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Redox state of Earth's upper mantle from kimberlitic ilmenites

Nature volume 303, pages 295–300 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Temperatures and oxygen fugacities are reported on discrete ilmenite nodules in kimberlites from West Africa which demonstrate that the source region in the upper mantle is moderately oxidized, consistent with other nodule suites in kimberlites from southern Africa and the United States. A model is presented for a variety of tectonic settings, proposing that the upper mantle is profiled in redox potential, oxidized in the fertile asthenosphere but reduced in the depleted lithosphere.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, USA

    Stephen E. Haggerty & Linda A. Tompkins

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  1. Stephen E. Haggerty
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  2. Linda A. Tompkins
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Haggerty, S., Tompkins, L. Redox state of Earth's upper mantle from kimberlitic ilmenites. Nature 303, 295–300 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303295a0

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