Mid-lithosphere discontinuities are seismic interfaces likely located within the lithospheric mantle of stable cratons, which typically represent velocities decreasing with depth. The origins of these interfaces are poorly understood due to the difficulties in both characterizing them seismically and reconciling the observations with thermal-chemical models of cratons. Metasomatism of the cratonic lithosphere has been reported by numerous geochemical and petrological studies worldwide, yet its seismic signature remains elusive. Here, we identify two distinct mid-lithosphere discontinuities at ~89 and ~115 km depth beneath the eastern Wyoming craton and the southwestern Superior craton by analyzing seismic data recorded by two longstanding stations. Our waveform modeling shows that the shallow and deep interfaces represent isotropic velocity drops of 2–9% and 3–10%, respectively, depending on the contributions from changes in radial anisotropy and density. By building a thermal-chemical model including the regional xenolith thermobarometry constraints and the experimental phase-equilibrium data of mantle metasomatism, we show that the shallow interface probably represents the metasomatic front, below which hydrous minerals such as amphibole and phlogopite are present, whereas the deep interface may be caused by the onset of carbonated partial melting. The hydrous minerals and melts are products of mantle metasomatism, with CO2-H2O-rich siliceous melt as a probable metasomatic reagent. Our results suggest that mantle metasomatism is probably an important cause of mid-lithosphere discontinuities worldwide, especially near craton boundaries, where the mantle lithosphere may be intensely metasomatized by fluids and melts released by subducting slabs.

How and when plate tectonics initiated remain uncertain. In part, this is because many signals that have been interpreted as diagnostic of plate tectonics can be alternatively explained via hot stagnant-lid tectonics. One such signal involves early Archean phaneritic ultramafic rocks. In the Eoarchean Isua supracrustal belt of southwestern Greenland, some ultramafic rocks have been interpreted as tectonically-exhumed mantle during Eoarchean subduction. To explore whether all Archean phaneritic ultramafic rocks originated as cumulate and/or komatiite – i.e., without requiring plate tectonics – we examined the petrology and geochemistry of such rocks in the Isua supracrustal belt and the Paleoarchean East Pilbara Terrane of northwestern Australia, with Pilbara ultramafic rocks interpreted as representative of rocks from non-plate tectonic settings. We found that Pilbara ultramafic samples have relict cumulate textures, relative enrichment of whole-rock Os, Ir, and Ru versus Pt and Pd, and spinel with variable TiO2, relatively consistent Cr#, and variable and low Mg#. Similar geochemical characteristics also occur in variably altered Isua ultramafic rocks. We show that Isua and Pilbara ultramafic rocks should have interacted with low Pt and Pd melts generated by sequestration of Pd and Pt into sulphide and/or alloy during magma generation or crystallization. Such melts cannot have interacted with a mantle wedge. Furthermore, altered mantle rocks and altered cumulates could have similar rock textures and whole-rock geochemistry such that they may not distinguish mantle from cumulate. Our findings suggest that depleted mantle interpretations are not consistent with geochemistry and/or rock textures obtained from Isua and Pilbara ultramafic rocks. Instead, cumulate textures of Pilbara samples, whole-rock Pt and Pd concentrations, and spinel geochemistry of Isua and Pilbara ultramafic rocks support cumulate origins and metasomatism involving co-genetic melts that formed in hot stagnant-lid settings. Collectively, these findings permit ≤ 3.2 Ga initiation of plate tectonics on Earth.

Although ~10% of Earth’s water resides within continents, HO distribution throughout the continental lithosphere and partitioning of HO in nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) remain poorly constrained. Models of continent formation and destruction depend on HO content. We report HO contents in NAMs measured on petrographic thin sections by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) of Proterozoic deep crustal xenoliths from Colorado, USA. Clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and garnet contain average HO contents of 560, 347, and 85 ppm, respectively; reconstructed bulk rock HO ranges from ~75 to ~600 ppm. Inter-mineral HO ratios overlap experimental mineral/melt D values, and are used to calculate HO of melts last in equilibrium with the xenoliths. We propose that these xenoliths represent cumulates fractionated from a primitive, hydrous (≥1 wt.% HO) melt at high (~1 GPa) pressures, similar to conditions in modern subduction zones, and potentially associated with widespread arc accretion that formed the core of North America in the Precambrian.

We examine mid-lower crustal xenoliths erupted in Late Pleistocene to Holocene alkali basalt at San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico to investigate the role of partial melt in deep lithospheric deformation. Using major and trace element mineral chemistry data obtained from LA-ICP-MS and microstructural data obtained from EBSD, we cluster the crustal xenoliths into two groups based on textural and geochemical characteristics: Group (1) largely unfoliated two-pyroxene gabbros with minor amounts of olivine, and Group (2) gabbros with strong compositional foliation and up to 30% modal olivine. We interpret Group 1 xenoliths as representing underplated cumulates from basaltic magmas, whereas petrographic and quantitative microstructural data suggest Group 2 xenoliths record melt infiltration of pre-existing gabbros coeval with deformation, perhaps in a deep crustal shear zone. We propose this shear zone represents a deep lithospheric expression of the active transform plate boundary along the Baja California margin.