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Chlorine isotope homogeneity of the mantle, crust and carbonaceous chondrites

Nature volume 446, pages 1062–1065 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Chlorine in the Earth is highly depleted relative to carbonaceous chondrites and solar abundances1. Knowledge of the Cl concentrations and distribution on Earth is essential for understanding the origin of these depletions. Large differences in the stable chlorine isotope ratios of meteoritic, mantle and crustal materials have been used as evidence for distinct reservoirs in the solar nebula2 and to calculate the relative proportions of Cl in the mantle and crust3. Here we report that large isotopic differences do not exist, and that carbonaceous chondrites, mantle and crust all have the same 37Cl/35Cl ratios. We have further analysed crustal sediments from the early Archaean era to the Recent epoch and find no systematic isotopic variations with age, demonstrating that the mantle and crust have always had the same δ37Cl value. The similarity of mantle, crust and carbonaceous chondrites establishes that there were no nebular reservoirs with distinct isotopic compositions, no isotopic fractionation during differentiation of the Earth and no late (post-core formation) Cl-bearing volatile additions to the crustal veneer with a unique isotopic composition.

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Figure 1: δ 37 Cl values of selected terrestrial and chondritic samples.
Figure 2: Measured δ 37 Cl values of crustal sediments plotted as a function of age.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Hauri, J. Grotzinger, P. Knauth, F. Longstaffe, C. Manning, E. Perry, B. Schopf, M. Perfit, C. Langmuir, D. Hilton, J. Bender, P. Castillo, P. Plechov and V. Sharygin for contributing invaluable samples for this study. Financial support was provided by the National Science Foundation to Z.D.S. and NASA to A.J.B.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA,

    Z. D. Sharp, J. D. Barnes, A. J. Brearley & T. P. Fischer

  2. CRPG-CNRS, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-Les-Nancy Cedex, France,

    M. Chaussidon

  3. School of Earth Sciences and CODES Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia,

    V. S. Kamenetsky

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Correspondence to Z. D. Sharp.

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Sharp, Z., Barnes, J., Brearley, A. et al. Chlorine isotope homogeneity of the mantle, crust and carbonaceous chondrites. Nature 446, 1062–1065 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05748

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