Insights into early Earth from Barberton komatiites: Evidence from lithophile isotope and trace element systematics

Major, minor, and lithophile trace element abundances and Nd and Hf isotope systematics are reported for two sets of remarkably fresh, by Archean standards, samples of komatiitic lavas from the 3.48 Ga Komati and the 3.27 Ga Weltevreden Formations of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB) in South Africa. These data are used to place new constraints on the thermal history of the early Archean mantle, on the timing of its differentiation, and on the origin and chemical nature of early mantle reservoirs and their evolution through time. Projected moderate to strong depletions of highly incompatible lithophile trace elements and water in the mantle sources of both komatiite systems, combined with the partitioning behavior of V during lava differentiation, are consistent with anhydrous conditions during generation of the komatiite magmas. Komati and Weltevreden lavas are inferred to have erupted with temperatures of similar to 1600 degrees C, and, thus, represent the hottest known lavas on Earth. The calculated mantle potential temperatures of similar to 1800 degrees C for both komatiite systems are 150-200 degrees C higher than those of contemporary ambient mantle. Combined, these observations are consistent with the origin of these BGB komatiite magmas in mantle plumes in the lower mantle. New Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf isotopic data allow precise determination of initial epsilon Nd-143 = +0.46 +/- 0.10 and +0.50 +/- 0.11 and initial epsilon Hf-176 = +1.9 +/- 0.3 and +4.7 +/- 0.8 for the Komati and the Weltevreden system komatiites, respectively. These positive initial values reflect prior fractionation of Sm/Nd and Lu/Hf in the mantle early in Earth history. Conversely, mu Nd-142 values are 0.0 +/- 2.4 and +2.2 +/- 4.1 for the Komati and the Weltevreden systems, respectively. These values overlap, within uncertainties, those of modern terrestrial rocks, thus, limiting the magnitudes of possible Sm/Nd fractionations generated by early Earth processes in the sources of these rocks. Combined Nd-142,Nd-143 and Hf isotope and lithophile trace element systematics are consistent with formation and long-term isolation of deep-seated mantle domains with fractionated Sm/Nd and Lu/Hf at ca. 4400 Ma. These domains were likely generated as a result of crystallization of a primordial magma ocean, with Mg-perovskite and minor Ca-perovskite acting as fractionating phases. The inferred mantle domains were evidently mixed away by 2.7 Ga on the scale of mantle reservoirs sampled by late Archean komatiite lavas emplaced worldwide. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.