Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Links between large igneous province volcanism and subducted iron formations

Nature Geoscience volume 16, pages 527–533 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Large igneous province volcanism represents extensive mantle melting that has contributed to Earth’s chemical differentiation and lithospheric and climatic changes. Compositional heterogeneities in the mantle, such as accumulated recycled crust, may make key contributions to large igneous province activity. One class of rocks capable of producing distinctive mantle heterogeneities is the iron formations, uniquely dense Fe-rich sedimentary rocks formed in Earth’s early oceans. Although numerous iron formations were preserved on continents, with some becoming major Fe ore deposits, large amounts of iron formations may also have been recycled into the mantle, with uncertain consequences. Here we use statistical analysis of time series to show that from 3,200 to 1,000 Myr ago, most iron formation deposition ages are correlated with large igneous province activity 241 ± 15 Myr later, and that these events are coupled on long timescales. Linking observations from tectonics, geodynamics, mineral physics and seismology studies, we hypothesize that dense accumulations of subducted iron formations can form highly conductive Fe-rich zones in the lowermost mantle and facilitate the formation of thermal anomalies that produce mantle plume upwellings, and, ultimately, large igneous provinces. Although uncertainties remain regarding the precise nature of Archaean and Proterozoic convergent tectonics, facilitation of large igneous province activity by subducted iron formations would link Earth’s ocean chemistry to the pace of heat flow, crustal production and chemical differentiation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Correlation between IF and ELIP ages from 3,200 to 1,000 Ma.
Fig. 2: Discrete Fourier transform analysis of natural time series data from Fig. 1.
Fig. 3: Proposed mechanisms of mantle plume stimulation by a highly conductive IF in the lowermost mantle.
Fig. 4: Estimates of process timescales that could produce the observed lag between IF deposition and a later mantle plume and ELIP.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data necessary to reproduce the results of this work are given in the Extended Data and Source Data. Copies of this information, along with the computer code used to generate results and figures, are available from the Zenodo online data repository at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7843152. Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

The computer code used to generate results and figures is available from the Zenodo online data repository at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7843152.

References

  1. Abbott, D. H. & Isley, A. E. The intensity, occurrence, and duration of superplume events and eras over geological time. J. Geodyn. 34, 265–307 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lay, T., Hernlund, J. & Buffett, B. A. Core–mantle boundary heat flow. Nat. Geosci. 1, 25–32 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Lyons, T. W., Reinhard, C. T. & Planavsky, N. J. The rise of oxygen in Earth’s ocean and atmosphere. Nature 506, 307–315 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Konhauser, K. O. et al. Iron formations: a global record of Neoarchaean to Palaeproterozoic environmental history. Earth-Sci. Rev. 172, 140–177 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bekker, A. et al. in Treatise on Geochemistry 2nd edn, Vol. 9 (eds Holland, H. D. & Turekian, K. K.) 561–628 (Elsevier, 2014).

  6. Planavsky, N. J. et al. Evidence for oxygenic photosynthesis half a billion years before the Great Oxidation Event. Nat. Geosci. 7, 283–286 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gole, M. J. & Klein, C. Banded iron-formations through much of Precambrian time. J. Geol. 89, 169–183 (1981).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Johnson, J. E. & Molnar, P. H. Widespread and persistent deposition of iron formations for two billion years. Geophys. Res. Lett. 46, 3327–3339 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Shirey, S. B. & Richardson, S. H. Start of the Wilson cycle at 3 Ga shown by diamonds from subcontinental mantle. Science 333, 434–436 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Greber, N. D. et al. Titanium isotopic evidence for felsic crust and plate tectonics 3.5 billion years ago. Science 357, 1271–1274 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Brenner, A. R. et al. Paleomagnetic evidence for modern-like plate motion velocities at 3.2 Ga. Sci. Adv. 6, eaaz8670 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dobson, D. P. & Brodholt, J. P. Subducted banded iron formations as a source of ultralow-velocity zones at the core–mantle boundary. Nature 434, 371–374 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Kang, N. & Schmidt, M. W. The melting of subducted banded iron formations. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 476, 165–178 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Ernst, R. E. et al. in Large Igneous Provinces: A Driver of Global Environmental and Biotic Changes American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Vol. 255 (eds Ernst, R. E., Dickson, A. J. & Bekker, A.) 1–26 (AGU, 2021).

  15. Condie, K. C., Pisarevsky, S. A., Puetz, S. J., Roberts, N. M. W. & Spencer, C. J. A-type granites in space and time: relationship to the supercontinent cycle and mantle events. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 610, 118125 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Yu, S. & Garnero, E. J. Ultralow velocity zone locations: a global assessment. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 19, 396–414 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Bower, D. J., Wicks, J. K., Gurnis, M. & Jackson, J. M. A geodynamic and mineral physic model of a solid-state ultra-low velocity zone. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 303, 193–202 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Liu, J. et al. Hydrogen-bearing iron peroxide and the origin of ultralow-velocity zones. Nature 551, 494–497 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  19. French, S. W. & Romanowicz, B. Broad plumes rooted at the base of the Earth’s mantle beneath major hotspots. Nature 525, 95–99 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Cottaar, S. & Romanowicz, B. An unusually large ULVZ at the base of the mantle near Hawaii. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 355–356, 213–222 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Yuan, K. & Romanowicz, B. Seismic evidence for partial melting at the root of major hot spot plumes. Science 357, 393–397 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Lai, V. H. et al. Strong ULVZ and slab interaction at the northeastern edge of the Pacific LLSVP favors plume generation. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 23, e2021GC010020 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Knittle, E., Jeanloz, R., Mitchell, A. C. & Nellis, W. J. Metallization of Fe0.94O at elevated pressures and temperatures observed by shock-wave electrical resistivity measurements. Solid State Commun. 59, 513–515 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Fischer, R. A. et al. Phase transition and metallization of FeO at high pressures and temperatures. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L24301 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Ohta, K. et al. Highly conductive iron-rich (Mg,Fe)O magnesiowüstite and its stability in the Earth’s lower mantle. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 119, 4656–4665 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Manga, M. & Jeanloz, R. Implications of a metal-bearing chemical boundary layer in the D″ for mantle dynamics. Geophys. Res. Lett. 23, 3091–3094 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Boulard, E. et al. Ferrous iron under oxygen-rich conditions in the deep mantle. Geophys. Res. Lett. 46, 1348–1356 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Hou, M. et al. Superionic iron oxide-hydroxide in Earth’s deep mantle. Nat. Geosci. 14, 174–178 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Shim, S.-H. et al. Electronic and magnetic structures of the postperovskite-type Fe2O3 and implications for planetary magnetic records and deep interiors. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 5508–5512 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Bykova, E. et al. Structural complexity of Fe2O3 at high pressures and temperatures. Nat. Commun. 7, 10661 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Khandarkhaeva, S. et al. Structural diversity of magnetite and products of its decomposition at extreme conditions. Inorg. Chem. 61, 1091–1101 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Nagihara, S., Sclater, J. G., Beckley, L. M., Behrens, E. W. & Lawver, L. A. High heat flow anomalies over salt structures on the Texas continental slope, Gulf of Mexico. Geophys. Res. Lett. 19, 1687–1690 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Hutko, A. R., Lay, T., Garnero, E. J. & Revenaugh, J. Seismic detection of folded, subducted lithosphere at the core–mantle boundary. Nature 441, 333–336 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Reali, R. et al. Modeling viscosity of (Mg,Fe)O at lowermost mantle conditions. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 287, 65–75 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Sobolev, A. V., Hofmann, A. W., Jochum, K. P., Kuzmin, D. V. & Stoll, B. A young source for the Hawaiian plume. Nature 476, 434–437 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Wang, X.-C. et al. Identification of an ancient mantle reservoir and young recycled materials in the source region of a young mantle plume: implications for potential linkages between plume and plate tectonics. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 337–338, 248–259 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Rasmussen, B., Zi, J.-W. & Muhling, J. U-Pb dating reveals multiple Paleoproterozoic orogenic events (Hamersley orogenic cycle) along the southern Pilbara margin (Australia) spanning the onset of atmospheric oxygenation. Geology 50, 959–963 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  38. Larson, R. L. Latest pulse of Earth: evidence for a mid-Cretaceous superplume. Geology 19, 547–550 (1991).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Driscoll, P. E. & Evans, D. A. D. Frequency of Proterozoic geomagnetic superchrons. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 437, 9–14 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Isley, A. E. & Abbott, D. H. Plume-related mafic volcanism and the deposition of banded iron formation. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 15461–15477 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

  41. Rasmussen, B., Muhling, J. R. & Krapež, B. Greenalite and its role in the genesis of early Precambrian iron formations – a review. Earth-Sci. Rev. 217, 103613 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  42. Muir, J. M. R. & Brodholt, J. P. Elastic properties of ferropericlase at lower mantle conditions and its relevance to ULVZs. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 417, 40–48 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  43. Badro, J. et al. Iron partitioning in Earth’s mantle: toward a deep lower mantle discontinuity. Science 300, 789–791 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  44. von Heune, R. & Scholl, D. W. Observations at convergent margins concerning sediment subduction, subduction erosion, and the growth of continental crust. Rev. Geophys. 29, 279–316 (1991).

    Google Scholar 

  45. Plank, T. in Treatise on Geochemistry 2nd edn, Vol. 4 (eds Holland, H. D. & Turekian, K. K.) 607–629 (Elsevier, 2014).

  46. Proust, J. N., Martillo, C., Michaud, F., Collot, J. Y. & Dauteuil, O. Subduction of seafloor asperities revealed by a detailed stratigraphic analysis of the active margin shelf sediments of central Ecuador. Mar. Geol. 380, 345–362 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  47. Condie, K. C. A planet in transition: the onset of plate tectonics on Earth between 3 and 2 Ga? Geosci. Front. 9, 51–60 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  48. Palin, R. M. et al. Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth. Earth-Sci. Rev. 207, 103172 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  49. Kump, L. R. The rise of atmospheric oxygen. Nature 451, 277–278 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  50. Seton, M. et al. A global data set of present-day oceanic crustal age and seafloor spreading parameters. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 21, e2020GC009214 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  51. Labrosse, S. & Jaupart, C. Thermal evolution of the Earth: secular changes and fluctuations of plate characteristics. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 260, 465–481 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  52. Christensen, U. R. & Hoffman, A. W. Segregation of subducted oceanic crust in the convecting mantle. J. Geophys. Res. 99, 19867–19884 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  53. Li, M. & McNamara, A. K. The difficulty for subducted oceanic crust to accumulate at the Earth’s core–mantle boundary. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 118, 1807–1816 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  54. Li, M., McNamara, A. K., Garnero, E. J. & Yu, S. Compositionally-distinct ultra-low velocity zones on Earth’s core–mantle boundary. Nat. Comm. 8, 177 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  55. Cao, X., Flament, N., Bodur, Ö. & Müller, D. The evolution of basal mantle structure in response to supercontinent aggregation and dispersal. Sci. Rep. 11, 22967 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  56. Dannberg, J. & Sobolev, S. V. Low-buoyancy thermochemical plumes resolve controversy of classical mantle plume concept. Nat. Commun. 6, 6960 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  57. Van Kranendonk, M. J., Kirkland, C. L. & Cliff, J. Oxygen isotopes in Pilbara Craton zircons support a global increase in crustal recycling at 3.2 Ga. Lithos 228–229, 90–98 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  58. Condie, K. C., Davaille, A., Aster, R. C. & Arndt, N. Upstairs–downstairs: supercontinents and large igneous provinces, are they related? Int. Geol. Rev. 57, 1341–1348 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  59. Hiatt, E. E., Kyser, T. K., Polito, P. A., Marlatt, J. & Pufahl, P. The Paleoproterozoic Kombolgie Subgroup (1.8 Ga), McArthur Basin, Australia: sequence stratigraphy, basin evolution, and unconformity-related uranium deposits following the Great Oxidation Event. Can. Mineral. 59, 1049–1083 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  60. Chamberlain, K. R., Frost, C. D. & Frost, B. R. Early Archean to Mesoproterozoic evolution of the Wyoming province: Archean origins to modern lithospheric architecture. Can. J. Earth Sci. 40, 1357–1374 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  61. Davey, S. C. et al. Archean block rotation in western Karelia: resolving dyke swarm patterns in metacraton Karelia–Kola for a refined paleogeographic reconstruction of supercraton Superia. Lithos 368–369, 105553 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  62. Killian, T. M., Bleeker, W., Chamberlain, K., Evans, D. A. D. & Cousens, B. in Supercontinent Cycles Through Earth History Geological Society of London Special Publication Vol. 424 (eds Li, Z. X., Evans, D. A. D. & Murphy, J. B.) 15–45 (GSL, 2016).

  63. Wang, C., Konhauser, K. O. & Zhang, L. Depositional environment of the Paleoproterozoic Yuanjiacun banded iron formation in Shanxi province, China. Econ. Geol. 110, 1515–1539 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  64. Lan, C., Long, X., Zhai, M. & Wang, J. Depositional age and geochemistry of the 2.44–2.32 Ga granular iron formation in the Songshan Group, North China Craton: tracing the effects of atmospheric oxygenation on continental weathering and seawater environment. Precambrian Res. 357, 106142 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  65. Gumsley, A. P. et al. Timing and tempo of the Great Oxidation Event. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 1811–1816 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  66. Warchola, T. et al. Petrology and geochemistry of the Boolgeeda iron formation, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia. Precambrian Res. 316, 155–173 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  67. Djoukouo Soh, A. P. et al. Origin, tectonic environment and age of the Bibole banded iron formations, northwestern Congo Craton, Cameroon: geochemical and geochronological constraints. Geol. Mag. 158, 2245–2263 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  68. Freimann, M. A., Knauer, L. G. & Kuchenbecker, M. New geochronologic and geochemical constraints for the Pedro Pereira metavolcanosedimentary sequence: evidence for a 2.77 Ga oxygen oasis record in the São Francisco–Congo paleocontinent. J. South Am. Earth Sci. 112, 103613 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  69. Diez, D. M., Barr, C. D. & Çetinkaya-Rundel, M. OpenIntro Statistics 3rd edn (OpenIntro, 2015).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank M. Krause, K.K.M. Lee, J.K. Gaison, A. Keller and D.A. Keller for discussions. D.S.K., C.-T.A.L. and R.D. received support from NASA grant 80NSSC18K0828. L.J.R. acknowledges support from a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2021-02523).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Duncan S. Keller, Cin-Ty A. Lee & Rajdeep Dasgupta

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Duncan S. Keller, Santiago Tassara & Jay J. Ague

  3. Instituto de Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua, Chile

    Santiago Tassara

  4. Department of Geology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Leslie J. Robbins

Authors
  1. Duncan S. Keller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Santiago Tassara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Leslie J. Robbins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cin-Ty A. Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jay J. Ague
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rajdeep Dasgupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.S.K., S.T. and L.J.R. developed the project. D.S.K. and S.T. conducted time series analysis and D.S.K. conducted tests for statistical significance and Fourier transform analysis. All authors discussed calculations and numerical modelling, which were performed by D.S.K. All authors discussed interpretations of results and their implications. D.S.K. wrote the initial manuscript draft, which all authors discussed and edited together.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Duncan S. Keller.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Geoscience thanks David Dobson and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editors: Tamara Goldin and Rebecca Neely, in collaboration with the Nature Geoscience team.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 Simplified model of conductive heat flow through IF in the lowermost mantle.

(a): Model setup of IF and D″ mantle at the CMB. IF is taken as 50% Fe-oxides and 50% SiO2 by volume. (b): Model results showing the fraction of heat flow through the IF box for a range of IF thermal conductivities. The thermal conductivity of both D″ mantle and SiO2 in IF are taken to be 10 W m−1K−1 (ref. 2).

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 2 Simplified calculations showing that the sum of subducted IF mass would likely fit within a layer ≤4 km thick above the CMB.

If IFs persist in the lowermost mantle, they might remain seismically undetectable with the current resolution limitations of ~5 km above the CMB (ref. 16) in the absence of vertical deformation.

Extended Data Table 1 Extremely Large Igneous Province (ELIP) age and uncertainty data used in this study for time series construction and comparisons of mean event ages
Full size table
Extended Data Table 2 Iron formation (IF) age and uncertainty data used in this study for time series construction and comparisons of mean event ages
Full size table
Extended Data Table 3 Statistical significance tests for relationships between ELIPs and IFs
Full size table
Extended Data Table 4 Relationship between ELIPs of this study and known Proterozoic geomagnetic superchrons
Full size table

Supplementary information

Supplementary Table 1

Table showing correlations of each IF with each ELIP and the total number of events falling within several age correlation groupings.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

All ELIP and IF data plotted in Fig. 1 and the statistical analyses of these data and the synthetic data to which they are compared.

Source Data Fig. 2

ELIP and IF time series used in discrete Fourier transform analysis.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 1

Calculations and data used to make Extended Data Fig. 1.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Keller, D.S., Tassara, S., Robbins, L.J. et al. Links between large igneous province volcanism and subducted iron formations. Nat. Geosci. 16, 527–533 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01188-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01188-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing