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Abstract Subduction related to the ancient supercontinent cycle is poorly constrained by mantle samples. Sublithospheric diamond crystallization records the release of melts from subducting oceanic lithosphere at 300–700 km depths^1,2and is especially suited to tracking the timing and effects of deep mantle processes on supercontinents. Here we show that four isotope systems (Rb–Sr, Sm–Nd, U–Pb and Re–Os) applied to Fe-sulfide and CaSiO₃inclusions within 13 sublithospheric diamonds from Juína (Brazil) and Kankan (Guinea) give broadly overlapping crystallization ages from around 450 to 650 million years ago. The intracratonic location of the diamond deposits on Gondwana and the ages, initial isotopic ratios, and trace element content of the inclusions indicate formation from a peri-Gondwanan subduction system. Preservation of these Neoproterozoic–Palaeozoic sublithospheric diamonds beneath Gondwana until its Cretaceous breakup, coupled with majorite geobarometry^3,4, suggests that they accreted to and were retained in the lithospheric keel for more than 300 Myr during supercontinent migration. We propose that this process of lithosphere growth—with diamonds attached to the supercontinent keel by the diapiric uprise of depleted buoyant material and pieces of slab crust—could have enhanced supercontinent stability. 

The Earth’s mantle is heterogeneous as a result of early planetary differentiation and subsequent crustal recycling during plate tectonics. Radiogenic isotope signatures of mid-ocean ridge basalts have been used for decades to map mantle composition, defining the depleted mantle endmember. These lavas, however, homogenize via magma mixing and may not capture the full chemical variability of their mantle source. Here, we show that the depleted mantle is significantly more heterogeneous than previously inferred from the compositions of lavas at the surface, extending to highly enriched compositions. We perform high-spatial-resolution isotopic analyses on clinopyroxene and plagioclase from lower crustal gabbros drilled on a depleted ridge segment of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These primitive cumulate minerals record nearly the full heterogeneity observed along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including hotspots. Our results demonstrate that substantial mantle heterogeneity is concealed in the lower oceanic crust and that melts derived from distinct mantle components can be delivered to the lower crust on a centimetre scale. These findings provide a starting point for re-evaluation of models of plate recycling, mantle convection and melt transport in the mantle and the crust.