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Bodur and Flament (2023) note that kimberlite ascent through the lithosphere can take as little as hours, which they call “instantaneous compared with the timescale of mantle convection”. These volatile-rich igneous rocks matter because they carry fragments of the mantle, called xenoliths, up to the surface. Paul, Conrad & Torsvik (2026) point to a link with tectonics, noting that “the association of kimberlite eruptions with continental break-up events…may also help to explain the origin of kimberlites.” Gernon et al. (2023) develop that link at the scale of the whole plate system. They report that “...pulses of kimberlite magmatism correspond to episodes of global plate reorganization, with comparatively few kimberlite eruptions occurring during periods of supercontinent stability.” They read this timing as a clue: “This synchronicity may suggest that kimberlites are triggered by tectonic disturbances in cratonic lithosphere or by abrupt changes in plate movement.” The proposed mechanism is the removal of the deep cratonic keel. As they put it, “petrological observations and dynamic models indicate that substantial removal of cratonic keel (tens of kilometres thick) can occur abruptly…” Such a loss should leave a trace in the rocks, and southern Africa provides the example: “If several tens of kilometres of cratonic keel are removed, this should be detectable using geochemical and geophysical constraints. Taking southern Africa as an example, geochemical studies of peridotitic xenoliths and garnet xenocrysts independently invoke loss of 30–40 km of lithosphere, which was coincident with massive kimberlite volcanism..” Bodur & Flament (2023) doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-0… Paul, Conrad & Torsvik (2026) doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-0… Gernon et al. (2023) doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-0…

New sunspot going delta class on us already?