Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

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Earth-Science Reviews
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev

Invited review

Crustal evolution and the temporality of anorthosites T

⁎
Lewis D. Ashwal , Grant M. Bybee
School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Types of rock, such as komatiite, which formed entirely or dominantly during restricted time periods in solar
Anorthosite system history, are important indicators of how planetary bodies evolved in deep time. In this paper we char-
Crustal evolution acterize three different types of temporally-restricted anorthosites, and discuss their significance to the broad-
Global geodynamics scale evolution of planetary processes. Primordial anorthosites, which constitute the bulk of the lunar crust,
Lunar rocks
were sampled during Apollo and Luna missions, and have subsequently been identified in our meteorite col-
Archean
lections. They are characterized by very calcic plagioclase (An93–98), and all have magmatic crystallization
Proterozoic
ages > 4.3 Ga, suggesting that the earliest planetary crust-forming processes on the Moon, and possibly else-
where, involved substantial, if not total melting. The “magma ocean” hypothesis, which has endured for nearly
50 years, argues that the lunar anorthositic rocks represent global flotation cumulates of plagioclase, which
crystallized after extensive precipitation and sinking of olivine and pyroxene. Another possibility, revitalized by
critical filtering of age data, involves “serial magmatism”, whereby the lunar crust was constructed by younger,
smaller, episodic magmatic events. On Earth, two distinct types of temporally-restricted anorthosites offer op-
portunities to understand the evolution of terrestrial geodynamics, tectonics and magmatic processes. Archean
megacrystic anorthosites formed only between 3.73 and 2.49 Ga as small bodies (< 500 km2) associated with
the mafic magmatic assemblages of many greenstone belts. They are typified by accumulations of equidimen-
sional, almost spherical megacrysts (1–30 cm across) of calcic plagioclase (An61–94, avg. An80) in a mafic
groundmass of broadly basaltic composition, and probably formed in shallow magma chambers. The unusually
calcic plagioclase compositions may reflect crystallization from hydrous and/or Ca-rich basaltic parents that
were fractionated derivatives of more primitive magmas, possibly even komatiites. Isotopic and geochemical
data for many Archean anorthosite complexes indicate little to no evidence for contamination by silicic con-
tinental crust, suggesting magma formation in oceanic environments, most likely by subduction in oceanic arcs.
Their temporal restriction might be explicable in terms of a hotter or wetter Archean mantle, especially if a
genetic connection to komatiites can be demonstrated. Alternatively, higher Archean heat flow may have in-
fluenced oceanic crustal thickness, subduction rate, sites of magma generation and/or melt composition, pro-
ducing favorable conditions for the generation of calcic megacrystic anorthosites. Proterozoic massif-type
anorthosites are distinctly different from other anorthosite types, and occur as small plutons (1–10 km2), to
large (up to 18,000 km2) composite batholiths, that are temporally restricted to a ~2000 m.y. period between
~0.5 and ~2.6 Ga. The rocks are dominated by lath-shaped, intermediate plagioclase (An30–70, avg. An53), with
lesser pyroxenes and/or olivine. There is extensive evidence from petrology, geochemistry and isotope data for
variable contamination with continental crust, and the most plausible physical model involves deep-crustal
ponding of basaltic magmas, crystallization and sinking of mafic silicates, and eventual flotation of buoyant
plagioclase. Massifs were constructed by the coalescence of plagioclase-rich mushes, which ascended to mid-
crustal emplacement sites. The basaltic parent melts or magmas for massif-type anorthosites were mantle-de-
rived; alternative models involving melting of crustal sources, mafic or otherwise, cannot be supported.
Collective features most readily support an Andean-type continental arc setting, and careful geochronology is
beginning to suggest that magmatism in individual massifs may have occurred over long time-scales of up to
100 m.y. The onset of massif-type anorthosite formation at ~2.6 Ga probably reflects global secular cooling of
the Earth, resulting in increased lithospheric strength and crustal thickness, which promoted Moho-depth

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: Lewis.Ashwal@wits.ac.za (L.D. Ashwal), Grant.Bybee@wits.ac.za (G.M. Bybee).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.09.002
Received 5 March 2017; Received in revised form 24 August 2017; Accepted 1 September 2017
Available online 08 September 2017
0012-8252/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

ponding and slow crystallization of basaltic magmas in continental arc environments. The apparent dis-
appearance of anorthosite massifs at ~ 0.5 Ga may also relate to global secular cooling that changed the thermal
structure of subduction zones, and promoted the onset of high and ultra-high pressure metamorphism.

1. An introduction to anorthosites and their temporal restriction
Anorthosites are plutonic igneous rocks, formally defined as those
containing 90% or more of plagioclase feldspar (Streckeisen, 1976),
with the remainder consisting of mafic silicates and lesser Fe-Ti oxide
minerals, and/or their metamorphic equivalents. Commonly associated,
less feldspathic lithologies (90–65% plagioclase) include leuconorite
(orthopyroxene-bearing), leucotroctolite (olivine) or leucogabbro
(clinopyroxene); more mafic gabbroic to ultramafic rocks are typically
subordinate or absent. Despite the relatively simple, plagioclase-domi-
nated mineralogy of anorthositic rocks, their origin has been vigorously
debated for over a century (e.g. Bowen, 1917), and still remains con-
tentious.
Of the six varieties of anorthosite distinguished by Ashwal (1993),
three types appear to have formed only during limited periods of solar
system history. Primordial anorthosites, products of early planetary
accretion processes, are documented thus far only in lunar samples and
meteorites, but similar materials may have formed components of the
earliest crusts of other planets, including Earth. Temporally-restricted
terrestrial examples include Archean megacrystic, and Proterozoic
massif-type anorthosites, which are widely distributed throughout the
cratonic regions of all continents (Fig. 1), and are petrologically distinct
from each other (Fig. 2). In this review, we choose not to consider the
three types of anorthosite that do not show obvious temporal restric-
tion: those associated with layered mafic intrusions, those found in
young oceanic crust, and those occurring as inclusions in other rock
types.
After summarizing the occurrences and distinctive general features
of each of the three types of temporally-restricted anorthosites, we
evaluate models for their petrogenesis as well as their geodynamic and
tectonic settings, and we then consider possible explanations for their
temporality. Our concluding remarks highlight some outstanding
questions that could guide future research. By focusing on temporally-
restricted anorthosites, our hope is that a greater understanding of their
genesis will engender deeper appreciation of the secular processes in-
volved in the evolution of planetary crusts and mantles.
2. Occurrences and general characteristics of temporally-
restricted anorthosites
2.1. Primordial anorthosites
The surprising discovery from the return of Apollo and Luna sam-
ples that anorthosite is a major constituent of the lunar crust quickly led
to the suggestion that the Moon (Fig. 3) is a highly differentiated pla-
netary body. Early geochronology that yielded ages between 4.29 and
4.57 Ga (summarized in Borg et al., 2015), coupled with a perceived
global distribution of anorthosites in the lunar highlands (e.g. Ohtake
et al., 2009) led to the 1970 suggestion that the lunar crust crystallized
from a globe-encircling “magma ocean” (Smith et al., 1970; Wood et al.,
1970a, b), an idea that has endured for almost 50 years (Fig. 4a).
Support for extensive melting in the earliest Moon comes from a later
consensus that the Moon formed by accretion of material ejected from
the collision between the proto-Earth and a Mars-sized object (e.g.
Hartmann and Davis, 1975; Boss and Peale, 1986), which resulted in a
partially to completely molten body (Solomon, 1986; Pritchard and
Stevenson, 2000). The composition of the lunar magma ocean (sum-
marized in Elkins-Tanton et al., 2011) is presumed to have been broadly

Fig. 1. The global distribution of Archean megacrystic (green symbols) and Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites (red symbols), with reference to cratonic areas (pink color); larger
cratons are labelled. Locations of anorthosite occurrences were obtained from the compilations of Ashwal (1993, 2010). Proterozoic massif-type anorthosite occurrences have an average
areal extent of 1087 km2; those greater than 5000 km2 are indicated with larger symbols. Archean megacrystic anorthosite occurrences are all less than 600 km2 in area (average
~ 90 km2); those greater than 100 km2 are indicated with larger symbols.

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L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Fig. 2. Plagioclase An content (scale on left) for Lunar (blue box), Archean megacrystic (green symbols) and Proterozoic massif-type (red symbols) anorthosites, plotted against
crystallization age, showing their distinct temporal restrictions. Ages of komatiites are also shown (gray symbols), but are plotted with respect to their relative proportion within the
magmatic sequences of the greenstone belts in which they occur (scale on right) (data sources: Ashwal, 1993, 2010; de Wit and Ashwal, 1997).
chondritic, and first crystallized olivine and pyroxene, which sank to
form the lunar mantle, enriching residua in Fe and incompatible ele-
ments. Calcic plagioclase (An93–98) crystallized after about 75% soli-
dification, and was buoyant, resulting in a flotation cumulate that
formed a “primordial” lunar crust. Mafic silicates in the resulting an-
orthosites crystallized from variable amounts of trapped melt, and ac-
quired a range of Mg# (molar Mg / (Mg + Fe)) values between ~35
and 85 (Fig. 5); accordingly, these rocks have been designated as the
“ferroan anorthosite” suite (e.g. Warren, 1985). The incompatible ele-
ment enriched residue of magma ocean crystallization, sequestered
between the anorthositic crust and ultramafic cumulates of the lunar
mantle, has been termed “KREEP”, an acronym constructed to denote
some of its prominent chemical elements (e.g. Warren and Wasson,
1979). A separate group of lunar plutonic rocks, recovered mainly from
the Apollo 17 landing site, includes gabbros, norites, troctolites, dunites
and rare alkali-rich rocks such as granitoids and anorthosites, has been
called the “Mg-suite” (e.g. Shearer and Papike, 1999), and is frequently
distinguished from the ferroan anorthosite suite on diagrams of An
content of plagioclase vs. Mg# in mafic silicate minerals (e.g. Fig. 5).
Mg-suite magmas are thought to have originated by partial melting of
ultramafic magma ocean cumulates, perhaps induced by gravitational
overturn during tidal heating (e.g. Elardo et al., 2011; Elkins-Tanton
et al., 2011); many appear to have assimilated a KREEP component
during ascent. These and many other features of the Apollo and Luna
(Russian unmanned sample return program) plutonic rock suite sup-
port, at least in principle, the magma ocean model of lunar primordial
history (Fig. 4a). Alternative theories, involving lunar crust construc-
tion by multiple, smaller, episodic magmatic entities (collectively re-
ferred to as “serial magmatism”, Fig. 4b) have been proposed (e.g.
Walker, 1983; Longhi and Ashwal, 1985), and because of new results
(discussed below), are now being seriously reconsidered instead of, or
in addition to a magma ocean model.
Since the 1982 recognition of lunar rocks in our inventory of me-
teorites (Korotev, 2005), over 200 individual specimens have now been
identified, although some of these are almost certainly paired objects
(Korotev, 2016). Studies of these meteorites, presumed to have been
derived from random lunar surface locations, coupled with new remote
sensing results from orbiting spacecraft, suggest that Apollo and Luna
samples may not be representative of the global Moon. About half of
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
lunar meteorites are anorthositic breccias, and most of these have bulk
lower incompatible element abundances, and mafic silicates with
higher Mg# than typical “ferroan” anorthosites (Gross et al., 2014)
(Fig. 5). Mg-suite lithologies and KREEP components are rare to absent.
Remote sensing data from multispectral instruments on several orbiting
spacecraft reveal that the lunar crust is much more heterogeneous than
was perceived in the period prior to and immediately after the Apollo
and Luna missions. Jolliff et al. (2000) recognized three major lunar
crustal terranes: the Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT), the Feldspathic
Highlands Terrane (FHT) and the South Pole-Aitken Terrane (SPAT). All
of the Apollo missions landed within or near the PKT, which is now
acknowledged as a small (16% of lunar surface), geochemically
anomalous (enriched in Th, U and K) region of crust (Korotev, 2005).
The FHT constitutes > 60% of the lunar surface, including most of the
lunar farside, and appears to be dominantly anorthositic, with hetero-
geneously-distributed mafic content (deduced from FeO abundance)
and mineralogy (Lucey, 2004). Nearside FHT is relatively Fe-rich and
dominated by orthopyroxene, whereas the farside FHT is more Mg-rich
and dominated by olivine (e.g. Arai et al., 2008). The global distribu-
tion of pure or relatively pure anorthosite appears to be very high
(Ohtake et al., 2009; Yamamoto et al., 2012). These new results have
led to a re-evaluation of the magma ocean hypothesis, with some fa-
voring an important role for serial magmatism without total abandon-
ment of a global magma ocean (e.g. Gross et al., 2014). Others suggest a
modified magma ocean model, involving globally asymmetric crystal-
lization (e.g. Arai et al., 2008; Ohtake, et al., 2012). Additional sample-
based and remotely-sensed information will help to clarify these issues.
Age information of lunar samples is crucial here, and is discussed below
in Section 5.1.
The possibility that the surface of Mercury might be composed of
primordial anorthositic rocks similar to those of the Moon has been
entertained (e.g. Adams and McCord, 1977; Jeanloz et al., 1995), based
on the presence of heavily-cratered terrains and high-albedo materials
in bright-rayed craters (Hapke et al., 1975), reflectance spectra in-
dicative of low FeO abundances in silicates (< 2–3 wt%, McClintock
et al., 2008; Blewett et al., 1997) and the presence of Na, K and Ca in
the tenuous mercurian atmosphere (Potter and Morgan, 1988; Bida
et al., 2000). An anorthositic composition for Mercury's earliest crust is
also permissible, based on some magma ocean modeling (e.g. Brown
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Fig. 3. (a) Image of lunar nearside photographed December, 2010 by NASA Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), showing locations of Apollo (A11 – A17) and Luna (L16 –
L24) landing sites. Base image from http://apod.nasa.goc/apod/ap110303.html (public
domain).
(b) Image of lunar farside photographed by NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
(http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14021, public domain). Lighter-colored,
heavily-cratered regions, especially abundant on the farside, are dominated by primordial
anorthositic rocks; darker, smoother regions consist of younger mare basalts.
and Elkins-Tanton, 2009). However, X-ray spectrometry data obtained
from Mercury's surface by the orbiting MESSENGER spacecraft indicate
high Mg/Si and low Al/Si and Ca/Si ratios, which effectively rule out a
lunar-like feldspar-rich crust (Nittler et al., 2011). The mercurian crust
is now thought to be dominated by Fe-poor, Mg-rich basalts or perhaps
basaltic komatiites (e.g. Namur and Charlier, 2017; Stockstill-Cahill
et al., 2012).
Modeling of a post-accretion martian magma ocean suggests that an
anorthositic crust is unlikely to have formed because of the shallower
pressure range of plagioclase stability relative to the Moon, the
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
Fig. 4. Two models for the origin of primordial anorthosites.
(a) Magma ocean model, in which calcic plagioclase floats to form a globe-encircling
layer of anorthosite (e.g. Smith et al., 1970; Wood et al., 1970a,b).
(b) Serial magmatism model, in which fractionated layered intrusions yield ascending
anorthosite diapirs to form anorthositic crust (e.g. Walker, 1983; Longhi and Ashwal,
1985).
likelihood of a hydrous melt composition that would suppress plagio-
clase crystallization, and the possibility of sequestration of Al in dense
majorite and garnet phases, reducing the availability of Al for later
plagioclase formation (Elkins-Tanton et al., 2003, 2005; Agee and
Draper, 2004). Anorthositic rocks on Mars have not been detected or
inferred from orbital or surface measurements (Christensen et al., 2005;
McSween et al., 2009), and are absent from the inventory of recovered
martian meteorites (see websites "Martian Meteorite Compendium" and
"Martian Meteorites", links cited in references). The martian crust ap-
pears to be vastly dominated by basaltic rocks, and the minor amounts
of more evolved siliceous rocks (McSween et al., 2003) may represent
products of chemical weathering (Wyatt et al., 2004). The possibility
exists, however, that primordial martian crust, whether anorthositic or
otherwise, may have been largely or completely blanketed by younger
rocks, although Carter and Poulet (2013) interpreted spectral data from
the orbiting CRISM instrument to indicate the presence of anorthositic
terrains at 8 sites in the southern highlands of Mars. Ashwal (1993)
speculated that given the evidence for enormous volumes of basaltic
magmas on Mars, including some huge volcanic constructs like
Olympus Mons, it would not be surprising if large anorthosite-bearing
layered mafic intrusions like the Bushveld Complex were present there.
Anorthosites of the “massif-type” might also be present if thick litho-
sphere prevented basaltic magmas from erupting, allowing flotation
and ascent of plagioclase-rich cumulates (Section 3.2.3). We anxiously
await further exploration of Mars that might confirm the presence or
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Fig. 5. Plot of Mg# (100 ∗ Mg / (Mg + Fe)) in mafic silicates vs. mole % anorthite
component in plagioclase, comparing mineral compositions in lunar samples from Apollo
missions (yellow fields) with those of lunar feldspathic meteorites (blue field). Modified
from Gross et al. (2014).
absence of anorthositic rocks.
2.2. Archean megacrystic anorthosites
The fact that the oldest anorthosites on Earth (Archean,
2.49–3.73 Ga) also contain the most calcic plagioclase (An61–94,
average An80, Fig. 2) stimulated excitement soon after the first Apollo
missions. The notion that these rocks might represent terrestrial ana-
logues to the newly discovered primordial crustal differentiates of the
lunar magma ocean (e.g. Windley, 1970) initiated ambitious sampling
programs to procure anorthosites and other Archean rocks in places like
West Greenland, as part of the 1973 Project Oldstone, during which
20 tons of rock were returned to Caltech for detailed study (Kieckhefer,
1973). That these anorthosites could not be pieces of primordial ter-
restrial crust (e.g. Burke, 1979), but are instead components of some
Archean greenstone belts, was established by field and petrologic stu-
dies (e.g., Phinney et al., 1988; Ashwal and Myers, 1994). Although it
seems likely that a terrestrial magma ocean formed during Earth ac-
cretion (Abe, 1997; Elkins-Tanton, 2008), none of its products have yet
been recognized.
Archean anorthositic rocks occur in association with mafic mag-
matic rocks in many, but not all greenstone belt complexes. In several
cases they can be shown to have been emplaced at relatively shallow
crustal levels as elongated sills or subconcordant sheets into mafic
lavas, tuffs, and/or hypabyssal gabbroic rocks (e.g. Phinney et al.,
1988). Sizes of Archean anorthosite occurrences range from small
bodies (~ 1–10 km2), to the ~560 km2 Shawmere anorthosite complex
of Ontario (Simmons et al., 1980) and the ~500 km2 Fiskenæsset
complex of West Greenland (Myers, 1985; Polat et al., 2009). The
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
average areal extent of 68 occurrences worldwide (Ashwal, 1993, 2010)
is ~ 90 km2, but many of these have been dismembered, deformed and/
or highly metamorphosed. In such cases, it may be difficult to associate
the anorthositic rocks with a specifically recognized greenstone belt
entity, but spatially-associated lithologies can often allude to a common
connection. In general, the volume of anorthositic rocks relative to
other greenstone belt lithologies in individual occurrences is difficult to
estimate, but they typically constitute no more than a few percent of
exposed igneous rocks.
In addition to the distinctively calcic plagioclase compositions, their
unique textures characterize Archean anorthosites as conspicuously
different from other anorthosite types – feldspars in Archean anortho-
sites are equidimensional, almost spherical megacrysts ranging from
~0.5 cm to > 30 cm in diameter, surrounded by a finer grained
groundmass of gabbroic composition or of interstitial mafic silicate
minerals (Fig. 6). The amount of mafic matrix varies from 0% to over
50%. Sorting by size of the plagioclase megacrysts is common; layering
structures, where preserved, are defined by differences in megacryst
sizes or slight variations in color index (volume % mafic components)
(Fig. 6b). Metamorphic grade varies between sub-greenschist and
granulite facies, and magmatic textures, structures and mineralogy are
best preserved in lower grade examples, such as many of those present
in the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield (Bad Vermilion Lake,
Ontario; Pipestone Lake, Manitoba; Ashwal et al., 1983, 1985; Peck
et al., 1998; Zhou et al., 2016). In high-grade occurrences, the an-
orthositic and related rocks in some cases have been deformed and
smeared out into mylonites or finely banded gneisses, rendering their
identity unrecognizable at first glance (Fig. 6c). Distinctive megacrystic
textures, however, are preserved to a remarkable degree, regardless of
metamorphic grade, as demonstrated by the well-known, amphibolite/
granulite facies Fiskenæsset complex of West Greenland (Fig. 6c, Myers,
1975, 1985; Polat et al., 2009) and the granulite facies Shawmere
complex of Ontario (Fig. 6a, Simmons et al., 1980).
The calcic plagioclase megacrysts can usually be shown to be
compositionally uniform, even in cases where they have been ex-
tensively (but not completely) replaced by epidote, paragonitic mica,
and/or albite, during low-grade metamorphism (Zhou et al., 2016;
Polat et al., 2017). Primary mafic silicates are rarely preserved, typi-
cally having been completely replaced by amphiboles, chlorite, albite,
calcite and quartz. The coarse hornblende present in some higher-grade
occurrences has been interpreted as a primary interstitial phase, but this
is contentious, as discussed below in Section 3.1. Concentrations of
chromite up to a few meters thick occur as magmatic layered structures
in a few occurrences such as Fiskenæsset (Rollinson et al., 2010), Sit-
tampundi (Dharma Rao et al., 2013) and Messina (Hor et al., 1975).
The close spatial association between Archean megacrystic an-
orthosites and mafic magmatic rocks of greenstone belts is sufficiently
consistent worldwide to seriously consider a possible genetic relation-
ship (Phinney et al., 1988; Ashwal, 1993, 2010). Calcic plagioclase
megacrysts that resemble those in the anorthosite complexes are pre-
sent in Archean mafic sills, dikes (Fig. 7a), and even in pillowed flows
(Fig. 7b). Well-known examples include the Archean Ameralik, Ma-
tachewan and Saglek dike swarms of West Greenland, Ontario and
Labrador, respectively, which are characterized and often discriminated
by the presence of such megacrysts (Collerson et al., 1976; McGregor
et al., 1986; Phinney and Halls, 2001). Chemical and isotopic results
also support a genetic connection between Archean anorthosites and
mafic magmas of greenstone belts, as discussed in more detail in Section
3.1 below.
2.3. Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites
Anorthosites denoted as “massif-type” are the most volumetrically
abundant of terrestrial varieties, and are almost entirely restricted in
age to a ~2100 m.y. period of the Proterozoic Eon, between ~2.6 and
0.5 Ga (Fig. 2). They occur as intrusive bodies ranging in size from
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

Fig. 6. (a) Outcrop appearance typical of Archean anorthosites, showing equant megacrysts of calcic plagioclase in a matrix of finer-grained mafic minerals. In this example from the
2.76 Ga Shawmere anorthosite complex in the Superior Province of Ontario (Simmons et al., 1980), the primary magmatic texture has been preserved, despite metamorphism to granulite
facies, as indicated by the presence of coronitic garnet rimmed by hornblende (red arrow).
(b) Small-scale variations in grain size of plagioclase megacrysts and abundance of mafic matrix in anorthositic rocks of the 2.74 Ga Bird River sill, southeastern Manitoba (Phinney et al.,
1988; Scoates and Scoates, 2013).
(c) Undeformed megacrystic leucogabbro (left) has been transformed in a shear zone into highly strained gneiss (right). Upper leucogabbro unit of the 2.97 Ga Fiskenæsset anorthosite
complex, southwestern Greenland (modified from Myers, 1978).

small, individual plutons ~1–10 km2 (e.g. Wilmington, Delaware), to
enormous composite batholiths up to 18,000 km2, in which up to 20
individual anorthositic intrusive masses have coalesced (e.g. the Harp
Lake complex and Nain Plutonic Suite of Labrador, and the Kunene
Complex of Angola/Namibia); the average size of 139 massif-type an-
orthosite occurrences is 1087 km2. The term “massif-type” is derived
from the French adjective for “massive”, but is widely taken to connote
“a large block of mountain ground” or “a plutonic mass of moderate
size” (Balk, 1937; Ashwal, 1993). The common occurrence of this type
of anorthosite with a coeval, but not consanguineous, suite of more
silicic rocks, including mangerite, charnockite and granitoids, has led to
the collective term “AMCG suite” as a common descriptor (e.g., Emslie
1978a).
Most massif-type anorthosite is texturally massive, composed of
coarse (typically 1–10 cm), euhedral, lath-shaped plagioclase (Figs. 8a,
b; 9a), although adcumulus growth textures are also common (Fig. 9c).
A widespread feature termed “mortar texture” (Buddington, 1939;
Morse, 1968) involves recrystallization, grain-size reduction and
whitening at the boundaries of plagioclase crystals (Fig. 8c), possibly
produced during movement of crystal-rich magmas. Although massive
textures dominate, alignment of plagioclase crystals is observed to
variable degrees (Fig. 8b), but is often difficult to detect, especially in
anorthositic rocks of low color index. Magmatic layering structures are
not common, but where observed, they resemble those of layered mafic
intrusions (Namur et al., 2015), and include grain-size and modally
graded layering. In most cases, these structures pass into more massive
varieties of anorthosite through irregular thinning or pinching out.
Abrupt disruptions or changes in orientation of magmatic layering and/
or foliation can be used to indicate pluton boundaries in coalesced
batholithic complexes (e.g., Emslie 1980). In some occurrences, textu-
rally homogeneous anorthositic rocks are host to irregular, pegmatitic
patches or pods (Fig. 10), whose mineral assemblages and bulk com-
positions may be important indicators of late-stage magmatic fractio-
nation processes (e.g. Bybee et al., 2015). Other common magmatic
features include “block structure” (Balk, 1931; Buddington, 1939),
manifested as large, angular to rounded inclusions of one kind of an-
orthosite in another (Fig. 11a), that are typically distinguished on the
basis of differences in color index. Less commonly encountered are
dikes of anorthositic composition (up to 1 m thick) that crosscut both
the anorthosite massifs and the surrounding country rocks (e.g., Wiebe,
1979) (Fig. 11b).
Plagioclase in massif-type anorthosite is typically intermediate in
composition, globally ranging from An30 to An70 (average An53, Fig. 2).
Many massifs show very restricted plagioclase compositions (e.g.
An45 ± 3, Rogaland Anorthosite Province, Duchesne and Demaiffe,
1978), although some composite massifs, such as the Nain Plutonic

312
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Fig. 7. Outcrop photographs of basaltic magmas of Archean greenstone belts, showing the
presence of plagioclase megacrysts similar in composition and texture to those that are
characteristic of Archean anorthosite complexes. This is suggestive of a genetic link be-
tween the anorthosite bodies and spatially associated mafic magmas.
(a) Calcic plagioclase megacrysts in 3.5 Ga Ameralik dike, Isua area, southern West
Greenland (Nutman et al., 2004). Such megacrysts are common in Ameralik dikes, in their
presumed equivalents, the Saglek dikes of coastal Labrador (Phinney et al., 1988), and in
the ~ 2.5 Ga Matachewan dikes of the Superior Province, Canada (Phinney and Halls,
2001).
(b) Calcic plagioclase megacrysts within ~ 2.7 Ga basaltic pillow lavas, Utik Lake
greenstone belt, central Manitoba (Phinney et al., 1988; Böhm and Kremer, 2007).
Suite of Labrador, show a wide range of compositions (An34–90) with
peaks at An43 and An52 (Morse 1977; Morse, 2006). The striking ir-
idescence of massif-type anorthosite plagioclase, described first in ex-
posures from coastal Labrador (Steinhauer, 1814), is extremely
common. Compositional homogeneity is a general characteristic, al-
though in some cases, normal, reverse and/or oscillatory zoning can be
present (Emslie, 1980; Dymek, 1981). Occasionally, delicate zoning
effects are visible macroscopically as cyclic variations of iridescent
colors (Boone et al., 1968; Wiebe, 1990), as in the “zoned iridescent
plagioclases” (ZIPs) pictured in Fig. 8d. Primary plagioclase crystals
commonly contain fine (< 1 μm), dust-like particles or needles of Fe-Ti
oxides that are thought to be exsolution products (Anderson, 1966), and
which are responsible for the diverse, macroscopically-visible color
variations of the anorthosites (black, grey, blue, red, pink or purple).
Primary mafic minerals in massif-type anorthositic rocks include
pyroxenes and/or olivine, which usually occur as intercumulus phases
(Fig. 9). Low-Ca pyroxene (orthopyroxene or inverted pigeonite) is
most common, but lesser augite is usually also present, and pyroxene
compositions generally show Mg# < 70. Where present, olivine
(Fo58–70) occurs either as a cumulus (Fig. 9a) or an intercumulus phase.
A significant observation made in many massifs is that olivine-bearing
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anorthositic rocks tend to contain more calcic plagioclase than ortho-
pyroxene-bearing ones (e.g. Emslie, 1980, 1985). We discuss the pet-
rogenetic implications of this important distinction in Section 3.2.2
below. Fe-Ti oxide minerals (magnetite and/or ilmenite) are ubiquitous
accessory minerals in these rocks, but may reach sizeable concentra-
tions in the large ilmenite deposits whose association with massif-type
anorthosites is well established (e.g. Charlier et al., 2015).
Although the intercumulus orthopyroxene present in anorthositic
rocks usually has low Al2O3 content (2–3 wt%), many Proterozoic
massif-type anorthosites also contain a suite of distinctive, high-Al or-
thopyroxene megacrysts (HAOMs; Emslie 1975; Owens and Dymek,
1995; Xue and Morse, 1993). HAOMs (Fig. 12) occur either as irregular,
composite masses, commonly associated with megacrysts of plagioclase
(Fig. 12a), or as intercumulus material forming a subophitic texture
with large plagioclase crystals (Fig. 12b). In most cases, the HAOMs are
characterized by the presence of finely-spaced exsolution lamellae of
calcic plagioclase (Fig. 12c; Emslie 1975). The bulk Al2O3 content of
HOAMs ranges between 4 and 10 wt%, with the lower range transi-
tioning into the typical low-Al intercumulus orthopyroxenes described
above. Numerous studies, using Al-in-orthopyroxene geobarometers,
experimental results, and geochemical modeling, have shown that the
HAOMs are comagmatic with the host anorthosites, but crystallized
polybarically from ascending magmas starting at Moho/lower crustal
depths (10–15 kbar or 35–45 km; Emslie, 1975, Charlier et al., 2010;
Dymek and Gromet, 1984). The HAOMs typically show no composi-
tional zoning, although megacrysts with rims of compositionally dis-
tinct (lower Al) orthopyroxene have been observed (Emslie, 1976),
supporting their development during polybaric ascent within crystal-
lizing magmas. The HAOMs have been shown to hold important clues to
the origin of massif-type anorthosites, as discussed below in Section
3.2.3.
3. Terrestrial anorthosite petrogenesis
3.1. Petrogenesis of Archean megacrystic anorthosites
It seems likely that Archean anorthosite complexes represent accu-
mulations of calcic plagioclase megacrysts in sub-volcanic magma
chambers that fed mafic lavas to the surface during their crystallization.
Evidence in addition to the consistent spatial association, includes the
chemical correspondence of major and trace elements, in many occur-
rences, between the fine-grained mafic matrices of the anorthosites, and
the associated mafic dikes and volcanic rocks in host greenstone belts
(Ashwal et al., 1983; Phinney et al., 1988). Results of geochemical
modeling also support a genetic link, involving fractional crystallization
processes (e.g. Phinney and Morrison, 1990; Polat et al., 2009), and in
several cases, the putative basaltic parental magmas to the anorthosites
are Fe-rich (Mg# = 35–60), aluminous (Al2O3 = 14–18 wt%), calcic
(CaO = 9–15 wt%) tholeiites (Ashwal et al., 1983; Phinney and
Morrison, 1990; Rollinson et al., 2010). These compositionally evolved
basaltic parents, however, may represent derivatives of more primitive
melts (e.g., Windley and Garde, 2009), and the possibility that the
original magmas may have been komatiitic is discussed in Section 5.2.
Isotopic studies of Archean anorthosites, using the Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd,
Pb-Pb and Lu-Hf systems have been used for direct age determinations,
and as tracers of the properties of their sources. We have compiled all
published Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf isotopic data for Archean (and Proterozoic)
anorthosites (Supplementary Tables 1 and 2). In Fig. 13, initial Nd and
Hf isotopic compositions for Archean anorthosites and related materials
are plotted as εNd and εHf values, at their ages of magmatic crystal-
lization, as best as can be determined. An important general observa-
tion is that values for both εNd (from whole rocks) and εHf (from zircons)
mainly plot above chondritic evolution, implying derivation from
sources with long-term depletion in incompatible elements. Most of the
studies cited in the references listed in the Supplementary Tables have
interpreted these results to imply derivation from depleted mantle
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

Fig. 8. Outcrop photographs illustrating macroscopic features of Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites.

(a) Typical texturally-homogeneous leucotroctolite from the ~ 1.4 Ga Kunene Anorthosite Complex, Angola (Ashwal and Twist, 1994), dominated by intermediate plagioclase (~85
modal %), with intercumulus olivine and minor Fe-Ti oxides.
(b) Leuconorite from the 0.93 Ga Rogaland Anorthosite Province (Duchesne et al., 1985) showing weak magmatic foliation defined by tabular, iridescent plagioclase crystals and
interstitial orthopyroxene.
(c) A well-developed example of typical “mortar” texture in the ~ 1.4 Ga Kunene Anorthosite Complex, Angola. The white material surrounding well-aligned, grey plagioclase crystals
mark areas of intense recrystallization and grain size reduction.
(d) Megacryst (~ 6 cm across) of zoned iridescent plagioclase (ZIP) hosted by leuconorite at Paul Island, in the ~ 1.3 Ga Nain Anorthosite Complex, Labrador (Wiebe, 1990; Ashwal,
1993). An irregular core of gray plagioclase is surrounded by oscillatory compositional zoning cycles, visible in iridescent shades of red, blue and yellow.

sources, with little or no contamination with continental crustal com-
ponents. This is strikingly different from the variably crustal isotopic
signatures of many Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites (discussed in
Section 3.2). The general view, based on geological, petrological, geo-
chemical and isotopic results is that Archean anorthosites were gener-
ated in oceanic, rather than continental environments (e.g. Garson and
Livingstone, 1973; Myers, 1981; Weaver et al., 1981). This is strongly
supported by the low U concentrations (< 100 ppm) and high Th/U
(> 0.375) of magmatic zircons recovered from the anorthositic rocks in
several occurrences (Polat et al., 2010; Zeh et al., 2010; Souders et al.,
2013); these signatures differ from zircons in typical continental
granitoids, but match those in modern oceanic crustal rocks (Grimes
et al., 2007, 2009). Additionally, in several Archean anorthosite com-
plexes, including Fiskenæsset, Bad Vermilion Lake and Doré Lake (Polat
et al., 2009, 2017; Zhou et al., 2016), the anorthositic rocks, as well as
related gabbros and mafic volcanic rocks, are characterized by deple-
tion in Nb (relative to Th and HREE), which is generally accepted as a
fingerprint of subduction-related, oceanic arc magmas (e.g.
Hawkesworth et al., 1993). Finally, the contact rocks of the Fiskenæsset
complex exhibit oxygen and hydrogen isotope signatures of hydro-
thermal alteration by heated seawater, supporting a model of shallow
emplacement of the anorthositic rocks into Archean oceanic crust (Peck
and Valley, 1996). The tectonic and geodynamic implications of these
results are discussed in Section 4.1.
The high An content of plagioclase in Archean anorthosite com-
plexes demands explanation. One possibility is that crystallization of
very calcic plagioclase is favored by high H2O content of parental melts.
This effect has been convincingly demonstrated experimentally (e.g.

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L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

Fig. 10. (a) Local development of leuconoritic pegmatitic zone, approximately 1 m

across, within finer grained (~ 2 cm) leuconorite from the 1.63 Ga Mealy Mountains
Intrusive Suite, Labrador (Bybee et al., 2015).
(b) Evolved, pegmatitic segregation of plagioclase (gray color), orthopyroxene (dark
green), magnetite-ilmenite (black) and potassic feldspar with quartz (cream-white) ex-
posed in a quarry face in the ~ 1.4 Ga Kunene Complex, Angola (pencil for sca-
le = 12 cm).

Fig. 9. Photomicrographs (crossed polarized light) showing petrographic features of
massif-type anorthosites, as typified by samples from the Kunene Anorthosite Complex,
Angola.
(a) Olivine leucogabbro with euhedral, cumulus plagioclase laths, cumulus olivine and
intercumulus clinopyroxene.
(b) Typical anorthosite dominated by subhedral plagioclase, and with minor intercumulus
clinopyroxene.
(c) Adcumulus anorthosite showing polygonal annealed textures and small altered pyr-
oxene grains.
Ol: olivine; Pl: plagioclase; Cpx: clinopyroxene.
Sisson and Grove, 1993; Takagi et al., 2005), and has typically been
discussed with respect to the calcic feldspars found in some young arc
basalts (e.g. Arculus and Wills, 1980). Takagi et al. (2005) found near-
linear relationships between increased H2O contents of melts (0–3.5 wt
% H2O) and increased An content of liquidus plagioclase (An77–86 at
P = 1 kbar, and An71–80 at P = 5 kbar); plagioclases of up to An89 can
crystallize from melts with ~5 wt% H2O at P = 2 kbar. They conclude
that the crystallization of calcic plagioclase with composition > An88
from low-alkali tholeiites is optimized at P = 2–3 kbar, under nearly
H2O-saturated conditions. Hydrous parental magmas for the anortho-
site complexes would be consistent with those interpretations favoring
at least some of the interstitial amphibole present in some occurrences,
as representing a primary magmatic phase (e.g. Rollinson et al., 2010;
Windley and Garde, 2009), although many authors suggest that the
amphibole is better interpreted as a metamorphic replacement product
of primary pyroxene (e.g. Myers, 1985; Weaver et al., 1981). Polat et al.
(2009) concluded that both magmatic and metamorphic amphibole is
present in Fiskenæsset anorthositic rocks. An alternative to crystal-
lization of high-An plagioclase from hydrous magmas or melts was
suggested by Panjasawatwong et al. (1995), who presented experi-
mental evidence that melt composition, specifically high Ca/Na and/or
high Al/Si, can exert an important control on the precipitation of high-
An plagioclase. They applied their results to the occurrence of an-
orthitic plagioclase in mid-ocean ridge basalts, arc basalts and boninites

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L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Fig. 11. (a) Angular block of olivine-bearing anorthosite within leucotroctolite of higher
colour index, illustrating typical “block structure” (Kunene Anorthosite Complex, Angola;
modified from Ashwal and Twist, 1994).
(b) Anorthositic dike crosscutting leucotroctolite of higher colour index (Kunene An-
orthosite Complex, Angola; modified from Ashwal and Twist, 1994).
from intra-oceanic forearcs. In summary, the crystallization of calcic
plagioclase from broadly basaltic melts is favored at low pressure, high
H2O contents, and/or high Ca/Na and Al/Si of parental melts. Under-
standing the relative importance of these effects for Archean anortho-
site complexes is a challenge for future work.
The distinctive and characteristic equidimensional (almost sphe-
rical) shapes of the plagioclase crystals in Archean anorthosites have
also not yet been adequately explained. The common euhedral faces on
even the largest of megacrysts, in many cases producing a pseudo-
hexagonal outline (Fig. 6), indicates that they are individual crystals,
rather than “glomerocrysts” composed of several smaller crystals that
have become attached together (e.g. Galapagos basalts, Cullen et al.,
1989). Higgins (2006) suggested that the habit of magmatic plagioclase
crystals is influenced both by growth rate and by the nature of chemical
potential gradients that surround the growing crystals, such that the
formation of equant, rather than tabular feldspars, is favored where
smaller chemical gradients occur near the solid-melt interface. The role
of these, as well as other possible causative factors, has not yet been
seriously applied to explain the origin of the equant, compositionally
homogeneous crystals up to 30 cm across that occur in Archean an-
orthosites.
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
3.2. Petrogenesis of Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites
3.2.1. Mantle vs. crustal sources for the anorthosite parental magmas
Early theories (and even some more recent ones) regarding massif-
type anorthosite petrogenesis include: liquid differentiation to an-
orthositic melts (Lowenson-Lessing, 1923), fluid-induced metasomatic
transformation (Barth, 1936; Gresens, 1978), and crystalline residues
after deep-crustal anatexis (Michot, 1955), but for good reasons (sum-
marized in Ashwal, 1993), none of these has sustained much support. It
was probably Bowen's (1917) paper that was most influential to the
now universally-accepted understanding of these rocks as magmatic
accumulations of plagioclase crystals, although the fundamental debate
that ensued regarding the composition of parental magmas and the
nature of their source regions has still not been adequately resolved. For
most of the 20th century, the petrology community was polarized re-
garding the genetic relationships between the anorthositic rocks and
the substantial volumes of spatially-related, commonly orthopyroxene-
bearing granitoids of the AMGC suite (Emslie, 1978a). One group (e.g.
Michot, 1960; de Waard, 1968) argued that the rocks of the AMCG suite
were all related (or “consanguineous”) by fractional crystallization
from a common parental magma of broadly intermediate composition,
necessarily derived by crustal melting. The opposing group (e.g.
Buddington, 1972; Morse, 1972) maintained that the anorthositic and
granitoid suites are chemically independent, with the former re-
presenting the products of mantle-derived magmas akin to basalts, and
the latter produced by intracrustal partial melting, induced by the
emplacement of the hot anorthositic intrusives. By the 1970s, a con-
sensus seems to have been reached against consanguinity of the an-
orthosite and granitoid suites, based mainly on field relations, miner-
alogy, petrological studies, trace element geochemistry, and radiogenic
and stable isotope signatures, with general agreement that the an-
orthosites were most likely derived from parental magmas of broadly
basaltic composition (Emslie, 1978a,b; Morse, 1982; Wiebe, 1990;
Olson, 1992; Ashwal, 1993; Mitchell et al., 1995, 1996).
A recent idea that has attracted some support proposes that the
basaltic parental magmas of massif-type anorthosites were derived by
melting of mafic lower continental crustal, rather than upper mantle
sources (Duchesne et al., 1999; Duchesne, 2001; Vander Auwera et al.,
2011, 2014). This suggestion was motivated by high-pressure experi-
mental work on Al-rich basaltic melt compositions, which showed a
thermal divide on the plagioclase-pyroxene liquidus at 10–13 kbar,
implying that a mantle-derived melt could not produce the observed
range of olivine- and orthopyroxene-bearing mineral assemblages in the
anorthosites (Longhi et al., 1999; Longhi, 2005). Instead, anorthosite
parental magmas were suggested to have formed when mafic, lower
crustal “tongues” were underthrust into the upper mantle, and were
heated to their solidus temperatures, during or shortly after collisional
events. Support for this model comes mainly from observations and
measurements made in the Rogaland Anorthosite Province of south-
western Norway, where crustal-scale zones of weakness and terrane
boundaries extending to Moho offsets are argued to have facilitated
ascent and emplacement of anorthositic magmas (Duchesne et al.,
1999). Isotopic results for Rogaland anorthositic rocks, including U-Pb
geochronology (Schärer et al., 1996) and Re-Os measurements
(Schiellerup et al., 2000), have also been interpreted to endorse a mafic
lower crustal source for the parental magmas. We have disputed this
model based on our own findings, as well as on theoretical grounds (e.g.
Bybee et al., 2014b); our major arguments are summarized below.
The lower continental crust is widely inferred to be broadly mafic
(e.g. Rudnick and Gao, 2014), although a critical analysis of available
geochemical and geophysical data indicates that the majority of lower
continental crust could, in fact be intermediate to felsic in composition
(Hacker et al., 2011, 2015). If this is so, then models involving lower
crustal derivation of anorthosite parent magmas, which require mafic
source materials, are compromised. Partial melts derived from felsic
(i.e. intermediate to granitic) source materials cannot be considered as
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

Fig. 12. Macro- and microscopic appearances of high-Al orthopyroxene megacrysts (HAOMs) present in many massif-type anorthosite complexes, and interpreted to represent early, deep
(35–45 km) crystallization products from anorthosite parental magmas.
(a) Megacrystic, intercumulus, high-Al orthopyroxene adjacent to a large (~40 cm), iridescent plagioclase megacryst, hosted by leuconorites in the 0.93 Ga Rogaland Anorthosite
Province, southwestern Norway. Hammers are ~ 30 cm in length.
(b) Megacrysts of plagioclase (~ 10 cm across), with intercumulus high-Al orthopyroxene, (Kunene Anorthosite Complex, Angola).
(c) Photomicrograph (crossed polarizers) of high-Al orthopyroxene megacryst from the 1.63 Ga Mealy Mountains massif (Labrador), showing twinned calcic plagioclase (~ An80)
exsolution lamellae parallel to (100) of host orthopyroxene. The bulk pyroxene megacryst has 6.39 wt% Al2O3.

viable candidates for anorthosite generation, for numerous petrological,
geochemical and isotopic reasons (Ashwal, 1993). There is general
consensus that anorthosite parental magmas were broadly basaltic in
composition, although detailed chemical characterization has proven to
be elusive. Generation of such melts or magmas from mafic lower
crustal sources would require unreasonably high degrees of partial
melting, on the order of 80–100%, which is implausible in terms of the
energy requirements needed for such extensive or total melt production
(Morse, 1991; Bybee et al., 2014b). This would also have had dramatic
geodynamic consequences for the long-term stability of the crust,
considering that massif-type anorthosite-forming magmatism took
place over a time period of about 2000 m.y. (Fig. 2).
The important high-pressure experimental results that are often
used to negate the possibility of a mantle source for anorthosite par-
ental magmas on petrological grounds (Longhi et al., 1999; Longhi,
2005) may now be far less compelling. Recent experiments at 10 kbar,
using very similar high-Al basalt starting compositions, show no evi-
dence of the thermal divide that putatively disallows fractionation of
mantle-derived melts from producing the observed mineral assem-
blages in the anorthositic rocks (Hill et al., 2016; Hill, 2017). This new
work suggests that mantle-derived melts can indeed produce the ap-
propriate mineral assemblages and compositions, and can suitably
account for the distinct olivine- vs. orthopyroxene-bearing anorthositic
lithologies by variable contamination with crustally-derived, silicic
components (Section 3.2.2). Alternatives to the arguments for lower
crustal anorthosite origin based on Re-Os isotopes (Schiellerup et al.,
2000) were discussed by Hannah and Stein (2002). Based on these lines
of reasoning, we argue that a model of lower crustal melting to produce
anorthositic parental magmas cannot be supported.
3.2.2. The important role of crustal contamination
The large and growing database of variable radiogenic and stable
isotopic compositions for massif-type anorthosites and related rocks
was initially interpreted in terms of derivation from mantle sources
with differing degrees of incompatible element enrichment (e.g. Ashwal
and Wooden, 1983; Icenhower et al., 1998). It is now clear, however,
that variable assimilation of continental crustal components by mantle-
derived magmas has played a crucial role in massif-type anorthosite
petrogenesis (e.g. Ashwal and Wooden, 1985; Ashwal et al., 1986;
Emslie et al., 1994; Frost et al., 2010; Heinonen et al., 2010, 2015; Peck
and Valley, 2000; Peck et al., 2010). In this regard, Proterozoic an-
orthosites differ critically from Archean ones (Section 3.1).
In Fig. 14, we have plotted initial Nd and Hf isotopic compositions
(as εNd and εHf values at their ages of magmatic crystallization, as best

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L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Fig. 13. Plots of initial isotopic compositions of Nd (a) and Hf (b) vs. age for Archean
megacrystic anorthosites and related materials. Values of εNd and εHf were calculated at
the ages of magmatic crystallization, as best as can be established at present. In (a) εNd
values for each occurrence represent whole-rock measurements of anorthositic and re-
lated mafic rocks; in (b) εHf values are shown for magmatic zircons (red symbols) and
whole-rock samples (black symbols). Depleted mantle evolution (DM) for εNd shown in (a)
is from DePaolo et al. (1991), and that for εHf in (b) is based on linear extrapolation of
mean values for modern-day MORBs: 176Lu/177Hf = 0.0384, 176Hf/177Hf = 0.28325
(Griffin et al., 2000). Dashed lines in (b) approximate possible variations in DM evolution,
as indicated by the range of Hf isotopic compositions in present-day MORBs (e.g. Chauvel
and Blichert-Toft 2001). All data plotted, as well as full references, may be found in the
compilations of Nd and Hf isotopic compositions supplied as Supplementary Tables 1 and
2. Occurrences are labeled as follows: Bhavani, India (Bha); Bad Vermilion Lake, Ontario
(BVL), Doré Lake, Quebec (Doré), Fiskenæsset, West Greenland (Fisk), Holenarasipur,
India (Hol), Manfred Complex, West Australia (Manf), Messina, South Africa (Mess),
Naajat Kuuat, West Greenland (N-K), Nunataarsuk, West Greenland (Nuna), Sittampundi,
India (Sitt, plotted as blue symbols for clarity). CHUR parameters:
147
Sm/144Nd = 0.1967, 143
Nd/144Nd = 0.512638, 176
Lu/177Hf = 0.0336,
176
Hf/177Hf = 0.282785.
as can be determined) for all Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites and
related materials. The full dataset, with references, can be found in
Supplementary Tables 1 and 2. A significant finding is that the isotopic
signatures of Proterozoic anorthositic rocks and minerals (prominently
for Nd in whole-rocks and Hf in zircons, but also for Sr and Pb) can be
correlated with the ages of the crustal basement rocks through and/or
into which they were emplaced (Fig. 14). For example, ~1.3 Ga an-
orthositic rocks of the Nain Plutonic Suite (Labrador), that intruded
through and into Archean basement gneisses with ages up to 3.9 Ga, all
have negative εNd values (as low as −13), whereas massifs emplaced
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
Fig. 14. Plots of initial isotopic compositions of Nd (a) and Hf (b) vs. age for Proterozoic
massif-type anorthosites and related materials. Results for coeval, crustally-derived
granitic rocks are not plotted; also excluded are data for mineral separates, and high-Al
orthopyroxene megacrysts (HAOMs). Data points in (a) and (b) are color-coded to in-
dicate the ages of crustal basement rocks, where known, through and into which the
anorthosites were emplaced. Values of εNd and εHf were calculated at the ages of mag-
matic crystallization, as best as can be esablished at present. In (a) εNd values for each
occurrence represent whole-rock measurements of anorthositic and related mafic rocks;
in (b) All εHf values shown are for magmatic zircons, except those for Oaxaca anortho-
sites, which are for whole-rock samples (Oax). Parameters for CHUR and DM evolution
are given in the caption to Fig. 8. All data plotted, as well as full references, may be found
in the compilations of Nd and Hf isotopic compositions supplied as Supplementary Tables
1 and 2: Occurrences are labeled as follows: Adirondacks, N.Y. (Adk), Ahvenisto, Finland
(Ahv), Atikonak River, Quebec (Ati), Capivarita, Brazil (Cap), Clearwater, Saskatchewan
(CWDamiao, China (Dam), Daxigou, China (Dax), Drury Township, Ontario (Dru), Fal-
conbridge Township, Ontario (Fal), Geran, Russia (Ger), Horse Creek, Wyoming (HC),
Harp Lake, Labrador (HL), Kalar, Russia (Kal), Kandalaksha, Kola, Russia (Kand), Kol-
vitsa, Kola, Russia (Kol), Korosten, Ukraine (Kor), Kunene, Angola/Namibia (Kun), Lac
Allard, Quebec (LA), Lac St-Jean, Quebec (LSJ), Laramie, Wyoming (Lar), Lofoten,
Norway (Lof), Madagascar (Mad), Mealy Mountains, Labrador (MM), Mercer, Ontario
(Mer), Morin, Quebec (Mor), Montpelier, Virginia (Mp), Mucajaí, Brazil (Muc), Nain
Plutonic Suite, Labrador (Nain), Oaxaca, Mexico (Oax), Pangidi, India (Pan), Red River,
Nova Scotia (RR), River Valley, Ontario (RV), Rivière-Pentecôte, Quebec (Pen), Roga-
land, Norway (Rog), Salmi, Russia (Sal), Sancheong-Hadong, Korea (S-K), St. Charles,
Ontario (SC), Suwalki, Poland (Suw), Tete, Mozambique (Tete), Umiakoviarusek Lake,
Labrador (Um), Volch’etundrovsky, Kola, Russia (Vol).
into more juvenile Proterozoic crust of the Grenville Province (e.g.
Adirondacks, Morin, Atikonak, Lac St-Jean, Mealy Mountains) are
generally characterized by positive εNd values that approach depleted
mantle evolution (Fig. 14a). The isotopic compositions of massif-type
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
anorthosites, therefore, can be used as indirect indicators of the nature
and ages of the deep crustal terrains underlying them; this may re-
present a useful tool in regional mapping efforts (e.g. Xue and Morse,
1993).
The contaminating components are very likely to have been broadly
granitic in composition, and were variably introduced into the mantle-
derived, anorthosite-producing magmas, either by bulk assimilation of
deep-crustal basement rocks, or more likely, by blending with partial
melts derived from them. Different degrees of silicic contamination can
account for much of the variability in initial isotopic compositions
shown in many massifs (Fig. 14), and this also influences the distin-
guishing mineral phase assemblages of the anorthosites. In many oc-
currences, olivine-bearing anorthositic rocks (e.g. leucotroctolites, etc.)
exhibit distinctly more primitive isotopic signatures than orthopyr-
oxene-bearing ones (e.g. leuconorites, etc.), even within the same
massifs (Emslie et al., 1994; Frost et al., 2010; Heinonen et al., 2010;
Gleißner et al., 2011; Bybee and Ashwal, 2015), reflecting the im-
portance of assimilated crust upon the silica activity in crystallizing
magmas (e.g. Frost et al., 2010). Emplacement of individual massifs
into or through crustal terranes where basement rocks of diverse ages
are juxtaposed, also contributes to considerable isotopic variability. For
example, anorthositic rocks of the Nain (Labrador) and Laramie
(Wyoming) massifs, which both intruded at or near tectonic boundaries
between Archean and Paleoproterozoic crustal provinces, show large
ranges in initial εNd of 11.6 and 7.3 epsilon units, respectively
(Fig. 14a). Variable crustal contamination effects can also be expressed
as internal isotopic disequilibrium between, for example, coexisting
plagioclase and pyroxene within individual samples (Ashwal and
Wiebe, 1989; Bybee and Ashwal, 2015). Such mineral-scale isotopic
decoupling is especially apparent for the Nd and Pb isotopic systems,
within Proterozoic anorthositic rocks that were emplaced through
evolved Archean crustal basement materials (e.g. Nain Plutonic Suite,
Labrador).
The importance of crustal basement age upon isotopic signatures of
anorthositic rocks is also reflected in the Lu-Hf system, which is in-
creasingly being used to characterize zircons recovered from anortho-
sitic rocks (Fig. 14b). The zircons are typically interpreted as late-stage
products of evolved, interstitial melts within crystallizing anorthositic
mushes, and their primary initial Hf isotopic ratios are commonly
preserved, even through multiple metamorphic and/or alteration
events (e.g. Gerdes and Zeh, 2009). Results thus far show that lower
zircon εHf values are found in occurrences emplaced into Archean crust
(e.g. Damiao, China), whereas those intruded into more juvenile base-
ment rocks (e.g. Rogaland, Adirondacks) have higher εHf values that
approach depleted mantle evolution curves (Fig. 14b). The range in
primary εHf values within massifs suggests that zircon crystallization
occurred during variable stages of crustal contamination.
3.2.3. Construction of anorthosite massifs by slow ascent of plagioclase-rich
mushes
The question of how such enormous volumes of plagioclase could be
concentrated to form near-monomineralic batholiths has puzzled
geoscientists for more than a century. Bowen (1917, 1928) argued
strongly against the idea of hyperfeldspathic (anorthositic) melts, in-
stead favoring anorthosite formation by gravitational accumulation of
plagioclase crystals from basaltic melts. He sensibly intimated, there-
fore, that abundant volumes of ultramafic rocks should exist im-
mediately below the exposed anorthosites, as is the case in many
layered mafic intrusions. However, extensive mapping efforts and
geophysical surveys of many massif-type occurrences deny the presence
of sufficient, complementary mafic to ultramafic rocks that would sum
to basalt if combined with the exposed anorthosites. If parental magmas
of massifs were basaltic, then some general mechanism must have ef-
fectively detached mafic from feldspathic components. Because studies
of many undeformed anorthosite massifs indicate that tectonic pro-
cesses are unlikely causes for this separation, mechanisms involving
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
magmatic detachment are generally considered as most viable. Ac-
cordingly, an appealing, two-stage model has evolved, which involves
deep-crustal ponding and fractionation of mantle-derived basaltic
melts, sinking of mafic silicates, and strong buoyancy of plagioclase to
form flotation cumulates that ascend through the crust as anorthositic
mushes (e.g. Morse, 1968; Emslie, 1978b, 1985; Longhi and Ashwal,
1985). Of essential relevance here is the experimental work of Kushiro
(1980), who showed that basaltic melts are significantly more com-
pressible than crystals, such that at pressures above about 2 kbar, any
plagioclase more sodic than An65 should readily float. The general
hypothesis that is currently being evaluated and tested is that Proter-
ozoic anorthosite massifs were constructed in the mid-crust, by coa-
lescence of multiple plutons of buoyant plagioclase-rich mushes, de-
rived from crystallizing basaltic magma chambers trapped at Moho
depths of 30–40 km. In this model, the spatially associated and ap-
proximately coeval granitoid intrusives result from lower crustal ana-
texis, induced by heat from the deeply-ponded mafic magmas. Ample
opportunities would exist for variable contamination of mantle-derived
melts, magmas and mushes, by crustally-derived magmas, suitably ac-
counting for the mineralogical, petrological, geochemical and isotopic
features described above.
Additional constraints on this general physical model come from
studies of the high-Al orthopyroxene megacrysts (HAOMs) that are
common in many massifs. Al-in-orthopyroxene geobarometry, cali-
brated for anorthosite systems, indicates crystallization at pressures of
10–15 kbar (e.g. Emslie 1975, Charlier et al., 2010), suggesting that
they might represent early crystallization products of the deep magma
chambers parental to the anorthosites, and were incorporated in as-
cending plagioclase-rich mushes. The relatively primitive nature of
HAOMs is supported by isotopic work, which shows, for example, that
they tend to record the highest εNd values among all analysed materials
in several massifs, implying crystallization prior to, or at an early stage
of, contamination with crustal components; some HAOMs appear to
pre-date plagioclase crystallization, based on their trace element char-
acteristics (Ashwal, 1993; Bybee et al., 2014a).
Precise U-Pb zircon and baddeleyite geochronology is beginning to
reveal that the individual plutonic components of some anorthosite
massifs were emplaced over long time periods of up to 100 m.y. For
example, the Nain Plutonic Suite of Labrador appears to have been
constructed over a span of 68 m.y. (1295–1363 Ma, Myers et al., 2008),
and the ~18,000 km2 Kunene Anorthosite Complex (Angola/Namibia)
shows at least three, if not four, age groupings of anorthositic plutons
that span ~60–80 m.y. (Brower et al., 2016; Brower, 2017). Additional
evidence for a prolonged magmatic history of massifs comes from Sm-
Nd geochronology of HAOMs, which in three separate cases (Rogaland,
Nain, Mealy Mountains) yield isochrons that pre-date the emplacement
of their host anorthosites by 80–100 m.y. (Bybee et al., 2014a). The
tectonic and geodynamic implications of such surprisingly long mag-
matic time scales for development of anorthosite massifs are discussed
in Section 4.2.
At present, we are challenged by a lack of detailed understanding of
the mechanisms by which crystal-rich magmas or mushes ascend
polybarically through the crust. If the general physical model described
above is credible, then a significant, but unknown amount of crystal-
lization must have occurred at Moho or lower crustal depths, to pro-
mote positive buoyancy of plagioclase-rich mushes. Diapiric and con-
duit ascent are end-member ascent mechanism models for a process
that is likely to be far more complex (Barnichon et al., 1999; Royse and
Park, 2000). Constraints on the terminal settling velocity of orthopyr-
oxene megacrysts in plagioclase-rich mushes suggest that diapiric rise
of plagioclase-rich mushes (which occurs at lower velocities than con-
duit ascent) is untenable (Royse and Park, 2000). However, structural
features and finite element modeling of some anorthosite bodies, such
as the Egersund-Ogna pluton (Rogaland Anorthosite Province, south-
western Norway) or the Mount Lister and Paul Island plutons (Nain
Plutonic Suite, Labrador), indicate that diapiric rise and emplacement
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
might be the operative process (Duchesne et al., 1985; Martignole and
Schrijver, 1970; Barnichon et al., 1999; Wiebe, 1990; Ryan, 1992,
1993). A critical, but unknown variable influencing these arguments is
the degree of crystallinity at which such mushes would be able to rise.
Other intrusions, such as at Poe Mountain (Laramie Complex,
Wyoming), show features inconsistent with diapiric ascent alone
(Scoates, 2000, 2002; Scoates and Frost, 1996). In-situ crystallization,
movement of residual liquids through cumulate piles and layer devel-
opment on sloping, upper crustal chamber floors are also important
processes that might explain some features of anorthosite complexes
(Scoates, 2000, 2002; Scoates and Frost, 1996). The variety of textures
and relationships observed within and between different anorthositic
intrusions indicates a multiplicity of crystallization styles and magmatic
movement. This should not be surprising, given the polybaric nature of
anorthosite petrogenesis. But how realistic is it to assume that an-
orthosites ascended as mushes of > 50% crystallinity? Alternatively,
did the majority of crystallization take place once the magmas reached
mid-crustal chambers? How can this be quantified, and what might this
reveal about where and how parental magmas of anorthosites ascended
and differentiated?
4. Geodynamics and tectonic settings of terrestrial anorthosites
4.1. Tectonic setting of Archean megacrystic anorthosites
The imperfectly-preserved rock record in Archean terranes has
been, and continues to be, a subject of vigorous debate. A major issue is
whether some form of modern plate tectonics was operative then (e.g.
de Wit, 1998), or whether some other form of global heat loss was
dominant (e.g. Hamilton, 1998; Van Kranendonk, 2010). The apparent
temporal restriction of both Archean anorthosites and komatiites bears
directly on these questions (e.g. de Wit and Ashwal, 1997), and this is
discussed further below. The association of both rock types with Ar-
chean greenstone belts implies that we should seek answers to tectonic
questions from the relict exposures in these terranes; a multiplicity of
modern analogues has been discussed, as well as a variety of imagi-
native non-uniformitarian ideas.
The geological, geochemical and isotopic results discussed above
imply that Archean anorthosites formed in oceanic rather than con-
tinental environments. Therefore, their present locations within con-
tinental crust suggest that they must have been tectonically emplaced,
probably by horizontal plate motions, and at least in a broad sense, the
anorthosites may mark places where ancient oceans have closed. If an
oceanic environment can be reliably entertained for Archean anortho-
sites, then there are numerous settings that could be considered: mid-
ocean ridge, island arc, back-arc basin, oceanic plateau, etc. On the
basis of trace element systematics, Polat et al. (2009) proposed that the
metabasaltic rocks at Fiskenæsset record a transition from a mid-ocean
ridge environment to an intra-oceanic subduction zone. The anortho-
sitic rocks were derived from melts produced in a sub-arc mantle
wedge. Similar conclusions of an oceanic arc environment for Fiske-
næsset and other Archean anorthosite complexes from southern West
Greenland were made on the basis of Hf and Nd isotopes and trace
element relationships (Hoffmann et al., 2012); comparable datasets
were used to suggest a subduction zone environment for the Sittam-
pundi Complex of southern India (Mohan et al., 2013), and for the Bad
Vermilion Lake Complex of Ontario (Zhou et al., 2016). Souders et al.
(2013) used Pb-Pb isotopes in plagioclase and Lu-Hf in zircons to pro-
pose contamination of parental magmas by older mafic crustal com-
ponents, but this could be accommodated in the subduction environ-
ment. An oceanic arc setting would be consistent with hydrous parental
magmas of the anorthosites, as suggested by the calcic plagioclase
compositions and possibly by magmatic amphiboles, as discussed in
Section 3.1 above. We may tentatively conclude that a consensus is
being approached that Archean anorthosite complexes are best inter-
preted in terms of their derivation from hydrous basaltic magmas in
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
ancient oceanic arc environments.
If Archean anorthosites crystallized from mantle-derived magmas
(evolved or otherwise) in oceanic environments, and were unaffected
by the contaminating effects of continental crust, then their initial
isotopic compositions should represent those of their oceanic mantle
lithosphere sources. We are intrigued by the proximity of initial εNd and
εHf values of Archean anorthosites and related materials to estimates of
depleted mantle (DM) evolution curves, and perhaps more importantly,
by the apparent trends of increasing εNd and εHf in progressively
younger examples (Fig. 13). Could this represent a direct record of DM
evolution? Because isotopic tracer measurements of Archean bulk rock
samples are well-known to have been variably compromised by element
mobility during secondary alteration and metamorphism, it is probably
premature and unwise to over-interpret the significance for source
evolution, for example, of the Nd data shown in Fig. 13a. The results for
Hf isotopic compositions of zircons are likely far more robust in this
regard, although a variety of complicating factors must be kept in mind
(e.g. Vervoort and Kemp, 2016). For example, the variability of up to 5
epsilon units in εHf values of zircons within individual occurrences
(Fig. 13b) still requires a convincing explanation (e.g. source hetero-
geneity, mixing with mafic crustal components), even if continental
crust contamination can be ruled out (e.g. Souders et al., 2013). In-
asmuch as zircons are characteristically absent from the common Ar-
chean mantle-derived volcanic products like basalts and komatiites
(e.g. Keller et al., 2017), those recovered from more slowly-cooled,
fractionated magmatic materials, such as the anorthositic rocks de-
scribed here, may be unique, direct indicators of ancient mantle source
properties, which can be used to track isotopic and geochemical evo-
lution. Clearly more data for zircons in Archean anorthosites are
needed.
4.2. Geodynamic setting of Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites – an
amalgamation of evidence
Virtually every known tectonic setting has been proposed at one
time or another for the generation of massif-type anorthosites (sum-
marized in Ashwal, 1993). The growing database of reliable geochro-
nology certainly eliminates hypotheses based on the erroneous per-
ception of a cataclysmic “anorthosite event” in Earth history (e.g. Herz,
1969; Anderson, 1975), although the temporal restriction of massif-
type anorthosites to a > 2000 m.y. period in the Proterozoic still de-
mands explanation (discussed in Section 5.3). Plausible tectonic models
must account for: delivery of large volumes of basaltic magmas to deep
continental crust, commonly in linear belts that may exceed 1500 km in
length, and over time scales that may exceed several hundreds of mil-
lions of years.
Formation of massif-type anorthosites in zones of Tibetan-style
continental collision (e.g. Dewey and Burke, 1973) is implausible be-
cause such environments are not typically associated with voluminous,
mantle-derived basaltic magmatism. The chemically bimodal rock
compositions of many AMCG complexes, among other things, led to a
widespread perception of the anorthosite and related magmatism as
“anorogenic” (e.g. Anderson, 1983), which can be taken to collectively
denote extensional environments like plumes or rifts. However, a
straightforward analogy with hot-spot or plume-related magmatism
(e.g. Taylor et al., 1984; Sharkov, 2010) is untenable because no ob-
vious age progressions of massifs have been recognized at any appro-
priate scale. Continental rifting environments enjoyed popularity for
several decades (e.g. Berg, 1977; Bridgewater and Windley, 1973;
Emslie, 1978a), but fail to account for anorthosite occurrences that
were emplaced over time spans of at least 500 m.y. in belts such as the
Grenville/Nain Provinces of eastern North America, without having
initiated major continental break-up.
Consensus on the tectonic environment for Proterozoic anorthosites
has gradually shifted towards convergent margin settings. For example,
Corrigan and Hanmer (1997) proposed late- to post-collisional
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

delamination of mantle lithosphere, replacement by asthenosphere, and
production of basaltic magmas by adiabatic decompression. Support for
such a model comes from U-Pb zircon and baddeleyite ages of several
massifs, which document the timing of anorthosite-producing magma-
tism at the waning stages of collisional orogeny (e.g. Scoates and
Chamberlain, 1997; McLelland et al., 2010). However, this idea totally
fails to account for the large massifs of the Nain Province (Labrador),
and other occurrences where there is no evidence for prior collisional
events that could reasonably connected to anorthosite magmatism. This
seriously compromises its appeal as an inclusive, global tectonic model
for massif-type anorthosite formation.
We suggest that an Andean-type continental arc setting is most
consistent with the overall observations and measurements made thus
far for massif-type anorthosites and related rocks. This would account
for the lengthy duration of mantle-derived magmatism, the emplace-
ment into deep continental crust of variable age, and the common
spatial arrangement in linear belts of appropriate scale. Eventual
Tibetan-style continental collision, as a necessary consequence of ex-
tensive plate convergence, would account for the deformation and high-
grade metamorphism exhibited by many, but not all occurrences. An
Andean-type continental margin environment would allow the forma-
tion of plagioclase flotation cumulates in deep-crustal magma

Fig. 15. Paleogeographic positions of dated Proterozoic massif-type anorthosite occurrences are plotted on paleomagnetic reconstructions between 1050 and 940 Ma. Many anorthosites
are positioned on continental margins, for which the existence of subduction zones is constrained by plate motions (Torsvik, 2003).

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L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
chambers, their variable interaction with crustal contaminating com-
ponents, their ascent as crystal mushes, and their emplacement into
mid-crustal complexes of coalesced plutons that structurally resemble
the arc-related granitic batholiths of the Western Cordillera in North
and South America. Our recent work (Bybee et al., 2014a) suggests that
magmatic construction of individual massifs may take place over many
tens of m.y.; the understanding and implications of such unexpectedly
long magmatic time scales represent future research challenges.
Andean-type continental margins and late-to-post collision orogeny
need not be mutually exclusive, however. Our contention is that the
lengthy differentiation and slow ascent of viscous plagioclase mushes
creates a significant time lag between the onset of magmatism and final
emplacement of anorthositic mushes in the middle crust. We propose
that magmatism was initiated during active convergent margin pro-
cesses, typical of continental arcs today. The requisite extensive dif-
ferentiation at the Moho and the viscous nature of resulting magmas
suggest that mush ascent may have been slow. Ultimately, the active arc
setting would shut down, and gravitational collapse and extensional
forces may come to dominate. This type of extensional regime in the
late- to post-orogenic stages may facilitate the ascent of anorthositic
mushes to their final emplacement levels, where datable accessory
minerals crystallized from remaining melts. In this scenario, however,
magmatism would have been initiated during the main magmatic phase
of an Andean-type continental margin.
There is some support for the formation of massif-type anorthosites
in long-lived convergent margin settings, from continental reconstruc-
tions based on paleomagnetic data. We note with interest that the lo-
cations of many anorthosite massifs that formed during the period
~ 1070–940 Ma, when plotted on reasonably-constrained paleogeo-
graphic reconstructions, are concentrated in linear belts at continental
margins (Fig. 15). This is most pronounced at 1050–1020 Ma, on the
outboard margins of Laurentia, where active subduction zones have
been proposed (e.g. Torsvik, 2003). This may account for some of the
world's largest massifs (e.g. the ~5500 km2, 1060 Ma Lac Allard massif,
Quebec). An interesting example concerns the 930–960 Ma anorthosite
occurrences in southwestern Norway (Rogaland, Jotun), which occupy
positions in continental interiors on traditional reconstructions, but are
in marginal locations of Baltica on alternative reconstructions (Hartz
and Torsvik, 2002). This illustrates the uncertainties involved with
Precambrian continental reconstructions, which continue to be refined.
Massif-type anorthosite is almost entirely absent from the suite of
diverse rock types found in Phanerozoic and modern-day Andean arcs,
although a few occurrences have been described. Two small (9–12 km2)
bodies of anorthosite with massif-type properties have been described
in the Western Sierras Pampeanas of Argentina, but U-Pb zircon dating
yielded a magmatic age of 1070 ± 41 Ma, suggesting that they re-
present fragments of Proterozoic basement of the exotic Precordillera
terrane (Casquet et al. 2005). On the basis of a Nd model age of
~ 1.42 Ga, Martignole et al. (2005) offered a similar interpretation for
the rafts and boudins of anorthosite that occur over a ~ 20 km2 region
near Ilo, in southern Peru. However, Casquet et al. (2010) reported a
464 ± 5 Ma U-Pb zircon age from these anorthosites, suggesting an
association with the Ordovician-Silurian Famatinian, arc-related oro-
genic cycle, which is well known in northwestern Argentina. Another
interesting, but as yet undated occurrence is a ~2 km2 body of an-
orthosite surrounded by hornblende granodiorite in the headwaters of
Thibaut Creek, within the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada batholith of Cali-
fornia (Moore, 1963). If this and similar occurrences can be reliably
connected to magmatic processes in young Andean-type arcs, then their
petrogenesis will represent important clues for the origin, tectonic
setting and temporality of massif-type anorthosites.
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Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
5. Anorthosite temporality and geodynamic implications
5.1. Primordial anorthosite temporality
The antiquity of the lunar primordial anorthosites is convincingly
demonstrated by geochronology using several isotopic systems (prin-
cipally Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb), which yield results of 4.29–4.57 Ga
(data summarized in Borg et al., 2015). However, primary age de-
terminations are compromised by the general paucity of zircon in lunar
rocks, by the essentially monomineralic, plagioclase-dominated rock
compositions that impede the isochron method, and by the protracted
impact history of the Moon, which can disturb or reset magmatic
crystallization ages (e.g. Tera et al., 1974; Gaffney et al., 2011; Boyet
et al., 2015). In a critical evaluation of lunar highlands geochronology,
Borg et al. (2015) developed a set of guidelines to establish the relia-
bility of formation ages; these include the concordancy of multiple
isotopic systems, their resistance to shock metamorphism, the con-
sistency of initial isotopic ratios with petrogenesis, and the agreement
of measured element abundances between mineral fractions and in-situ
measurements. Their results show that some of the oldest and youngest
of age determinations for lunar highlands samples are not particularly
robust, and that there is a preponderance of reliable ages between 4.34
and 4.37 Ga. This finding complicates the simple and elegant lunar
magma ocean model, and implies that accretion, melting and crystal-
lization of the molten portions of the Moon occurred not at the time of
solar system formation (~ 4.567 Ga, Connelly et al., 2008), but about
200 m.y. later (e.g. Carlson et al., 2014). Another possibility is that
magma ocean solidification, thought to occur on timescales <
106 years (Elkins-Tanton et al., 2011), might have been prolonged by
thermal insulation of the anorthositic crust (Solomon and Longhi,
1977), due to internal heat production from KREEP (Wieczorek and
Phillips, 2000), or to tidal heating of the Moon by the Earth (Elkins-
Tanton et al., 2011). Finally, the young ages might represent a wide-
spread, secondary magmatic event on the lunar nearside (Borg et al.,
2015), which would be consistent with the “serial magmatism” hy-
pothesis discussed above.
A different approach from direct geochronology of ancient lunar
crustal rocks involves efforts to date the global chemical differentiation
of the Moon that accompanied crystallization of the magma ocean.
Combined U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic measurements of zircons derived
from KREEP-rich materials allow determination of “model ages”, which
indicate that the primary differentiation of the Moon was largely
complete by 4.48–4.51 Ga (Taylor et al., 2009; Berboni et al., 2017).
These results imply that the Moon-forming giant impact event took
place within the first 60–100 m.y. after solar system formation, and that
the significance of the young ages obtained for lunar highlands samples
needs to be re-examined. Careful isotopic work on lunar primordial
anorthosites is actively continuing, to better resolve the timing of
events involved in planetary formation and the evolution of the earliest
solar system.
5.2. Temporal restriction of Archean anorthosites – a link to komatiites?
Reliable ages of calcic, megacrystic anorthosites of the type we
describe here range over a period of ~1240 m.y., from the Manfred
Complex of Western Australia (3730 ± 6 Ma, Myers, 1988) to the
South Harris Complex of Scotland (2491 ± 29 Ma, Mason et al., 2004),
and there are few, if any, clearly recognizable post-Archean analogues
for these rocks. A Lower Carboniferous (349 ± 5 Ma) occurrence of
calcic anorthosite (Black Giants Anorthosite, New Zealand) has been
considered as a possible counterpart (Gibson and Ireland 1999), but
multiple deformation and high-grade metamorphic events have
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330

obliterated primary textures and structures, and its resemblance to
Archean anorthosites is unconvincing.
Minor volumes of anorthosite have been recovered by dredging in
modern mid-ocean ridge and fracture zone settings, notably in the
Caribbean, Atlantic and Indian Oceans (e.g. Fox and Stroup, 1981), and
their possible geologic context can be examined in the thin (< 1 m)
anorthositic horizons within the layered gabbro sequences of some
ophiolite complexes (e.g. Komor and Elthon, 1990). Compositions of
plagioclase in ophiolitic anorthosites (An70–90) correspond closer to
Archean examples, but ocean-floor examples are generally too sodic
(An39–70). In any case, grain sizes (< 5 mm) and textures (typically
adcumulate) of both varieties are conspicuously different from the
coarse, equant megacrystic textures that characterize Archean an-
orthosites. So-called “plagioclase ultraphyric basalts” (PUBs) have been
described as components in some plume-related volcanic products such
as at the Galapagos (Cullen et al., 1989), the Deccan Traps (Higgins and
Chandrasekharam, 2007; Sheth, 2016), and Iceland (Hansen and
Grönvold, 2000), as well as in mid-ocean ridge settings, particularly
those with slow to intermediate spreading rates (e.g. Hellevang and
Pedersen, 2008). However, these rocks typically contain < 50% of
strongly tabular plagioclase crystals that rarely exceed 5 cm in size
(usually < 1 cm), and although calcic plagioclase compositions occur
in many, but not all examples, complex, delicate zoning features are
common. These features are insufficiently comparable to those of Ar-
chean anorthosites to represent a meaningful analogue.
Perhaps the closest modern counterpart of Archean anorthosites can
be found in several oceanic island arcs, such as the Izu-Bonin arc of
Japan. Here, megacrysts of calcic plagioclase (An89–94) ~1–3 cm across
occur in basalts and basaltic andesites, and have crystal habits that
resemble the calcic plagioclases of Archean anorthosite complexes
(Kimata et al., 1995). Accumulations of such megacrysts may be re-
presented by the anorthositic rocks that occur as plutonic inclusions in
arc-related basaltic to intermediate volcanic rocks (e.g. Beard, 1986), or
as the components of arc-root complexes (Beard and Barker, 1989), but
these do not show the distinctive megacrystic textures of Archean an-
orthosites.

Fig. 16. Placing Proterozoic massif-type and Archean megacrystic anorthosites in the context of global geodynamic changes.
(a) The areal extent of Proterozoic massif-type and Archean megacrystic anorthosite occurrences (scale at left) vs. age, with reference to the modeled ambient mantle temperature (scale
at right), taken from Korenaga (2008). Ambient mantle temperatures reach a peak between 3500 and 3000 Ma, and a regime of secular cooling develops at ~ 2700 Ma.
(b) Crustal thickness estimates (scale at right) (reported in Keller and Schoene, 2012) and calculated lithospheric strength (scale at left) through time (Rey and Coltice, 2008) vs. age. The
nature of anorthositic magmatism changes dramatically at ~ 2500 Ma, when the crust reaches and maintains its maximum thickness, and when the lithosphere strengthens significantly.
These changes are linked to the development of a secular cooling regime in Earth, and together cause a shift in the nature of magmatism in arc environments, possibly documented by
changes in anorthosite petrogenesis over the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic boundary.

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L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
Given the lack of suitable modern analogues, it is tempting to cor-
relate the apparent time restriction of Archean calcic, megacrystic an-
orthosites with the peak in the ages of Archean komatiite occurrences
(Fig. 2), and to suggest that they might be genetically related. Clearly,
more precise geochronology is needed for both rock types. A genetic
connection between Archean anorthosites and komatiites would be
possible if the evolved basaltic magmas parental to the anorthositic
rocks were themselves derivatives from komatiites, for example by
extreme fractional crystallization of olivine and perhaps other mafic
silicates (e.g. Francis and Hynes, 1979). Evidence for the viability of
such a process comes from the experimental work of Thy (1995), who
found that low-pressure fractionation products of anhydrous komatiitic
liquids will be ferrobasaltic quartz tholeiites, with liquidus plagioclase
of An72–82. Similar results were obtained by Kinzler and Grove (1985),
although their experiments (also anhydrous) produced more calcic
plagioclase (An93–94), because they used starting compositions with
higher Ca/Na. If hydrous magmas are necessary to account for the high
An content of plagioclase, as well as for the purportedly magmatic
amphiboles in Archean anorthosites, then the suggestions of the high
primary H2O content of komatiite melts, and the resultant implications
for their generation in subduction environments (Parman et al., 1997,
2004; Grove and Parman, 2004), become relevant. Alternatively, pro-
ponents of suggestions that komatiites were dry melts (e.g. Arndt et al.,
1998), or contained only a modicum of water (e.g. Sobolev et al.,
2016), favor derivation from deep-mantle plumes.
If Archean anorthosites can be petrologically linked to komatiitic
parental magmas, then the problem of their temporal restriction to the
Archean effectively becomes the same as the komatiite one. The pre-
ponderance of komatiitic magmatism in the Archean has been widely
interpreted to indicate hotter conditions in the early Earth's mantle (e.g.
Bickle, 1986). Evidence is based on calculations of the necessary de-
creases in primordial heat content of the Earth (secular cooling), the
Urey ratio (ratio of internal heat production to surface heat flux,
Korenaga, 2008), and the mantle potential temperature (mantle tem-
perature extrapolated adiabatically to the surface, Herzberg et al.,
2010). Higher-temperature Archean mantle conditions would be sup-
ported even if komatiites formed from mantle plumes that were hotter
than ambient mantle.
In contrast, advocates of hydrous mantle melting to produce ko-
matiitic melts with > 3 wt% H2O suggest that the Archean mantle may
have been only slightly hotter (by perhaps ~100 °C), but may have
been substantially wetter than modern mantle, and may record secular
degassing of the Earth. Grove and Parman (2004) developed an analogy
between komatiites and modern boninites, which are thought to form
by high extents of hydrous melting in subduction zones that develop
over relatively hot mantle (e.g. Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc). It may be sig-
nificant that high-An plagioclase phenocrysts are found in some boni-
nites (e.g. Danyushevsky et al., 1997).
Despite these considerations, it must be conceded that a direct,
genetic connection between Archean anorthosites and komatiites is
speculative at best, and their apparent temporality may not be causally
related. Most other plausible suggestions to account for the temporal
restriction of calcic megacrystic anorthosites to the Archean, in-
dependent from a putative komatiite link, rely upon the tectonic con-
sequences of a hotter Archean mantle. This may have resulted in thicker
oceanic crust due to higher degrees of upper mantle partial melting
(e.g. Sleep and Windley, 1982), faster subduction (e.g. O'Neill et al.,
2007), and/or increased slab dehydration (e.g. Hoffmann et al., 2012).
Magmatic effects of higher heat flow in Archean oceanic arc environ-
ments might include a more important role for slab, rather than mantle
wedge melting, and/or influences on bulk compositions and water
contents of resulting melts. The importance of these effects in pro-
moting the formation of Archean anorthositic rocks have been dis-
cussed by Dilek and Polat (2008), Polat et al. (2011) and Hoffmann
et al. (2012).
324
Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
5.3. Secular crustal evolution and Proterozoic massif-type anorthosite
temporality
The abrupt appearance of Proterozoic massif-type anorthosite at
~2.6 Ga holds clues to global crust-mantle evolution (Fig. 16). Recent
developments in the understanding of Proterozoic anorthosite petro-
genesis, as discussed and developed in the previous sections, require
that a set of physical and chemical conditions were created during the
Neoarchean-Proterozoic transition, that facilitated the production of
massif-type anorthosite batholiths and associated rocks until ~500 Ma.
In this section we speculate on how the changing geodynamic condi-
tions at about 2.5–2.6 Ga may have promoted the formation of an-
orthosite massifs.
Extensive differentiation of broadly basaltic magmas at Moho
depths of 30–40 km is perhaps the most fundamental requirement for
the formation of near-monomineralic massif-type anorthosites (Section
3.2.3). Consequently, the crust must have been characterized by a
rheological condition that allowed high-viscosity, but positively
buoyant, crystal-rich mushes to ascend. Many Proterozoic anorthosite
massifs show evidence for long magmatic timescales that likely reflect a
combination of prolonged crystal accumulation and differentiation at
the Moho, and slow magma ascent from the Moho to mid-crustal em-
placement sites. The most important evidence for this, as discussed
above, comes from age differences between coeval, high-pressure
HAOMs, and U-Pb zircon ages of the host anorthosites (Brower et al.,
2016; Bybee et al., 2014a; Myers et al., 2008). Finally, and perhaps
most significantly, any viable petrogenetic mechanism for the temporal
restriction of these anorthosites must account for their characteristic
intermediate plagioclase compositions.
Ultimately, the formation of anorthosite, like any other magmatic
rock, is tied to geodynamic heat loss mechanisms, and fundamentally,
to the thermal evolution of the Earth. In an effort to reconcile the ap-
pearance of Proterozoic anorthosites with a causal geodynamic process,
we have plotted the record of massif-type anorthosite occurrences with
major changes in crustal/lithospheric thickness and strength, as well as
ambient mantle temperatures, through time (Fig. 16). It is clear that
appearance at ~2.6 Ga (Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic boundary) of
these extensive plagioclase-rich magmatic bodies, which require a very
specific set of petrogenetic conditions, coincides with several funda-
mental changes in geodynamics.
Although the thermal evolution of Earth's mantle is poorly con-
strained, it has been suggested that the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic
boundary marks the transition from a planet where internal heating
(via radioactive decay) exceeds surface heat loss (via mantle convec-
tion), to one in which a secular cooling mode dominates (Herzberg
et al., 2010; Korenaga 2008). After the upper mantle reached a po-
tential temperature maximum, ~200–250 °C hotter than at present, it
began to cool between 2.5 and 3.0 Ga (Fig. 16a; Herzberg et al., 2010;
Korenaga 2008; Labrosse and Jaupart 2007). A consequence of these
high late Archean mantle potential temperatures is the extensive pro-
duction of asthenospheric melts that weakened the overlying litho-
sphere, producing weak plates, episodic subduction regimes, and per-
haps localized vertical exchange between crust and mantle (Sizova
et al., 2010, 2015). However, as the mantle began to shift to lower Urey
ratios, and a secular cooling regime developed (between 3.0 and
2.7 Ga), Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities became less efficient, and plates
began to regain strength and coherency (Rey and Coltice, 2008; Sizova
et al., 2010). A marked peak in Re-depletion ages from on-craton
peridotitic xenoliths indicates significant mantle melting events at
~2.7 Ga (Pearson et al., 2007; Carlson et al., 2005). The delivery of
these magmas to the base of the lithosphere/crust may also have caused
crustal thickening. What is noteworthy, however, is that the crustal
thickness stabilized after reaching a peak at 2.5–2.6 Ga.
Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites make their appearance against
this backdrop of secular cooling and strengthening of a thicker litho-
sphere, and a consequent shift in geodynamic patterns. The long
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
magmatic time scales of ~80–100 m.y. observed in many Proterozoic
anorthosite massifs (Bybee et al. 2014a; Myers et al. 2008) implicate
tectonic environments that supplied basaltic magmas to the base of the
crust over lengthy time periods, as well as crust-magma rheology that
promoted slow ascent of viscous mushes. Transitions to modes of more
robust subduction events over the Neoarchean-Proterozoic transition
would have provided a longer-lived source of heat and magma to the
base of the crust, promoting the enhanced differentiation and the
lengthy time scales of magmatism required to account for the properties
of massif-type anorthosites (Sizova et al., 2015). This transition may
also be recorded by the increased preservation of paired metamorphic
belts (granulite-ultrahigh temperature and eclogite-high-pressure
granulite metamorphism, Brown, 2006, 2014).
In addition, as mantle potential temperatures decreased over the
Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic transition, and as Moho temperatures
began to decrease, the continental lithosphere strength, which is
strongly dependent on temperature, dramatically increased (Rey and
Coltice, 2008; Rey and Houseman, 2006; Figs. 16a, b). This favored
crustal thickening and an increase in Moho depth (Rey and Coltice,
2008). This predicted/modeled crustal thickening is also observed in
global geochemical and seismic datasets, where crustal thickness and
mass both increase significantly at ~ 2.7 Ga (Fig. 16b; Keller and
Schoene, 2012; Tang et al., 2016; Yuan, 2015). In addition to modeled
crustal thickness changes over this period, recent observations indicate
that global crustal compositions became progressively more felsic be-
tween 3.0 and 2.0 Ga (Tang et al., 2016; Dhuime et al., 2015). Pro-
gressive differentiation of crustal composition changes integrated
thermal/heat-flow properties, which are directly related to total crustal
strength (Mareschal and Jaupart, 2013). Hence, due to Neoarchean-
Paleoproterozoic crustal differentiation, we may expect the crust to
have become significantly stronger, providing an enhanced rheological
boundary at which mantle-derived basaltic melts could pond and dif-
ferentiate – a prerequisite for Proterozoic massif-type anorthosite pet-
rogenesis. Constant magma supply to this boundary would have al-
lowed for extensive differentiation and accumulation of plagioclase,
and possibly concomitant foundering of mafic phases (Arndt and
Goldstein, 1989). The increased pressure at which basaltic magma
ponding took place during this period (as seen by relatively stable
crustal thickness throughout much of the Proterozoic) also promoted
the crystallization of intermediate plagioclase (Takagi et al., 2005),
which, when combined with extensive differentiation, produced volu-
minous anorthositic cumulates with characteristic intermediate An
contents.
The oldest massif-type anorthosite occurrence that bears the dis-
tinctive properties typical of other AMGC associations is the
2623 ± 23 Ma, ~1000 km2 Kalar Complex, in the Aldan-Stanovoi
Shield of Siberia, Russia (Larin et al., 2006), and there are several other
well-documented examples from Russia and Canada that were em-
placed in the period between ~2.6 and 2.45 Ga (Figs. 2, 16). There is a
conspicuous gap in massif-type anorthosite formation between 2.45 and
2.16 Ga, which interestingly corresponds to the 2.45–2.2 Ga interval
during which an apparent paucity in juvenile magmatic activity can be
observed in the global frequency distribution of UePb zircon ages. This
was interpreted by Condie et al. (2009) as representing a ~ 250 m.y.
interval of “slowdown” or “shutdown” of global plate tectonic activity,
most notably of subduction. The apparent absence of massif-type an-
orthosite during this period could be taken as supporting evidence for
this, especially if the arguments we present above for an Andean-type
arc setting of these rocks can be considered persuasive. However, the
magmatic shutdown model has been strongly criticized from many
perspectives: this and several other “troughs” in the frequency dis-
tribution of zircon ages have been argued to represent periods of poor
preservation of crustal rocks (Hawkesworth et al., 2013), and in any
case, significant areas of juvenile magmatic rocks that fill the “gap” at
2.45–2.2 Ga are increasingly being recognized (e.g. Partin et al., 2014;
Pehrsson et al., 2014). Whether the lack of Paleoproterozoic massif-type
325
Earth-Science Reviews 173 (2017) 307–330
anorthosites is real or apparent remains uncertain, and awaits new
geological and geochronological research. In the absence of a robust
physical mechanism for the intermittency of global plate circuit pro-
cesses, we hesitate to support the notion that the Earth took a sabbatical
from its geodynamic driving forces.
Of course, any plausible model for the sudden appearance of volu-
minous Proterozoic massif-type anorthosites must account for their
apparent disappearance at ~500 Ma. Pressure and temperature records
show that colder subduction, marked by the appearance of blueschist
facies and high- to ultra-high pressure metamorphism, became pre-
valent during the Neoproterozoic, due to further secular cooling
(Brown, 2014; Stern, 2005). It is during this time that typical Proter-
ozoic massif-type anorthosite magmatism began to wane, and even-
tually disappeared at the end of the Neoproterozoic. The transition to
this stage is supported by numerical modeling, which shows that con-
tinued secular cooling promoted deeper slab subduction, and resulted
in the appearance of blueschist and eclogite metamorphism. A cooling
of the subduction zone environment is a necessary consequence of
deeper subduction (Sizova et al., 2015; Brown, 2006, 2014). For a
petrogenetic system like that proposed for anorthosite, where pro-
longed differentiation and continued heat/magma supply is necessary,
colder subduction may have effectively shut down or dramatically re-
duced the amount of massif-type anorthosite produced.
6. Concluding remarks
Our review attempts to highlight the importance of temporally-re-
stricted anorthosites for an enhanced understanding of the long-term
evolution of planetary conditions. Although we have presented and
justified our preferred interpretations, significant questions remain.
How can we provide more robust age determinations for primordial
anorthosite crystallization, and how can the results be interpreted with
respect to our current understanding of solar system formation and
planetary accretion? Can new geochemical, isotopic or other mea-
surements on the samples in our collections be used to strengthen the
magma ocean concept, or should we forsake this in favor of serial
magmatism? Can we presume that the earliest crusts of other planetary
bodies, including Earth, were composed of anorthositic rocks similar to
the lunar ones, and if not, why not?
Can Archean calcic, megacrystic anorthosites be petrogenetically
linked to komatiitic magmatism, and if so, does this imply mantle
partial melting under hotter or wetter conditions relative to post-
Archean times? Or, did the anorthosites and komatiites form in separate
tectonic environments? Do either of these represent products of ancient
deep mantle plumes? Can further isotopic analyses of Archean an-
orthosites be used to track the evolution of depleted mantle? What can
be learned about magmatic processes by comparing Archean anortho-
sites to possible modern analogues?
If massif-type anorthosites formed in continental arcs, can better
evolutionary models of lithospheric thickness and strength explain their
temporal restriction to the Proterozoic? What data can we obtain to
confirm, refute or refine our suggestions that massifs were assembled
during protracted periods of magmatism? What can be concluded from
anorthosite studies about the mobility of crystal-rich mushes as a po-
tentially important process in the construction of magmatic complexes?
We hope that our review will stimulate future geological, geo-
chemical, geophysical and theoretical research that can address these
questions, and we look forward to results that will either falsify or
support our preferred hypotheses.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.09.002.
Acknowledgements
We thank Tim Horscroft, Elsevier's Review Papers Coordinator, for
inviting us to submit this article, for his patience during the submission
L.D. Ashwal, G.M. Bybee
period, and for his expert editorial handling of the manuscript. We also
thank Managing Editor Arturo Gomez-Tuena for his skill in organizing
and handling the review process, and for his excellent suggestions for
improvement of the paper. Our work was supported by research grants
from the South African National Research Foundation. We are ex-
tremely grateful for the insightful comments and questions provided in
reviews by Chris Hawkesworth, Tony Morse and Bernard Charlier, all of
which inspired us to better document, clarify and develop our ideas.
Trond Torsvik generously provided the global base map for Fig. 1, and
the paleogeographic reconstructions shown in Fig. 15.
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