Bakang Jarious Kaekane

Title of Project

Quantifying the melting conditions of Archean mantle peridotites

Postgraduate research summary

The focus of my research aims at constraining the melting temperature and pressure conditions of exsolved Archean cratonic mantle xenoliths from the spinel facies. A methodology encompassing phase equilibria modelling, major and trace element geochemistry will be used to quantify these melting conditions. The outcome of this study will inform us about how the Archean Earth was dynamic to the extent that thick cratons could be generated i.e., whether plate tectonics was the mechanism operating in the Archean to form cratons (shallow melting at ridge) or, mass vertical displacement under a stagnant lid (high pressure plume melting).

Previous Research

I attained my BSc Geology (2012-2016) at the University of Botswana, where my thesis described Cretaceous kimberlites. My MSc Geology (2017-2020) at Botswana's technical University (BIUST) was aimed at understanding the formation and evolution of the Kalahari craton. I was then employed as a mine geologist at Debswana Jwaneng mine in Botswana.

Name of supervisors

Dr. Emma Tomlinson

Project Start Date

March 2023

Funding

ERC

Publications

Kaekane, J.B., Proyer, A., 2022. Clues from Garnet-Spinel-Bearing PeridoGte and Pyroxenite Xenoliths about the FormaGon of the Subcratonic Lithospheric Mantle - a Case Study from the Orapa Kimberlite Cluster. J. Petrol. 63, egac058.

Contact Details

Email: kaekaneb@tcd.ie