Piecing Together the Roots of the Ancient Australian Continent – GWC Mag

Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.

Source: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

The Kimberley Craton in Western Australia is the type locality for kimberlite, a mantle-derived igneous rock famous for delivering diamonds from the mantle lithosphere to near the surface where they can be mined. This ancient core of the Australian continent is also an excellent example of the long-lived and stable continental structures that survive the abuses of plate tectonics for billions of years.

Sudholz et al. [2023] provide a comprehensive dataset of compositions of mantle-derived minerals from kimberlites scattered across the Craton and through time. Their analysis of the pressure-temperature conditions and geochemical characteristics recorded by each pyroxene and garnet crystal enables a reconstruction of the layered composition and structure of the Craton through time. This reveals the thickness, geothermal gradient, and history of melt extraction or addition from each layer of the mantle lithosphere.

Citation Sudholz, Z. J., Jaques, A. L., Yaxley, G. M., Taylor, W. R., Czarnota, K., Haynes, M. W., et al. (2023). Mapping the structure and metasomatic enrichment of the lithospheric mantle beneath the Kimberley Craton, Western Australia. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24, e2023GC011040. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011040

—Paul Asimow, Editor, G-Cubed

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