The tungsten isotopic composition of the Earth’s mantle before the terminal bombardment

Matthias Willbold (), Tim Elliott and Stephen Moorbath
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Matthias Willbold: Bristol Isotope Group, School of Earth Sciences, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, University of Bristol
Tim Elliott: Bristol Isotope Group, School of Earth Sciences, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, University of Bristol
Stephen Moorbath: South Parks Road, University of Oxford

Nature, 2011, vol. 477, issue 7363, 195-198

Abstract: A boost for Earth's late veneer hypothesis It has long been speculated that a 'late heavy bombardment' of Earth by meteoritic material replenished the mantle's budget of siderophile (iron-loving) elements, such as tungsten, that were largely lost to the core during its segregation. However, evidence for this 'late veneer' remains indirect, and its influence has been much debated. Matthias Willbold and colleagues present high-precision tungsten isotope analyses of ancient Greenland rocks and show that they have significantly higher 182W/184W ratios than modern terrestrial samples. This finding is in good agreement with the expected influence of a meteoritic late heavy bombardment. They speculate that both the tungsten isotope data and the observed decrease in 142Nd/144Nd neodymium ratios can be explained if late meteorite bombardment triggered the onset of the current style of mantle convection.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10399

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