Olivine water contents in the continental lithosphere and the longevity of cratons

Anne H. Peslier (), Alan B. Woodland, David R. Bell and Marina Lazarov
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Anne H. Peslier: Jacobs Technology, ESCG, Mail Code JE23, 2224 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77058, USA
Alan B. Woodland: Institute of Geosciences, University of Frankfurt, Altenhöferallee 1, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
David R. Bell: School of Earth & Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 550 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
Marina Lazarov: Institute of Geosciences, University of Frankfurt, Altenhöferallee 1, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Nature, 2010, vol. 467, issue 7311, 78-81

Abstract: Mantle separation Cratons, the ancient cores of continents, extend laterally for hundreds of kilometres, and are underlain to depths of 180 km to 250 km by mantle roots that are chemically and physically distinct from the surrounding mantle. But how these large portions of the mantle can stay isolated for so long from mantle convection has remained an open question. Anne Peslier and colleagues show that olivine components in peridotite xenoliths from the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary region of the Kaapvaal Craton mantle root are water-poor, thereby providing sufficient viscosity contrast with the underlying asthenosphere to explain how they have resisted recycling into Earth's mantle.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature09317

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