Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Hadean mantle melting recorded by southwest Greenland chromitite 186Os signatures

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 871–874 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

This article has been updated

Abstract

Partial melting of the Earth’s mantle is a key process in the generation of crustal material and the formation of continents1. Crustal samples record the generation of crust up to 4.4 billion years (Gyr) ago2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, yet the complementary record in the mantle extends to only 3.3 Gyr ago1, with sparse evidence for differentiation occurring 3.9–4.1 Gyr ago10,11. Here we use the Pt–Os isotope chronometer to show that a Hadean record of mantle depletion is preserved in Earth’s oldest known ultramafic rocks, the Ujaragssuit Nunât intrusion of southwest Greenland. We identify two distinct age populations at approximately 4.1 and 2.9 Gyr. We suggest that the younger age population records a regional metamorphic event and the older one records mantle depletion. We also identify individual sample ages of up to 4.36 Gyr old, thus extending the record of large mantle-melting events into the Hadean. Furthermore, the preservation of Hadean model ages in Os-rich mantle-derived rocks supports the theory that re-enrichment of Os in the mantle during the Late Heavy Bombardment—after expected partitioning into the Earth’s core—occurred at least 0.2 Gyr earlier than previously thought. This also implies that the Earth could have been habitable by 4.1 Gyr ago.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Simplified geological map of the Godthabsfjord area, southwestern Greenland.
Figure 2: Pt–Os mantle melting TMA values for whole-rock chromitites from the Ujaragssuit Nunât area layered body.

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 21 August 2013

    In the version of this Letter originally published, 'chromitite' was misspelled in the title. This has been corrected in all versions of the Letter.

References

  1. Pearson, D. G., Parman, S. W. & Nowell, G. M. A link between large mantle melting events and continent growth seen in osmium isotopes. Nature 449, 202–205 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Boyet, M. & Carlson, R. W. A new geochemical model for the Earth’s mantle inferred from 146Sm–142Nd systematics. EPSL 250, 254–268 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bennett, V. C., Brandon, A. D. & Nutman, A. P. Coupled 142Nd–143Nd isotopic evidence for Hadean mantle dynamics. Science 318, 1907–1910 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rizo, H. et al. The elusive Hadean enriched reservoir revealed by 142Nd deficits in Isua Archean rocks. Nature 491, 96–99 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. O’Neil, J., Carlson, R. W., Paquette, J-L. & Francis, D. Formation age and metamorphic history of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt. Precambr. Res. 220–221, 23–44 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Condie, K. C., Belousova, E., Griffin, W. L. & Sircombe, K. N. Granitoid events in space and time: Constraints from igneous and detrital zircon age spectra. Gondwana Res. 15, 228–242 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wilde, S. A., Valley, J. W., Peck, W. H. & Graham, C. M. Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago. Nature 409, 175–178 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Harrison, T. M. et al. Heterogeneous hadean hafnium: Evidence of continental crust at 4.4 to 4.5 Ga. Science 310, 1947–1950 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dhuime, B., Hawkesworth, C. J., Cawood, P. A. & Storey, C. D. A change in the geodynamics of continental growth 3 billion years ago. Science 335, 1334–1336 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Aulbach, S. et al. Mantle formation and evolution, Slave Craton: constraints from HSE abundances and Re–Os isotope systematics of sulfide inclusions in mantle xenocrysts. Chem. Geol. 208, 61–88 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Malitch, K. N. & Merkle, R. K. W. Ru–Os–Ir–Pt and Pt–Fe alloys from the Evander Goldfield, Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa: Detrital origin inferred from compositional and osmium-isotope data. Can. Mineral. 42, 631–650 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Wittig, N. et al. Formation of the North Atlantic Craton: Timing and mechanisms constrained from Re–Os isotope and PGE data of peridotite xenoliths from S.W. Greenland. Chem. Geol. 276, 166–187 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Rollinson, H., Appel, P. W. U. & Frei, R. A metamorphosed, early Archean chromitite from West Greenland: Implications for the genesis of Archean anorthositic chromitites. J. Petrol. 43, 2143–2170 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Pagé, P., Barnes, S-J., Bédard, J. H. & Zientek, M. L. In situ determination of Os, Ir, and Ru in chromites formed from komatiite, tholeiite and boninite magmas: Implications for chromite control of Os, Ir and Ru during partial melting and crystal fractionation. Chem. Geol. 302-303, 3–15 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Anders, E. & Grevesse, N. Abundances of the elements: Meteoritic and solar. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 197–214 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Begemann, F. et al. Call for an improved set of decay constants for geochronological use. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 65, 111–121 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Luguet, A., Shirey, S. B., Lorand, J-P., Horan, M. F. & Carlson, R. W. Residual platinum-group minerals from highly depleted harzburgites of the Lherz massif (France) and their role in HSE fractionation of the mantle. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 71, 3082–3097 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Coggon, J. A. et al. The 190Pt–186Os decay system applied to dating platinum-group element mineralization of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Chem. Geol. 302–303, 48–60 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Pretorius, W., Chipley, D., Kyser, K. & Helmstaedt, H. Direct determination of trace levels of Os, Ir, Ru, Pt and Re in kimberlite and other geological materials using HR-ICP-MS. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 18, 302–309 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Carlson, R. W. Application of the Pt–Re–Os isotopic systems to mantle geochemistry and geochronology. Lithos 82, 249–272 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Rudnick, R. L. & Walker, R. J. Interpreting ages from Re–Os isotopes in peridotites. Lithos 112S, 1083–1095 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Brandon, A., Walker, R. J. & Puchtel, I. S. Platinum–osmium isotope evolution of the Earth’s mantle: Constraints from chondrites and Os-rich alloys. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 2093–2103 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bennett, V. C., Nutman, A. P. & Esat, T. M. Constraints on mantle evolution from 187Os/188Os isotopic compositions of Archean ultramafic rocks from southern West Greenland (3.8 Ga) and Western Australia (3.46 Ga). Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 66, 2615–2630 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Fortenfant, S. S. et al. Oxygen fugacity dependence of Os solubility in haplobasaltic melt. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 742–756 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Mann, U., Frost, D. J., Rubie, D. C., Becker, H., A. & Audétat, Partitioning of Ru, Rh, Pd, Re, Ir and Pt between liquid metal and silicate at high pressures and high temperatures—Implications for the origin of highly siderophile element concentrations in the Earth’s mantle. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 84, 593–613 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Newsom, H. E. in Global Earth Physics: A Handbook of Physical Constants: AGU Reference Shelf (ed. Ahrens, T. J.) 159–89 (American Geophysical Union, 1995).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Kimura, K., Lewis, R. S. & Anders, E. Distribution of gold and rhenium between nickel-iron and silicate melts: Implications for the abundance of siderophile elements on the Earth and Moon. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 38, 683–701 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Morbidelli, A., Marchi, S., Bottke, W. F. & Kring, D. A. A sawtooth-like timeline for the first billion years of lunar bombardment. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 355–356, 144–151 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Day, J. M. D., Walker, R. J., Qin, L. & Rumble, D. Late accretion as a natural consequence of planetary growth. Nature Geosci. 5, 614–617 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Luguet, A., Nowell, G. M. & Pearson, D. G. 184Os/188Os and 186Os/188Os measurements by Negative Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (N-TIMS): Effects of interfering element and mass fractionation corrections of data accuracy and precision. Chem. Geol. 248, 342–362 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

R. Carlson and C. Hawkesworth are thanked for providing reviews. A.L. thanks the European Research Council for financially supporting this research project (ERC research grant 258558 ‘Early Earth’).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Steinmann Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie, Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115 Bonn, Germany

    Judith A. Coggon & Ambre Luguet

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Northern Centre for Isotopic and Elemental Tracing, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

    Geoffrey M. Nowell

  3. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Peter W. U. Appel

Authors
  1. Judith A. Coggon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ambre Luguet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Geoffrey M. Nowell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter W. U. Appel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A.L. conceived the project. J.A.C. carried out HSE and Os isotope analyses and A.L. and J.A.C. wrote the paper. P.W.U.A. collected samples, provided detailed information of geological setting and background, carried out initial petrography and sample selection. G.M.N. provided analytical support during isotopic analyses and assisted with model age calculations. All authors contributed to the discussion of the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith A. Coggon.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 1107 kb)

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (XLS 45 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Coggon, J., Luguet, A., Nowell, G. et al. Hadean mantle melting recorded by southwest Greenland chromitite 186Os signatures. Nature Geosci 6, 871–874 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1911

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1911

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing