Preservation of Earth-forming events in the tungsten isotopic composition of modern flood basalts ...

• Main Authors: Rizo, Hanika, Walker, Richard, Carlson, Richard, Horan, Mary, Mukhopadhyay, Sujoy, Manthos, Vicky, Francis, Don, Jackson, Matthew
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Science 2016
• Subjects: Tungsten-182, mantle, geochemistry; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/ijjb-aex3; https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/26972

How much of Earth's compositional variation dates to processes occurring during 16 planet formation remains an unanswered question. High precision W isotopic data for rocks from two large igneous provinces, the North Atlantic Igneous Province and the Ontong Java Plateau, reveal preservation to the Phanerozoic of W isotopic heterogeneities in the mantle. These heterogeneities, caused by the decay of 182Hf in high Hf/W ratio mantle domains, were created during the first ~50 Ma of Solar System history, and imply that portions of the mantle that formed during Earth’s primary accretionary period have survived to the present. ...