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Abstract
Archean komatiites represent the most extreme large-scale mantle melting events recorded in Earth’s history. A variety of exotic models have been proposed to generate the ~40% melting of peridotite required to produce some primitive komattite lavas. A combination of simple mantle upwelling/melting models with data from high P/T melting experiments can illuminate the relationship of magma composition to mantle conditions and dynamics. These models show that magmas ranging from modern picrites to high-magnesium komatiites can be generated by melting in high-temperature mantle upwellings (plumes).