Origin of the Early Sial Crust and U–Pb Isotope–Geochemical Heterogeneity of the Earth’s Mantle

Abstract

It is shown that presence of the Early Precambrian sial crust in the Indo–Atlantic segment of the Earth and its absence in the Pacific has been caused by geochemical differences in the mantle underlying these segments. These differences were examined on the basis of Nd–Hf and U–Pb isotopes in modern basalts. The U–Pb isotope system is of particular interest, since uranium is a member of a group of heat-generating radioactive elements providing heat for plumes. It is shown that in the Indo–Atlantic segment, a distribution of areas of the modern HIMU type mantle is typical, while it is almost completely absent in the Pacific segment. In the Archean, in the upper HIMU type paleo-mantle areas, plume generation and formation of the primordial basic crust occurred; this was followed by its remelting resulting in the appearance of an early sial crust forming cratons of the Indo–Atlantic segment.