Journal article

The discovery of kimberlites in Antarctica extends the vast Gondwanan Cretaceous province

Gregory M Yaxley, Vadim S Kamenetsky, Geoffrey T Nichols, Roland Maas, Elena Belousova, Anja Rosenthal, Marc Norman

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP | Published : 2013

Abstract

Kimberlites are a volumetrically minor component of the Earth's volcanic record, but are very important as the major commercial source of diamonds and as the deepest samples of the Earth's mantle. They were predominantly emplaced from ≈2,100 Ma to ≈10 ka ago, into ancient, stable regions of continental crust (cratons), but are also known from continental rifts and mobile belts. Kimberlites have been reported from almost all major cratons on all continents except for Antarctica. Here we report the first bona fide Antarctic kimberlite occurrence, from the northern Prince Charles Mountains, emplaced during the reactivation of the Lambert Graben associated with rifting of India from Australia-An..

View full abstract

Grants

Awarded by Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship


Funding Acknowledgements

G.T.N. thanks R. F. Flint and ANARE expeditioners for assistance during the summers of 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90. C. Lawson and N. Pearson (Macquarie University) provided XRF analyses and electron microprobe time, respectively. We acknowledge funding from the Australian Research Council (V. S. K. and G. M. Y.), the University of Tasmania (V. S. K.) and a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (302637) to A. R. This is contribution 312 from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (http://www/ccfs/mq/.edu.au) and 878 in the GEMOC Key Centre (http://www.gemoc.mq.edu.au).