Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle

Plate tectonics and mantle plumes are two of the most fundamental solid-Earth processes that have operated through much of Earth history. For the past 300 million years, mantle plumes are known to derive mostly from two large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) above the core-mantle boundary, refe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gamal EL Dien, Hamed, Doucet, Luc, Li, Zheng-Xiang, Cox, Grant, Mitchell, Ross
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL150100133
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90598
_version_ 1848765398528294912
author Gamal EL Dien, Hamed
Doucet, Luc
Li, Zheng-Xiang
Cox, Grant
Mitchell, Ross
author_facet Gamal EL Dien, Hamed
Doucet, Luc
Li, Zheng-Xiang
Cox, Grant
Mitchell, Ross
author_sort Gamal EL Dien, Hamed
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Plate tectonics and mantle plumes are two of the most fundamental solid-Earth processes that have operated through much of Earth history. For the past 300 million years, mantle plumes are known to derive mostly from two large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) above the core-mantle boundary, referred to as the African and Pacific superplumes, but their possible connection with plate tectonics is debated. Here, we demonstrate that transition elements (Ni, Cr, and Fe/Mn) in basaltic rocks can be used to trace plume-related magmatism through Earth history. Our analysis indicates the presence of a direct relationship between the intensity of plume magmatism and the supercontinent cycle, suggesting a possible dynamic coupling between supercontinent and superplume events. In addition, our analysis shows a consistent sudden drop in MgO, Ni and Cr at ~3.2–3.0 billion years ago, possibly indicating an abrupt change in mantle temperature at the start of global plate tectonics.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:34:37Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-90598
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:34:37Z
publishDate 2019
publisher NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-905982023-03-23T01:29:55Z Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle Gamal EL Dien, Hamed Doucet, Luc Li, Zheng-Xiang Cox, Grant Mitchell, Ross Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics TRUE POLAR WANDER PLATE-TECTONICS CAUSAL LINKS MANTLE TRANSITION EVOLUTION BASALTS BENEATH PROVINCES RODINIA Plate tectonics and mantle plumes are two of the most fundamental solid-Earth processes that have operated through much of Earth history. For the past 300 million years, mantle plumes are known to derive mostly from two large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) above the core-mantle boundary, referred to as the African and Pacific superplumes, but their possible connection with plate tectonics is debated. Here, we demonstrate that transition elements (Ni, Cr, and Fe/Mn) in basaltic rocks can be used to trace plume-related magmatism through Earth history. Our analysis indicates the presence of a direct relationship between the intensity of plume magmatism and the supercontinent cycle, suggesting a possible dynamic coupling between supercontinent and superplume events. In addition, our analysis shows a consistent sudden drop in MgO, Ni and Cr at ~3.2–3.0 billion years ago, possibly indicating an abrupt change in mantle temperature at the start of global plate tectonics. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90598 10.1038/s41467-019-13300-4 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL150100133 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
TRUE POLAR WANDER
PLATE-TECTONICS
CAUSAL LINKS
MANTLE
TRANSITION
EVOLUTION
BASALTS
BENEATH
PROVINCES
RODINIA
Gamal EL Dien, Hamed
Doucet, Luc
Li, Zheng-Xiang
Cox, Grant
Mitchell, Ross
Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
title Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
title_full Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
title_fullStr Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
title_full_unstemmed Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
title_short Global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
title_sort global geochemical fingerprinting of plume intensity suggests coupling with the supercontinent cycle
topic Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
TRUE POLAR WANDER
PLATE-TECTONICS
CAUSAL LINKS
MANTLE
TRANSITION
EVOLUTION
BASALTS
BENEATH
PROVINCES
RODINIA
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL150100133
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90598