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+ MODEL ARTICLE IN PRESS EPSL-08317; No of Pages 12 Earth and Planetary Science Letters xx (2006) xxx – xxx /locate/epsl Constraints on the coupled thermal evolution of the Earths core and mantle, the age of the inner core, and the origin of the 186Os/ 188Os “core signal” in plume-derived lavas J.C. Lassiter Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78751, USA Received 16 March 2006; received in revised form 25 July 2006; accepted 25 July 2006 Editor: R.W. Carlson Abstract The possibility that some mantle plumes may carry a geochemical signature of core/mantle interaction has rightly generated considerable interest and attention in recent years. Correlated 186Os–187Os enrichments in some plume-derived lavas (Hawaii, Gorgona, Kostomuksha) have been interpreted as deriving from an outer core with elevated Pt/Os and Re/Os ratios due to the solidification of the Earths inner core (c.f., [A.D. Brandon, R.J. Walker, The debate over core–mantle interaction, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 232 (2005) 211–225.] and references therein). Conclusive identification of a “core signal” in plume-derived lavas would profoundly influence our understanding of mantle convection and evolution. This paper reevaluates the Os-isotope evidence for core/mantle interaction by examining other geochemical constraints on core/mantle interaction, geophysical constraints on the thermal evolution of the outer core, and geochemical and cosmochemical constraints on the abundance of heat-producing elements