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Trace-element anomalies in the continental crust (e.g., Nb-Ta-Pb) are useful to decipher the formation and evolution of continents. We found that the trace-element patterns of upper, middle, and lower crust are all marked by strongly negative phosphorus anomalies, which were not likely to have been generated directly by mantle melting. In order to address this “crust composition paradox,” we compiled major- and trace-element data from global arc magmas, igneous minerals, and deep arc cumulates and found that the phosphorus deficit in continental crust is coupled with an elevated Th/La ratio. This feature can be best explained by the fractional crystallization of apatite during arc magma evolution rather than the influence of a subducted slab. Accumulation of apatite-bearing mafic cumulates in deep arcs followed by foundering into the upper mantle causes the mismatch in the phosphorus systematics between the mantle and the continental crust. This process plays a critical role in shaping the chemical composition of continental crust.

The origin and evolution of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) underlying orogenic belts bordering cratons, as either newly added domains or strongly reworked older cratonic lithosphere, remains controversial. This limits our understanding of deep lithospheric behavior and processes during plate convergence. Here, we use detailed petrology, whole-rock and mineral compositions, and in-situ Sr isotopic compositions for spinel-facies peridotite xenoliths from Jiaohe (northeastern China) in the southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), which is pinched between two NE-striking Mesozoic to Cenozoic giant trans-lithospheric fault systems. These data are combined with whole-rock Re-Os isotope and platinum-group element compositions and literature data, to explore the physicochemical evolution of the regional SCLM and examine crust-SCLM relationships for this vast swath of continental lithosphere. Lherzolites predominate at Jiaohe, and have higher whole-rock Al2O3 contents than harzburgites (2.27–3.46 wt% versus 0.84–1.02 wt%), but exhibit FeO enrichment similar to harzburgite (bulk FeO up to 9.54 wt%). The lherzolitic clinopyroxenes (Cpx) have higher heavy rare earth element (HREE) levels (2.79–5.11 ppm) and Ti/Eu (3882–6864), coupled with wider variation of 87Sr/86Sr (0.7021–0.7038) and lower average fO2 (oxygen fugacity relative to the fayalitemagnetite-quartz buffer; FMQ-1.92 ± 0.55) compared to the harzburgites (HREE: 0.94–2.11 ppm; Ti/Eu: 163–2044; 87Sr/86Sr: 0.7032–0.7036; fO2 = FMQ-1.25 ± 0.20). All these observations suggest that the lherzolites were produced by adding Cpx ± spinel to the protoliths from reducing silicate melts, whereas the harzburgites may have originated from a remnant, highly depleted mantle domain that variably interacted with silica-undersaturated oxidizing melts. Bulk-rock and mineral compositional relationships as well as fO2 for peridotite samples from the southeastern CAOB (including Jiaohe) are similar to those of the northeastern NCC (including Huinan). Their characteristics contrast with those from the northwestern CAOB, suggesting that they belong to distinct lithospheric provinces with respect to both composition and oxidation state. Jiaohe harzburgites yield Paleoproterozoic Re depletion Os model ages (TRD up to 1.76 Ga), similar to Huinan peridotites (up to 1.92 Ga), just 170 km away, and may also represent strongly reworked cratonic mantle. By analogy with evidence from recent continental collision zones, the Jiaohe SCLM may have originated as cratonic SCLM that migrated northeastward during plate convergence along giant translithospheric fault systems.

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is one of the largest accretionary orogens on Earth and preserves evidence that more than 50% of this orogen represents juvenile crustal growth over an extended period of some 750 million years from ca. 1000 Ma to ca. 250 Ma. However, the mechanism of crustal growth is controversial, as implied by a variety of proposed models ranging from contributions of mantle-derived basaltic underplating in a post-collisional extensional setting to subduction-related processes in an island arc setting. To distinguish among these models, we report petrological, geochemical, whole-rock Sr-Nd isotope and zircon U-Pb and Hf isotope analyses of late Paleozoic felsic igneous rocks from the northern Inner Mongolia region, southeastern CAOB. New zircon U-Pb analyses of three plutonic and extrusive magmatic suites yield Late Carboniferous to Early Permian ages of 319–279 Ma. The Xi Ujimqin granodiorites have low-K tholeiitic to calc-alkaline, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous compositions, and are magnesian I-type granitoids. These granitoids are also characterized by relatively high MgO and Sr contents, high Mg# values, mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like Nd-Hf isotope compositions and young Nd-Hf model ages of 600–298 Ma. These features indicate that the parental magmas of the Xi Ujimqin I-type granitoids originated from a depleted lithospheric mantle that had been metasomatized by fluids released from a subducting slab. By contrast, the Xilinhot alkali-feldspar granites and Dashizhai rhyolites display geochemical signatures of ferroan granites. These, together with their moderately depleted Nd-Hf isotope compositions and young Nd-Hf model ages of 809–277 Ma, suggest that they were produced by re-melting of juvenile lower crust via underplating of mantle-derived magmas. The coexistence of an association of boninite-adakite-high-Mg andesite-Nb-enriched basalt, and MORB to ocean island basalt-type mafic rocks in the northern Inner Mongolia region implies a dramatic change in composition from fluid-related calc-alkaline arc magmatism to melt-related and mantle-derived magmatism initiated by upwelling asthenosphere. We infer that ridge subduction may have occurred in this region during Late Carboniferous to Early Permian. Combined with previous studies, there are two ridge subduction events during the early and late Paleozoic in Inner Mongolia within the southeastern CAOB, which coincide with two large-volume magmatic flare-ups (300 ± 20 and 450 ± 20 Ma). Furthermore, our model calculations suggest that most of the juvenile crust in the southeastern CAOB was generated in a relatively short interval (~20–40 m.y.) during each long-lived tectonic cycle (>140 m.y. spanning oceanic rifting, subduction, and collision) of magmatic activity. Ridge subduction may have played a significant role in the rhythmic growth of juvenile crust in the CAOB during the Phanerozoic. Repeated cycles of punctuated, rapid growth of juvenile crust associated with long-lived subduction systems represent a pattern that may be generalized to other Phanerozoic accretionary belts on Earth.

Data compilation, data source and filtering methods.

Accretionary orogens function as major sites for the generation of continental crust, but the growth model of continental crust remains poorly constrained. The Central Asian Orogenic Belt, as one of the most important Phanerozoic accretionary orogens on Earth, has been the focus of debates regarding the proportion of juvenile crust present. Using published geochemical and zircon Hf-O isotopic data sets for three belts in the Eastern Tianshan terrane of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, we first explore the variations in crustal thickness and isotopic composition in response to tectono-magmatic activity over time. Steady progression to radiogenic zircon Hf isotopic signatures associated with syn-collisional crustal thickening indicates enhanced input of mantle-derived material, which greatly contributes to the growth of the continental crust. Using the surface areas and relative increases in crustal thickness as the proxies for magma volumes, in conjunction with the calculated mantle fraction of the mixing flux, we then are able to determine that a volume of ~14–22% of juvenile crust formed in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt during the Phanerozoic. This study highlights the validity of using crustal thickness and zircon isotopic signatures of magmatic rocks to quantify the volume of juvenile crust in complex accretionary orogens. With reference to the crustal growth pattern in other accretionary orogens and the Nd-Hf isotopic record at the global scale, our work reconciles the rapid crustal growth in the accretionary orogens with its episodic generation pattern in the formation of global continental crust.

Osmium isotopes, whole rock and mineral geochemical data from peridotite xenoliths from two Miocene McMurdo Volcanic Group cinder cones in the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) in Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, reveal that the underlying mantle preserves evidence for major mid-Proterozoic lithosphere formation despite the crust being dominated by late Neoproterozoic-Ordovician (~0.65–0.47 Ga) rocks. The Hooper Crags xenolith suite is dominated by harzburgites with highly refractory olivine Mg# (up to 92.3) and depleted bulk rock major and platinum group element + Re abundances, with 187Os/188Os ratios indicating depletion in the mid-Proterozoic. Pipecleaner Glacier xenoliths, 18 km distant, are lherzolites with olivine Mg# ( 250 km) East Antarctic Craton lithosphere shielding the immediately adjacent circum-cratonic mantle from being affected by convective asthenosphere-driven erosion. This contrasts with mantle lithosphere accreted distally to the East Antarctic Craton (represented by the now-detached Zealandia continent), which did not attain extreme thickness and has therefore been more susceptible to tectonic reworking and lateral translation.

Constraining the processes that drive the disruption and re-healing of cratonic mantle roots is essential in understanding how cratons evolve. A striking example of this “cycle” of disruption and re-healing is provided by the deep mantle root currently observed beneath the ∼2.05 Ga Bushveld-Molopo Farms Complex (BMFC) of the central Kaapvaal Craton. Magmatism that produced the BMFC involved considerable disruption of the craton mantle root, yet the diamondiferous nature of the root, as sampled by Mesoproterozoic kimberlite eruptions, indicates that following Paleoproterozoic disruption, the lithosphere was re-healed and a cool geotherm re-established. A snap-shot of this mantle root provided by 48 peridotite xenoliths from the ∼1.2 Ga Premier (now Cullinan) kimberlite allows us to examine the evolution of the central Kaapvaal mantle lithosphere to constrain this re-healing process. Premier peridotites can be classified into 3 petrographic groups: an olivine-rich group (>80% olivine), with predominantly Archean Re-depletion (TRD) ages (Group I), a more orthopyroxene-rich group (Group II; RD ages, whose mode at ∼2.1 Ga matches the age of the BMFC, and a deformed, metasomatized group, with TRD ages mostly ∼2.1 Ga. Paleoproterozoic Group II and deformed peridotites represent 70% of the peridotite population and have systematically lower olivine Fo (molar 100×Mg/(Mg+Fe)) contents and higher Al2O3 compared to Archean Group I peridotites. Re-Os and other highly siderophile element (HSE) systematics indicate that the Paleoproterozoic TRD ages reflect the time of melt extraction. The dominant Group II peridotites have Al-Yb systematics indicative of a low-P melt-residue origin. The combined data rule out the suturing of the mantle root by accumulation of melting residues associated with the BMFC plume event. Instead, we invoke a model in which rapid decay of a plume-flux associated with BMFC generation leaves a lithospheric “gap” in the central craton that becomes filled with buoyant slab-derived oceanic lithospheric mantle associated with the subduction system that generated the ∼2.1 to ∼1.8 Ga western Kheis-Okwa-Magondi margin to the Kaapvaal Craton. An evolution to flat-slab subduction rapidly shuts down BMFC magmatism, emplaces Paleoproterozoic eclogites and diamonds in the root and heals the lithosphere disrupted by the plume. Such plume-subduction interaction, also observed in the modern Earth, might be a common process affecting the lithosphere of other cratons.

We present a summary of peridotite in the Subantarctic (46 to 60°S) surrounding the Antarctic Plate. Peridotite xenoliths occur on Kerguelen and Auckland islands. Kerguelen islands are underlain by a plume whereas the Auckland Islands are part of continental Zealandia, which is a Gondwana-rifted fragment. Small amounts of serpentinised peridotite has been dredged from fracture zones on the Southeast Indian, Southwest Indian, and Pacific Antarctic Ridge, and represents upwelled asthenosphere accreted to form lithosphere. Supra-subduction zone peridotite has been collected from two locations on the Sandwich Plate. Peridotites from most Subantarctic occurrences are moderately to highly depleted, and many show signs of subsequent metasomatic enrichment. Os isotopes indicate that the Subantarctic continental and oceanic lithospheric mantle contains ancient fragments that underwent depletion long before formation of the overlying crust. Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5424956

Cratons are Earth’s ancient continental land masses that remain stable for billions of years. The mantle roots of cratons are renowned as being long-lived, stable features of Earth’s continents, but there is also evidence of their disruption in the recent1–6 and more distant7–9 past. Despite periods of lithospheric thinning during the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic eons, the lithosphere beneath many cratons seems to always ‘heal’, returning to a thickness of 150 to 200 kilometres10–12; similar lithospheric thicknesses are thought to have existed since Archaean times3,13–15. Although numerous studies have focused on the mechanism for lithospheric destruction2,5,13,16–19, the mechanisms that recratonize the lithosphere beneath cratons and thus sustain them are not well understood. Here we study kimberlite-borne mantle xenoliths and seismology across a transect of the cratonic lithosphere of Arctic Canada, which includes a region affected by the Mackenzie plume event 1.27 billion years ago20. We demonstrate the important role of plume upwelling in the destruction and recratonization of roughly 200-kilometre-thick cratonic lithospheric mantle in the northern portion of the Slave craton. Using numerical modelling, we show how new, buoyant melt residues produced by the Mackenzie plume event are captured in a region of thinned lithosphere between two thick cratonic blocks. Our results identify a process by which cratons heal and return to their original lithospheric thickness after substantial disruption of their roots. This process may be widespread in the history of cratons and may contribute to how cratonic mantle becomes a patchwork of mantle peridotites of different age and origin. Upwelling of mantle plumes is proposed as a mechanism for craton healing after substantial disruption of their roots, enabling them to return to their original lithospheric thickness.

This fileincludes all data we used in the article.

The ultramafic mantle sections of the Yarlung-Zangbo ophiolites (YZO) along the suture of India and Asia in Tibet preserve the mantle history of the formerly intervening oceanic lithosphere. Fifty-two ophiolitic peridotites from three localities (Purang, Baigang and Zedang) reveal that these rocks comprise Mesozoic depleted mantle (peak mode 187Os/188Os = 0.126), mixed with more ancient mantle domains (187Os/188Os: 0.113–0.121, with model ages up to 2.2 Ga), probably through subduction or delamination of older lithosphere prior to its re-encapsulation into Mesozoic oceanic lithosphere. Whole-rock major and trace elements indicate that this composite mantle lithosphere experienced moderate to high degrees (∼10–30%) of partial melting in the Permian-Triassic, possibly due to the rifting of the back-arc basin in the northern margin of East Gondwana and the opening of Neo-Tethys. However, the generally flat primitive upper mantle-normalized highly siderophile element patterns do not match the depleted lithophile element characteristics. Sub-vertical (Pd/Ir)N-Al2O3 variations, coupled with the occurrence of variable amounts of interstitial base metal sulfides (BMS) and correlations with (Pd/Ir)N and Cu contents, indicate the addition of S-saturated (or BMS-rich) melts or fluids into this oceanic lithosphere. This may have occurred at ∼130–120 Ma during a new episode of Neo-Tethyan subduction, during which S-saturated forearc basaltic magmas were produced and subsequently overprinted the overlying peridotitic lithospheric mantle. The Tibetan YZO illustrate the complex life cycle of ophiolitic peridotites related to multi-stage regional tectonic events, and provide insights into understanding geodynamic mechanisms that have operated in the Earth’s upper mantle.

The North China Craton (NCC) is an atypical ancient landmass that suffered lithospheric destruction. Previous studies suggest that the eastern part of the lithospheric mantle of the NCC has been thinned and modified in the Mesozoic. However, the initiation time and mechanism of the destruction remain controversial. Mafic magmatism could provide a unique window into deciphering the lithospheric mantle composition and its evolution. Here we present geochemical and geochronological data of the diamond-bearing alkaline basalts from Lan'gan, located in the southeastern margin of the NCC. Zircon U-Pb dating yielded an average age of 174 ± 14 Ma, representing the first reported Jurassic basalts in the eastern NCC. The Lan'gan basalts are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithosphile elements (LILE). Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr(t) = 0.70646–0.70925, eNd(t) = −2.1 to −4.9, 206Pb/204Pb(t) = 17.14–18.12, 207Pb/204Pb(t) = 15.28–15.61, 208Pb/204Pb(t) = 37.82–38.67, and zircon eHf(t) = −17 to −21) are enriched compared to depleted mantle. The presence of primary amphibole indicates that the magma source of the basalts was water enriched. These observations suggest that, the lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC were significantly refertilized, likely by slab derived fluids/melts from the Paleo-Pacific subduction. Owing to the Paleo-Pacific subduction, the lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC were reduced in viscosity and intensity, and finally promoted partial melting in a limited scale to generate the investigated alkaline basalts. Hence, the discovery of diamond in the Lan'gan basalts demonstrates that the lithosphere of the NCC remained thick, and that large-scale destruction had not initiated in the early Jurassic beneath this region.

Table S1: Zircon U-Pb analytical results for samples from the felsic igneous rocks in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. Table S2: Major (wt%) and trace-element (ppm) concentrations of the felsic igneous rocks in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. Table S3: Whole-rock Sr-Nd isotopic compositions of the felsic igneous rocks in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. Table S4: Zircon Hf isotopic compositions of the felsic igneous rocks in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia. Table S5: Summary of zircon U-Pb age data of granitic rocks in XIMOB. Table S6: Summary of whole-rock Nd isotope data of granitic rocks in XIMOB. Table S7: Summary of zircons Hf isotopic data of granitic rocks in XMOB.

Outgassing of carbon dioxide from the Earth's interior regulates the surface climate through deep time. Here we examine the role of cratonic destruction in mantle CO2 outgassing via collating and presenting new data for Paleozoic kimberlites, Mesozoic basaltic rocks and their mantle xenoliths from the eastern North China Craton (NCC), which underwent extensive destruction in the early Cretaceous. High Ca/Al and low Ti/Eu and δ26Mg are widely observed in lamprophyres and mantle xenoliths, which demonstrates that the cratonic lithospheric mantle (CLM) was pervasively metasomatized by recycled carbonates. Raman analysis of bubble-bearing melt inclusions shows that redox melting of the C-rich CLM produced carbonated silicate melts with high CO2 content. The enormous quantities of CO2 in these magmas, together with substantial CO2 degassing from the carbonated melt–CLM reaction and crustal heating, indicate that destruction of the eastern NCC resulted in rapid and extensive mantle CO2 emission, which partly contributed to the early Cretaceous greenhouse climate episode.

Concentrations of highly siderophile elements (HSE) and (187)Os/(188)Os isotopic compositions for eleven impact related rocks from the Apollo 15 and 16 landing sites are reported and combined with existing geochronological data to investigate the chemical nature and temporal changes in the large impactors implicated in the formation of the lunar basins. Data for the samples all define linear trends on plots of HSE versus Ir concentrations, whose slopes likely reflect the relative HSE compositions of the dominant impactors that formed the rocks. The inferred Imbrium basin impactor that generated Apollo 15 impact melt rocks 15445 and 15455 was characterized by modestly suprachondritic (187)Os/(188)Os, Ru/Ir, Pt/Ir and Pd/Ir ratios. Diverse impactor components are revealed in the Apollo 16 impact melt rocks. The (187)Os/(188)Os and HSE/Ir ratios of the impactor components in melt rocks 60635, 63595 and 68416, with reported ages < 3.84 Ga, are within the range of chondritic meteorites, but slightly higher than ratios characterizing previously studied granulitic impactites with reported ages > 4.0 Ga. By contrast, the impactor components in melt rocks 60235, 62295 and 67095, with reported ages of ~3.9 Ga, are characterized by suprachondritic (187)Os/(188)Os and HSE/Ir ratios similar to the Apollo 15 impact melt rocks, and may also sample the Imbrium impactor. Three lithic clasts from regolith breccias 60016 and 65095, also with ~3.9 Ga ages, contain multiple impactor components, of which the dominant composition is considerably more suprachondritic than those implicated for Imbrium and Serenitatis (Apollo 17) impactors. The dominant composition recorded in these rocks was most likely inherited from a pre-Imbrium impactor. Consideration of composition versus age relations among lunar impact melt rocks reveals no discernable trend. Virtually all lunar impact melt rocks sampled by the Apollo missions, as well as meteorites, are characterized by (187)Os/(188)Os and HSE/Ir ratios that, when collectively plotted, define linear trends ranging from chondritic to fractionated compositions. The impact melt rocks with HSE signatures within the range of chondritic meteorites are interpreted to have been derived from impactors that had HSE compositions similar to known chondrite groups. By contrast, the impact melt rocks with non-chondritic relative HSE concentrations could not have been made by mixing of known chondritic impactors. These signatures may instead reflect contributions from early solar system bodies with bulk chemical compositions that have not yet been sampled by primitive meteorites present in our collections. Alternately, they may reflect the preferential incorporation of evolved metal separated from a fractionated planetesimal core. Pre-3.9 Ga ages for at least some impactor components with both chondritic and fractionated HSE raise the possibility that the bulk of the HSE were added to the lunar crust prior to the later-stage basin-forming impacts, such as Imbrium and Serenitatis, as proposed by Fischer-Gödde and Becker (2012). For this scenario, the later-stage basin-forming impacts were more important with respect to mixing prior impactor components into melt rocks, rather than contributing much to the HSE budgets of the rocks themselves.

Outgassing of carbon dioxide from the Earth's interior regulates the surface climate through deep time. Here we examine the role of cratonic destruction in mantle CO

The formation and preservation of cratons—the oldest parts of the continents, comprising over 60 per cent of the continental landmass—remains an enduring problem. Key to craton development is how and when the thick strong mantle roots that underlie these regions formed and evolved. Peridotite melting residues forming cratonic lithospheric roots mostly originated via relatively low-pressure melting and were subsequently transported to greater depth by thickening produced by lateral accretion and compression. The longest-lived cratons were assembled during Mesoarchean and Palaeoproterozoic times, creating the stable mantle roots 150 to 250 kilometres thick that are critical to preserving Earth’s early continents and central to defining the cratons, although we extend the definition of cratons to include extensive regions of long-stable Mesoproterozoic crust also underpinned by thick lithospheric roots. The production of widespread thick and strong lithosphere via the process of orogenic thickening, possibly in several cycles, was fundamental to the eventual emergence of extensive continental landmasses—the cratons. Cratons are the oldest parts of the Earth’s continents; this Review concludes that the production of widespread, thick and strong lithosphere via the process of orogenic thickening was fundamental to the eventual emergence of extensive continental landmasses.

We studied the petrography, mineralogy, thermobarometry and whole-rock chemistry of 120 peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths collected from the 156–138 Ma Chidliak kimberlite province (Southern Baffin Island). Xenoliths from pipes CH-1, -6, -7 and -44 are divided into two garnet-bearing series, dunites–harzburgites–lherzolites and wehrlites–olivine pyroxenites. Both series show widely varying textures, from coarse to sheared, and textures of late formation of garnet and clinopyroxene. Some samples from the lherzolite series may contain spinel, whereas wehrlites may contain ilmenite. In CH-6, rare coarse samples of the lherzolite and wehrlite series were derived from P = 2·8 to 5·6 GPa, whereas predominant sheared and coarse samples of the lherzolite series coexist at P = 5·6–7·5 GPa. Kimberlites CH-1, -7, -44 sample mainly the deeper mantle, at P = 5·0–7·5 GPa, represented by coarse and sheared lherzolite and wehrlite series. The bulk of the pressure–temperature arrays defines a thermal state compatible with 35–39 mW m–2 surface heat flow, but a significant thermal disequilibrium was evident in the large isobaric thermal scatter, especially at depth, and in the low thermal gradients uncharacteristic of conduction. The whole-rock Si and Mg contents of the Chidliak xenoliths and their mineral chemistry reflect initial high levels of melt depletion typical of cratonic mantle and subsequent refertilization in Ca and Al. Unlike the more orthopyroxene-rich mantle of many other cratons, the Chidliak mantle is rich (∼83 vol%) in forsteritic olivine. We assign this to silicate–carbonate metasomatism, which triggered wehrlitization of the mantle. The Chidliak mantle resembles the Greenlandic part of the North Atlantic Craton, suggesting the former contiguous nature of their lithosphere before subsequent rifting into separate continental fragments. Another, more recent type of mantle metasomatism, which affected the Chidliak mantle, is characterized by elevated Ti in pyroxenes and garnet typical of all rock types from CH-1, -7 and -44. These metasomatic samples are largely absent from the CH-6 xenolith suite. The Ti imprint is most intense in xenoliths derived from depths equivalent to 5·5–6·5 GPa where it is associated with higher strain, the presence of sheared samples of the lherzolite series and higher temperatures varying isobarically by up to 200 °C. The horizontal scale of the thermal-metasomatic imprint is more ambiguous and could be as regional as tens of kilometers or as local as

We present major- and trace-element concentrations, Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic compositions, Re Os isotopes, and highly siderophile element (HSE) abundances of 17 xenolithic mantle peridotites from the Nuomin volcanic field to constrain the assembly and evolution of the Xing'an–Mongolia Orogenic Belt (XMOB), Northeast China. The Nuomin peridotites are divided into five groups (harzburgite groups Haz-1, Haz-2, and Haz-3, and lherzolite groups Lhz-1 and Lhz-2). The Haz-1 peridotites are characterized by refractory chemical compositions (Al2O3 contents of 1.03–2.30 wt% and olivine forsterite (Fo) numbers of 90.7–92.5) that are best interpreted as residues after high degrees of mantle partial melting. The Haz-2 and Haz-3 peridotites exhibit slightly more fertile compositions (Al2O3 of 1.72–1.80 wt% and Fo of 89.0–89.9 for the Haz-2, and Al2O3 of 2.86 wt% and Fo of 91.2 for the Haz-3), resulting from refertilization by silicate melts. The Lhz-1 samples are more fertile (Al2O3 of 2.90–3.64 wt% and Fo of 89.1–90.3) than the Lhz-2 samples (Al2O3 of 1.64–2.16 wt% and Fo of 90.9–91.3). The combination of trace-element data (Ti/Eu ratio) and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic compositions indicates the presence of at least three peridotite end-members (Haz-1, Haz-2, and Lhz-1–Lhz-2) beneath the Nuomin area, which can be explained by the infiltration of two distinct metasomatic agents (MA1: composition similar to potassic basaltic rocks in the Wudalianchi–Erkeshan–Keluo area, and MA2: Fe–Ti-enriched melt). HSE abundances and Os isotopic data show that the Os isotopic compositions of the Haz-1, Lhz-1, and Lhz-2 peridotites were not significantly affected by lithophile-element-dominated metasomatism and can be used to constrain the melt extraction ages of these peridotites. The lower 187Os/188Os ratios of Haz-1 peridotites define a prominent rhenium depletion age (TRD) of ~1.6 Ga and represent fragments of the Paleo–Mesoproterozoic lithospheric mantle rather than reflecting the heterogeneous characteristics of the asthenosphere or extraneous emplacement. In contrast, the Lhz-1 and Lhz-2 lherzolite groups together have a narrow range of 187Os/188Os ratios that give younger TRD ages (~0.5 to 1.0 Ga). Our data demonstrate that both the Paleo–Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic subcontinental lithospheric mantle coexist beneath the XMOB and that they correspond respectively to the bimodal age peaks of crustal growth of ~1.6 Ga and ~0.8 Ga defined by the XMOB granitoids. The XMOB was assembled primarily during the Phanerozoic by multiple blocks that had formed from the Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic. The similar chemical and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic signatures of both young and old lithospheric mantle indicate that the large-scale metasomatism event involving potassic melts most likely occurred during the evolution of the Paleo–Asian Ocean. The crustal materials carried to the mantle by multiple subduction events could be an effective source of potassium for the origin of potassic basaltic rocks.

Photomicrographs of microstructures, plane-polarized views of peridotites and summary table of peridotites

Some arc magmas lead to the formation of porphyry deposits in the relatively shallow upper crust (