Petrology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Petrology is the study of the macroscopic and microscopic mineralogical and chemical composition of rocks. In addition to assessing sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks that are accessible at the surface, experimental petrology aims to create high pressure and temperature conditions to investigate what rock types may exist in the Earth’s subsurface.

Latest Research and Reviews

Research | 20 March 2023

The magmatic architecture and evolution of the Chang’e-5 lunar basalts

The lunar basalts sampled by the Chang’e-5 mission originated from melting of a clinopyroxene-rich mantle source enhanced in radioactive elements, potentially explaining this late lunar volcanism, according to sample analysis and crystallization modelling.
- Biji Luo
- , Zaicong Wang
- & Hongfei Zhang
Nature Geoscience, 1-8
Research | 15 March 2023

Deep, ultra-hot-melting residues as cradles of mantle diamond

New thermodynamic and geochemical modelling of melting shows that the observed composition of the cratonic mantle can be reproduced by deep and very hot melting, obviating the need for shallow melting and lithospheric stacking.
- Carl Walsh
- , Balz S. Kamber
- & Emma L. Tomlinson
Nature 615, 450-454
Research
13 March 2023 | Open Access

Genesis of Hawaiian lavas by crystallization of picritic magma in the deep mantle

Here the authors demonstrate that Hawaiian lavas are formed by partial melting of mantle peridotite with subsequent fractionation of clinopyroxene and garnet in the deep magma chamber (90 km) and reequilibration with harzburgite at a shallower depth (<60 km).
- Junlong Yang
- , Chao Wang
- & Zhenmin Jin
Nature Communications 14, 1382
Research
06 March 2023 | Open Access

I-type and S-type granites in the Earth’s earliest continental crust

A form of mobile lithosphere with mantle recycling was already operating on the Early Earth around 4.4 to 3.3 billion years ago, according to the application of machine learning to differentiate the source lithologies of zircons from Jack Hills Australia
- Shihua Zhong
- , Sanzhong Li
- & Reimar Seltmann
Communications Earth & Environment 4, 61
Research | 02 March 2023

Mantle wedge oxidation from deserpentinization modulated by sediment-derived fluids

The source of highly oxidized arc magmas may rely on the infiltration of sediment-derived fluids that contain oxidized aqueous species—notably sulfate—into deserpentinization fluids, according to thermodynamic modelling.
- José Alberto Padrón-Navarta
- , Vicente López Sánchez-Vizcaíno
- & Carlos J. Garrido
Nature Geoscience 16, 268-275
Research
24 February 2023 | Open Access

Implementation of a constitutive model for anisotropic rocks based on modified Lade failure criterion
- Xiaotian Liu
- , Yansheng Deng
- & Baoping Zou
Scientific Reports 13, 3210

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News and Comment

Research Highlights | 27 January 2023

New continental crust from post-collisional magmas

An article in Earth & Planetary Science Letters finds that post-collisional granites can be derived from a modified primary mantle source, rather than recycled lower crust.
- Erin Scott
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 4, 67
Comments & Opinion | 05 December 2022

Bridgmanite across the lower mantle

Earth’s most abundant mineral — bridgmanite — lies hidden in the lower mantle, but Li Zhang is hopeful that advances in analytical techniques may reveal the inner workings of our world.
- Li Zhang
Nature Geoscience 15, 964
Comments & Opinion | 03 November 2022

Diamonds as windows to deep Earth

Delving into recent and historical discoveries, Ananya Mallik explains how diamonds track the workings of the deep Earth that are hidden from view.
- Ananya Mallik
Nature Geoscience 15, 866
Editorial | 03 October 2022

Minerals matter

Permeating every aspect of life – and each with a multitude of stories to tell – we celebrate the utility, beauty and wonder of minerals in a new column: all minerals considered.

Nature Geoscience 15, 753
Research Highlights | 21 July 2022

Slippery slabs

An article in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems finds that chlorite- and serpentine-rich assemblages are most likely to control the frictional properties at subduction zone plate interfaces.
- Erin Scott
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3, 495
Comments & Opinion
21 June 2022 | Open Access

Salty ice and the dilemma of ocean exoplanet habitability

Habitability of exoplanet’s deepest oceans could be limited by the presence of high-pressure ices at their base. New work demonstrates that efficient chemical transport within deep planetary ice mantles is possible through significant salt incorporation within the high-pressure ice.
- Baptiste Journaux
Nature Communications 13, 3304