Komatiite – PüTzu's World

The Cratonic Archive

Komatiite is uniquely restricted to Earth’s oldest, intact continental cores known as Cratons. These ancient basements survived billions of years of destructive tectonic recycling.

Interactive Archean Localities

Click a glowing craton to load geochemical & structural archives.

Map Projection: Robinson Equidistant Interactive GIS Layer Enabled

Specimen Ledger –

Select a Craton

Use the interactive map on the left to select a primary type-locality. You’ll unlock key geochemical profiles, age metrics, and spinifex quality reports.

Primary Subtype: –

Spinifex Grade: –

Secular Cooling of the Mantle

To generate ultra-magnesium magmas (>20% wt MgO), Archean mantle plume temperatures needed to exceed 1600°C. As Earth’s radiogenic heat source decayed, this high-temperature petrogenetic window closed forever.

Mantle Thermal Evolution Model

The Spinifex Paradox

How do crystals grow up to 1 meter long? Radiative cooling allowed rapid dendritic olivine crystallization in high-temperature flows, even as the bulk flow cooled slowly beneath a solid crust.

Plume Depletion

Aluminum-depleted varieties (ADK) tell a story of high-pressure melting where garnet was retained in the residue—a signature of deeper origin plumes.

The Geochemical Lab

Diagnose and classify Archean specimens. Adjust the elemental composition variables below to plot your sample on the discriminant diagram and determine its petrogenetic family.

Al₂O₃ vs MgO Discriminant Space

Live Specimen Analyzer

Magnesium (MgO wt%) 25.0%

Al₂O₃ / TiO₂ Ratio 20.0

Classification Result

Aluminum-Undepleted Komatiite (AUK)

Commonly referred to as Munro-style. Represents high-degree mantle melting at moderate depths.

Lapidary Synthesis & Appraisal

Polishing a billion-year-old volcanic masterpiece presents high chemical and structural challenges. Analyze contrast dynamics and calculate the economic valuation of display specimens.

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Market Appraisal Calculator

Specimen Format

Spinifex Texture Contrast (Grade 1-10) 5/10

Mineralogical Contrast Palette

Estimated Valuation $225.00

Mineral Contrast Matrix

Lizardite & Magnetite Pseudomorphs Replacing primary olivine megacrysts

Dark Blades

Fuchsite + Listvenite Chromium-bearing mica metasomatism

Chrome Green Accent

Tremolite + Talc Matrix Hydrothermal devitrification glass phases

Pale Matrix

⚠️ Technical Warning: Undercutting Hazards

Specimens contain a dramatic Mohs hardness disparity: Magnetite/Chromite (Mohs 6.0) is suspended inside a soft Serpentine/Talc groundmass (Mohs 2.0). Standard canvas-backed sanding belts will cause “undercutting,” creating high-relief surface unevenness. Always use flat, rigid resin-bonded diamond laps to maintain a perfectly planar reflective face.

The Collector’s Vault

Explore an exquisite collection of polished slabs and custom cabochons. Each piece features dynamic procedural simulations of authentic bladed spinifex dendritic growth networks.