Geophysical measurements for lithospheric parameters

With the exception of mantle xenoliths and limited exposures of mantle rocks in collisional orogenic belts, the continental lithospheric mantle is generally inaccessible to direct observation. Knowledge of parameters such as the age, thickness, and internal geometry of the upper mantle, all of which could be used to optimize exploration strategies for kimberlites or lamproites likely to have originated in the diamond stability field, may only be available indirectly through geophysical techniques. A new generation of teleseismic and deep-probing electromagnetic methods has emerged recently, that provides passive and cost-effective means to infer this information and to map the lithospheric mantle in its entirely, from the base of the crust to the asthenosphere.