefully acknowledge support of our research on kimberlites by the Geological Society of South Africa, Petra Diamonds, Gem Diamonds, Ekapa Diamonds, Tsodilo Resources, and De Beers. THT acknowledges the Research Council of Norway, through its
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