146Sm-142Nd evidence from Isua metamorphosed sediments for early differentiation of the Earth's mantle

Application of the 147Sm-143Nd chronometer (half-life of 106 Gyr) suggests that large-scale differentiation of the Earth's mantle may have occurred during the first few hundred million years of its history. However, the signature of mantle depletion found in early Archaean rocks is often obscured by uncertainties resulting from open-system behaviour of the rocks during later high-grade metamorphic events. Hence, although strong hints exist regarding the presence of differentiated silicate reservoirs before 4.0 Gyr ago, both the nature and age of early mantle differentiation processes remain largely speculative. Here we apply short-lived 146Sm-142Nd chronometry (half-life of 103 Myr) to early Archaean rocks using ultraprecise measurement of Nd isotope ratios. The analysed samples are well-preserved metamorphosed sedimentary rocks from the 3.7-3.8-Gyr Isua greenstone belt of West Greenland. Our coupled isotopic calculations, combined with an initial epsilon 143Nd value from ref. 6, constrain the mean age of mantle differentiation to 4,460 +/- 115 Myr. This early Sm/Nd fractionation probably reflects differentiation of the Earth's mantle during the final stage of terrestrial accretion.     

Early history of Earth's crust-mantle system inferred from hafnium isotopes in chondrites

The 176Lu to 176Hf decay series has been widely used to understand the nature of Earth's early crust-mantle system. The interpretation, however, of Lu-Hf isotope data requires accurate knowledge of the radioactive decay constant of 176Lu (lambda176Lu), as well as bulk-Earth reference parameters. A recent calibration of the lambda176Lu value calls for the presence of highly unradiogenic hafnium in terrestrial zircons with ages greater than 3.9 Gyr, implying widespread continental crust extraction from an isotopically enriched mantle source more than 4.3 Gyr ago, but does not provide evidence for a complementary depleted mantle reservoir. Here we report Lu-Hf isotope measurements of different Solar System objects including chondrites and basaltic eucrites. The chondrites define a Lu-Hf isochron with an initial 176Hf/177Hf ratio of 0.279628 +/- 0.000047, corresponding to lambda176Lu = 1.983 +/- 0.033 x 10-11 yr-1 using an age of 4.56 Gyr for the chondrite-forming event. This lambda176Lu value indicates that Earth's oldest minerals were derived from melts of a mantle source with a time-integrated history of depletion rather than enrichment. The depletion event must have occurred no later than 320 Myr after planetary accretion, consistent with timing inferred from extinct radionuclides.     

Hafnium isotope evidence for a transition in the dynamics of continental growth 3.2 Gyr ago

Earth's lithosphere probably experienced an evolution towards the modern plate tectonic regime, owing to secular changes in mantle temperature. Radiogenic isotope variations are interpreted as evidence for the declining rates of continental crustal growth over time, with some estimates suggesting that over 70% of the present continental crustal reservoir was extracted by the end of the Archaean eon. Patterns of crustal growth and reworking in rocks younger than three billion years (Gyr) are thought to reflect the assembly and break-up of supercontinents by Wilson cycle processes and mark an important change in lithosphere dynamics. In southern West Greenland numerous studies have, however, argued for subduction settings and crust growth by arc accretion back to 3.8 Gyr ago, suggesting that modern-day tectonic regimes operated during the formation of the earliest crustal rock record. Here we report in situ uranium-lead, hafnium and oxygen isotope data from zircons of basement rocks in southern West Greenland across the critical time period during which modern-like tectonic regimes could have initiated. Our data show pronounced differences in the hafnium isotope-time patterns across this interval, requiring changes in the characteristics of the magmatic protolith. The observations suggest that 3.9-3.5-Gyr-old rocks differentiated from a >3.9-Gyr-old source reservoir with a chondritic to slightly depleted hafnium isotope composition. In contrast, rocks formed after 3.2 Gyr ago register the first additions of juvenile depleted material (that is, new mantle-derived crust) since 3.9 Gyr ago, and are characterized by striking shifts in hafnium isotope ratios similar to those shown by Phanerozoic subduction-related orogens. These data suggest a transitional period 3.5-3.2 Gyr ago from an ancient (3.9-3.5 Gyr old) crustal evolutionary regime unlike that of modern plate tectonics to a geodynamic setting after 3.2 Gyr ago that involved juvenile crust generation by plate tectonic processes.     

Hf-Nd isotope evidence for a transient dynamic regime in the early terrestrial mantle

Modern basalts have seemingly lost all 'memory' of the primitive Earth's mantle except for an ambiguous isotopic signal observed in some rare gases. Although the Earth is expected to have reached a thermal steady state within several hundred million years of accretion, it is not known how and when the initial chemical fractionations left over from planetary accretion (and perhaps a stage involving a magma ocean) were overshadowed by fractionations imposed by modern-style geodynamics. Because of the lack of samples older than 4 Gyr, this early dynamic regime of the Earth is poorly understood. Here we compare published Hf-Nd isotope data on supracrustals from Isua, Greenland, with similar data on lunar rocks and the SNC (martian) meteorites, and show that, about 3.8 Gyr ago, the geochemical signature of the Archaean mantle was partly inherited from the initial differentiation of the Earth. The observed features seem to indicate that the planet at that time was still losing a substantial amount of primordial heat. The survival of remnants from an early layering in the modern deep mantle may account for some unexplained seismological, thermal and geochemical characteristics of the Earth as observed today.     

A crystallizing dense magma ocean at the base of the Earth's mantle

The distribution of geochemical species in the Earth's interior is largely controlled by fractional melting and crystallization processes that are intimately linked to the thermal state and evolution of the mantle. The existence of patches of dense partial melt at the base of the Earth's mantle, together with estimates of melting temperatures for deep mantle phases and the amount of cooling of the underlying core required to maintain a geodynamo throughout much of the Earth's history, suggest that more extensive deep melting occurred in the past. Here we show that a stable layer of dense melt formed at the base of the mantle early in the Earth's history would have undergone slow fractional crystallization, and would be an ideal candidate for an unsampled geochemical reservoir hosting a variety of incompatible species (most notably the missing budget of heat-producing elements) for an initial basal magma ocean thickness of about 1,000 km. Differences in 142Nd/144Nd ratios between chondrites and terrestrial rocks can be explained by fractional crystallization with a decay timescale of the order of 1 Gyr. These combined constraints yield thermal evolution models in which radiogenic heat production and latent heat exchange prevent early cooling of the core and possibly delay the onset of the geodynamo to 3.4-4 Gyr ago.     

Tungsten isotope evidence from approximately 3.8-Gyr metamorphosed sediments for early meteorite bombardment of the Earth

The 'Late Heavy Bombardment' was a phase in the impact history of the Moon that occurred 3.8 4.0 Gyr ago, when the lunar basins with known dates were formed. But no record of this event has yet been reported from the few surviving rocks of this age on the Earth. Here we report tungsten isotope anomalies, based on the (182)Hf (182)W system (half-life of 9 Myr), in metamorphosed sedimentary rocks from the 3.7 3.8-Gyr-old Isua greenstone belt of West Greenland and closely related rocks from northern Labrador, Canada. As it is difficult to conceive of a mechanism by which tungsten isotope heterogeneities could have been preserved in the Earth's dynamic crust mantle environment from a time when short-lived (182)Hf was still present, we conclude that the metamorphosed sediments contain a component derived from meteorites.     

Hf-W-Th evidence for rapid growth of Mars and its status as a planetary embryo

Terrestrial planets are thought to have formed through collisions between large planetary embryos of diameter ～1,000-5,000?km. For Earth, the last of these collisions involved an impact by a Mars-size embryo that formed the Moon 50-150?million years (Myr) after the birth of the Solar System. Although model simulations of the growth of terrestrial planets can reproduce the mass and dynamical parameters of the Earth and Venus, they fall short of explaining the small size of Mars. One possibility is that Mars was a planetary embryo that escaped collision and merging with other embryos. To assess this idea, it is crucial to know Mars' accretion timescale, which can be investigated using the (182)Hf-(182)W decay system in shergottite-nakhlite-chassignite meteorites. Nevertheless, this timescale remains poorly constrained owing to a large uncertainty associated with the Hf/W ratio of the Martian mantle and as a result, contradicting timescales have been reported that range between 0 and 15?Myr (refs 6-10). Here we show that Mars accreted very rapidly and reached about half of its present size in only 1.8(+0.9)(-1.0) Myr or less, which is consistent with a stranded planetary embryo origin. We have found a well-defined correlation between the Th/Hf and (176)Hf/(177)Hf ratios in chondrites that reflects remobilization of Lu and Th during parent-body processes. Using this relationship, we estimate the Hf/W ratio in Mars' mantle to be 3.51?±?0.45. This value is much more precise than previous estimates, which ranged between 2.6 and 5.0 (ref. 6), and lifts the large uncertainty that plagued previous estimates of the age of Mars. Our results also demonstrate that Mars grew before dissipation of the nebular gas when ～100-km planetesimals, such as the parent bodies of chondrites, were still being formed. Mars' accretion occurred early enough to allow establishment of a magma ocean powered by decay of (26)Al.     

Late formation and prolonged differentiation of the Moon inferred from W isotopes in lunar metals

The Moon is thought to have formed from debris ejected by a giant impact with the early 'proto'-Earth and, as a result of the high energies involved, the Moon would have melted to form a magma ocean. The timescales for formation and solidification of the Moon can be quantified by using 182Hf-182W and 146Sm-142Nd chronometry, but these methods have yielded contradicting results. In earlier studies, 182W anomalies in lunar rocks were attributed to decay of 182Hf within the lunar mantle and were used to infer that the Moon solidified within the first approximately 60 million years of the Solar System. However, the dominant 182W component in most lunar rocks reflects cosmogenic production mainly by neutron capture of 181Ta during cosmic-ray exposure of the lunar surface, compromising a reliable interpretation in terms of 182Hf-182W chronometry. Here we present tungsten isotope data for lunar metals that do not contain any measurable Ta-derived 182W. All metals have identical 182W/184W ratios, indicating that the lunar magma ocean did not crystallize within the first approximately 60 Myr of the Solar System, which is no longer inconsistent with Sm-Nd chronometry. Our new data reveal that the lunar and terrestrial mantles have identical 182W/184W. This, in conjunction with 147Sm-143Nd ages for the oldest lunar rocks, constrains the age of the Moon and Earth to Myr after formation of the Solar System. The identical 182W/184W ratios of the lunar and terrestrial mantles require either that the Moon is derived mainly from terrestrial material or that tungsten isotopes in the Moon and Earth's mantle equilibrated in the aftermath of the giant impact, as has been proposed to account for identical oxygen isotope compositions of the Earth and Moon.     

Super-chondritic Sm/Nd ratios in Mars, the Earth and the Moon

Small isotopic differences in the atomic abundance of neodymium-142 (142Nd) in silicate rocks represent the time-averaged effect of decay of formerly live samarium-146 (146Sm) and provide constraints on the timescales and mechanisms by which planetary mantles first differentiated. This chronology, however, assumes that the composition of the total planet is identical to that of primitive undifferentiated meteorites called chondrites. The difference in the 142Nd/144Nd ratio between chondrites and terrestrial samples may therefore indicate very early isolation (<30 Myr from the formation of the Solar System) of the upper mantle or a slightly non-chondritic bulk Earth composition. Here we present high-precision 142Nd data for 16 martian meteorites and show that Mars also has a non-chondritic composition. Meteorites belonging to the shergottite subgroup define a planetary isochron yielding an age of differentiation of 40 +/- 18 Myr for the martian mantle. This isochron does not pass through the chondritic reference value (100 x epsilon(142)Nd = -21 +/- 3; 147Sm/144Nd = 0.1966). The Earth, Moon and Mars all seem to have accreted in a portion of the inner Solar System with approximately 5 per cent higher Sm/Nd ratios than material accreted in the asteroid belt. Such chemical heterogeneities may have arisen from sorting of nebular solids or from impact erosion of crustal reservoirs in planetary precursors. The 143Nd composition of the primitive mantle so defined by 142Nd is strikingly similar to the putative endmember component 'FOZO' characterized by high 3He/4He ratios.     

Magma mixing in upper mantle: Evidence from high Mg<Superscript>#</Superscript> olivine hosted melt inclusions in MORBs near East Pacific Rise 13°N

Early formed high-Mg^# olivine phenocrysts during evolution of MORB magmas usually host melt inclusions, which record im-portant information about the early-stage evolution of magma. Five MORB samples from near East Pacific Rise (EPR) 13°N vary little in K/Ti (0.07–0.12), Tb/Lu (1.72–1.84) and Sm/Nd (0.310–0.332) and have similar REEs patterns, indicating that depleted upper mantle has similar mineral composition. Sixty-five initial melt inclusions derived by correcting olivine fractionation and “FeO-Loss” show averagely higher MgO contents than their host rocks. Melt inclusions have higher CaO/Al₂O₃ ratios than their host rocks, and these CaO/Al₂O₃ ratios are positively and negatively correlated with MgO and Na₂O respectively, suggesting that these magmas have experienced high pressure crystallization of clinopyroxene. Average crystallization pressure, which is calculated based on the pressure dependence of clinopyroxene crystallization, is 0.83–0.25 GPa, and implys that these melt inclusions are averagely trapped in mantle depth of ~24 km. These melt inclusions show negative correlations of Ca₈/Al₈ and Na₈ with Fe₈, and wider ranges of Ca₈/Al₈, Na₈, Fe₈ and K/Ti than their host rocks, suggesting that these melt inclusions formed by mixing magmas of different melting degrees and depths. According to the average value and ranges of Ca₈/Al₈, Na₈, Fe₈ and K/Ti, these magmas would necessitate other mixing ends in shallow crust except in upper mantle. The compositional diversity of melt inclusions in MORBs phenocrysts cannot always be used to indicate magma mixing and crystallization in shallow crust, and melt inclusions in high Mg^# olivine formed under mantle pressure must be excluded in study of the magma process at crustal level. This study shows that, in EPR, MORBs have experienced mixing of magmas formed by different melting degrees and depths in the mantle.     

Partitioning of oxygen during core formation on the Earth and Mars

Core formation on the Earth and Mars involved the physical separation of metal and silicate, most probably in deep magma oceans. Although core-formation models explain many aspects of mantle geochemistry, they have not accounted for the large differences observed between the compositions of the mantles of the Earth (approximately 8 wt% FeO) and Mars (approximately 18 wt% FeO) or the smaller mass fraction of the martian core. Here we explain these differences as a consequence of the solubility of oxygen in liquid iron-alloy increasing with increasing temperature. We assume that the Earth and Mars both accreted from oxidized chondritic material. In a terrestrial magma ocean, 1,200-2,000 km deep, high temperatures resulted in the extraction of FeO from the silicate magma ocean owing to high solubility of oxygen in the metal. Lower temperatures of a martian magma ocean resulted in little or no extraction of FeO from the mantle, which thus remains FeO-rich. The FeO extracted from the Earth's magma ocean may have contributed to chemical heterogeneities in the lowermost mantle, a FeO-rich D" layer and the light element budget of the core.     

The importance of water to oceanic mantle melting regimes

The formation of basaltic crust at mid-ocean ridges and ocean islands provides a window into the compositional and thermal state of the Earth's upper mantle. But the interpretation of geochemical and crustal-thickness data in terms of magma source parameters depends on our understanding of the melting, melt-extraction and differentiation processes that intervene between the magma source and the crust. Much of the quantitative theory developed to model these processes has neglected the role of water in the mantle and in magma, despite the observed presence of water in ocean-floor basalts. Here we extend two quantitative models of ridge melting, mixing and fractionation to show that the addition of water can cause an increase in total melt production and crustal thickness while causing a decrease in mean extent of melting. This may help to resolve several enigmatic observations in the major- and trace-element chemistry of both normal and hotspot-affected ridge basalts.     

Episodic growth of the Gondwana supercontinent from hafnium and oxygen isotopes in zircon

It is thought that continental crust existed as early as 150 million years after planetary accretion, but assessing the rates and processes of subsequent crustal growth requires linking the apparently contradictory information from the igneous and sedimentary rock records. For example, the striking global peaks in juvenile igneous activity 2.7, 1.9 and 1.2 Gyr ago imply rapid crustal generation in response to the emplacement of mantle 'super-plumes', rather than by the continuous process of subduction. Yet uncertainties persist over whether these age peaks are artefacts of selective preservation, and over how to reconcile episodic crust formation with the smooth crustal evolution curves inferred from neodymium isotope variations of sedimentary rocks. Detrital zircons encapsulate a more representative record of igneous events than the exposed geology and their hafnium isotope ratios reflect the time since the source of the parental magmas separated from the mantle. These 'model' ages are only meaningful if the host magma lacked a mixed or sedimentary source component, but the latter can be diagnosed by oxygen isotopes, which are strongly fractionated by rock-hydrosphere interactions. Here we report the first study that integrates hafnium and oxygen isotopes, all measured in situ on the same, precisely dated detrital zircon grains. The data reveal that crust generation in part of Gondwana was limited to major pulses at 1.9 and 3.3 Gyr ago, and that the zircons crystallized during repeated reworking of crust formed at these times. The implication is that the mechanisms of crust formation differed from those of crustal differentiation in ancient orogenic belts.     

Reassessing the evidence for the earliest traces of life

The isotopic composition of graphite is commonly used as a biomarker in the oldest (>3.5 Gyr ago) highly metamorphosed terrestrial rocks. Earlier studies on isotopic characteristics of graphite occurring in rocks of the approximately 3.8-Gyr-old Isua supracrustal belt (ISB) in southern West Greenland have suggested the presence of a vast microbial ecosystem in the early Archean. This interpretation, however, has to be approached with extreme care. Here we show that graphite occurs abundantly in secondary carbonate veins in the ISB that are formed at depth in the crust by injection of hot fluids reacting with older crustal rocks (metasomatism). During these reactions, graphite forms from the disproportionation of Fe(II)-bearing carbonates at high temperature. These metasomatic rocks, which clearly lack biological relevance, were earlier thought to be of sedimentary origin and their graphite association provided the basis for inferences about early life. The new observations thus call for a reassessment of previously presented evidence for ancient traces of life in the highly metamorphosed Early Archaean rock record.     

Hf isotopes of the 3.8 Ga zircons in eastern Hebei Province, China： Implications for early crustal evolution of the North China Craton

Zircon U-Pb dating indicates that the fuchsite quartzite in eastern Hebei Province was derived from weathering and erosion of the 3.6-3.8 Ga granitic rocks. In-situ zircon Hf analyses show that the Lu-Hf isotopic system remained closed during later thermal disturbances. Zircons with concordant ages have Hf isotopic model ages of about 3.8 Ga, suggesting a recycling of this ancient crust. The -3.8 Ga zircons have similar Hf isotopic compositions to those of chondrite, indicating that their source rocks （granitic rocks） were derived from partial melting of the juvenile crust which originated from a mantle without significant crust-mantle differentiation. Therefore, it is proposed that there was no large-scale crustal growth before -3.8 Ga in eastern Hebei Province. Considering zircon Hf isotopic data from other areas, it is concluded that the most ancient crust in the North China Craton probably formed at about 4.0 Ga, and the possibility to find crust older than 4.0 Ga is very limited.     

Rapid accretion and early core formation on asteroids and the terrestrial planets from Hf-W chronometry

The timescales and mechanisms for the formation and chemical differentiation of the planets can be quantified using the radioactive decay of short-lived isotopes. Of these, the (182)Hf-to-(182)W decay is ideally suited for dating core formation in planetary bodies. In an earlier study, the W isotope composition of the Earth's mantle was used to infer that core formation was late (> or = 60 million years after the beginning of the Solar System) and that accretion was a protracted process. The correct interpretation of Hf-W data depends, however, on accurate knowledge of the initial abundance of (182)Hf in the Solar System and the W isotope composition of chondritic meteorites. Here we report Hf-W data for carbonaceous and H chondrite meteorites that lead to timescales of accretion and core formation significantly different from those calculated previously. The revised ages for Vesta, Mars and Earth indicate rapid accretion, and show that the timescale for core formation decreases with decreasing size of the planet. We conclude that core formation in the terrestrial planets and the formation of the Moon must have occurred during the first approximately 30 million years of the life of the Solar System.     

Some basic concepts and problems on the petrogenesis of intra-plate ocean island basalts

Basaltic magmatism that builds intra-plate ocean islands is often considered to be genetically associated with ＂hotspots＂ or ＂mantle plumes＂. While there have been many discussions on why ocean island basalts （OIB） are geochemically highly enriched as an integral part of the mantle plume hypothesis, our current understanding on the origin of OIB source material remains unsatisfactory, and some prevailing ideas need revision. One of the most popular views states that OIB source material is recycled oceanic crust （ROC）. Among many problems with the ROC model, the ocean crust is simply too depleted （e.g., [La/Sm]PM 〈1） to be source material for highly enriched （e.g., [La/Sm]pM 〉〉 1） OIB, Another popular view states that the enriched component of OIB comes from recycled continental crust （RCC, i.e.; terrigenous sediments）. While both CC and OIB are enriched in many incompatible elements （e.g., both have [La/Sm]PM 〉〉1）, the CC has characteristic enrichment in Pb and deletion in Nb, Ta, P and Ti. Such signature is too strong to be eliminated such that CC is unsuitable as source material for OIB. Plate tectonics and mantle circulation permit the presence of ROC and RCC materials in mantle source regions of basalts, but they must be volumetrically insignificant in contributing to basalt magmatism. The observation that OIB are not only enriched in incompatible elements, but also enriched in the progressively more incompatible elements indicates that the enriched component of OIB is of magmatic origin and most likely associated with low-degree melt metasomatism. H2O and CO2 rich incipient melt may form in the seismic low velocity zone （LVZ）. This melt will rise because of buoyancy and concentrate into a melt rich layer atop the LVZ to metasomatize the growing lithosphere, forming the metasomatic vein lithologies. Erupted OIB melts may have three components： （1） fertile OIB source material from depth that is dominant, （2） the melt layer, and （3） assimilation of the metasomatic vein lithologies formed earlier in the growing/grown lithosphere. It is probable that the fertile source material from depth may be （or contain） recycled ancient metasomatized deep portions of oceanic lithosphere. In any attempt to explain the origin of mantle isotopic end-members as revealed from global OIB data, we must （1） remember our original assumptions that the primitive mantle （PM） soon after the core separation was compositionally uniform/homogeneous with the core playing a limited or no role in causing mantle isotopic heterogeneity; （2） not use OIB isotopes to conclude about the nature and compositions of ultimate source materials without understanding geochemical consequences of subduction zone metamorphism; and （3） ensure that models and hypotheses are consistent with the basic petrology and major/trace element geochemistry.     

Statistical geochemistry reveals disruption in secular lithospheric evolution about 2.5 Gyr ago

The Earth has cooled over the past 4.5 billion years (Gyr) as a result of surface heat loss and declining radiogenic heat production. Igneous geochemistry has been used to understand how changing heat flux influenced Archaean geodynamics, but records of systematic geochemical evolution are complicated by heterogeneity of the rock record and uncertainties regarding selection and preservation bias. Here we apply statistical sampling techniques to a geochemical database of about 70,000 samples from the continental igneous rock record to produce a comprehensive record of secular geochemical evolution throughout Earth history. Consistent with secular mantle cooling, compatible and incompatible elements in basalts record gradually decreasing mantle melt fraction through time. Superimposed on this gradual evolution is a pervasive geochemical discontinuity occurring about 2.5?Gyr ago, involving substantial decreases in mantle melt fraction in basalts, and in indicators of deep crustal melting and fractionation, such as Na/K, Eu/Eu* (europium anomaly) and La/Yb ratios in felsic rocks. Along with an increase in preserved crustal thickness across the Archaean/Proterozoic boundary, these data are consistent with a model in which high-degree Archaean mantle melting produced a thick, mafic lower crust and consequent deep crustal delamination and melting--leading to abundant tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite magmatism and a thin preserved Archaean crust. The coincidence of the observed changes in geochemistry and crustal thickness with stepwise atmospheric oxidation at the end of the Archaean eon provides a significant temporal link between deep Earth geochemical processes and the rise of atmospheric oxygen on the Earth.     

Paleoproterozoic basement beneath the southern Jiangxi Province: Evidence from U-Pb ages and Lu-Hf isotopes in zircons from the Doushui lamprophyre

This paper presents geochemical analyses of a lamprophyre intruding the Caledonian Doushui granite body in Shangyou County, southern Jiangxi Province. U-Pb dating and Hf-isotope analyses are espe-cially carried out for zircons from it. Petrological and geochemical features show that the lamprophyre belongs to a high-K, weakly alkaline pyroxene-biotite lamprophyre. It is characterized by high Mg# (0.74), Ni (253 μg/g) and Cr (893 μg/g) contents, and also enriched in incompatible elements, such as REE, Rb, Sr...     

A young source for the Hawaiian plume

Recycling of oceanic crust through subduction, mantle upwelling, and remelting in mantle plumes is a widely accepted mechanism to explain ocean island volcanism. The timescale of this recycling is important to our understanding of mantle circulation rates. Correlations of uranogenic lead isotopes in lavas from ocean islands such as Hawaii or Iceland, when interpreted as model isochrons, have yielded source differentiation ages between 1 and 2.5?billion years (Gyr). However, if such correlations are produced by mixing of unrelated mantle components they will have no direct age significance. Re-Os decay model ages take into account the mixing of sources with different histories, but they depend on the assumed initial Re/Os ratio of the subducted crust, which is poorly constrained because of the high mobility of rhenium during subduction. Here we report the first data on (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios for 138 melt inclusions in olivine phenocrysts from lavas of Mauna Loa shield volcano, Hawaii, indicating enormous mantle source heterogeneity. We show that highly radiogenic strontium in severely rubidium-depleted melt inclusions matches the isotopic composition of 200-650-Myr-old sea water. We infer that such sea water must have contaminated the Mauna Loa source rock, before subduction, imparting a unique 'time stamp' on this source. Small amounts of seawater-derived strontium in plume sources may be common but can be identified clearly only in ultra-depleted melts originating from generally highly (incompatible-element) depleted source components. The presence of 200-650-Myr-old oceanic crust in the source of Hawaiian lavas implies a timescale of general mantle circulation with an average rate of about 2 (±1)?cm?yr(-1), much faster than previously thought.