Journal Article

Mapping the Structure and Metasomatic Enrichment of the Lithospheric Mantle Beneath the Kimberley Craton, Western Australia

Sudholz, Z. J., Haynes, M. W., Downes, P. J., Cooper, S. A., Yaxley, G. M., Czarnota, K., Ramsay, R. R., Jaques, A. L., Taylor, W. R., Frewer, L.

2023

Overview

The lithology, geochemistry, and architecture of the continental lithospheric mantle (CLM) underlying the Kimberley Craton of north‐western Australia has been constrained using pressure‐temperature estimates and mineral compositions for >5,000 newly analyzed and published garnet and chrome (Cr) diopside mantle xenocrysts from 25 kimberlites and lamproites of Mesoproterozoic to Miocene age. Single‐grain Cr diopside paleogeotherms define lithospheric thicknesses of 200–250 km and fall along conductive geotherms corresponding to a surface heat flow of 37–40 mW/m 2 . Similar geotherms derived from Miocene and Mesoproterozoic intrusions indicate that the lithospheric architecture and thermal state of the CLM has remained stable since at least 1,000 Ma. The chemistry of xenocrysts defines a layered lithosphere with lithological and geochemical domains in the shallow (<100 km) and deep (>150 km) CLM, separated by a diopside‐depleted and seismically slow mid‐lithosphere discontinuity (100–150 km). The shallow CLM is comprised of Cr diopsides derived from depleted garnet‐poor and spinel‐bearing lherzolite that has been weakly metasomatized. This layer may represent an early (Meso to Neoarchean?) nucleus of the craton. The deep CLM is comprised of high Cr 2 O 3 garnet lherzolite with lesser harzburgite, and eclogite. The peridotite components are inferred to have formed as residues of polybaric partial mantle melting in the Archean, whereas eclogite likely represents former oceanic crust accreted during Paleoproterozoic subduction. This deep CLM was metasomatized by H 2 O‐rich melts derived from subducted sediments and high‐temperature FeO‐TiO 2 melts from the asthenosphere. The Kimberley Craton has retained a thick (>220 km) thermally stable lithospheric root since the Mesoproterozoic The lithospheric mantle comprises a depleted shallow layer (<100 km) and metasomatized deep layer (>150 km) separated by a diopside‐depleted mid‐lithosphere discontinuity Diamondiferous lamproites at the craton margin are associated with eclogite and high levels of K 2 O metasomatism of the lithospheric mantle

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,Wiley
• Subject: Argyle / Asthenosphere / Cratons / Ellendale / Garnet / Geochemistry / Heat flow / Kimberley Craton / Kimberlites / Lithology / Lithosphere / mid‐lithosphere discontinuity / Mineral composition / Miocene / MLD / North Australian Craton / Oceanic crust / Peridotite / Subduction / Titanium dioxide