Garnet pyroxenites explain high electrical conductivity in the East African deep lithosphere

In Tanzania, the deep lithospheric mantle (> 70 km depth) is characterized by significantly higher electrical conductivity within the cratonic root than in the Mozambique belt. Such contrasts are typically attributed to changes in volatiles and/or melt content, with changes in mineralogy deemed insufficient to impact conductivity. To test this assumption, electrical conductivity measurements were conducted at pressure-temperature conditions relevant to the Tanzanian lithosphere (1.5 and 3 GPa; from 400 to >1500 °C) on dunite (depleted) and pyroxenite (fertile) xenoliths from Engorora, Northern Tanzania. Once garnet becomes stable in the fertile mantle rock (> 60 km, 1.7 GPa), it nucleates at grain boundaries, forming the backbone of a conductive network. At 3 GPa, such garnet-rich networks increase conductivity by a factor of 100 regardless of temperature. Numerical models demonstrate that the observed low ( 10−1 S⋅m−1) conductivity values can be explained by low and high degrees of garnet connectivity, respectively. Such high electrical conductivities in cratonic roots can be explained by the presence of connected garnet clusters or garnet pyroxenites, suggesting mantle fertilization. This new source for electromagnetic signal generation at appropriate pressures and temperatures must be factored in where interpreting magnetotelluric signals at relevant depths in the lithosphere