Geodynamics of kimberlites on a cooling Earth: Clues to plate tectonic evolution and deep volatile cycles

The remarkable Mesozoic-Cenozoic 'kimberlite bloom' between 250-50 Ma may represent the ideal circumstance under which the relatively cool and volatile-fluxed cratonic roots of the Pangea supercontinent underwent significant tectonic disturbance. This created more than 60% of world's known kimberlites in a combination of redox- and decompression-related low-degree partial melting. Less than 2% of world's known kimberlites formed after 50 Ma, and the tectonic settings of rare 'young' kimberlites from eastern Africa and western North America demonstrate that far-field stresses on cratonic lithosphere enforced by either continental rifting or cold subduction play a crucial role in enabling kimberlite magma transfer to Earth's surface.