Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Kimberlites reveal 2.5-billion-year evolution of a deep, isolated mantle reservoir

Abstract

The widely accepted paradigm of Earth's geochemical evolution states that the successive extraction of melts from the mantle over the past 4.5 billion years formed the continental crust, and produced at least one complementary melt-depleted reservoir that is now recognized as the upper-mantle source of mid-ocean-ridge basalts1. However, geochemical modelling and the occurrence of high 3He/4He (that is, primordial) signatures in some volcanic rocks suggest that volumes of relatively undifferentiated mantle may reside in deeper, isolated regions2. Some basalts from large igneous provinces may provide temporally restricted glimpses of the most primitive parts of the mantle3,4, but key questions regarding the longevity of such sources on planetary timescales—and whether any survive today—remain unresolved. Kimberlites, small-volume volcanic rocks that are the source of most diamonds, offer rare insights into aspects of the composition of the Earth’s deep mantle. The radiogenic isotope ratios of kimberlites of different ages enable us to map the evolution of this domain through time. Here we show that globally distributed kimberlites originate from a single homogeneous reservoir with an isotopic composition that is indicative of a uniform and pristine mantle source, which evolved in isolation over at least 2.5 billion years of Earth history—to our knowledge, the only such reservoir that has been identified to date. Around 200 million years ago, extensive volumes of the same source were perturbed, probably as a result of contamination by exogenic material. The distribution of affected kimberlites suggests that this event may be related to subduction along the margin of the Pangaea supercontinent. These results reveal a long-lived and globally extensive mantle reservoir that underwent subsequent disruption, possibly heralding a marked change to large-scale mantle-mixing regimes. These processes may explain why uncontaminated primordial mantle is so difficult to identify in recent mantle-derived melts.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Isotopic evolution in the global kimberlite dataset.
Fig. 2: Kimberlites compared to primitive mantle.
Fig. 3: Isotopic perturbation in the anomalous kimberlites.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during the course of this study are archived at EarthChem (https://doi.org/10.1594/IEDA/111335).

References

  1. Hofmann, A. W. Chemical differentiation of the Earth: the relationship between mantle, continental crust, and oceanic crust. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 90, 297–314 (1988).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hofmann, A. W. in Treatise on Geochemistry, 2nd edn, Vol. 3 (eds Holland, H. D. & Turekian, K. T.) 67–101 (Elsevier, 2014).

  3. Jackson, M. G. et al. Evidence for the survival of the oldest terrestrial mantle reservoir. Nature 466, 853–856 (2010).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Jackson, M. G. & Carlson, R. W. An ancient recipe for flood-basalt genesis. Nature 476, 316–319 (2011).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Pearson, D. G. et al. Hydrous mantle transition zone indicated by ringwoodite included within diamond. Nature 507, 221–224 (2014).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Nestola, F. et al. CaSiO3 perovskite in diamond indicates the recycling of oceanic crust into the lower mantle. Nature 555, 237–241 (2018).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Torsvik, T. H., Burke, K., Steinberger, B., Webb, S. J. & Ashwal, L. D. Diamonds sampled by plumes from the core–mantle boundary. Nature 466, 352–355 (2010).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Henning, A., Kiviets, G., Kurszlaukis, S., Barton, E. Mayaga-Mikolo, F. Early Proterozoic metamorphosed kimberlites from Gabon. International Kimberlite Conference: Extended Abstracts 8https://doi.org/10.29173/ikc3024 (2003).

  9. DePaolo, D. J. & Wasserburg, G. J. Nd isotopic variations and petrogenetic models. Geophys. Res. Lett. 3, 249–252 (1976).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Salters, V. J. M., Mallick, S., Hart, S. R., Langmuir, C. E. & Stracke, A. Domains of depleted mantle: new evidence from hafnium and neodymium isotopes. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 12, Q08001 (2011).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lyubetskaya, T. & Korenaga, J. Chemical composition of the Earth’s primitive mantle and its variance: 1. Method and Results. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B03211 (2007).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Palme, H. & O’Neill, H. St. C. Treatise on Geochemistry, 2nd edn, Vol. 3 (eds Holland, H. D. & Turekian, K. T.) 1–39 (Elsevier, 2014).

  13. Trela, J. et al. The hottest lavas of the Phanerozoic and the survival of deep Archaean reservoirs. Nat. Geosci. 10, 451–456 (2017).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bouvier, A. & Boyet, M. Primitive Solar System materials and Earth share a common initial 142Nd abundance. Nature 537, 399–402 (2016).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bouvier, A., Vervoort, J. D. & Patchett, P. J. The Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd isotopic composition of CHUR: constraints from unequilibrated chondrites and implications for the bulk composition of the terrestrial planets. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 273, 48–57 (2008).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. McDonough, W. F. & Sun, S.-S. The composition of the Earth. Chem. Geol. 120, 223–253 (1995).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Workman, R. K. & Hart, S. R. Major and trace element composition of the depleted MORB mantle (DMM). Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 231, 53–72 (2005).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Rudnick, R. L. & Gao, S. in Treatise on Geochemistry, 2nd edn, Vol. 4 (eds Holland, H. D. & Turekian, K. T.) 1–51 (Elsevier, 2014).

  19. Tachibana, Y., Kaneoka, I., Gaffney, A. & Upton, B. Ocean-island basalt-like source of kimberlite magmas from West Greenland revealed by high 3He/4He ratios. Geology 34, 273–276 (2006).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Timmerman, S. et al. Primordial and recycled helium isotope signatures in the mantle transition zone. Science 365, 692-694 (2019).

    ADS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Chauvel, C., Lewin, E., Carpentier, M., Arndt, N. T. & Marini, J.-C. Role of recycled oceanic basalt and sediment in generating the Hf–Nd mantle array. Nat. Geosci. (2008).

  22. Porter, K. A. & White, W. M. Deep mantle subduction flux. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 10, Q12016 (2009).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Hulett, S. R. W., Simonetti, A., Rasbury, E. T. & Hemming, N. G. Recycling of subducted crustal components into carbonatite melts revealed by boron isotopes. Nat. Geosci. 9, 904–908 (2016).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Condie, K. C. Supercontinents and superplume events: distinguishing signals in the geologic record. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 146, 319–332 (2004).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Maruyama, S., Santosh, M. & Zhao, D. Superplume, supercontinent, and post-perovskite: mantle dynamics and anti-plate tectonics on the core–mantle boundary. Gondwana Res. 11, 7–37 (2007).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Harte, B. & Richardson, S. Mineral inclusions in diamonds track the evolution of a Mesozoic subducted slab beneath West Gondwanaland. Gondwana Res. 21, 236–245 (2012).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Nowell, G. M. et al. Hf isotope systematics of kimberlite and their megacrysts: new constraints on their source regions. J. Petrol. 45, 1583–1612 (2004).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. van der Hilst, R. D., Widiyantoro, S. & Engdahl, E. R. Evidence for deep mantle circulation from global tomography. Nature 386, 578–584 (1997).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Vervoort, J. D., Plank, T. & Prytulak, J. The Hf–Nd isotopic composition of marine sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 75, 5903–5926 (2011).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Clement, C. R. A comparative geological study of some major kimberlite pipes in Northern Cape and Orange Free State. PhD thesis, Univ. of Cape Town (1982).

  31. Kjarsgaard, B. A., Pearson, D. G., Tappe, S., Nowell, G. M. & Dowall, D. P. Geochemistry of hypabyssal kimberlites from Lac de Gras, Canada: comparisons to a global database and applications to the parent magma problem. Lithos 112, 236–248 (2009).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. Le Roex, A. P., Bell, D. R. & Davis, P. Petrogenesis of group I kimberlites from Kimberley, South Africa: evidence from bulk rock geochemistry. J. Petrol. 44, 2261–2286 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Heaman, L. M. & Kjarsgaard, B. A. Timing of eastern North American kimberlite magmatism: continental extension of the Great Meteor hotspot track? Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 178, 253–268 (2000).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Eggins, S. M. et al. A simple method for the precise determination of ≥40 trace elements in geological samples by ICPMS using enriched isotope internal standardisation. Chem. Geol. 134, 311–326 (1997).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Ottley, C. J., Pearson, D. G. & Irvine, G. J. in Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry – Applications and Emerging Technologies (eds Holland, G. & Tanner, S. D.) 221–230 (Royal Society of Chemistry 2003).

  36. Münker, C., Weyer, S., Scherer, E. & Mezger, K. Separation of high field strength elements (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf) and Lu from rock samples for MC-ICPMS measurements. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 2, 1064 (2001).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. Pin, C. & Santos-Zalduegui, J. F. Sequential separation of light rare-earth elements, thorium and uranium by miniaturized extraction chromatography: application to isotopic analyses of silicate rocks. Anal. Chim. Acta 339, 79–89 (1997).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Jweda, J., Bolge, L., Class, C. & Goldstein, S. L. High precision Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopic compositions of USGS reference material BCR-2. Geostand. Geoanal. Res. 40, 101–115 (2016).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Dowall, D. P., Nowell, G. M. & Pearson, D. G. in Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry – Applications and Emerging Technologies (eds Holland, G. & Tanner, S. D.) 321–337 (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003).

  40. Nowell, G. M. & Parrish, R. R. in Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry: the New Millennium (eds Holland, J. G. & Tanner, S. D.) 298–310 (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2001).

  41. Weis, D., Kieffer, B., Maerschalk, C., Pretorius, W. & Barling, J. High-precision Pb-Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic characterization of USGS BHVO-1 and BHVO-2 reference materials. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 6, Q02002 (2005).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. Woodhead, J., Hergt, J., Phillips, D. & Paton, C. African kimberlites revisited: in situ Sr-isotope analysis of groundmass perovskite. Lithos 112, 311–317 (2009).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. Griffin, W. L. et al. Emplacement ages and sources of kimberlites and related rocks in southern Africa: U-Pb ages and Sr-Nd isotopes of groundmass perovskite. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 168, 1032 (2014).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. Woodhead, J., Hergt, J., Giuliani, A., Phillips, D. & Maas, R. Tracking continental-scale modification of the Earth’s mantle using zircon megacrysts. Geochem. Perspect. Lett. 4, 1727 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  45. Tappe, S., Pearson, D. G., Kjarsgaard, B. A., Nowell, G. & Dowall, D. Mantle transition zone input to kimberlite magmatism near a subduction zone: origin of anomalous Nd–Hf systematics at Western Canada, Canada. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 371–372, 235–251 (2013).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. Odin, D.S. et al. in Numerical Dating in Stratigraphy Part 1 (ed. Odin, G. S.) 123–148 (John Wiley & Sons, 1982).

  47. Gale, A., Dalton, C. A., Langmuir, C. H., Su, Y. & Schilling, J.-G. The mean composition of ocean ridge basalts. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 14, 489–518 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Vervoort, J. D. & Blichert-Toft, J. Evolution of the depleted mantle: Hf isotope evidence from juvenile rocks through time. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63, 533–556 (1999).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Chauvel, C. et al. Constraints from loess on the Hf–Nd isotopic composition of the upper continental crust. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 388, 48–58 (2014).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Scherer, E., Munker, C. & Mezger, K. Calibration of the lutetium–hafnium clock. Science 293, 683–687 (2001).

    ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Söderlund, U., Patchett, P. J., Vervoort, J. D. & Isachsen, C. E. The 176Lu decay constant determined by Lu–Hf and U–Pb isotope systematics of Precambrian mafic intrusions. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 219, 311–324 (2004).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. Lugmair, G. W. & Marti, K. Lunar initial 143Nd/144Nd: differential evolution of the lunar crust and mantle. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 39, 349–357 (1978).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Scotese, C. R. PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for GPlates and the PaleoData Plotter http://www.earthbyte.org/paleomap-paleoatlas-for-gplates/ (2016).

  54. Müller, R. D. et al. Ocean basin evolution and global-scale plate reorganization events since Pangea breakup. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 44, 107–138 (2016).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the De Beers Group, S. Graham, B. Kjarsgaard and H. O’Brien for access to samples; M. Felgate and A Greig for technical assistance; D. Sandiford for advice on the use of GPlates; and S. Shirey for suggestions. R. Chesler and M. Felgate produced the Tanzania perovskite and Brazilian kimberlite data, respectively. J.W. and A.G. acknowledge funding from the Australian Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

J.W., R.M. and G.N. were responsible for the acquisition of new isotope data. J.H. and A.G. collated existing data. J.W., J.H. and A.G. conducted the data analysis. D.P. and D.G.P. contributed to geochemical and geological interpretations, sample selection and sample screening. All authors contributed to writing the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jon Woodhead.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Peer review information Nature thanks Catherine Chauvel, Alex Sobolev and Richard J. Walker for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 A model for generating the primitive-kimberlite array.

a, b, Model simulating the neodymium- (a) and hafnium- (b) isotope variations generated by the incorporation of subducted slab (normal MORB (N-MORB), plus 0–5% sediment) into a CHUR-like lower-mantle source region from which kimberlite melts are produced. c, The best fit to the observed data is achieved via the continuous addition (black arrows) of a 5% slab component (here, N-MORB) that has been allowed to age by 500 Myr (green arrows) before mixing with the CHUR source (95% in c). Evolution trajectories similar to the green arrows for N-MORB are generated in the model when incorporating a sedimentary component (which, for clarity, is not shown). The addition of 95% of a deep-mantle reservoir with primitive-mantle compositional characteristics would still be required as a starting point for each mixing step.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Reconstructions of the Pangea supercontinent at 200 Ma.

Figure produced using PALEOMAP53 and GPlates 2.0. White circles provide indicative locations for primitive kimberlites, and gold circles indicate anomalous-kimberlite localities. Red lines indicate subduction zones at the western edge of Pangea54.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Subducted slab-DMM mixing arrays in relation to the anomalous-kimberlite data.

Although assimilation of DMM by an ascending enriched ‘kimberlite’ component might be considered the most obvious way of generating the steep data arrays in the anomalous kimberlites, melts of any given age must mix with DMM of the same age. Thus, mixing vectors do not point towards modern DMM; they are vertical in age versus the isotope-ratio diagrams. Consequently, any constant proportion of DMM entrainment will not produce the steep arrays noted in the anomalous-kimberlite data. Instead, a progressive and substantial increase in the DMM component with successive magmatic episodes (vertical displacement) would be required—which would also have to be highly correlated with the age of mixing (horizontal displacement). Similar vectors are obtained by mixing with primitive, rather than depleted, mantle.

Extended Data Table 1 Isotope data used to generate an age for the Silvery Home kimberlite
Extended Data Table 2 Modelling parameters used in this study

Supplementary information

Source data

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Woodhead, J., Hergt, J., Giuliani, A. et al. Kimberlites reveal 2.5-billion-year evolution of a deep, isolated mantle reservoir. Nature 573, 578–581 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1574-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1574-8

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing