Diamond ascent by rift-driven disruption of cratonic mantle keels

Diamond ascent by rift-driven disruption of cratonic mantle keels | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Diamond ascent by rift-driven disruption of cratonic mantle keels Thomas Gernon, Stephen Jones, Sascha Brune, Thea Hincks, Anne Glerum, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-986686/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Jul, 2023 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Diamonds are erupted at Earth’s surface in volatile-rich magmas called kimberlites 1,2,3 . These enigmatic magmas, originating from depths exceeding 150 kilometres in Earth’s mantle 1 , occur in stable cratons and in pulses broadly synchronous with supercontinent cyclicity 4 . Whether their mobilization is driven by mantle plumes 5 or mechanical weakening of cratonic lithosphere 4,6 remains unclear. Here we show that most kimberlites spanning the past billion years erupted approximately 25 million years after the onset of continental fragmentation, suggesting an association with rifting processes. Our dynamic models show that physically steep lithosphere-asthenosphere boundaries formed during terminal rifting (necking) generate convective instabilities in the asthenosphere that slowly migrate many hundreds of kilometres inboard of the rift, causing destabilization of cratonic mantle keel tens of kilometres thick. Displaced lithosphere is replaced by hot, upwelling asthenosphere in the return flow, causing partial melting of carbonated mantle and variable assimilation of lithospheric material. The resulting small-volume kimberlite magmas ascend rapidly and adiabatically, exsolving amounts of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) that are consistent with independent constraints 7 . Our model reconciles diagnostic kimberlite features including association with cratons and geochemical characteristics that implicate a common asthenospheric mantle source contaminated by cratonic lithosphere 8 . Together, these results provide a quantitative and mechanistic link between kimberlite episodicity and supercontinent cycles via progressive disruption of cratonic keels. Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ModelEvolutionAnimation103d.mp4 Supplementary Animation 1 ExtendedData.pdf Extended Data Figures 1-9 and Table 1 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Jul, 2023 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-986686","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":68641753,"identity":"35be8759-a49f-4f20-8d42-124c0b10aaca","order_by":0,"name":"Thomas 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PDF\u003c/a\u003e."}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-986686/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-986686/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Diamonds are erupted at Earth’s surface in volatile-rich magmas called kimberlites\u003csup\u003e1,2,3\u003c/sup\u003e. These enigmatic magmas, originating from depths exceeding 150 kilometres in Earth’s mantle\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e, occur in stable cratons and in pulses broadly synchronous with supercontinent cyclicity\u003csup\u003e4\u003c/sup\u003e. Whether their mobilization is driven by mantle plumes\u003csup\u003e5\u003c/sup\u003e or mechanical weakening of cratonic lithosphere\u003csup\u003e4,6\u003c/sup\u003e remains unclear. Here we show that most kimberlites spanning the past billion years erupted approximately 25 million years after the onset of continental fragmentation, suggesting an association with rifting processes. Our dynamic models show that physically steep lithosphere-asthenosphere boundaries formed during terminal rifting (necking) generate convective instabilities in the asthenosphere that slowly migrate many hundreds of kilometres inboard of the rift, causing destabilization of cratonic mantle keel tens of kilometres thick. Displaced lithosphere is replaced by hot, upwelling asthenosphere in the return flow, causing partial melting of carbonated mantle and variable assimilation of lithospheric material. The resulting small-volume kimberlite magmas ascend rapidly and adiabatically, exsolving amounts of carbon dioxide (CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e) that are consistent with independent constraints\u003csup\u003e7\u003c/sup\u003e. Our model reconciles diagnostic kimberlite features including association with cratons and geochemical characteristics that implicate a common asthenospheric mantle source contaminated by cratonic lithosphere\u003csup\u003e8\u003c/sup\u003e. Together, these results provide a quantitative and mechanistic link between kimberlite episodicity and supercontinent cycles via progressive disruption of cratonic keels.","manuscriptTitle":"Diamond ascent by rift-driven disruption of cratonic mantle keels","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2021-12-08 20:41:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-986686/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":false,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nature","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature](http://www.nature.com/nature/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"9afd40b5-bb62-47d6-a7b0-16ad9815ec86","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 8th, 2021","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-07-27T07:06:06+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-986686","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06193-3","journal":{"identity":"nature","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature"},"publishedOn":"2023-07-26 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"July 26th, 2023"},"versionCreatedAt":"2021-12-08 20:41:49","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41586-023-06193-3","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06193-3","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-986686","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-986686","identity":"rs-986686","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"_2-kVJe1T_tPrBINL-cwx","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}