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ABSTRACT Eclogites are a comparatively rare but petrologically important member of kimberlite xenolith suites. Their broadly basaltic chemistry has led many authors to propose that they
represent ancient, subducted ocean crust1,2,3. Recent studies4,5,6, however, have suggested an alternative origin and propose that kimberlitic eclogites are residues from the process of
Archaean granitoid crust formation. Geochemical arguments in support of this new model were previously based on the trace-element chemistry of eclogitic minerals. Here I report that the
major-element chemistry of eclogite xenoliths also supports a crustal residue model. I examine eclogite xenoliths from kimberlite pipes at Koidu, Sierra Leone, which sample the lithospheric
mantle underlying the Archaean (2.8 Gyr) granitoid crust of the West African craton. Geochemical plots of major elements measured in unaltered, whole-rock samples of low-silica eclogite
demonstrate that they are complementary to the granitoids of the West African craton and have compositions which indicate that both were derived from a common basaltic parent rock. Access
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SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS FERTILE UPPER MANTLE PERIDOTITE XENOLITHS INDICATE NO WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION OF CRATONIC ROOT IN EAST ASIA Article Open access 19 December 2023 OXYGEN
ISOTOPES TRACE THE ORIGINS OF EARTH’S EARLIEST CONTINENTAL CRUST Article 31 March 2021 AUTHIGENIC MINERALIZATION IN SURTSEY BASALTIC TUFF DEPOSITS AT 50 YEARS AFTER ERUPTION Article Open
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Google Scholar Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank P. Gravestock for access to unpublished data, and H. Martin and R. Rudnick for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.
AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Geography and Geology, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, GL53 0BL,
Cheltenham, UK Hugh Rollinson Authors * Hugh Rollinson View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Hugh
Rollinson. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Rollinson, H. Eclogite xenoliths in west African kimberlites as residues from Archaean
granitoid crust formation. _Nature_ 389, 173–176 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/38266 Download citation * Received: 09 January 1997 * Accepted: 08 July 1997 * Issue Date: 11 September 1997
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