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Nitrogen variations in the mantle might have survived since Earth’s formation

A method for identifying atmospheric contamination of volcanic-gas samples reveals variations in the isotopic composition of nitrogen in the mantle, and provides a clearer view of the origins of this element in Earth’s interior.
  1. Rita Parai

    1. Rita Parai is in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.

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Earth’s nitrogen-rich atmosphere contributes to the pleasant surface environment in which we live and breathe — but makes it very difficult to determine the nitrogen isotope composition of anything else. Pervasive atmospheric contamination of samples derived from Earth’s mantle poses a formidable challenge to anyone investigating the origins and transport of volatile species, such as nitrogen and the noble gases, in the deep Earth. In a paper in Nature, Labidi et al.1 report that they have used a ‘clumped isotope’ method to identify uncontaminated mantle nitrogen in volcanic-gas effusions and gases trapped in volcanic-rock samples. The relative abundances of isotopes in uncontaminated nitrogen vary among samples from different locations. The authors argue that these differences originate from Earth’s formation and have survived approximately 4.5 billion years of mixing associated with mantle convection.

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Nature 580, 324-325 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01020-5

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