Hello Guest User, You are visiting this website from a computer with an IP address of 172.70.126.231 with the name of '?' since Tue Apr 23, 2024 at 12:45:59 PM PT for approx. 0 minutes now.
SDLRC - Scientific Articles all years by Author - Ti+
The Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation
The Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation is compiled by Patricia Sheahan who publishes on a monthly basis a list of new scientific articles related to diamonds as well as media coverage and corporate announcementscalled the Sheahan Diamond Literature Service that is distributed as a free pdf to a list of followers. Pat has kindly agreed to allow her work to be made available as an online digital resource at Kaiser Research Online so that a broader community interested in diamonds and related geology can benefit. The references are for personal use information purposes only; when available a link is provided to an online location where the full article can be accessed or purchased directly. Reproduction of this compilation in part or in whole without permission from the Sheahan Diamond Literature Service is strictly prohibited. Return to Diamond Resource Center
Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation - Scientific Articles by Author for all years
The SDLRC provides 3 types of references identified in the reference code. DS for scientific article, DM for a media article, and DC for a corporate announcement. Consider DS0512-0001. The DS stands for "diamond scientific". 05 stands for 2005, the year the reference was posted. 12 represents the month the reference was posted. For all years prior to 2015 the default month is 12. -0001 is the reference's identifier and it does not mean anything. The number below the refence code, ie 2015, is the year the article was published. Note that the posted year may sometimes be later than the published year.
Sort Order
References are sorted by the "author" name and when the reference was posted to the compilation.
Most Recent
If the reference code is highlighted yellow, the reference was made available through the most recent monthly compilation of new literature. Use this to check out new references. When new references are posted, we make it our priority to track down an online link and obtain an abstract. With regard to older references, tracking down an abstract and an online link is a work in progress.
Link to external location of article:
If the title has a link, it means we have found a location online where you can either retrieve the full article free, or purchase access to it. The Sheahan Diamond Literature Service is not a technical article procurement service; if you want a restricted article, you must deal directly with the vendor who controls the copyright to the article.
Searching this page for a specific term or author
In your Firefox browser click Edit in the menu bar and then Find. In the Find box that shows up at the bottom of the web page enter your search term. Firefox will highlight all occurrences. This is particularly helpful when the author you are seeking was not the lead author by whom the compilation is sorted.
Sending or sharing a reference
The left column (Posted/Published) has an embedded hyperlink for each reference. In Firefox, if you right click on it, you can obtain the link url for that reference's location within the page, which you can copy and paste into an email or any other document. You can also use the "share this link" option to tweet, facebook etc the link.
Earth and Planetary Letters, Vol. 552, 116600, 13p. Pdf
Mantle
core-mantle boundary
Abstract: We investigate seismic discontinuities in the mantle transition zone (MTZ) by analyzing SS precursors recorded at global seismic stations. Our observations confirm the global existence of the 520-km discontinuity. Although substantial regional depth variations in the 520-km discontinuity are generally correlated with temperature in the mid-MTZ, they cannot be fully explained by the Clapeyron slope of the wadsleyite-ringwoodite phase transition, suggesting both thermal and compositional heterogeneities in the MTZ. A second discontinuity at ?560-km depth, previously interpreted as splitting of the 520-km discontinuity, is most commonly detected in cold subduction zones and hot mantle regions. The depth separation between the 520- and 560-km discontinuities varies from ?80 km in cold regions to ?40 km in hot areas. The exsolution of calcium-perovskite (Ca-pv) from majorite garnet has been proposed to explain the velocity and density changes across the 560-km discontinuity. However, the gradual exsolution of perovskite and partitioning of Ca and Al between perovskite and garnet appear inconsistent with the relatively “sharp” discontinuity in seismic observations and thus need to be revisited in the future. Nevertheless, because the only known transition in major minerals at this depth in the MTZ is the formation of Ca-pv, the existence of the 560-km discontinuity may imply localized high calcium concentrations in the mid-MTZ possibly related to the recycling of oceanic crust.
Abstract: The accretionary mobile belts surrounding ancient cratonic cores are an important facet of the growth and preservation of continental landmasses. Peridotites from Nuominhe in the Xing'an Mongolia Orogenic Belt (XMOB) provide an additional opportunity to examine the age, structure and evolution of mantle lithosphere separating two of the largest existing ancient continental nuclei: the North China Craton and the Siberian Craton. This suite of mantle rocks comprises fertile to refractory garnet- and spinel-facies harzburgites and lherzolites. Their lithophile element systematics show that the peridotites were metasomatized to variable extent by silicate?carbonate melts. Despite this, the highly siderophile element and Os isotope systematics appear to have been largely undisturbed. The Nuominhe peridotites have Re-depletion Os model ages (TRD) that range from 0.5 Ga to 2.4 Ga, with three peaks/major ranges at ~2.0-2.4 Ga, ~1.4-1.5 Ga and ~ 0.8 Ga, of which the latter two are closely similar to those data from other XMOB localities reported in the literature. The only section of the mantle that appears to have ages which correlate with crust formation is the suite with Neoproterozoic (~0.8 Ga) depletion ages, while the older mantle domains document older episodes of mantle depletion. Given the lack of correlation between equilibrium temperatures and bulk composition or TRD ages, the Nuominhe peridotites were inter-mixed in the mantle column, most likely as a result of incorporation of recycled older continental mantle fragments into juvenile Neoproterozoic mantle during the orogenic processes responsible for new lithosphere formation. Geothermobarometry of the Nuominhe peridotites indicates a conductive geotherm of ~60 mWm?2 and therefore a lithosphere thickness of ~125 km, which is thicker than most Phanerozoic continental terranes, and even thicker than Proterozoic regions that comprise the larger cratonic unit of the Siberian craton. This thick Proterozoic lithosphere sandwiched between the converging North China and Siberian cratons was evidently partly constructed from recycled refractory continental mantle fragments, perhaps extant in the convecting mantle, or in-part derived from the surrounding cratons, leading to a composite nature of the mantle in this re-healed continental suture. Re-accretion of recycled refractory old continental mantle fragments plays a significant role in affecting mantle composition and controlling the thickness of circum-cratonic landmasses between cratonic blocks.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 479, pp. 1-17.
Mantle
eclogite
Abstract: The conventional wisdom holds that metamorphic reactions take place at pressures near-lithostatic so that the thermodynamic pressure, reflected by the mineral assemblage, is directly correlated with depth. On the other hand, recent field-based observations and geodynamic simulations suggest that heterogeneous stress and significant pressure deviations above lithostatic (overpressure) can occur in Earth's crust. Here we show that eclogite, normally interpreted to form at great depths in subduction zones and Earth's mantle, may form at much shallower depths via local overpressure generated in crustal shear zones. The eclogites studied crop out as lenses hosted by felsic paragneiss in a sheared thrust slice and represent a local pressure and temperature anomaly in the Taconic orogenic belt, southern New England. Sharply-defined chemical zones in garnet, which record ?5 kbar pressure rise and fall accompanied by a temperature increase of 150-200?°C, demonstrate extremely short timescales of diffusion. This requires anomalously fast compression (?500 yrs) and decompression. We use coupled phase equilibria and garnet diffusion forward modeling to fit the observed garnet profiles and test the likely paths using a Monte Carlo-type approach, accounting for off-center sectioning of garnet. The simulation shows that a ?5 kbar pressure increase after the temperature peak is necessary to reproduce the garnet zoning. Remarkably, this post-peak-T compression (from 9 kbar to 14 kbar) lasted only ?500 yrs. If the compression was due to burial along a lithostatic pressure gradient, the descent speed would exceed 30 m?yr?1, defying any observed or modeled subduction rates. Local overpressure in response to partial melting in a confined volume (Vrijmoed et al., 2009) caused by transient shear heating can explain the ultra-fast compression without necessitating burial to great depth.
Tian, W., Chen, B., Ireland, T.R., Green, D.H., Suzuki, K., Chu, Z.
Petrology and geochemistry of dunites, chromitites and mineral inclusions from the Gaositai Alaskan type complex, North Chin a craton: mantle source characters
Economic Geology Research Institute 2015, Vol. 17,, # 1147, 1p. Abstract
China
Peridotite, xenoliths
Abstract: The mantle process during the Early Permian Tarim plume event is revealed by flood basalt and mantle xenoliths. Permian Tarim flood basalts have typical two pulses' eruption. The first pulse of the Tarim flood basalt was erupted at 291-290Ma, characterized by OIB-like Zr/Nb (~5.83), Nb/La and Ce/Pb ratios, and PUM-like initial 187Os/188Os ratios (0.1308-0.1329). They're plotted along a 290±11Ma isochron, implying a pristine "plume mantle" source. The second pulse of the Tarim flood basalt was erupted at 283-281 Ma, with Zr/Nb (~13.6), Nb/La and Ce/Pb ratios similar or close to the lower crust and initial 187Os/188Os ratios (0.1743~19.6740) that deviated from the ~290 Ma isochron line, indicative of significant crustal assimilation. Mantle-derived peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths hosted in Cenozoic alkali basalts (~20 Ma) are found in the Xikeer, western Tarim Block. Based on their petrographic and geochemical characteristics, peridotite xenoliths can be divided into three groups. Group 1 peridotites, with the presence of the high Mg-number of olivines (91-93) and spinel-pyroxenes clusters, experienced high-degree melt extraction (~17% fractional melting) from garnet- to spinel-stable field. Groups 2 and 3 peridotites, characterized by the clinopyroxenes with spoon-shaped and highly fractionated REE patterns respectively, underwent extensive silicate melt metasomatism at low melt/rock ratios (15) and that the host basanite is incapable of being the metasomatic agent. The Re-Os isotopic systematics of the Xikeer peridotites and pyroxenites yield an isochron of 290±11 Ma, virtually identical to the age of Tarim flood basalts. Their PUM-like Os initial ratios and convecting mantle-like É?Nd(t=290 Ma) strongly suggest that the Xikeer mantle xenoliths derive from the plume mantle. We propose that the Xikeer xenolith suite recorded mantle 'auto-refertilization' process, i.e., they may have been initially formed by melt extraction from the convecting mantle and, shortly after, was refertilized by plume melts during the Early Permian.
Abstract: In recent years we have confirmed the existence of ophiolite-hosted diamonds on Earth, which occur in mantle peridotites and podiform chromitites of many ophiolites. These diamonds differ significantly from most kimberlite varieties, particularly in their inclusions. The typical inclusions in the diamonds are Mn-rich phases, i.e., NiMnCo alloy, native Mn, MnO, galaxite, Mn olivine and Mn garnet. Ca-silicate perovskite, a typical lower mantle mineral, was identified as mineral inclusions in diamond. One occurs as a 60-nanometer, euhedral grain associated with NiMnCo alloy and graphite, while another one occurs as a 50-nanometer grain within a large inclusion containing both NiMnCo alloy and Nd-Se-Cu-S phase. By EDS the perovskite has Ca 48.3%, Si 37.7% and Mn 14.1% with oxygen. TEM diffraction data show that the inclusion has d-spacings and angles between adjacent lattice planes are consistent to the Ca-silicate perovskite with an orthorhombic structure. The only known source of such light carbon is organic material in surface sediments and the best known sources of abundant manganese are Fe-Mn-rich sediments and Mn nodules, both of which are common on the seafloor. Many parts of the modern seafloor are also covered by sediments with a continental provenance. Phases such as SiO2 and Al2O3 are not expected in mantle peridotites and must have been introduced from shallow levels. We propose that subduction of oceanic lithosphere carries C, Mn, Si, Al and REE to the transition zone or lower mantle where the material is mixed with highly reduced material, perhaps derived from greater depths. Crystallization of diamond from a C-rich fluid encapsulates the observed inclusions. The diamonds and associated minerals are incorporated into chromite grains during chromite crystallization at depth of mantle transition zone, and are carried to shallower levels by mantle convection. Accumulation of chromite grains produces podiform chromitites containing a range of exotic minerals. However, the presence of diamonds and other UHP minerals in ophiolitic peridotites indicates that such phases can persist far outside their normal stability fields.
Acta Geologica Sinica, Vol. 91, s1, p. 32 abstract
China
diamond inclusions
Abstract: The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is a huge tectonic mélange that lies between the North China Craton and the Siberian Block. It is composed of multiple orogenic belts, continental fragments, magmatic and metamorphic rocks, suture zones and discontinuous ophiolite belts. Although the Hegenshan and Sartohay ophiolites are separated by nearly 3000 km and lie in completely different parts of the CAOB, they are remarkably similar in many respects. Both are composed mainly of serpentinized peridotite and dunite, with minor gabbro and sparse basalt. They both host significant podiform chromitites that consist of high-Al, refractory magnesiochromite with Cr#s [100Cr/(Cr+Al)] averaging >60. The Sartohay ophiolite has a zircon U-Pb age of ca. 300 Ma and has been intruded by granitic plutons of similar age, resulting in intense hydrothermal activity and the formation of gold-bearing listwanites. The age of the Hegenshan is not firmly established but is thought to have formed in the Carboniferous. Like many other ophiolites that we have investigated in other orogenic belts, the chromitites in these two bodies have abundant diamonds, as well as numerous super-reduced and crustal minerals. The diamonds are mostly, colorless to pale yellow, 200-300 ?m across and have euhedral to anhedral shapes. They all have low carbon isotopes (?14C = ?18 to ?29) and some have visible inclusions. These are accompanied by numerous super-reduced minerals such as moissanite, native elements (Fe, Cr, Si, Al, Mn), and alloys (e.g., Ni-Mn-Fe, Ni-Fe-Al, Ni-Mn-Co, Cr-Ni-Fe, Cr-Fe, Cr-Fe-Mn), as well as a wide range of oxides, sulfides and silicates. Grains of zircon are abundant in the chromitites of both ophiolites and range in age from Precambrian to Cretaceous, reflecting both incorporation of old zircons and modification of grains by hydrothermal alteration. Our investigation confirms that high-Al, refractory chromitites in these two ophiolites have the same range of exotic minerals as high-Cr metallurgical chromitites such as those in the Luobusa ophiolite of Tibet. These collections of exotic minerals in ophiolitic chromitites indicate complex, multi-stage recycling of oceanic and continental crustal material at least to the mantle transition zone, followed by uprise and emplacement of the peridotites into relatively shallow ophiolites.
Abstract: In recent years diamonds and other unusual minerals (carbides, nitrides, metal alloys and native elements) have been recovered from mantle peridotites and chromitites (both high-Cr chromitites and high-Al chromitites) from a number of ophiolites of different ages and tectonic settings. Here we report a similar assemblage of minerals from the Skenderbeu massif of the Mirdita zone ophiolite, west Albania. So far, more than 20 grains of microdiamonds and 30 grains of moissanites (SiC) have been separated from the podiform chromitite. The diamonds are mostly light yellow, transparent, euhedral crystals, 200-300 ?m across, with a range of morphologies; some are octahedral and cuboctahedron and others are elongate and irregular. Secondary electron images show that some grains have well-developed striations. All the diamond grains have been analyzed and yielded typical Raman spectra with a shift at ?1325 cm?1. The moissanite grains recovered from the Skenderbeu chromitites are mainly light blue to dark blue, but some are yellow to light yellow. All the analyzed grains have typical Raman spectra with shifts at 766 cm?1, 787 cm?1, and 967 cm?1. The energy spectrums of the moissanites confirm that the grains are composed entirely of silicon and carbon. This investigation expands the occurrence of diamonds and moissanites to Mesozoic ophiolites in the Neo-Tethys. Our new findings suggest that diamonds and moissanites are present, and probably ubiquitous in the oceanic mantle and can provide new perspectives and avenues for research on the origin of ophiolites and podiform chromitites.
Abstract: The fragmentary Phanerozoic geological record of the anomalously elevated Zimbabwe Craton makes reconstructing its history difficult using conventional field methods. Here we constrain the cryptic Phanerozoic evolution of the Zimbabwe Craton using a spatially extensive apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe), apatite fission track (AFT), and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) data set. Joint thermal history modeling reveals that the region experienced two cooling episodes inferred to be the denudational response to surface uplift. The first and most significant protracted denudation period was triggered by stress transmission from the adjacent ~750-500 Ma Pan-African orogenesis during the amalgamation of Gondwana. The spatial extent of this rejuvenation signature, encompassing the current broad topographic high, could indicate the possible longevity of an ancient topographic feature. The ZHe data reveal a second, minor denudation phase which began in the Paleogene and removed a kilometer-scale Karoo cover from the craton. Within our data set, the majority of ZHe ages are younger than their corresponding AHe and AFT ages, even at relatively low eU. This unexpectedly recurrent age “inversion” suggests that in certain environments, moderately, as well as extremely, damaged zircons have the potential to act as ultra-low-temperature thermochronometers. Thermal history modeling results reveal that the zircon radiation damage accumulation and annealing model (ZRDAAM) frequently overpredicts the ZHe age. However, the opposite is true for extremely damaged zircons where the ZHe and AHe data are also seemingly incompatible. This suggests that modification of the ZRDAAM may be required for moderate to extreme damage levels.
Abstract: The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is a huge tectonic mélange that lies between the North China Craton and the Siberian Block. It is composed of multiple orogenic belts, continental fragments, magmatic and metamorphic rocks, suture zones and discontinuous ophiolite belts. Although the Hegenshan and Sartohay ophiolites are separated by nearly 3000 km and lie in completely different parts of the CAOB, they are remarkably similar in many respects. Both are composed mainly of serpentinized peridotite and dunite, with minor gabbro and sparse basalt. They both host significant podiform chromitites that consist of high-Al, refractory magnesiochromite with Cr#s [100Cr/(Cr+Al)] averaging >60. The Sartohay ophiolite has a zircon U-Pb age of ca. 300 Ma and has been intruded by granitic plutons of similar age, resulting in intense hydrothermal activity and the formation of gold-bearing listwanites. The age of the Hegenshan is not firmly established but is thought to have formed in the Carboniferous.Like many other ophiolites that we have investigated in other orogenic belts, the chromitites in these two bodies have abundant diamonds, as well as numerous super-reduced and crustal minerals. The diamonds are mostly, colorless to pale yellow, 200-300 ?m across and have euhedral to anhedral shapes. They all have low carbon isotopes (?14C = ?18 to ?29) and some have visible inclusions. These are accompanied by numerous super-reduced minerals such as moissanite, native elements (Fe, Cr, Si, Al, Mn), and alloys (e.g., Ni-Mn-Fe, Ni-Fe-Al, Ni-Mn-Co, Cr-Ni-Fe, Cr-Fe, Cr-Fe-Mn), as well as a wide range of oxides, sulfides and silicates. Grains of zircon are abundant in the chromitites of both ophiolites and range in age from Precambrian to Cretaceous, reflecting both incorporation of old zircons and modification of grains by hydrothermal alteration. Our investigation confirms that high-Al, refractory chromitites in these two ophiolites have the same range of exotic minerals as high-Cr metallurgical chromitites such as those in the Luobusa ophiolite of Tibet. These collections of exotic minerals in ophiolitic chromitites indicate complex, multi-stage recycling of oceanic and continental crustal material at least to the mantle transition zone, followed by uprise and emplacement of the peridotites into relatively shallow ophiolites.
Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 164, pp. 179-193.
Asia, Myanmar
peridotites
Abstract: Peridotites from the Myitkyina ophiolite are mainly composed of lherzolite and harzburgite. The lherzolites have relatively fertile compositions, with 39.40-43.40?wt% MgO, 1.90-3.17?wt% Al2O3 and 1.75-2.84?wt% CaO. They contain spinel and olivine with lower Cr# (12.6-18.2) and Fo values (88.7-91.6) than those of the harzburgites (24.5-59.7 and 89.6-91.6 respectively). The harzburgites have more refractory compositions, containing 42.40-46.23?wt% MgO, 0.50-1.64?wt% Al2O3 and 0.40-1.92?wt% CaO. PGE contents of the peridotites show an affinity to the residual mantle. Evaluation of petrological and geochemical characteristics of these peridotites suggests that the lherzolites and harzburgites represent residual mantle after low to moderate degrees of partial melting, respectively, in the spinel stability field. The U-shaped, primitive mantle-normalized REE patterns and strong positive Ta and Pb anomalies of the harzburgites suggest melt/fluid refertilization in either a MOR or SSZ setting after their formation at a MOR. Mineral separation of the peridotites has yield a range of exotic minerals, including diamond, moissanite, native Si, rutile and zircon, a collection similar to that reported for ophiolites of Tibet and the Polar Urals. The discovery of these exotic minerals in the Myitkyina ophiolite supports the view that they occur widely in the upper oceanic mantle.
Abstract: The North China Craton (NCC) is an atypical ancient landmass that suffered lithospheric destruction. Previous studies suggest that the eastern part of the lithospheric mantle of the NCC has been thinned and modified in the Mesozoic. However, the initiation time and mechanism of the destruction remain controversial. Mafic magmatismcould provide a unique windowinto deciphering the lithospheric mantle composition and its evolution. Here we present geochemical and geochronological data of the diamond-bearing alkaline basalts from Lan'gan, located in the southeastern margin of the NCC. Zircon U-Pb dating yielded an average age of 174 ± 14 Ma, representing the first reported Jurassic basalts in the eastern NCC. The Lan'gan basalts are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithosphile elements (LILE). Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr(t) = 0.70646-0.70925, ?Nd(t) = ?2.1 to ?4.9, 206Pb/204Pb(t) = 17.14-18.12, 207Pb/204Pb(t) = 15.28-15.61, 208Pb/204Pb(t) = 37.82-38.67, and zircon ?Hf(t) = ?17 to ?21) are enriched compared to depleted mantle. The presence of primary amphibole indicates that the magma source of the basalts was water enriched. These observations suggest that, the lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC were significantly refertilized, likely by slab derived fluids/melts fromthe Paleo-Pacific subduction. Owing to the Paleo-Pacific subduction, the lithosphericmantle of the eastern NCCwere reduced in viscosity and intensity, and finally promoted partialmelting in a limited scale to generate the investigated alkaline basalts. Hence, the discovery of diamond in the Lan'gan basalts demonstrates that the lithosphere of the NCC remained thick, and that large-scale destruction had not initiated in the early Jurassic beneath this region.
Abstract: The North China Craton (NCC) is an atypical ancient landmass that suffered lithospheric destruction. Previous studies suggest that the eastern part of the lithospheric mantle of the NCC has been thinned and refertilized in the Mesozoic. However, the initiation time and mechanism of the destruction remain controversial. Mafic magmatism could provide a unique window into deciphering the lithospheric mantle composition and its evolution. Here we present geochemical and geochronological data of the diamond-bearing alkaline basalts from Lan'gan, located in the southeastern margin of the NCC. Zircon UPb dating yielded an average age of 174?±?14?Ma, representing the first reported Jurassic basalts in the eastern NCC. The Lan'gan basalts are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithosphile elements (LILE). Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr(t)?=?0.70646-0.70925, ?Nd(t)?=??2.1 to ?4.9, 206Pb/204Pb(t)?=?17.14-18.12, 207Pb/204Pb(t)?=?15.28-15.61, 208Pb/204Pb(t)?=?37.82-38.67, and zircon ?Hf(t)?=??17 to ?21) are slightly enriched compared to depleted mantle. The presence of primary amphibole indicates that the magma source of the basalts was water enriched. These observations suggest that, the lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC were significantly refertilized, likely by slab derived fluids/melts from the Paleo-Pacific subduction. Owing to the Paleo-Pacific subduction, the lithospheric mantle of the eastern NCC were reduced in viscosity and intensity, and finally promoted partial melting in a limited scale to generate the investigated alkaline basalts. Hence, the discovery of diamond in the Lan'gan basalts demonstrates that the lithosphere of the NCC remained thick, and that large-scale destruction had not initiated in the early Jurassic beneath this region.
Abstract: There are a few studies reported in the literature describing the conversion of intrinsic defects but the involvement of nitrogen-interstitials in diamond has not been reported so far. In this paper, a detailed study on the conversion of nitrogen-interstitials in diamond during the irradiation and further annealing were presented by the micro-photoluminescence spectra. The results indicated that the interstitials were immobile until 300?°C and then escaped from the nitrogen capture, followed by migration and recombination with vacancies in the structure of nitrogen-vacancy and vacancy centers.
Metamorphic evolution of medium temperatire ultra high pressure ( MT-UHP) eclogites from the South Dabie orogen, central China: an insight from phase equilibration temperatures modelling.
Journal of Metamorphic Geology, Vol. 31, 7, pp. 755-774,
Abstract: Both mantle-derived clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene are generally homogeneous in water concentration, while water content in the coexisting olivine is affected by partial or complete loss during the ascent of the hosting magma. Here, we report the first record of water content profiles (higher water in the cores than in the rims) in natural orthopyroxene grains in peridotite xenoliths hosted by Cenozoic alkali basalts in Tianchang volcano, eastern China. The water contents of the coexisting clinopyroxene grains are homogeneous and are twice that measured in the cores of orthopyroxene grains, confirming previous chemical equilibrium between the two pyroxenes. The olivines (ol) are nearly dry (?0 ppm). These observations demonstrate that H diffusion in mantle orthopyroxene (opx) is faster than in clinopyroxene (cpx), and the relative mobility of H in each mineral phase could be quantified as: Graphic (where is the chemical diffusion coefficient of hydrogen). Combining this with experimental diffusion coefficients from the literature, we infer that (1) the xenoliths remained in contact with the magma below 900 °C for several months, and (2) clinopyroxene remains the more reliable recorder of water from depth, and orthopyroxene should be used more cautiously but can be considered with olivine for tracing slow transport and cooling of magma.
Abstract: North Tanzanian Divergence is the first stage of continental break-up of East African Rift and one of the most concentrated areas of carbonatite magmatism with Natron basin in the North (2 Ma-present - Lengai) and Manyara basin in the southern part (0.4-0.9 Ma). The Manyara basin has volcanic activities with mafic magmas as melilitites (Labait), Mg-nephelinites and carbonatite (Kwaraha), and more differentiated magmas as Mg-poor nephelinites (Hanang) recording deep magmatic environment and differentiation in the crust of CO2-rich alkaline magmas. Melilitite and Mg-nephelinite with olivine-cpx-phlogopite record mantle environment at 1.5 GPa-1300°C with water content in melt of 0.1- 0.4 wt% H2O (1-4 ppm in olivine, FTIR). Although fractional crystallization can be considered as an important process during ascent, leading to Mg-poor nephelinite with cpx-melanite-nepheline, complex zonation of cpx (e.g. abrupt change of Mg#, Nb/Ta, and H2O) recorded open system with multiple carbonate-rich silicate immiscibility and melilititic melt replenishment. The low water content of cpx (25 ppm H2O; FTIR) indicates that 0.3 wt% H2O was present during carbonate-rich nephelinite crystallization at crustal level (600 MPa - 1050°C). The interstitial melt entrapped as melt inclusions (MI) in nepheline evolved to CO2-rich and H2O-poor phonolitic composition with 6 wt% CO2 and 1 wt% S at logfO2=FMQ+1 to 1.5 (Fe3+/?Fe=0.3 - S6+/?S=0.55, XANES). At 200 MPa, phonolitic melt in MI reaches carbonate saturation and immiscibility process leads to trachytic melt with high CO2, S and halogen content (0.43 wt% CO2, SIMS; 2 wt% S, 0.84 wt% Cl; 2.54 wt% F) and very low H2O content (<0.1wt%, Raman) and an anhydrous Ca-Na±S,K carbonate liquid. The Ca-Na carbonatitic liquid in Mg-poor nephelinite represents an early stage of the evolution path towards carbonatitic magmatism as observed in Kwaraha and Lengai. Manyara volcanism has similarities with the Natron volcanism with multistage evolution and silicate-carbonatite magmatism but differ by their volatile components (up to 10 H2O wt% in Lengai nephelinite). This can be interpreted in term of depth of partial melting with H2O-CO2 lithospheric mantle source (Natron) and deep anhydrous CO2-rich asthenospheric mantle source in the southern part of rift initiation (Manyara) and percolation of deep CO2-rich silicate liquid leading to lithospheric mantle metasomatism.
Abstract: The Cenozoic East African rift (EAR), Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL), and Atlas Mountains formed on the slow-moving African continent, which last experienced orogeny during the Pan-African. We synthesize primarily geophysical data to evaluate the role of magmatism in shaping Africa's crust. In young magmatic rift zones, melt and volatiles migrate from the asthenosphere to gas-rich magma reservoirs at the Moho, altering crustal composition and reducing strength. Within the southernmost Eastern rift, the crust comprises ~20% new magmatic material ponded in the lower crust and intruded as sills and dikes at shallower depths. In the Main Ethiopian Rift, intrusions comprise 30% of the crust below axial zones of dike-dominated extension. In the incipient rupture zones of the Afar rift, magma intrusions fed from crustal magma chambers beneath segment centers create new columns of mafic crust, as along slow-spreading ridges. Our comparisons suggest that transitional crust, including seaward dipping sequences, is created as progressively smaller screens of continental crust are heated and weakened by magma intrusion into 15-20 km thick crust. In the 30 Ma Recent CVL, which lacks a hot spot age progression, extensional forces are small, inhibiting the creation and rise of magma into the crust. In the Atlas orogen, localized magmatism follows the strike of the Atlas Mountains from the Canary Islands hot spot toward the Alboran Sea. CVL and Atlas magmatism has had minimal impact on crustal structure. Our syntheses show that magma and volatiles are migrating from the asthenosphere through the plates, modifying rheology, and contributing significantly to global carbon and water fluxes.
Tichomirowa, M., Grosche, G., Gotze, J., Belyatsky, B.V., Savva, E.V., Keller, J., Todt, W.
The mineral isotope composition of two Precambrian carbonatite complexes from the Kola Alkaline Province - alteration versus primary magmatic signatures.
Formation and transformation of zircon grains from the Archean carbonatite Siilinjarvi - evidence from cathodluminescence, rare earth elements and U/Pb geochr
Peralk-Carb 2011, workshop held Tubingen Germany June 16-18, Poster
Formation and transformation of zircon grains from the Archean carbonatite Siilinjarvi ( Finland) - evidence from cathodluminescence, rare earth elements and U/Tb
Peralk-Carb 2011... workshop June 16-18, Tubingen, Germany, Abstract p.151-152.
Formation and transformation of zircon grains from the Archean carbonatite Siilinjarvi ( Finland) - evidence from cathodluminescence, rare earth elements and U/Tb
Peralk-Carb 2011... workshop June 16-18, Tubingen, Germany, Abstract p.151-152.
Owona, S., Tichomirowa, M., Ratschbacher, L., Ondoa, J.M., Youmen, D., Pfander, J., Tchoua, F.M., Affaton, P., Ekodeck, G.E.
New igneous zircon Pb/Pb and metamorphic Rb/Sr ages in the Yaounde Group, Cameroon, Central Africa): implications for the Central African fold belt evolution close to the Congo Craton.
International Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 101, 7, pp. 1689-1703.
Owona, S., Tichomirowa, M., Ratschbacher, L., Ondoa, W.J., Youmen, D., Pfander, J., Tchoua, F.M., Affaton, P., Ekodeck, G.E.
New igneous zircon Pb/Pb and metamorphic Rb/Sr ages in the Yaounde Group ( Cameron, Central Africa): implications for the Central African fold belt evolution close to the Congo Craton.
International Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 101, pp. 1689-1703.
Tichomirowa, M., Whitehouse, M., Gerdes, A., Gotze, J.
Carbonatite metasomatism: evidence from geochemistry and isotope composition ( U-Pb, Hf, O) on zircons from two Precambrian carbonatites of the Kola alkaline province.
Tichomirowa, M., Whitehouse, M.J., Gerdes, A., Gotze, J., Schulz, B., Belyatsky, B.V.
Different zircon recrystallization types in carbonatites caused by magma mixing: evidence from U-Pb dating, trace element and isotope composition ( Hf and O) of zircons from two Precambrian carbonatites from Fennoscandia.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 543, 116328 14p. Pdf
Europe, Switzerland, Alps
boron diamonds
Abstract: Understanding the volatile cycles at convergent margins is fundamental to unravel the Earth's evolution from primordial time to present. The assessment of fluid-mobile and incompatible element uptake in serpentinites via interaction with seawater and subduction-zone fluids is central to evaluate the global cycling of the above elements in the Earth's mantle. Here, we focus on the carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and C isotope compositions of chlorite harzburgites and garnet peridotites deriving from subduction-zone dehydration of former oceanic dehydration of serpentinite - i.e., metaperidotites (Cima di Gagnone, Swiss Central Alps) with the aim of evaluating the contribution of these rocks to the global C-N cycling. These ultramafic rocks, enclosed as lenses in a metasedimentary mélange, represent the destabilization of antigorite and chlorite at high-pressure/temperature (P/T) along a slab-mantle interface. Chlorite- and garnet-bearing rocks have similar ranges in C concentration ([C] = 210 - 2465 ppm and 304 - 659 ppm, respectively), with one magnesite-bearing chlorite harzburgite hosting 11000 ppm C. The average N concentrations ([N]) of the garnet peridotites (54 ± 15 ppm, one standard deviation indicated) are higher than those of the chlorite harzburgites (29 ± 6 ppm). The C of total C (TC) and total organic C (TOC) values of the Gagnone metaperidotites range from -12.2 to -17.8‰ and from -27.8 to -26.8‰, respectively, excluding the magnesite-bearing chlorite harzburgites with higher values of -7.2‰ (TC) and -21.2‰ (TOC). The [C] of these rocks are comparable to those of serpentinites form modern and ancient oceanic environments and with [C] of high-P serpentinites. However, the lack of preserved serpentinite precursors makes it difficult to determine whether release of H2O during high-P breakdown of antigorite and chlorite is coupled with significant C release to fluids. The C values appear to reflect mixing between seawater-derived carbonate and a reduced C source and a contribution from the host metasedimentary rocks ([C] = 301 ppm; [N] = 33 ppm; TC C = -24.4‰; TOC C = -27.0‰) cannot be completely excluded. The C-O isotope composition of the carbonate in magnesite-bearing chlorite harzburgites is compatible with progressive devolatilization at oxidized conditions, whereas the signatures of the majority of the other Gagnone samples appear to reflect different degree of interaction with sedimentary fluids. The [N] of the Gagnone metaperidotites are higher than those of oceanic and subducted serpentinites and show a range similar to that of high-P antigorite-serpentinites from mantle wedges. This enrichment is compatible with fluid-mediated chemical exchange with the surrounding metasedimentary rocks leading to strong modification of the Gagnone metaperidotites' geochemistry during prograde subduction along the slab-mantle interface. Comparing the C data reported in this study with published C values for diamonds, we suggest that the volatile recycling via Gagnone-like metaperidotites in subduction zones could contribute to deep-Earth diamond genesis and in particular to the formation of blue boron (B)-bearing diamonds. Our results highlight that the subduction of secondary peridotites evolved along the slab-mantle interface is a viable mechanism to inject volatiles into the deep mantle, particularly in hotter geothermal regimes such as the ones active during the early Earth's history.
45th. Annual Yellowknife Geoscience Forum, p. 65 abstract
Canada, Northwest Territories
deposit - Giraffe
Abstract: Several Lac de Gras kimberlite pipes host thick accumulations of stratified post-eruptive lacustrine sediment and peat. Given the range of Lac de Gras kimberlite emplacement ages, these fills - though rare - provide a unique sedimentary archive of paleoenvironments during the sustained Early Cenozoic “greenhouse” interval, in a high-latitude region otherwise devoid of Phanerozoic sediment cover. Extensive exploration drilling has provided a valuable window into this unique sedimentary record, which would have otherwise remained covered by Quaternary glacial deposits. Our focus to date has been multidisciplinary study of the Giraffe pipe sediment fill: an ~80 m-thick sequence of post-eruptive lacustrine silt overlain by peat, which paints a remarkable picture of a humid-temperate Middle Eocene forest ecosystem on the Canadian Shield. Post-eruptive chronology is provided by interbedded distal tephra horizons, likely sourced from Alaska, that have been dated by glass fission-track and zircon U-Pb techniques. Paleoclimate proxies derived from pollen, wood cellulose oxygen isotopes, and biomarkers converge on reconstructed mean annual temperatures >17 °C warmer than present, with mean winter temperatures above freezing, and mean annual precipitation ~4x present. Two independent reconstructions of CO2 from well preserved conifer foliage suggest that this warming occurred under relatively modest atmospheric CO2 concentrations of 430-630 ppm. These findings provide direct field-based evidence for dramatic past arctic warming at CO2 concentrations that were well within the range of projections under “business-as-usual” emissions scenarios, underscoring the capacity for exceptional polar amplification of climate change under modest CO2 concentrations once both fast and slow feedbacks processes become expressed. Our studies at Giraffe pipe also highlight the scientific value of archived exploration drill core in the Lac de Gras kimberlite field, particularly with respect to pipes that are unremarkable for the purpose of diamond exploration.
Abstract: The problem of the existence of the asthenosphere for old Precambrian cratons is still discussed. In order to study the seismic lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) beneath the Baltic Shield, we used records of nine local earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 2.7 to 5.9. To model the LAB, original data were corrected for topography and Moho depth using a reference model with a 46-km-thick crust. For two northern events at Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, we observe a low-velocity layer, 60-70-km-thick asthenosphere, and the LAB beneath Barents Sea was found at depth of c. 200 km. Sections for other events show continuous first arrivals of P-waves with no evidence for "shadow zone" in the whole range of registration, which could either be interpreted as the absence of the asthenosphere beneath the central part of the Baltic Shield, or that the LAB in this area occurs deeper (>200 km). The relatively thin low-velocity layer found beneath southern Sweden, 15 km below the Moho, could be interpreted as small-scale lithospheric heterogeneities, rather than asthenosphere. Differentiation of the lower lithosphere velocities beneath the Baltic Shield could be interpreted as regional heterogeneity or as anisotropy of the Baltic Shield lithosphere, with high velocities approximately in the east-west direction, and slow velocities approximately in the south-north direction.
Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 177, 8, pp. 3775-3795. pdf
Europe, Finland
geophysics - seismics
Abstract: The Kokkola-Kymi Deep Seismic Sounding profile crosses the Fennoscandian Shield in northwest-southeast (NW-SE) direction from Bothnian belt to Wiborg rapakivi batholith through Central Finland granitoid complex (CFGC). The 490-km refraction seismic line is perpendicular to the orogenic strike in Central Finland and entirely based on data from quarry blasts and road construction sites in years 2012 and 2013. The campaign resulted in 63 usable seismic record sections. The average perpendicular distance between these and the profile was 14 km. Tomographic velocity models were computed with JIVE3D program. The velocity fields of the tomographic models were used as starting points in the ray tracing modelling. Based on collected seismic sections a layer-cake model was prepared with the ray tracing package SEIS83. Along the profile, upper crust has an average thickness of 22 km average, and P-wave velocities (Vp) of 5.9-6.2 km/s near the surface, increasing downward to 6.25-6.40 km/s. The thickness of middle crust is 14 km below CFGC, 20 km in SE and 25 km in NW, but Vp ranges from 6.6 to 6.9 km/s in all parts. Lower crust has Vp values of 7.35-7.4 km/s and lithospheric mantle 8.2-8.25 km/s. Moho depth is 54 km in NW part, 63 km in the middle and 43 km in SW, yet a 55-km long section in the middle does not reveal an obvious Moho reflection. S-wave velocities vary from 3.4 km/s near the surface to 4.85 km/s in upper mantle, consistently with P-wave velocity variations. Results confirm the previously assumed high-velocity lower crust and depression of Moho in central Finland.
Abstract: We present petrography and mineral chemistry for both phlogopite, from mantle-derived xenoliths (garnet peridotite, eclogite and clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks) and for megacryst, macrocryst and groundmass flakes from the Grib kimberlite in the Arkhangelsk diamond province of Russia to provide new insights into multi-stage metasomatism in the subcratonic lithospheric mantle (SCLM) and the origin of phlogopite in kimberlite. Based on the analysed xenoliths, phlogopite is characterized by several generations. The first generation (Phl1) occurs as coarse, discrete grains within garnet peridotite and eclogite xenoliths and as a rock-forming mineral within clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths. The second phlogopite generation (Phl2) occurs as rims and outer zones that surround the Phl1 grains and as fine flakes within kimberlite-related veinlets filled with carbonate, serpentine, chlorite and spinel. In garnet peridotite xenoliths, phlogopite occurs as overgrowths surrounding garnet porphyroblasts, within which phlogopite is associated with Cr-spinel and minor carbonate. In eclogite xenoliths, phlogopite occasionally associates with carbonate bearing veinlet networks. Phlogopite, from the kimberlite, occurs as megacrysts, macrocrysts, microcrysts and fine flakes in the groundmass and matrix of kimberlitic pyroclasts. Most phlogopite grains within the kimberlite are characterised by signs of deformation and form partly fragmented grains, which indicates that they are the disintegrated fragments of previously larger grains. Phl1, within the garnet peridotite and clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths, is characterised by low Ti and Cr contents (TiO2 < 1 wt.%, Cr2O3 < 1 wt.% and Mg# = 100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe) > 92) typical of primary peridotite phlogopite in mantle peridotite xenoliths from global kimberlite occurrences. They formed during SCLM metasomatism that led to a transformation from garnet peridotite to clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks and the crystallisation of phlogopite and high-Cr clinopyroxene megacrysts before the generation of host-kimberlite magmas. One of the possible processes to generate low-Ti-Cr phlogopite is via the replacement of garnet during its interaction with a metasomatic agent enriched in K and H2O. Rb-Sr isotopic data indicates that the metasomatic agent had a contribution of more radiogenic source than the host-kimberlite magma. Compared with peridotite xenoliths, eclogite xenoliths feature low-Ti phlogopites that are depleted in Cr2O3 despite a wider range of TiO2 concentrations. The presence of phlogopite in eclogite xenoliths indicates that metasomatic processes affected peridotite as well as eclogite within the SCLM beneath the Grib kimberlite. Phl2 has high Ti and Cr concentrations (TiO2 > 2 wt.%, Cr2O3 > 1 wt.% and Mg# = 100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe) < 92) and compositionally overlaps with phlogopite from polymict breccia xenoliths that occur in global kimberlite formations. These phlogopites are the product of kimberlitic magma and mantle rock interaction at mantle depths where Phl2 overgrew Phl1 grains or crystallized directly from stalled batches of kimberlitic magmas. Megacrysts, most macrocrysts and microcrysts are disintegrated phlogopite fragments from metasomatised peridotite and eclogite xenoliths. Fine phlogopite flakes within kimberlite groundmass represent mixing of high-Ti-Cr phlogopite antecrysts and high-Ti and low-Cr kimberlitic phlogopite with high Al and Ba contents that may have formed individual grains or overgrown antecrysts. Based on the results of this study, we propose a schematic model of SCLM metasomatism involving phlogopite crystallization, megacryst formation, and genesis of kimberlite magmas as recorded by the Grib pipe.
Abstract: To provide new insights into the type and extent of mantle metasomatism in the subcratonic lithospheric mantle, we examined the Sr-Nd-O isotopic compositions of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, garnet, ilmenite and phlogopite from sheared garnet lherzolite, granular garnet harzburgites and lherzolites and clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks from the Grib kimberlite in the Arkhangelsk diamond province in northwestern Russia. Clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene from sheared garnet lherzolite initially have a close value of 87Sr/86Sr(t) (~0.7034) and close weak positive ?Nd. Orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene are in oxygen isotope equilibrium with coexisting olivine. Clinopyroxene from a garnet harzburgite has a low 87Sr/86Sr(t) isotope ratio of 0.70266. Clinopyroxene from granular garnet lherzolites has a relatively narrow variation in 87Sr/86Sr(t) (0.70456-0.70582) and considerably larger variations in ?Nd (?4.3???+1.0) isotope ratios. Garnet displays elevated initial 87Sr/86Sr(t) values (0.70540-0.70633). Ilmenite shows a narrow range in 87Sr/86Sr(t) (0.70497-0.70522) coupled with ?Nd values of +0.4 and +3.5. These isotopic data suggest granular garnet lherzolite of mantle metasomatism took place during the interaction of kimberlite melts with SCLM that contained mica-amphibole-rutile-ilmenite-diopside (MARID)-type metasomes. Clinopyroxenes from clinopyroxene-phlogopite (phlogopite wehrlite) xenoliths display a broader range in 87Sr/86Sr(t) (0.70486-0.70813) that is significantly higher than the kimberlite values and a circa-chondritic ?Nd (?0.1 ??+1.3) with a restricted ?18O range (5.11‰-5.33‰). More radiogenic Sr isotopic composition decoupled from Nd isotopes could have been induced by metasomatic melt/fluid related to a subducted material. The isotopic compositions of mantle minerals preserve Sr-Nd isotopic evidence of pre-kimberlite metasomatic events that were probably due to incomplete reequilibration with ultramafic carbonated melt. Based on mineral pairs Rb-Sr isochrons and a clinopyroxene-based Sm-Nd errochron, these mantle metasomatic events correspond to ~550-600?Ma and ~1200?Ma episodes of magmatic-thermal activity.
Comparative charcteristics of specific morphological features of diamonds from northern and northeastern European Russia ( Urals, Timan, and Arkhangelsk).
Moscow University Geology Bulletin, Vol. 56, 6, pp. 26-30.
Abstract: It is now accepted that significant volumes of pyroxenites are generated in the subduction factory and remain trapped in the mantle. In ophiolites and orogenic massifs the geometry of pyroxenite layers and their relationships with the host peridotite can be observed directly. Since a large part of what is known about the upper mantle structure is derived from the analysis of seismic waves, it is crucial to integrate pyroxenites in the interpretations. We modeled the seismic properties of a peridotitic mantle rich in pyroxenite layers in order to determine the impact of layering on the seimsic properties. To do so, EBSD data on deformed and undeformed pyroxenites from the Cabo Ortegal complex (Spain) and the Trinity ophiolite (California, USA) respectively are combined with either A or B-type olivine fabrics in order to model a realistic pyroxenite-rich upper mantle. Consideration of pyroxeniterich domains within the host mantle wall rock is incorporated in the calculations using the Schoenberg and Muir group theory [1]. This quantification reveals the complex dependence of the seismic signal on the deformational state and relative abundance of each mineral phase. The incorporation of pyroxenites properties into geophysical interpretations in understanding the lithospheric structure of subduction zones will lead to more geologically realistic models.
Abstract: Pyroxenites provide important information on mantle heterogeneity and can be used to trace mantle evolution. New major and trace element and Sr-, Nd-, and Hf-isotope analyses of minerals and whole-rock samples of garnet websterites entrained in basanite tuffs in Bullenmerri and Gnotuk maars, southeastern Australia, are here combined with detailed petrographic observations to constrain the sources and genesis of the pyroxenites, and to trace the dynamic evolution of the lithospheric mantle. Most garnet websterites have high MgO and Cr2O3 contents, relatively flat light rare earth element (LREE) patterns ([La/Nd]CN?=?0•77-2•22) and ocean island basalt-like Sr-, Nd-, and Hf-isotope compositions [87Sr/86Sr?=?0•70412-0•70657; ?Nd(t)?=?-0•32 to +4•46; ?Hf(t)=+1•69 to +18•6] in clinopyroxenes. Some samples show subduction-related signatures with strong enrichments in large ion lithophile elements and LREE, and negative anomalies in high field strength elements, as well as high 87Sr/86Sr (up to 0•709), and decoupled Hf- and Nd-isotope compositions [?Nd(t)?=?-3•28; ?Hf(t) =?+11•6). These data suggest that the garnet pyroxenites represent early crystallization products of mafic melts derived from a convective mantle wedge. Hf model ages and Sm-Nd mineral isochrons suggest that these pyroxenites record at least two stages of evolution. The initial formation stage corresponds to the Paleozoic subduction of the proto-Pacific plate beneath southeastern Australia, which generated hydrous tholeiitic melts that crystallized clinopyroxene-dominated pyroxenites at ?1420-1450°C and ?75?km depth in the mantle wedge. The second stage corresponds to Eocene (c. 40?Ma) back-arc lithospheric extension, which led to uplift of the former mantle-wedge domain to 40-60?km depths, and subsequent cooling to the ambient geotherm (?950-1100°C). Extensive exsolution and recrystallization of garnet and orthopyroxene (±?ilmenite) from clinopyroxene megacrysts accompanied this stage. The timing of these mantle events coincides with vertical tectonism in the overlying crust.
Abstract: Mantle lithologies in orogenic massifs and xenoliths commonly display strikingly different Hf- and Nd-isotope compositions compared to oceanic basalts. While the presence of pyroxenites has long been suggested in the source region of mantle-derived magmas, very few studies have reported their combined HfNd isotope compositions. We here report the first LuHf data along with ReOs data and S concentrations on the Cabo Ortegal Complex, where the pyroxenite-rich Herbeira massif has been interpreted as remnants of a delaminated arc root. The pyroxenites, chromitites and their host harzburgites show a wide range of whole-rock 187Re/188Os and 187Os/188Os (0.16-1.44), indicating that Re was strongly mobilized, partly during hydrous retrograde metamorphism but mostly during supergene alteration that preferentially affected low-Mg#, low Cu/S pyroxenites. Samples that escaped this disturbance yield an isochron age of 838 ± 42 Ma, interpreted as the formation of Cabo Ortegal pyroxenites. Corresponding values of initial 187Os/188Os (0.111-0.117) are relatively unradiogenic, suggesting limited contributions of slab-derived Os to primitive arc melts such as those parental to these pyroxenites. This interpretation is consistent with radiogenic Os in arc lavas being mostly related to crustal assimilation. Paleoproterozoic to Archean Os model ages confirm that Cabo Ortegal pyroxenites record incipient volcanic arc magmatism on the continental margin of the Western African Craton, as notably documented by zircon UPb ages of 2.1 and 2.7 Ga. LuHf data collected on clinopyroxene and amphibole separates and whole-rock samples are characterized by uncorrelated 176Lu/177Hf and 176Hf/177Hf (0.2822-0.2855), decoupled from Nd-isotope compositions. This decoupling is ascribed to diffusional disequilibrium during melt-peridotite interaction, in good agreement with the results of percolation-diffusion models simulating the interaction of an arc melt with an ancient melt-depleted residue. These models notably show that HfNd isotopic decoupling such as recorded by Cabo Ortegal pyroxenites and peridotites (??Hf(i) up to +97) is enhanced during melt-peridotite interaction by slow diffusional re-equilibration and can be relatively insensitive to chromatographic fractionation. Finally, we discuss the hypothesis that arc-continent interaction may provide preferential conditions for such isotopic decoupling and propose that its ubiquitous recognition in peridotites reflects the recycling of sub-arc mantle domains derived from ancient, reworked SCLM.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 544, 116365 14p. Pdf
Australia
carbonatite
Abstract: Petrological and geochemical studies have revealed the contribution of garnet pyroxenites in basalt petrogenesis. However, whether primary mantle melts are produced with such signature or acquired it subsequently remains somewhat controversial. We here integrate new major-, trace-element and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions of garnet pyroxenite xenoliths in Holocene alkali basalts from Lakes Bullenmerri and Gnotuk, Southeastern Australia, to relate their petrogenesis to mantle-wedge melt circulation and subsequent lithospheric evolution. Results show that the clinopyroxenites have lower MgO and Cr2O3 contents than the associated websterites, and range in compositions from depleted LREE patterns and highly radiogenic Nd and Hf isotopic signatures in relatively low-MgO samples (Type 1), to enriched REE patterns with negative HFSE anomalies, unradiogenic Nd and Hf isotopes, and extremely radiogenic Sr-isotopic ratios in samples with higher MgO (Type 2). Such compositional variabilities suggest that these pyroxenites represent segregates from melts derived from a recycled oceanic lithosphere with a potential contribution from pelagic sediments. Variable LREE contents and isotopic compositions between those of Type 1 and 2 clinopyroxenites are observed in amphibole-bearing samples (Type 3), which are interpreted as Type 1-like protoliths metasomatized by the basaltic and carbonatitic melts, possibly parental to Type 2 clinopyroxenites. The lithosphere beneath Southeastern Australia thus has received variable melt contributions from a heterogeneous mantle-wedge source, which notably includes a subducted oceanic slab package that has retained its integrity during subduction. On this basis, we suggest that the compositional heterogeneity and temporal evolution of the subsequent Southeastern Australian basaltic magmatism were probably affected by the presence of pyroxenite fragments in the basalt source and formed by the tectonic reactivation of this lithosphere during Cenozoic rifting. This interpretation is notably consistent with a trend of Nd-Pb isotopes towards EMII in Older Volcanic Provinces (OVP basalts) and limited Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic variations towards HIMU in the Newer Volcanic Provinces (NVP basalts, including the host lavas), which also exhibit low SiO2, high FeO and high CaO/Al2O3 commonly interpreted as due to pyroxenite contributions. Therefore, the identification of a subduction signature in these rift-related lavas attests to a "lithospheric memory" of earlier subduction episodes (as documented by the xenoliths), rather than a reflection of contemporaneous subduction tectonics.
Journal of Petrology, Vol. 61, 9, egaa067, 35p. Pdf
Mantle
magmatism
Abstract: Besides standard thermo-mechanical conservation laws, a general description of mantle magmatism requires the simultaneous consideration of phase changes (e.g. from solid to liquid), chemical reactions (i.e. exchange of chemical components) and multiple dynamic phases (e.g. liquid percolating through a deforming matrix). Typically, these processes evolve at different rates, over multiple spatial scales and exhibit complex feedback loops and disequilibrium features. Partially as a result of these complexities, integrated descriptions of the thermal, mechanical and chemical evolution of mantle magmatism have been challenging for numerical models. Here we present a conceptual and numerical model that provides a versatile platform to study the dynamics and nonlinear feedbacks inherent in mantle magmatism and to make quantitative comparisons between petrological and geochemical datasets. Our model is based on the combination of three main modules: (1) a Two-Phase, Multi-Component, Reactive Transport module that describes how liquids and solids evolve in space and time; (2) a melting formalism, called Dynamic Disequilibirum Melting, based on thermodynamic grounds and capable of describing the chemical exchange of major elements between phases in disequilibrium; (3) a grain-scale model for diffusion-controlled trace-element mass transfer. We illustrate some of the benefits of the model by analyzing both major and trace elements during mantle magmatism in a mid-ocean ridge-like context. We systematically explore the effects of mantle potential temperature, upwelling velocity, degree of equilibrium and hetererogeneous sources on the compositional variability of melts and residual peridotites. Our model not only reproduces the main thermo-chemical features of decompression melting but also predicts counter-intuitive differentiation trends as a consequence of phase changes and transport occurring in disequilibrium. These include a negative correlation between Na2O and FeO in melts generated at the same Tp and the continued increase of the melt’s CaO/Al2O3 after Cpx exhaustion. Our model results also emphasize the role of disequilibrium arising from diffusion for the interpretation of trace-element signatures. The latter is shown to be able to reconcile the major- and trace-element compositions of abyssal peridotites with field evidence indicating extensive reaction between peridotites and melts. The combination of chemical disequilibrium of major elements and sluggish diffusion of trace elements may also result in weakened middle rare earth to heavy rare earth depletion comparable with the effect of residual garnet in mid-ocean ridge basalt, despite its absence in the modelled melts source. We also find that the crystallization of basalts ascending in disequilibrium through the asthenospheric mantle could be responsible for the formation of olivine gabbros and wehrlites that are observed in the deep sections of ophiolites. The presented framework is general and readily extendable to accommodate additional processes of geological relevance (e.g. melting in the presence of volatiles and/or of complex heterogeneous sources, refertilization of the lithospheric mantle, magma channelization and shallow processes) and the implementation of other geochemical and isotopic proxies. Here we illustrate the effect of heterogeneous sources on the thermo-mechanical-chemical evolution of melts and residues using a mixed peridotite-pyroxenite source.
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, Vol. 174, 22p. Pdf
Mantle
subduction, melting
Abstract: To investigate the first melts of the mantle wedge in subduction zones and their relationship to primitive magmas erupted at arcs, the compositions of low degree melts of hydrous garnet lherzolite have been experimentally determined at 3.2 GPa over the temperature range of 925-1150 °C. Two starting compositions with variable H2O contents were studied; a subduction-enriched peridotite containing 0.61% Na2O, 0.16 K2O% (wt%) with 4.2 wt% H2O added (Mitchell and Grove in Contrib Mineral Petrol 170:13, 2015) and an undepleted mantle peridotite (Hart and Zindler in Chem Geol 57:247-267, 1986) with 14.5% H2O added (Till et al. in Contrib Mineral Petrol 163:669-688, 2012). Saturating phases include olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, garnet and rutile. Melting extent is tracked from near solidus (~?5 wt%) to 25 wt%, which is close to or beyond the point where clinopyroxene and garnet are exhausted. The beginning of melting is a peritectic reaction where 0.54 orthopyroxene?+?0.17 clinopyroxene?+?0.13 garnet react to produce 1.0 liquid?+?0.88 olivine. The melt production rate near the solidus is 0.1 wt% °C?1 and increases to 0.3 wt% °C?1 over the experimentally studied interval. These values are significantly lower than that observed for anhydrous lherzolite (~?1 wt% °C?1). When melting through this reaction is calculated for a metasomatized lherzolite source, the rare earth element characteristics of the melt are similar to melts of an eclogite, as well as those observed in many subduction zone magmas. Moreover, since rutile is stable up to?~?8 wt% melting, the first melts of a hydrous lherzolite source could also show strong high field strength element depletions as is observed in many subduction zone lavas. The silicate melts measured at the lowest temperatures and melting extents (
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 294. pp. 295-314. pdf
Canada
carbon
Abstract: The recent expansion of studies at hydrothermal submarine vents from investigation of abiotic methane formation to include abiotic production of organics such acetate and formate, and rising interest in processes of abiotic organic synthesis on the ocean-world moons of Saturn and Jupiter, have raised interest in potential Earth analogs for investigation of prebiotic/abiotic processes to an unprecedented level. The deep continental subsurface provides an attractive target to identify analog environments where the influence of abiotic carbon cycling may be investigated, particularly in hydrogeological isolated fracture fluids where the products of chemical water-rock reactions have been less overprinted by the biogeochemical signatures of the planet’s surficial water and carbon cycles. Here we report, for the first time, a comprehensive set of concentration measurements and isotopic signatures for acetate and formate, as well as the dissolved inorganic and organic carbon pools, for saline fracture waters naturally flowing 2.4?km below surface in 2.7 billion year-old rocks on the Canadian Shield. These geologically ancient fluids at the Kidd Creek Observatory were the focus of previous investigations of fracture fluid geochemistry, microbiology and noble gas-derived residence times. Here we show the fracture waters of Kidd Creek contain high concentrations of both acetate and formate with concentrations from 1200 to 1900?µmol/L, and 480 to 1000?µmol/L, respectively. Acetate and formate alone account for more than 50-90% of the total DOC - providing a very simple "organic soup". The unusually elevated concentrations and profoundly 13C-enriched nature of the acetate and formate suggest an important role for abiotic organic synthesis in the deep carbon cycle at this hydrogeologically isolated site. A variety of potential abiotic production reactions are discussed, including a radiolytically driven H, S and C deep cycle that could provide a mechanism for sustaining deep subsurface habitability. Scientific discoveries are beginning to reveal that organic-producing reactions that would have prevailed on Earth before the rise of life, and that may persist today on planets and moons such as Enceladus, Europa and Titan, can be accessed in some specialized geologic settings on Earth that provide valuable natural analog environments for the investigation of abiotic organic chemistry outside the laboratory.
lead, neodymium, and Strontium isotopic investigations of kaersutite and clinopyroxene from ultramafic nodules and their host basalts: the nature of the subcontinental mantle
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 54, pp. 3449-3460
Abstract: Data on the interaction of the Fe-Ni melt with CaCO3 and graphite at 5 GPa and 1400°? under the thermogradient conditions used in experiments on the growth of diamond on the BARS high-pressure apparatus are presented. The phase composition and component composition of the fluid captured by diamonds in the form of inclusions were studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Diamonds were synthesized from graphite. During the interaction of the Fe-Ni melt with CaCO3, Ca-Fe oxides and (Fe, Ni)3C carbide were formed. The stability of heavy hydrocarbons under the experimental conditions was confirmed. It was established that the composition of the fluid in synthesized diamonds is close to the composition of the fluid from inclusions in some natural diamonds. Nevertheless, it was concluded that crystallization of large diamonds under natural conditions is hardly possible due to the filling of the main crystallization volume with refractory oxide phases.
Journal of Petrology, Vol. 61, 7, doi.org/10.1093 /petrology/egaa072
Europe
magmatism
Abstract: The orogenic development after the continental collision between Laurussia and Gondwana, led to two contrasting associations of mantle-derived magmatic rocks on the territory of the Bohemian Massif: (i) a 340-310?Ma lamprophyre-lamproite orogenic association; and (ii) a 300-275?Ma lamprophyre association of anorogenic affinity. Major types of potassic mantle-derived magmatic rocks recognized in the orogenic and anorogenic associations include: (i) calc-alkaline to alkaline lamprophyres; (ii) alkaline ‘orthopyroxene minettes’ and geochemically related rocks grouped here under the new term lampyrite; and (iii) peralkaline lamproites. These three types significantly differ with respect to mineral, whole-rock and Sr-Nd-Pb-Li isotope composition and spatial distribution. The calc-alkaline lamprophyres occur throughout the entire Saxo-Thuringian and Moldanubian zones, whereas the different types of malte-derived potassic rocks are spatially restricted to particular zones. Rocks of the Carboniferous lamprophyre-lamproite orogenic association are characterized by variable negative ?Nd(i) and variably radiogenic Sr(i), whereas the rocks of the Permian lamprophyre association of anorogenic affinity are characterized by positive ?Nd(i) and relatively young depleted-mantle Nd-model ages reflecting increasing input from upwelling asthenospheric mantle. The small variation in the Pb isotopic composition of post-collisional potassic mantle-derived magmatic rocks (of both the orogenic and anorogenic series) implies that the Pb budget of the mantle beneath the Bohemian Massif is dominated by the same crust-derived material, which itself may include material derived from several sources. The source rocks of ‘orthopyroxene minettes’ are characterized by isotopically light (‘eclogitic’) Li and strongly radiogenic (crustal) Sr and may have been metasomatized by high-pressure fluids along the edge of a subduction zone. In contrast, the strongly Al2O3 and CaO depleted mantle source of the lamproites is characterized by isotopically heavy Li and high SiO2 and extreme K2O contents. This mantle source may have been metasomatized predominantly by melts. The mantle source of the lamprophyres may have undergone metasomatism by both fluids and melts.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 463, pp. 178-188.
Africa, Botswana
Deposit - Lethakane
Abstract: Monocrystalline diamonds commonly record complex internal structures reflecting episodic growth linked to changing carbon-bearing fluids in the mantle. Using diamonds to trace the evolution of the deep carbon cycle therefore requires dating of individual diamond growth zones. To this end Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotope data are presented from individual eclogitic silicate inclusions from the Orapa and Letlhakane diamond mines, Botswana. ?13C?13C values are reported from the host diamond growth zones. Heterogeneous 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7033-0.7097) suggest inclusion formation in multiple and distinct tectono-magmatic environments. Sm-Nd isochron ages were determined based on groups of inclusions with similar trace element chemistry, Sr isotope ratios, and nitrogen aggregation of the host diamond growth zone. Diamond growth events at 0.14±0.090.14±0.09, 0.25±0.040.25±0.04, 1.1±0.091.1±0.09, 1.70±0.341.70±0.34 and 2.33±0.022.33±0.02 Ga can be directly related to regional tectono-magmatic events. Individual diamonds record episodic growth with age differences of up to 2 Ga. Dated diamond zones have variable ?13C?13C values (?5.0 to ?33.6‰ vs PDB) and appear to imply changes in subducted material over time. The studied Botswanan diamonds are interpreted to have formed in different tectono-magmatic environments that involve mixing of carbon from three sources that represent: i) subducted biogenic sediments (lightest ?13C?13C, low 87Sr/86Sr); ii) subducted carbonate-rich sediments (heavy ?13C?13C, high 87Sr/86Sr) and iii) depleted upper mantle (heavy ?13C?13C, low 87Sr/86Sr). We infer that older diamonds from these two localities are more likely to have light ?13C?13C due to greater subduction of biogenic sediments that may be related to hotter and more reduced conditions in the Archaean before the Great Oxidation Event at 2.3 Ga. These findings imply a marked temporal change in the nature of subducted carbon beneath Botswana and warrant further study to establish if this is a global phenomenon.
European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017, Vienna April 23-28, 1p. 5540 Abstract
Africa, Botswana
Deposit - Letlhakane
Abstract: The diamondiferous Letlhakane kimberlites are part of the Orapa kimberlite cluster (˜ 93.1 Ma) in north-eastern Botswana, located on the edge of the Zimbabwe Craton, close to the Proterozoic Magondi Mobile Belt. Here we report the first Re-Os ages of six individual eclogitic sulphide inclusions (3.0 to 35.7?g) from Letlhakane diamonds along with their rhenium, osmium, iridium and platinum concentrations, and carbon isotope, nitrogen content and N-aggregation data from the corresponding growth zones of the host diamonds. For the first time, Re-Os data will be compared to Sm-Nd ages of individual eclogitic silicate inclusions recovered from the same diamonds using a Triton Plus equipped with four 1013? amplifiers. The analysed inclusion set currently encompasses pairs of individual sulphides from two diamonds (LK040 sf4 & 5, LK113 sf1 & 2) and two sulphide inclusions from separate diamonds (LK048, LK362). Ongoing work will determine the Sm-Nd ages and element composition of multiple individual eclogitic garnets (LK113/LK362, n=4) and an eclogitic clinopyroxene (LK040) inclusion. TMA ages of the six sulphides range from 1.06 to 2.38 Ga (± 0.1 to 0.54 Ga) with Re and Os contents between 7 and 68 ppb and 0.03 and 0.3 ppb, respectively. The host diamond growth zones have low nitrogen abundances (21 to 43 ppm N) and high N-aggregation (53 to 90% IaB). Carbon isotope data suggests the involvement of crustal carbon (?13C between -19.3 to -22.7 ± 0.2 per mill) during diamond precipitation. Cathodoluminescence imaging of central plates from LK040 and LK113 displays homogenous internal structure with no distinct zonation. The two sulphide inclusions from LK040 define an 'isochron' of 0.92 ± 0.23 Ga (2SD) with initial 187Os/188Os = 1.31 ± 0.24. Sulphides from LK113 have clear imposed diamond morphology and indicate diamond formation at 0.93 ± 0.36 Ga (2SD) with initial 187Os/188Os = 0.69 ± 0.44. The variation in the initial 187Os/188Os does not justify including these inclusions (or any from other diamonds) on the same isochron and implies an extremely heterogeneous diamond crystallisation environment that incorporated recycled Os. C1-normalized osmium, iridium and platinum (PGE) compositions from the analysed sulphide inclusions display enrichment in Ir (3.4 to 33) and Pt (2.3 to 28.1) in comparison to eclogitic xenolith data from Orapa that are depleted relative to chondrite. The Re-Os isochrons determined in this study are within error of previously reported ages from the adjacent (˜40km) Orapa diamond mine (1.0 to 2.9 Ga) based on sulphide inclusions and a multi-point 990 ± 50 Ma (2SD) isochron for composite (n=730) silicate inclusions. Together with additional new Sm-Nd isochron age determinations from individual silicate inclusions from Letlhakane (2.3 ± 0.02 (n = 3); 1.0 ± 0.14 (n = 4) and 0.25 ± 0.04 Ga (n = 3), all 2SE) these data suggest a phase of Mesoproterozoic diamond formation as well as Neoarchean/Paleoproterozoic and Mesozoic diamond growth, in punctuated events spanning >2.0 Ga.
Abstract: Fibrous diamond growth zones can contain abundant high density fluid inclusions (HDFs) and these provide the most direct information on the source and composition of diamond-forming fluids. Four different fluid end-members have been defined; silicic, low-Mg carbonatitic, high-Mg carbonatitic, and saline. Continuous arrays exist between the silicic and low-Mg carbonatitic end-member and between the saline and high-Mg carbonatitic end-member. Different processes have been proposed to explain the two major element compositional arrays, but the origin of and relation between the various fluid end-members is still uncertain. In this study we provide new constraints on the evolution and origin of these diamond-forming fluids by combining noble gas systematics with ?13C, N concentrations, and fluid inclusion compositions.
Geophysical Research Abstracts www.researchgate.net, Vol. 20, EGU2018-128291p. Abstract
Africa, South Africa
diamond inclusions
Abstract: Changing recycling budgets of surface materials and volatiles by subduction of tectonic plates influence the compositions of Earth’s major reservoirs and affect climate throughout geological time. Fluids play a key role in processes governing subduction recycling, but quantifying the exact fate of volatiles introduced into the mantle at ancient and recent destructive plate boundaries remains difficult. Here, we report on the role of fluids and the fate of volatiles and other elements at two very different tectonic settings: 1) at subduction settings, and 2) within the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). We will show how olivine-hosted melt inclusions from subduction zones and mineral inclusions in diamond from the SCLM are used to reveal how changing tectonic settings influence volatile cycles with time. Melt inclusions from the complex Italian post-collisional tectonic setting are used to identify changing subduction recycling through time. The use of CO2 in deeply trapped melt inclusions instead of in lavas or volcanic gases provides a direct estimate of deep recycling, minimizing possible effects of contamination during transfer through the crust. The aim is to distinguish if increased recycling of sediments from the down-going plate at continental subduction settings results in increased deep CO2 recycling or if the increased CO2 flux results from crustal degassing of the overriding plate. Both processes likely affected climate through Earth history but could thus far not be discriminated. The study of mineral inclusions and their host diamonds from the SCLM can link changes in the cycling of carbon-rich fluids and the time and process through which the carbon redistribution took place. We use Sm-Nd isotope techniques to date the mineral inclusions and use the carbon isotope data of the host diamonds to investigate the growth conditions. I will present case-studies of peridotitic and eclogitic diamonds from three mines in Southern Africa.
Mineralogy and Petrology, 10.1007/ s710-018-0592 -9, 10p.
Africa, Botswana
deposit - Orapa, Damtshaa, BK09, BK12,AK01
Abstract: Twenty eclogitic diamonds from Orapa Mine (Botswana) with an unusual yellow colour are characterised for their growth structure, N systematics, and C isotope composition, and the major element composition of their silicate inclusions. The diamonds show complex luminescence with green, blue and non-luminescent zones and occasional sector zonation. All parts of the diamonds have low total N concentrations (<50 at.ppm, with one exception of <125 at.ppm) and a limited range in C isotope composition (?5.7 to ?10.6‰). Fourier Transform Infrared spectra show bands at 1334, 1332, 1282, and 1240 cm?1 typical for Ib-IaA diamonds. Relict unaggregated N defects (Nso and Ns+) are present and the preservation is likely caused by the low N concentrations and possible low mantle residence temperatures rather than young diamond formation (inclusion ages of 140, 1096, 1699 Ma; Timmerman et al. Earth Planet Sc Lett 463:178-188, 2017). Garnet and clinopyroxene inclusions extracted from 14 diamonds have an eclogitic composition with relatively low Ca contents and based on all characteristics, these diamonds form a distinct population from Orapa.
Mineralogy and Petrology, 10.1007/ s710-018- 0603-x 15p.
Africa, South Africa
deposit - Finsch, De Beers Pool, Koffiefontein
Abstract: Fibrous diamond growth zones often contain abundant high-density fluid (HDF) inclusions and these provide the most direct information on diamond-forming fluids. Noble gases are incompatible elements and particularly useful in evaluating large-scale mantle processes. This study further constrains the evolution and origin of the HDFs by combining noble gas systematics with ?¹³C, N concentrations, and fluid inclusion compositions for 21 individual growth zones in 13 diamonds from the Finsch (n = 3), DeBeers Pool (n = 7), and Koffiefontein (n = 3) mines on the Kaapvaal Craton. C isotope compositions range from ?2.8 to ?8.6‰ and N contents vary between 268 and 867 at.ppm, except for one diamond with contents of <30 at.ppm N. Nine of the thirteen studied diamonds contained saline HDF inclusions, but the other four diamonds had carbonatitic or silicic HDF inclusions. Carbonatitic and silicic HDFs yielded low He concentrations, R/Ra (³He/?Hesample/³He/?Heair) values of 3.2–6.7, and low ??Ar/³?Ar ratios of 390–1940. Noble gas characteristics of carbonatitic-silicic HDFs appear consistent with a subducted sediment origin and interaction with eclogite. Saline HDFs are characterised by high He concentrations, with R/Ra mostly between 3.9 and 5.7, and a wide range in ??Ar/³?Ar ratios (389–30,200). The saline HDFs likely originated from subducted oceanic crust with low He but moderate Ar contents. Subsequent interaction of these saline HDFs with mantle peridotite could explain the increase in He concentrations and mantle-like He isotope composition, with the range in low to high ??Ar/³?Ar ratios dependent on the initial ³?Ar content and extent of lithosphere interaction. The observed negative correlation between ?He contents and R/Ra values in saline HDFs indicates significant in situ radiogenic ?He production.
Noble gas geochemistry of fluid inclusions in South African diamonds: implications for the origin of diamond-forming fluids.
Abstract: Six diamonds with a fibrous core, intermediate zone and monocrystalline outer zone (“cloudy diamonds”) from the Koffiefontein mine, South Africa, were investigated for N concentrations, carbon isotope compositions and micro-inclusion compositions along core to rim traverses. This study evaluates the nature of the change from fibrous to gem diamond growth and the relation between major element composition of high density fluid inclusions and N ? ?¹³C in fibrous growth zones. Three diamonds contain saline to carbonatitic fluid micro-inclusions with constant or increasing carbon isotope values which are inferred to have formed by varying amounts of Rayleigh fractionation in a closed system of a carbonate-bearing fluid. Continuous N ? ?¹³C fractionation trends from the fibrous to gem growth zone in two of the diamonds and equally low nitrogen aggregation states indicate formation of diamond shortly before kimberlite eruption from a single fluid without a time gap between fibrous and gem diamond growth. High major element/CO32- ratios in the growth media resulted in a constant major element composition of the fluid inclusions found in the studied fibrous diamonds. The transition from fibrous to gem diamond growth is likely caused by the precipitation of diamond reducing the degree of oversaturation of carbon in the fluid and hence decreasing the rate of diamond growth. Two other diamonds have inclusions that change from silicate minerals in the inner fibrous growth zones towards pure saline fluid compositions in the outer fibrous growth zones. This decrease in Si, Mg and Ca and increase in K and Cl in the inclusions is accompanied by a decrease in ?¹³C values and N contents. These trends are suggested to be the result from gradually mixing in more saline fluids with lower ?¹³C values. One diamond with silicic inclusions has significant N aggregation into B-centres, suggesting this fluid is different and that diamond formation occurred significantly (e.g. 1250 °C gives ?10 Ma) before the kimberlite eruption.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press available 29p.
Africa, South Africa, Botswana
deposit - Koffiefontein, Letlhakane, Orapa, Finsch, De Beers Pool
Abstract: Ten individual gem-quality monocrystalline diamonds of known peridotite/eclogite paragenesis from Southern Africa (Koffiefontein, Letlhakane, Orapa) were studied for trace element concentrations and He and Ar abundances and isotopic compositions. In addition, two samples, consisting of pooled fragments of gem-quality peridotitic diamonds from Finsch and DeBeers Pool respectively, were analysed for noble gases. Previous studies (Richardson et al., 1984; Pearson et al., 1998; Gress et al., 2017; Timmerman et al., 2017) provided age constraints of 0.09, 1.0-1.1, 1.7, 2.3, and 3.2-3.4?Ga on mineral inclusions in the studied diamonds, allowing us to study trace elements and noble gases over 3 Gyr of geological time. Concentrations of trace elements in the diamonds are very low - a few hundred ppt to several tens of ppbs - and are likely dependent on the amount of sub-micron inclusions present. Trace element patterns and trace element/3He ratios of the studied monocrystalline diamonds are similar to those in fibrous diamonds, suggesting that trace elements and stable noble gas isotopes reside within the same locations in diamond and track the same processes that are reflected in the trace element patterns. We cannot discern any temporal differences in these geochemical tracers, suggesting that the processes generating them have been occurring over at least the past 2.3?Ga. 3He/4He ratios decrease and 4He and 40Ar* contents increase with increasing age of peridotitic and some eclogitic diamonds, showing the importance of in-situ radiogenic 4He and 40Ar ingrowth by the decay of U-Th-Sm and K respectively. For most gem-quality monocrystalline diamonds, uncertainties in the 3He/4He evolution of the continental lithospheric mantle combined with large analytical uncertainties and possible spatial variability in U-Th-Sm concentrations limit our ability to provide estimates of diamond formation ages using 4He ingrowth. However, the limited observed 4He ingrowth (low U?+?Th/3He) together with a R/Ra value of 5.3 for peridotitic diamond K306 is comparable to the present-day sub-continental lithospheric mantle value and supports the young diamond formation age found by Re-Os dating of sulphides in the same diamond by Pearson et al. (1998). After correction for in-situ radiogenic 4He produced since diamond formation a large variation in 3He/4He remains in ?1?Ga old eclogitic diamonds that is suggested to result from the variable influence of subducted altered oceanic crust that has low 3He/4He. Hence, the 3He/4He isotope tracer supports an origin of the diamond-forming fluids from recycled oceanic crust for eclogitic diamonds, as indicated by other geochemical proxies.
Abstract: The physical characteristics and impermeability of diamonds allow them to retain radiogenic 4He produced in-situ from radioactive decay of U, Th and Sm. This study investigates the U-Th/He systematics of fibrous diamonds and provides a first step in quantification of the uncertainties associated with determining the in-situ produced radiogenic 4He concentration. Factors determining the total amount of measured helium in a diamond are the initial trapped 4He, the in-situ produced radiogenic 4He, ?-implantation, ?-ejection, diffusion, and cosmogenic 3He production. Alpha implantation is negligible, and diffusion is slow, but the cosmogenic 3He component can be significant for alluvial diamonds as the recovery depth is unknown. Therefore, samples were grouped based on similar major and trace element compositions to determine possible genetically related samples. A correlation between the 4He and U-Th concentrations approximates the initial 4He concentration at the axis-intersect and age as the slope. In this study, the corrections were applied to eight fibrous cubic diamonds from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and two diamonds from the Jwaneng kimberlite in Botswana. A correlation exists between the 4He and U-Th concentrations of the group ZRC2, 3, and 6, and of the group CNG2, 3, and 4 and both correlations deviate significantly from a 71?Ma kimberlite eruption isochron. The U-Th/He dating method appears a promising new approach to date metasomatic fluid events that result in fibrous diamond formation and this is the first evidence that some fibrous diamonds can be formed 10s to 100s Myr before the kimberlite eruption.
Abstract: He-Ne-Ar compositions were determined in diamonds from the Argyle lamproite, Western Australia, to assess whether subducted material affects the noble gas budget and composition of stable old sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Twenty diamonds (both peridotitic and eclogitic) were characterized for their carbon isotopic compositions and N abundance and aggregation from which 10 eclogitic growth zones and 5 peridotitic growth zones were analysed for their He-Ne-Ar compositions. The eclogitic diamonds have ?13C values of ?4.7 to ?16.6‰ indicating a subduction signature, whereas the peridotitic diamonds have mantle-like compositions of ?4.0 to ?7.8‰. Mantle residence temperatures based on N-in-diamond thermometry showed that the eclogitic diamonds were mainly formed at 1260-1270?°C or above 1300?°C near the base of the lithosphere, whereas the peridotitic diamonds generally formed at lower temperatures (mostly 1135-1230?°C). A noble gas subduction signature is present to various extents in the eclogitic diamonds and is inferred from a hyperbolic mixing relationship between R/Ra and 4He and ?13C values concentrations with a predominance of low R/Ra values (<0.5; R/Ra?=?3He/4Hesample/3He/4Heair). In addition, low 40Ar/4He and 40Ar/36Ar ratios, high nucleogenic 21Ne/4He and low 3He/22Ne ratios are characteristic of subducted material and were found in the eclogitic diamonds. The peridotitic diamonds show generally higher R/Ra values (median 1.1?±?1.1) and lower 4He/40Ar ratios compared to eclogitic diamonds (median 0.1?±?0.8 R/Ra; with 7/10 samples having an average of 0.13?±?0.14 R/Ra). The studied peridotitic diamond growth zones showed a negative correlation between R/Ra and 4He concentrations over 2 orders of magnitude and limited variation in 3He, that can be largely explained by radiogenic 4He ingrowth. At low 4He concentrations the R/Ra value is around 2.8 for both paragenesis of diamonds and is significantly lower than present-day SCLM values, suggesting (1) a more radiogenic helium isotope composition beneath the Halls Creek Orogen than those for typical SCLM from other cratons and/or (2) that the peridotitic diamonds are formed from fluids that also had a subduction input. The high mantle residence temperature and low R/Ra value in the core and low temperature and higher R/Ra value in the rim of a single peridotitic diamond indicate multiple growth events and that part of the lherzolitic diamond population may be genetically related to the eclogitic diamonds. Combining the diamond mantle residence temperatures with noble gas compositions shows that noble gas subduction signatures are present at the base of the lithosphere below 180?km depth beneath Argyle and that fluid migration and interaction with the SCLM occurred over scales of at least 15?km, between 180 and 165?km depth.
Abstract: Isotope compositions of basalts provide information about the chemical reservoirs in Earth’s interior and play a critical role in defining models of Earth’s structure. However, the helium isotope signature of the mantle below depths of a few hundred kilometers has been difficult to measure directly. This information is a vital baseline for understanding helium isotopes in erupted basalts. We measured He-Sr-Pb isotope ratios in superdeep diamond fluid inclusions from the transition zone (depth of 410 to 660 kilometers) unaffected by degassing and shallow crustal contamination. We found extreme He-C-Pb-Sr isotope variability, with high 3He/4He ratios related to higher helium concentrations. This indicates that a less degassed, high-3He/4He deep mantle source infiltrates the transition zone, where it interacts with recycled material, creating the diverse compositions recorded in ocean island basalts.
Abstract: Carbonatitic high-density fluids and carbonate mineral inclusions in lithospheric and sub-lithospheric diamonds reveal comparable compositions to crustal carbonatites and, thus, support the presence of carbon-atitic melts to depths of at least the mantle transition zone (~410-660 km depth). Diamonds and high pressure-high temperature (HP-HT) experiments confirm the stability of lower mantle carbonates. Experiments also show that carbonate melts have extremely low viscosity in the upper mantle. Hence, carbonatitic melts may participate in the deep (mantle) carbon cycle and be highly effective metasomatic agents. Deep carbon in the upper mantle can be mobilized by metasomatic carbonatitic melts, which may have become increasingly volumetrically significant since the onset of carbonate subduction (~3 Ga) to the present day.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 478, pp. 52-58.
Canada, Quebec
Mistastin crater
Abstract: Bolide impacts influence primordial evolution of planetary bodies because they can cause instantaneous melting and vaporization of both crust and impactors. Temperatures reached by impact-generated silicate melts are unknown because meteorite impacts are ephemeral, and established mineral and rock thermometers have limited temperature ranges. Consequently, impact melt temperatures in global bombardment models of the early Earth and Moon are poorly constrained, and may not accurately predict the survival, stabilization, geochemical evolution and cooling of early crustal materials. Here we show geological evidence for the transformation of zircon to cubic zirconia plus silica in impact melt from the 28 km diameter Mistastin Lake crater, Canada, which requires super-heating in excess of 2370?°C. This new temperature determination is the highest recorded from any crustal rock. Our phase heritage approach extends the thermometry range for impact melts by several hundred degrees, more closely bridging the gap between nature and theory. Profusion of >2370?°C superheated impact melt during high intensity bombardment of Hadean Earth likely facilitated consumption of early-formed crustal rocks and minerals, widespread volatilization of various species, including hydrates, and formation of dry, rigid, refractory crust.
Journal of Mining Science , Vol. 51, 5, pp. 1235-1241.
Russia
Mineral processing ** in Russian
Abstract: The article presents new test results on structural and chemical properties of mineral formations on the surface of natural hydrophilic diamonds using Raman, X-ray phase and Auger spectroscopy methods. Analysis of morphological features of nano formations involved scanning electron microscope Jeol-5610 and analyzer INCA. Based on the studies into phase composition of diamonds non-recovered in the circuit of kimberlite ore processing, two types of mineral formations are discovered on their surface: microformations as silicate nature globules less than 1 ?m in size and silicate nano films more than 5 nm thick. The tests detect also presence of layered talc silicates that make diamond surface hydrophilic.
Journal of Mining Science, Vol. 51, 6, pp. 1235-1241.
Russia
Diamond morphology
Abstract: The article presents new test results on structural and chemical properties of mineral formations on the surface of natural hydrophilic diamonds using Raman, X-ray phase and Auger spectroscopy methods. Analysis of morphological features of nano formations involved scanning electron microscope Jeol-5610 and analyzer INCA. Based on the studies into phase composition of diamonds non-recovered in the circuit of kimberlite ore processing, two types of mineral formations are discovered on their surface: microformations as silicate nature globules less than 1 ?m in size and silicate nano films more than 5 nm thick. The tests detect also presence of layered talc silicates that make diamond surface hydrophilic.
Gregoire, M., Tinguely, C., Bell, D.R., Le Roex, A.P.
Spinel lherzolite xenoliths from the Premier kimberlite ( Kaapvaal craton) South Africa: nature and evolution of the shallow upper mantle beneath Bushveld Complex.
Journal of Petrology, https://doi.org/ 10.1093/petrology /egaa040 50p. Pdf
Africa, South Africa
kimberlites
Abstract: Eclogite xenoliths, together with garnet pyroxenites and some mafic garnet granulites, found in kimberlites located along the southern margin of the Kaapvaal craton in southern Africa have been analysed by electron microprobe and mass spectrometry techniques to determine their geochemical characteristics. The majority of eclogites are bimineralic with garnet and omphacitic clinopyroxene in subequal proportions, with rutile as the main accessory phase; a few contain kyanite. Based on K2O in clinopyroxene and Na2O in garnet, the eclogites can be classified as Group II eclogites, and the majority are high-Ca in character. Garnet pyroxenites comprise garnet clinopyroxenites and garnet websterites. Major and trace element concentrations and isotope ratios of reconstituted bulk rock compositions of the eclogites and garnet pyroxenites allow constraints to be placed on depth of origin and likely protolith history. Calculated Fe–Mg exchange equilibration temperatures for the eclogites range from 815 to 1000?°C, at pressures of 1·7?±?0·4?GPa as determined by REE partitioning, indicating that they were sampled from depths of 50–55?km; i.e. within the lower crust of the Namaqua–Natal Belt. The garnet pyroxenites show slightly lower temperatures (686–835?°C) at similar pressures of equilibration. Initial 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (calculated to time of kimberlite emplacement) of both lithologies overlap the field for lower crustal samples from the Namaqua–Natal Belt. Further evidence for a crustal origin is found in the similar REE patterns shown by many of the associated garnet granulite xenoliths. Garnet pyroxenites are interpreted to have a similar origin as the associated eclogites but with the mafic protolith having insufficient Na (i.e. low modal plagioclase) to allow for development of omphacitic pyroxene. Metamorphism of the mafic protoliths to these eclogites and garnet pyroxenites is inferred to have occurred during crustal shortening and thickening associated with the collision of the Namaqua–Natal Belt with the Kaapvaal craton at 1–1·2?Ga.
Abstract: Eclogite xenoliths, together with garnet pyroxenites and some mafic garnet granulites, found in kimberlites located along the southern margin of the Kaapvaal craton in southern Africa have been analysed by electron microprobe and mass spectrometry techniques to determine their geochemical characteristics. The majority of eclogites are bimineralic with garnet and omphacitic clinopyroxene in subequal proportions, with rutile as the main accessory phase; a few contain kyanite. Based on K2O in clinopyroxene and Na2O in garnet, the eclogites can be classified as Group II eclogites, and the majority are high-Ca in character. Garnet pyroxenites comprise garnet clinopyroxenites and garnet websterites. Major and trace element concentrations and isotope ratios of reconstituted bulk rock compositions of the eclogites and garnet pyroxenites allow constraints to be placed on depth of origin and likely protolith history. Calculated Fe-Mg exchange equilibration temperatures for the eclogites range from 815 to 1000?°C, at pressures of 1•7?±?0•4?GPa as determined by REE partitioning, indicating that they were sampled from depths of 50-55?km; i.e. within the lower crust of the Namaqua-Natal Belt. The garnet pyroxenites show slightly lower temperatures (686-835?°C) at similar pressures of equilibration. Initial 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (calculated to time of kimberlite emplacement) of both lithologies overlap the field for lower crustal samples from the Namaqua-Natal Belt. Further evidence for a crustal origin is found in the similar REE patterns shown by many of the associated garnet granulite xenoliths. Garnet pyroxenites are interpreted to have a similar origin as the associated eclogites but with the mafic protolith having insufficient Na (i.e. low modal plagioclase) to allow for development of omphacitic pyroxene. Metamorphism of the mafic protoliths to these eclogites and garnet pyroxenites is inferred to have occurred during crustal shortening and thickening associated with the collision of the Namaqua-Natal Belt with the Kaapvaal craton at 1-1•2?Ga.
Abstract: Controversies surround the origin of kimberlite megacrysts, including whether and how they are genetically related to their host kimberlites, the relationship between the Cr-poor and Cr-rich suites and the dominant processes responsible for elemental and isotopic variations of megacrysts from a given kimberlite. We present new in-situ major and trace element and Sr isotopic results for clinoyroxene and garnet megacrysts from four southern African kimberlites: Colossus and Orapa (Group 1 kimberlites on the Zimbabwe craton), and Kalkput and Bellsbank (Group 2 kimberlites on the western Kaapvaal craton), that include both Cr-poor and Cr-rich megacryst varieties. Cr-poor megacrysts are present at Colossus, Orapa and Kalkput and the data exhibit tight, well-defined trends on major element diagrams as well as incompatible and rare earth element abundances similar to those previously reported for Cr-poor megacrysts. Cr-rich megacrysts, which are also present at Orapa and are the only variety present at Bellsbank, generally have higher Mg# values, lack well-defined major element trends and show stronger incompatible element enrichments as well as more radiogenic 87Sr/86Sri ratios than Cr-poor megacrysts from the same kimberlite group. Thermobarometry indicates that the Cr-poor megacrysts equilibrated at temperatures of ?1200 to 1450 °C and pressures of 4.5 to 7.5 GPa. Cr-rich megacrysts, in contrast, extend to temperatures and pressures as low as 700 °C and 3 GPa, respectively. This indicates that, in the studied suites, Cr-poor megacrysts equilibrated at high temperatures in the lower lithosphere (>135 km), whereas Cr-rich megacrysts typically equilibrated at lower temperatures and pressures. Within the Cr-poor megacrysts from Group 1 and Group 2 kimberlites, there is a clear correspondence between kimberlite group, diagnostic incompatible element ratios (e.g., Nb/La) and Sr isotope ratios that parallel the differences noted between whole-rock Group 1 and Group 2 kimberlites. In the case of Cr-poor megacrysts, similar calculated melt compositions in equilibrium with garnet and clinopyroxene from the same kimberlite were obtained using recent high-pressure mineral?carbonated melt partition coefficients. This suggests formation in conditions close to trace element equilibrium, and is consistent with crystallization from primitive melts with kimberlite-like trace element compositions. In the case of Cr-rich megacrysts, differences in the compositions of melts in equilibrium with clinopyroxene and garnet tend to be larger, and melts in equilibrium with Cr-rich clinopyroxene tend to show significantly greater incompatible element enrichments than those of estimated near-primary kimberlite melts. This could be due to the different behaviour of clinopyroxene and garnet during metasomatic melt-rock interaction, but the apparent disequilibrium between clinopyroxene and garnet could also be due to some of the Cr-rich megacrysts actually being peridotitic xenocrysts. We propose a model for the origin of southern African megacrysts in which carbonated protokimberlite melts formed stockwork-like bodies of variable size in the deep lithosphere (>130 km), which fed networks of melt-filled veins extending into the surrounding and overlying mantle. Crystallization of larger melt bodies resulted in megacryst assemblages dominated by Cr-poor megacrysts, and the incompatible element and isotopic characteristics of these dominantly reflect those of the protokimberlite melt. In contrast, crystallization of smaller melt bodies and their vein networks resulted in megacryst assemblages dominated by Cr-rich megacrysts, which formed as a result of extensive assimilation and metasomatic melt-rock interaction between protokimberlite and peridotite wallrock at low melt/rock ratios, particularly in the middle to shallow lithosphere where pre-existing potassic metasomatic heterogeneities are prevalent. The Cr-rich nature and enrichments in incompatible elements and radiogenic Sr in the Cr-rich megacrysts reflect extensive interaction of their parental magmas with this metasomatized peridotite.
Abstract: Deep crustal and mantle rocks are exhumed in core complex mode of extension in three types of structures: metamorphic core complexes, oceanic core complexes and magma poor passive margins. Using available analogue and numerical models and their comparison with natural examples, the present paper reviews the mechanical processes involved in these different types of extensional setting. Three main aspects are considered: i) the primary role of lithosphere rheology, ii) the lithosphere-scale patterns of progressive deformation that lead to the exhumation of deep metamorphic or mantle rocks and iii) the initiation and development of detachment zones. Crustal core complexes develop in continental lithospheres whose Moho temperature is higher than 750 °C with “upper crust-dominated” strength profiles. Contrary to what is commonly believed, it is argued from analogue and numerical models that detachments that accommodate exhumation of core complexes do not initiate at the onset of extension but in the course of progressive extension when the exhuming ductile crust reaches the surface. In models, convex upward detachments result from a rolling hinge process. Mantle core complexes develop in either the oceanic lithosphere, at slow and ultra-slow spreading ridges, or in continental lithospheres, whose initial Moho temperature is lower than 750 °C, with “sub-Moho mantle-dominated” strength profiles. It is argued that the mechanism of mantle exhumation at passive margins is a nearly symmetrical necking process at lithosphere scale without major and permanent detachment, except if strong strain localization could occur in the lithosphere mantle. Distributed crustal extension, by upper crust faulting above a décollement along the ductile crust increases toward the rift axis up to crustal breakup. Mantle rocks exhume in the zone of crustal breakup accommodated by conjugate mantle shear zones that migrate with the rift axis, during increasing extension.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, https://doi,org/ 10.1029/2018JB016482
Mantle
anistropy
Abstract: Several theoretical studies indicate that a substantial fraction of the measured seismic anisotropy could be interpreted as extrinsic anisotropy associated with compositional layering in rocks, reducing the significance of strain?induced intrinsic anisotropy. Here we quantify the potential contribution of grain?scale and rock?scale compositional anisotropy to the observations by (i) combining effective medium theories with realistic estimates of mineral isotropic elastic properties and (ii) measuring velocities of synthetic seismic waves propagating through modeled strain?induced microstructures. It is shown that for typical mantle and oceanic crust subsolidus compositions, rock?scale compositional layering does not generate any substantial extrinsic anisotropy (<1%) because of the limited contrast in isotropic elastic moduli among different rocks. Quasi?laminated structures observed in subducting slabs using P and S wave scattering are often invoked as a source of extrinsic anisotropy, but our calculations show that they only generate minor seismic anisotropy (<0.1-0.2% of Vp and Vs radial anisotropy). More generally, rock?scale compositional layering, when present, cannot be detected with seismic anisotropy studies but mainly with wave scattering. In contrast, when grain?scale layering is present, significant extrinsic anisotropy could exist in vertically limited levels of the mantle such as in a mid?ocean ridge basalt?rich lower transition zone or in the uppermost lower mantle where foliated basalts and pyrolites display up to 2-3% Vp and 3-6% Vs radial anisotropy. Thus, seismic anisotropy observed around the 660?km discontinuity could be possibly related to grain?scale shape?preferred orientation. Extrinsic anisotropy can form also in a compositionally homogeneous mantle, where velocity variations associated with major phase transitions can generate up to 1% of positive radial anisotropy.
Abstract: Calcium silicate perovskite, CaSiO3, is arguably the most geochemically important phase in the lower mantle, because it concentrates elements that are incompatible in the upper mantle, including the heat-generating elements thorium and uranium, which have half-lives longer than the geologic history of Earth. We report CaSiO3-perovskite as an approved mineral (IMA2020-012a) with the name davemaoite. The natural specimen of davemaoite proves the existence of compositional heterogeneity within the lower mantle. Our observations indicate that davemaoite also hosts potassium in addition to uranium and thorium in its structure. Hence, the regional and global abundances of davemaoite influence the heat budget of the deep mantle, where the mineral is thermodynamically stable.
Gertner, I., Tishin, P., Vrublevskii, V., Sazonov, A., Zvyagina, E., Kolmakov, Y.
Neoproterozoic alkaline igneous rocks, carbonatites and gold deposits of the Yenisei Ridge, central Siberia: evidence of mantle plume activity and late collision...
Reutsky, V.N., Shiryaev, A.A., Titkov, S.V., Wiedenbeck, M., Zudina, N.N.
Evidence for large scale fractionation of carbon isotopes and of nitrogen impurity during crystallization of gem quality cubic diamonds from placers of North Yakutia.
Geochemistry International, Vol. 55, 11, pp. 988-999.
Russia, Yakutia
alluvials
Abstract: The spatial distribution of carbon and nitrogen isotopes and of nitrogen concentrations is studied in detail in three gem quality cubic diamonds of variety II according to Orlov’s classification. Combined with the data on composition of fluid inclusions our results point to the crystallization of the diamonds from a presumably oxidized carbonate fluid. It is shown that in the growth direction ?13C of the diamond becomes systematically lighter by 2-3‰ (from -13.7 to -15.6‰ for one profile and from -11.7 to -14.1‰ for a second profile). Simultaneously, we observe substantial decrease in the nitrogen concentration (from 400-1000 to 10-30 at ppm) and a previously unrecognized enrichment of nitrogen in light isotope, exceeding 30‰. The systematic and substantial changes of the chemical and isotopic composition can be explained using the Burton-Prim-Slichter model, which relates partition coefficients of an impurity with the crystal growth rate. It is shown that changes in effective partition coefficients due to a gradual decrease in crystal growth rate describes fairly well the observed scale of the chemical and isotopic variations if the diamond-fluid partition coefficient for nitrogen is significantly smaller than unity. This model shows that nitrogen isotopic composition in diamond may result from isotopic fractionation during growth and not reflect isotopic composition of the mantle fluid. Furthermore, it is shown that the infra-red absorption at 1332 ?m-1 is an integral part of the Y-defect spectrum. In the studied natural diamonds the 1290 ?m-1 IR absorption band does not correlate with boron concentration.
Doklady Earth Sciences, Vol. 496, 1, pp. 45-47. pdf
Russia
deposit - Anabar
Abstract: Nitrogen-vacancy NV- centers, which are of considerable interest for quantum electronics, are artificially produced in the diamond structure by irradiation and subsequent annealing. In this work, these centers were revealed in natural diamonds of cubic habit (type IaA + Ib according to physical classification) from an industrial placer deposit of the Anabar River (NE Siberian platform) using the method of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR). Localization of the NV- centers in the dislocations slip planes {111}, separated by distances of about 5 ?m, was established by means of scanning the ODMR and PL signals with a submicron resolution. In various crystals, one or two intersecting systems of such slip planes have been revealed. The largest amounts of these defects were found in the peripheral zones of crystals containing increased amounts of single isomorphic nitrogen atoms in the structure. The data obtained indicate the formation of the NV- centers in natural diamonds under post-crystallization plastic deformation, i.e., by a mechanism that differs from the widely used method of their artificial production.
Geochemistry International, Vol. 57, 9, pp. 1015-1023.
South America, Brazil, Africa, Central African Republic, Russia
carbonado
Abstract: Structural peculiarities of several types of cryptocrystalline diamond varieties: carbonado, impact-related yakutite and cryptocrystalline diamond aggregates from kimberlite were studied using Infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction contrast (DCT—Diffraction Contrast Tomography) and phase contrast tomography (PCT). It is shown that the porosity of the carbonado and kimberlitic cryptocrystalline aggregates is similar being in range of 5-10 vol %, possibly indicating similar formation mechanism(s), whereas that of yakutite is essentially zero. Crystallographic texture is observed for some carbonado samples. It is suggested that at least partially the texture is explained by deformation-related bands. Infrared spectroscopy reveals presence of hydrous and, probably, of hydrocarbon species in carbonado.
White-Gaynor, A.L., Nyblade, A.A., Durrheim, R., Raveloson, R., van der Meijde, M., Fadel, I., Paulssen, H., Kwadiba, M., Ntibinyane, O., Titus, N., Sitali, M.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 10.1029/GC008925 20p. Pdf
Africa, South Africa
Geophysics, seismic
Abstract: We report new P and S wave velocity models of the upper mantle beneath southern Africa using data recorded on seismic stations spanning the entire subcontinent. Beneath most of the Damara Belt, including the Okavango Rift, our models show lower than average velocities (?0.8% Vp; ?1.2% Vs) with an abrupt increase in velocities along the terrane's southern margin. We attribute the lower than average velocities to thinner lithosphere (~130 km thick) compared to thicker lithosphere (~200 km thick) immediately to the south under the Kalahari Craton. Beneath the Etendeka Flood Basalt Province, higher than average velocities (0.25% Vp; 0.75% Vs) indicate thicker and/or compositionally distinct lithosphere compared to other parts of the Damara Belt. In the Rehoboth Province, higher than average velocities (0.3% Vp; 0.5% Vs) suggest the presence of a microcraton, as do higher than average velocities (1.0% Vp; 1.5% Vs) under the Southern Irumide Belt. Lower than average velocities (?0.4% Vp; ?0.7% Vs) beneath the Bushveld Complex and parts of the Mgondi and Okwa terranes are consistent with previous studies, which attributed them to compositionally modified lithosphere resulting from Precambrian magmatic events. There is little evidence for thermally modified upper mantle beneath any of these terranes which could provide a source of uplift for the Southern African Plateau. In contrast, beneath parts of the Irumide Belt in southern and central Zambia and the Mozambique Belt in central Mozambique, deep?seated low velocity anomalies (?0.7% Vp; ?0.8% Vs) can be attributed to upper mantle extensions of the African superplume structure.
Journal of the Geological Society of India, Vol. 97, pp. 567-570.
India
deposit - Kalyandurg
Abstract: The paper pertains to the studies carried out on the eclogitic xenoliths of KL-2 kimberlite of Kalyandurg kimberlite cluster in south India. Petrographic studies revealed bi-mineralic and kyanite-bearing eclogitic xenoliths in KL-2 kimberlite. The bimineralic and kyanite-bearing eclogites of Kalyandurg KL-2 kimberlite pipe show variation in modal proportion of garnet, omphacite, clinopyroxene and kyanite. The paper reports discovery of native gold grains and Au-Pt alloy in the kyanite-bearing eclogite xenoliths of KL-2 kimberlite. The flaky gold grains occurring in the matrix of kyanite-bearing eclogite are homogeneous and two grains of Au-Pt alloy with Au and Pt in the proportion of 9.8:1.2 are also present. This is the first report of gold and gold-platinum alloy specs from eclogitic xenoliths of Indian kimberlites.
Abstract: Gravity anomalies across the Indian region depict most of the geological and tectonic domains of the Indian continental lithosphere, which evolved through Archean cratonic nucleation, Proterozoic accretion, Phanerozoic India-Eurasia plate convergence, and modification through many thermal perturbations and rifting. Integrated analysis of gravity and geoid anomalies together with topographic and heat flow data led to deciphering the mechanism of isostatic compensation of topographic and geological loads, lithospheric structure, and composition. This study discusses the nature of gravity (free-air, Bouguer and Isostatic) and geoid anomalies in relation to the topography, geology, and tectonics, and presents a lithospheric density model across the peninsular India and Himalaya. Southern peninsular Indian region shows relatively low Bouguer gravity anomalies compared to the northern region. The mobile belts are generally observed to have relatively higher Bouguer gravity anomalies, e.g., Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt compared to the shield regions. The gravity lows are observed over topographic features like the Western Ghats and Himalaya, while some of the topographic highs like Aravalli show positive gravity anomaly. The Indian Ocean Geoid Low varies from -82 m over Dharwar Craton to -98 m over the Southern Granulite Terrain and finally reaches a significant low of -106 m in the Indian Ocean. Flexural isostatic compensation with variable Effective Elastic Thickness (EET) ~10 km to 50 km prevails over the stable continental region. The lithospheric thickness varies from 80 km along the coastal region to 120-130 km beneath the Saurashtra Plateau, the Southern Granulite Terrain, and the Eastern Indian Shield, and reaches to more than 200 km under the Himalayan orogenic belt in the north. From Dharwar Craton to Bundelkhand Craton in central India, the lithospheric thickness varies between 160 and 180 km.
Abstract: The eastern Indian shield consists of Archaean Singhbhum Craton and Proterozoic Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex sandwiching the Singhbhum Mobile Belt. Since the cratonization of the Singhbhum Craton in Archaean, the growth of the eastern Indian shield took place in time and space through tectono-magmatic processes. The stability of cold and thick lithosphere is fundamental to long-term survival of cratons, whereas the geophysical studies have detected the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) under the eastern Indian shield at depths too shallow to be called stable. We analysed the terrestrial Bouguer gravity anomaly, and satellite-based free-air anomaly, geoid undulation, and elevation data to ascertain the 2D lithospheric density structure across the region. Our density model illustrates that the density inhomogeneity exists in the crust across the three tectonic domains of the eastern Indian shield. The derived crustal model shows an upper and lower crustal density variation from 2740 to 2770 kg/m3, and from 2930 to 2940 kg/m3, respectively, and a reasonably smooth Moho at 37-41 km depth. Towards the north, the Moho undulates from 40 to 43 km under the foreland Ganga basin, whereas in the south, it varies from 38 to 30 km under the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt and lastly moves to ~20 km in the Bay of Bengal. In the southern part of the Singhbhum Craton, an undissipated lithospheric mantle root is found at a depth of ~150 km. Otherwise, the LAB shallows to ~132 km in the northern Singhbhum Craton and Singhbhum Mobile Belt and then thickens to about 135-140 km depth beneath the Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex. The foreland Ganga basin toward the extreme north is characterized by a more in-depth LAB lying at a depth of over 200 km. The LAB, in the Bay of Bengal, is at a depth of 112-125 km, except for the Kolkata coast (135 km). Moderate crustal density difference in various crustal domains, as well as an almost smooth crust-mantle boundary at 37-40 km depth, suggests the effect of substantial mafic-ultramafic crustal intrusion and together with the thin (135-140 km) lithosphere reinforces the evidence of thermo-chemical processes that controlled the lithospheric modification in the eastern Indian shield.
Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic evolution of the Siberian Craton and adjacent microcontinents: an overview with constraints for a Laurentian Connection.
Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic evolution of the Siberian Craton and adjacent microcontinents: an overview with constraints for a Laurentian Connection.
www.minsocam.org /MSA/Centennial/ MSA_Centennial _Symposium.html The next 100 years of mineral science, June 20-21, p. 27. Abstract
Mantle
eclogites
Abstract: Omphacite is a clinopyroxene solid solution of Fe-bearing diopside and jadeite, and is stable up to about 500 km depth in the Earth’s interior. It is also a major mineral component of eclogite (up to 75 vol%). Basalt, which makes up most of the Earth’s oceanic crust, transforms into eclogite at the depth > ~60 km. Due to the ~20% higher density of eclogite, it is considered one of the main driving forces for the slab subduction. Subducted eclogite is also an important source of the chemical heterogeneities in the Earth’s mantle, which are the potential reservoirs for the enriched geochemical components. Thus, studying the geophysical properties of omphacite at elevated pressure-temperature conditions is of great interest for both the geophysical and geochemical community. Previous studies have proposed to utilize the unique anisotropic seismic properties of eclogite to identify possible subduction channels and eclogite-rich regions in the Earth’s interior. Due to the elastically isotropic nature of garnet and the relatively small proportion (< 10 vol%) of the silica minerals in eclogite, the seismic anisotropy of eclogite is primarily caused by the lattice preferred orientation of omphacite. Thus, in this study, in addition to determining the densities, and isotropic velocities of omphacite at the high pressuretemperature condition, we also paid special attention to the elastic anisotropy of omphacite. We combined the synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction at Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory with offline Brillouin spectroscopy experiments at University New Mexico to investigate the anisotropic thermoelastic properties of omphacite. Incorporated with the preexisting thermoelastic database of other relevant mantle mineral phases, we compared the anisotropic seismic properties of eclogite (slab crust) with pyrolite (ambient mantle) along mantle geotherms down to 500 km depth. The maximum isotropic and anisotropic velocities contrast between pyrolite and eclogite is at 310-410 km, making it an optimal depth range for seismologists to search for eclogite-rich heterogeneities in the Earth’s interior. The ~5%-7% velocity difference between eclogite and pyrolite also needs to be taken into account when estimating the slab temperatures between 310-410 km depth. Otherwise, the slab temperature could be underestimated by a few hundred K without considering the possible lithology difference.
Abstract: It is known that carbon melts at temperatures around 4000 K or higher, and, therefore, this will be for the first time, when liquid carbon state formation preserved within diamond is documented in a carbon-carbonate system at the PT-conditions around 8.0 GPa and 2000 K, that is essentially far from the carbon diagram liquid field, so the newly reported liquid carbon was formed by neither fusion nor condensation. Based on a preponderance of such a strong circumstantial evidence, as morphological features of globular glass-like carbon inclusions within the globular-textured host diamond crystals resulting from liquid segregation process under synthesis conditions, it is suggested, that the produced carbon state has general properties of liquid and is formed through agglomeration alongside with diffusion process of carbon within carbonate melt solvent, and, thus, can potentially open a novel route for liquid carbon production and manufacturing of advanced high-refractory alloys and high-temperature compounds at lower than commonly accepted standard temperatures. A new model of diamond formation via metastable liquid carbon is presented.
Diamond and Related Materials, Vol. 62, pp. 42-48.
Technology
Carbon
Abstract: It is known that carbon melts at temperatures around 4000 K or higher, and, therefore, this will be for the first time, when liquid carbon state formation preserved within diamond is documented in a carbon-carbonate system at the PT-conditions around 8.0 GPa and 2000 K, that is essentially far from the carbon diagram liquid field, so the newly reported liquid carbon was formed by neither fusion nor condensation. Based on a preponderance of such a strong circumstantial evidence, as morphological features of globular glass-like carbon inclusions within the globular-textured host diamond crystals resulting from liquid segregation process under synthesis conditions, it is suggested, that the produced carbon state has general properties of liquid and is formed through agglomeration alongside with diffusion process of carbon within carbonate melt solvent, and, thus, can potentially open a novel route for liquid carbon production and manufacturing of advanced high-refractory alloys and high-temperature compounds at lower than commonly accepted standard temperatures. A new model of diamond formation via metastable liquid carbon is presented.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 451, pp. 114-124.
Mantle
Subduction
Abstract: The elastic properties of two single crystals of majoritic garnet (Mg3.24Al1.53Si3.23O12 and Mg3.01Fe0.17Al1.68Si3.15O12), have been measured using simultaneously single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Brillouin spectroscopy in an externally heated diamond anvil cell with Ne as pressure transmitting medium at conditions up to ?30 GPa and ?600 K. This combination of techniques makes it possible to use the bulk modulus and unit-cell volume at each condition to calculate the absolute pressure, independently of secondary pressure calibrants. Substitution of the majorite component into pyrope garnet lowers both the bulk (KsKs) and shear modulus (G ). The substitution of Fe was found to cause a small but resolvable increase in KsKs that was accompanied by a decrease in ?Ks/?P?Ks/?P, the first pressure derivative of the bulk modulus. Fe substitution had no influence on either the shear modulus or its pressure derivative. The obtained elasticity data were used to derive a thermo-elastic model to describe VsVs and VpVp of complex garnet solid solutions. Using further elasticity data from the literature and thermodynamic models for mantle phase relations, velocities for mafic, harzburgitic and lherzolitic bulk compositions at the base of Earth's transition zone were calculated. The results show that VsVs predicted by seismic reference models are faster than those calculated for all three types of lithologies along a typical mantle adiabat within the bottom 150 km of the transition zone. The anomalously fast seismic shear velocities might be explained if laterally extensive sections of subducted harzburgite-rich slabs pile up at the base of the transition zone and lower average mantle temperatures within this depth range.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, 7, pp. 3652-3662.
Mantle
geothermometry
Abstract: High mountains in Norway have long puzzled scientists because it is challenging to explain their existence. Numerous explanations have been proposed including processes deep inside the Earth. Our results show that these processes must be located above 410?km depth. This observation is critical for the ongoing debate on the cause of the enigmatic mountains in Scandinavia. New data acquired between 2012 and 2017 by the collaborative ScanArray project between European institutions allow mapping of the mantle transition zone—the deepest layer possibly involved in the mountain support. We show that the mantle transition zone boundaries beneath Fennoscandia are close to reference depths and the zone has a standard thickness. As the depths to these boundaries are sensitive to temperatures, this indicates that the mantle transition zone in this area is unaffected by any ongoing deep process. Therefore, the explanation for the high topography in Norway must be found above the mantle transition zone. This study provides the first map of the mantle transition zone below Fennoscandia, which will be valuable for any further global studies of the mantle transition zone.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 48, e2021GLo94784
Mantle
geophysics -seismics
Abstract: Earth's inner core (IC) anisotropy-the directional dependence of seismic wave speed in the IC-contains essential information of deep Earth's structure and dynamics. It results from a preferred alignment of iron crystals related to the formation and post-formation dynamics of the IC. Many studies have investigated the IC anisotropy observed for compressional waves. In contrast, possible anisotropy for the inner-core shear waves remains elusive. This study presents a new class of inner-core shear-wave anisotropy observations based on recent advances in earthquake coda-correlation wavefield. We find that the coda-correlation feature I2-J, sensitive to the inner-core shear-wave speed, exhibits variable timing and amplitude for sampling the IC in different directions. Quantitatively, inner-core shear waves travel faster for at least ?5 s in directions oblique to the Earth's rotation axis than directions parallel to the equatorial plane. The simplest and most plausible explanation for our observations is the inner-core shear-wave anisotropy with a strength of ?0.8% or higher. We can rule out at least one of the body-centered-cubic iron models in the IC, although the other models are not distinguishable.
Janik, T., Kozlovskaya, E., Helikkinen, P., Tliniemi, J.
Evidence for preservation of crustal root beneath the Proterozoic Lapland-Kola orogen ( northern Fennoscandian shield) derived from P and S wave models.
Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114. B 6, B06308.
Tichomirowa, M., Grosche, G., Gotze, J., Belyatsky, B.V., Savva, E.V., Keller, J., Todt, W.
The mineral isotope composition of two Precambrian carbonatite complexes from the Kola Alkaline Province - alteration versus primary magmatic signatures.
Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, doi.org/10.1029/ 2017JB015349
Mantle
core mantle boundary
Abstract: The juxtaposition of a liquid iron?dominant alloy against a mixture of silicate and oxide minerals at Earth's core?mantle boundary is associated with a wide range of complex seismological features. One category of observed structures is ultralow?velocity zones, which are thought to correspond to either aggregates of partially molten material or solid, iron?enriched assemblages. We measured the phonon dispersion relations of (Mg,Fe) O magnesiowüstite containing 76 mol % FeO, a candidate ultralow?velocity zone phase, at high pressures using high?energy resolution inelastic X?ray scattering. From these measurements, we find that magnesiowüstite becomes strongly elastically anisotropic with increasing pressure, potentially contributing to a significant proportion of seismic anisotropy detected near the base of the mantle.
Toft, P.B., Scowen, A.H., Arkani-Hamed, J., Francis, D.
Demagnetization by hydration in deep crustal rocks in the Grenville Province of Quebec, Canada: implications for magnetic anomalies of continental collision zones
Abstract: Isotope compositions of basalts provide information about the chemical reservoirs in Earth’s interior and play a critical role in defining models of Earth’s structure. However, the helium isotope signature of the mantle below depths of a few hundred kilometers has been difficult to measure directly. This information is a vital baseline for understanding helium isotopes in erupted basalts. We measured He-Sr-Pb isotope ratios in superdeep diamond fluid inclusions from the transition zone (depth of 410 to 660 kilometers) unaffected by degassing and shallow crustal contamination. We found extreme He-C-Pb-Sr isotope variability, with high 3He/4He ratios related to higher helium concentrations. This indicates that a less degassed, high-3He/4He deep mantle source infiltrates the transition zone, where it interacts with recycled material, creating the diverse compositions recorded in ocean island basalts.
Abstract: "Super-deep" diamonds are thought to crystallize between 300 and 800 km depth because some of the inclusions trapped within them are considered to be the products of retrograde transformation from lower mantle or transition zone precursors. In particular, single inclusion CaSiO3-walstromite is believed to derive from CaSiO3-perovskite, although its real depth of origin has never been proven. Our aim is therefore to determine for the first time the pressure of formation of the diamond-CaSiO3-walstromite pair by “single-inclusion elastic barometry” and to determine whether CaSiO3-walstromite derives from CaSiO3-perovskite or not. We investigated several single phases and assemblages of Ca-silicate inclusions still trapped in a diamond coming from Juina (Brazil) by in-situ analyses (single-crystal X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy) and we obtained a minimum entrapment pressure of ~ 5.7 GPa (? 180 km) at 1500 K. However, the observed coexistence of CaSiO3-walstromite, larnite (?-Ca2SiO4) and CaSi2O5-titanite in one multiphase inclusion within the same diamond indicates that the sample investigated is sub-lithospheric with entrapment pressure between ~ 9.5 and ~ 11.5 GPa at 1500 K, based on experimentally-determined phase equilibria. In addition, thermodynamic calculations suggested that, within a diamond, single inclusions of CaSiO3-walstromite cannot derive from CaSiO3-perovskite, unless the diamond around the inclusion expands by ~ 30% in volume.
Abstract: This ending talk, focused on the ongoing cooperative research of Prof. Griffin and his team at Macquarie University and Shefa Yamim, since January 2014, highlighting unique corundum species characteristics. Preliminary results of this research were presented in the IGS Annual Meeting of 2015, whereas this year Prof. Griffin has shared innovative findings only microscopically tracked within titanium-rich corundum aggregates. One of the more abundant minerals is Tistarite (Ti2O3), previously known only as a single grain in a primitive type of meteorite (!). An article has been submitted to a scientific journal detailing this first terrestrial occurrence. Several other minerals are common in meteorites, but unknown or extremely rare on Earth. About half of these minerals are unknown to science, and will be described as new minerals in the scientific literature. The first of these is a Titanium-Aluminium-Zirconium oxide, informally known as TAZ; it will be submitted to the International Mineralogical Association for recognition as a new mineral, ShefaTAZite. Using state of the art technologies such as Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) and Electron Microscopy Facility (EMF) that has three scanning electron microscopes, all with EBSD capability, and a transmission electron microscope - Prof. Griffin revealed spectacular imagery of minerals and rare compounds associated with titanium rich corundum aggregates.
Abstract: This talk focused on the proximal reach (closest to its source) of the Kishon River, covering the Yizre'el Valley and its margins. In this terrain Shefa Yamim's exploration area overlaps the PhD study area of Reli Wald, the company's geologist. The Yizre'el basin hosts a large volume of basalts, sourced mainly from fault planes, but also from volcanoes (vents). Combination of datasets gathered from intensive exploration of Shefa Yamim, including site specific geophysics (high resolution ground magnetometer) and three-dimensional (3D) geological and geophysical subsurface mapping of Reli Wald's PhD study, has enabled quantification of the basalt volume. Since the basalts are known as host rocks for corundum xenocrysts (both gem and industrial minerals), volume estimations become handy when analysing Shefa Yamim corundum species recoveries including the gem derivative sapphire. Corundum findings of the Mid Reach alluvial placer were explained by introducing the geological Miocene (geological period) volcanic setting of the hinterland (proximal reach), in terms of a supplier. Corundum crystals have crystallized in the uppermost mantle, been elevated by magmatic intrusions into the crust, and brought to surface by later, younger volcanism. Corundum findings thus emphasize rift-related setting and recurring magmatism in northern Israel whereas important questions regarding the connection between sapphire and corundum and the possibility for a deep subduction regime still await answers...
Abstract: The minimum oxygen fugacity (fO2) of Earth's upper mantle probably is controlled by metal saturation, as defined by the iron-wüstite (IW) buffer reaction (FeO ? Fe + O). However, the widespread occurrence of moissanite (SiC) in kimberlites, and a suite of super-reduced minerals (SiC, alloys, native elements) in peridotites in Tibet and the Polar Urals (Russia), suggest that more reducing conditions (fO2 = 6-8 log units below IW) must occur locally in the mantle. We describe pockets of melt trapped in aggregates of corundum crystals ejected from Cretaceous volcanoes in northern Israel which contain high-temperature mineral assemblages requiring extremely low fO2 (IW < -10). One abundant phase is tistarite (Ti2O3), previously known as a single grain in the Allende carbonaceous chondrite (Mexico) and believed to have formed during the early evolution of the solar nebula. It is associated with other reduced phases usually found in meteorites. The development of super-reducing conditions in Earth's upper mantle may reflect the introduction of CH4 + H2 fluids from the deep mantle, specifically related to deep-seated volcanic plumbing systems at plate boundaries.
Abstract: Moissanite (SiC) occurs in mantle and mantle-generated rocks from different tectonic settings. SiC is stable only at low oxygen fugacity (ƒO2) ?IW. Israeli SiC is assiociated with corundum, Fe globules, native V and other phases in Cretaceous pyroclastic rocks from Mt Carmel and associated alluvial deposits[1]. The SiC grains contain inclusions of Si metal, FeSi2, FeTiSi2, FeAlSi2 and CaSi2+xSi2-x, which were liquids before being trapped during SiC crystallization. SiC has been found included in corundum, associated with Fe-Ti silicides, connecting the formation of SiC, reduced melts in corundum and conrundum itself. All grains are of the 6H polytype. ?13C ranges from - 32.1 to -24.5‰ and ?30Si from -0.68 to +1.42‰. These SiC grains are one product of the interaction of basaltic magma and mantle methane in a volcanic plumbing system. SiC crystallized from metallic melts that became immiscible during the reduction of the magma. Its low ?13C may reflect Rayleigh fractionation under reduced conditions; the variation in Si isotopes may reflect fractionation between SiC and immiscible metallic melts. SiC samples from the Udachnaya and Mir kimberlite pipes contain inclusions of Si metal, FeSi2, FeSi, FeTiSi2, Si(N,O). The SiC has ?13C ranging from -28.5 to -24.8‰, and ?30Si from -1.72 to +1.42‰. SiC from harzburgites, chromitites and pyroxenites of the Tibetan Zedang ophiolites have inclusions of Si metal and unmixed Fe-Ni-Ti-Si alloy. Their ?13C ranges from -30.6 to -24.7‰ and ?30Si from -0.85 to +1.26‰. SiC samples from these different settings show very similar characteristics, implying that they may be formed in similar mantle conditions, where the flux of mantle methane gradually reduces magmas and interacts with them to produce different reduced phases at different stages.
European Journal of Mineralogy, Vol. 29, 4, pp. 557-570.
Europe, Israel
mineralogy
Abstract: Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) materials (e.g., diamond, high-pressure polymorph of chromite) and super-reduced (SuR) phases (e.g., carbides, nitrides, silicides and native metals) have been identified in chromitites and peridotites of the Tibetan and Polar-Urals ophiolites. These unusual assemblages suggest previously unrecognized fluid- or melt-related processes in the Earth’s mantle. However, the origin of the SuR phases, and in particular their relationships with the UHP materials in the ophiolites, are still enigmatic. Studies of a recently recognized SuR mineral system from Cretaceous volcanics on Mt Carmel, Israel, suggest an alternative genesis for the ophiolitic SuR phases. The Mt Carmel SuR mineral system (associated with Ti-rich corundum xenocrysts) appears to reflect the local interaction of mantle-derived CH4 ± H2 fluids with basaltic magmas in the shallow lithosphere (depths of ?30-100 km). These interactions produced desilication of the magma, supersaturation in Al2O3 leading to rapid growth of corundum, and phase assemblages requiring local oxygen fugacity (fO2) gradually dropping to ?11 log units below the iron-wüstite (IW) buffer. The strong similarities between this system and the SuR phases and associated Ti-rich corundum in the Tibetan and Polar-Urals ophiolites suggest that the ophiolitic SuR suite probably formed by local influx of CH4 ± H2 fluids within previously subducted peridotites (and included chromitites) during their rapid exhumation from the deep upper mantle to lithospheric levels. In the final stages of their ascent, the recycled peridotites and chromitites were overprinted by a shallow magmatic system similar to that observed at Mt Carmel, producing most of the SuR phases and eventually preserving them within the Tibetan and Polar-Urals ophiolites.
Mineralogy and Petrology, in press available, 14p.
Europe, Israel
metasomatism
Abstract: Oxygen fugacity (fO2) is a key parameter of Earth’s mantle, because it controls the speciation of the fluids migrating at depth; a major question is whether the sublithospheric mantle is metal-saturated, keeping fO2 near the Iron-Wustite (IW) buffer reaction. Cretaceous basaltic pyroclastic rocks on Mt. Carmel, Israel erupted in an intraplate environment with a thin, hot lithosphere. They contain abundant aggregates of hopper-shaped crystals of Ti-rich corundum, which have trapped melts with phenocryst assemblages (Ti2O3, SiC, TiC, silicides, native V) requiring extremely low fO2. These assemblages are interpreted to reflect interaction between basaltic melts and mantle-derived fluids dominated by CH4 + H2. Similar highly reduced assemblages are found associated with volcanism in a range of tectonic situations including subduction zones, major continental collisions, intraplate settings, craton margins and the cratons sampled by kimberlites. This distribution, and the worldwide similarity of ?13C in mantle-derived SiC and associated diamonds, suggest a widespread process, involving similar sources and independent of tectonic setting. We suggest that the common factor is the ascent of abiotic (CH4 + H2) fluids from the sublithospheric mantle; this would imply that much of the mantle is metal-saturated, consistent with observations of metallic inclusions in sublithospheric diamonds (e.g. Smith et al. 2016). Such fluids, perhaps carried in rapidly ascending deep-seated magmas, could penetrate high up into a depleted cratonic root, establishing the observed trend of decreasing fO2 with depth (e.g. Yaxley et al. in Lithos 140:142-151, 2012). However, repeated metasomatism (associated with the intrusion of silicate melts) will raise the FeO content near the base of the craton over time, developing a carapace of oxidizing material that would prevent the rise of CH4-rich fluids into higher levels of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Oxidation of these fluids would release CO2 and H2O to drive metasomatism and low-degree melting both in the carapace and higher in the SCLM. This model can explain the genesis of cratonic diamonds from both reduced and oxidized fluids, the existence of SiC as inclusions in diamonds, and the abundance of SiC in some kimberlites. It should encourage further study of the fine fractions of heavy-mineral concentrates from all types of explosive volcanism.
Griffin, W.L., Huang, J-X., Thomassot, E., Gain, S.E.M., Toledo, V., O'Reilly, S.Y.
Super-reducing conditions in ancient and modern volcanic systems: sources and behaviour of carbon-rich fluids in the lithospheric mantle ( Mt. Carmel).
Mineralogy and Petrology, doi.org/10.1007/s00710-018-0575-x 14p.
Abstract: Xenocrystic zircons from Cretaceous pyroclastic vents on Mt. Carmel, N. Israel, document two major periods of earlier mafic magmatism: Permo-Triassic (285-220?Ma) and Jurassic (200-160?Ma). Related alluvial deposits also contain these zircon populations. However, most alluvial zircons are Cretaceous (118-80?Ma) or younger, derived from Miocene to Pliocene volcanic episodes. The Permo-Triassic-Jurassic zircons are typically large and glassy; they have irregular shapes and a wide variety of internal zoning patterns. They appear to have grown in the interstitial spaces of coarse-grained rocks; many show evidence of recrystallization, including brecciation and rehealing by chemically similar zircon. Grains with relict igneous zoning have mantle-like ?18O (5.5?±?1.0‰), but brecciation leads to lower values (mean 4.8‰, down to 3.1‰). Hf-isotope compositions lie midway between the Chondritic Uniform Reservoir (CHUR) and Depleted Mantle (DM) reservoirs; Hf model ages suggest that the source region separated from DM in Neoproterozoic time (1500-1000?Ma). Most Cretaceous zircons have 176Hf/177Hf similar to those of the older zircons, suggesting recrystallization and/or Pb loss from older zircons in the Cretaceous thermal event. The Permo-Jurassic zircons show trace-element characteristics similar to those crystallized from plume-related magmas (Iceland, Hawaii). Calculated melts in equilibrium with them are characterized by strong depletion in LREE and P, large positive Ce anomalies, variable Ti anomalies, and high and variable Nb, Ta, Th and U, consistent with the fractionation of monazite, zircon, apatite and Ti-bearing phases. We suggest that these coarse-grained zircons crystallized from late differentiates of mafic magmas, ponded near the crust-mantle boundary (ca 30?km depth), and were reworked repeatedly by successively younger igneous/metasomatic fluids. The zircon data support a published model that locates a fossil Neoproterozoic plume head beneath much of the Arabia-Levant region, which has been intermittently melted to generate the volcanic rocks of the region. The Cretaceous magmas carry mantle xenoliths derived from depths up to 90?km, providing a minimum depth for the possible plume head. Post-Cretaceous magmatism, as recorded in detrital zircons, shows distinct peaks at 30?Ma, 13?Ma, 11.4?±?0.1?Ma (a major peak; n?=?15), 9-10?Ma and 4?Ma, representing the Lower and Cover Basalts in the area. Some of these younger magmas tapped the same mantle source as the Permian-Jurassic magmatism, but many young zircons have Hf-isotope compositions extending up to DM values, suggesting derivation of magmas from deeper, more juvenile sources.
Abstract: The new mineral species carmeltazite, ideally ZrAl2Ti4O11, was discovered in pockets of trapped melt interstitial to, or included in, corundum xenocrysts from the Cretaceous Mt Carmel volcanics of northern Israel, associated with corundum, tistarite, anorthite, osbornite, an unnamed REE (Rare Earth Element) phase, in a Ca-Mg-Al-Si-O glass. In reflected light, carmeltazite is weakly to moderately bireflectant and weakly pleochroic from dark brown to dark green. Internal reflections are absent. Under crossed polars, the mineral is anisotropic, without characteristic rotation tints. Reflectance values for the four COM wavelengths (Rmin, Rmax (%) (? in nm)) are: 21.8, 22.9 (471.1); 21.0, 21.6 (548.3), 19.9, 20.7 (586.6); and 18.5, 19.8 (652.3). Electron microprobe analysis (average of eight spot analyses) gave, on the basis of 11 oxygen atoms per formula unit and assuming all Ti and Sc as trivalent, the chemical formula (Ti3+3.60Al1.89Zr1.04Mg0.24Si0.13Sc0.06Ca0.05Y0.02Hf0.01)?=7.04O11. The simplified formula is ZrAl2Ti4O11, which requires ZrO2 24.03, Al2O3 19.88, and Ti2O3 56.09, totaling 100.00 wt %. The main diffraction lines, corresponding to multiple hkl indices, are (d in Å (relative visual intensity)): 5.04 (65), 4.09 (60), 2.961 (100), 2.885 (40), and 2.047 (60). The crystal structure study revealed carmeltazite to be orthorhombic, space group Pnma, with unit-cell parameters a = 14.0951 (9), b = 5.8123 (4), c = 10.0848 (7) Å, V = 826.2 (1) Å3, and Z = 4. The crystal structure was refined to a final R1 = 0.0216 for 1165 observed reflections with Fo > 4?(Fo). Carmeltazite exhibits a structural arrangement similar to that observed in a defective spinel structure. The name carmeltazite derives from Mt Carmel (“CARMEL”) and from the dominant metals present in the mineral, i.e., Titanium, Aluminum and Zirconium (“TAZ”). The mineral and its name have been approved by the IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (2018-103).
Abstract: Hibonite (CaAl12O19) is a constituent of some refractory calcium-aluminum inclusions (CAIs) in carbonaceous meteorites, commonly accompanied by grossite (CaAl4O7) and spinel. These phases are usually interpreted as having condensed, or crystallized from silicate melts, early in the evolution of the solar nebula. Both Ca-Al oxides are commonly found on Earth, but as products of high-temperature metamorphism of pelitic carbonate rocks. We report here a unique occurrence of magmatic hibonitegrossite-spinel assemblages, crystallized from Ca-Al-rich silicate melts under conditions [high-temperature, very low oxygen fugacity (fO2)] comparable to those of their meteoritic counterparts. Ejecta from Cretaceous pyroclastic deposits on Mt Carmel, N. Israel, include aggregates of hopper/skeletal Ti-rich corundum, which have trapped melts that crystallized at fO2 extending from 7 log units below the iron-wustite buffer (?IW = -7; SiC, Ti2O3, Fe-Ti silicide melts) to ?IW ? -9 (native V, TiC, and TiN). The assemblage hibonite + grossite + spinel + TiN first crystallized late in the evolution of the melt pockets; this hibonite contains percentage levels of Zr, Ti, and REE that reflect the concentration of incompatible elements in the residual melts as corundum continued to crystallize. A still later stage appears to be represented by coarse-grained (centimeter-size crystals) ejecta that show the crystallization sequence: corundum + Liq ? (low-REE) hibonite ? grossite + spinel ± krotite ? Ca4Al6F2O12 + fluorite. V0 appears as spheroidal droplets, with balls up to millimeter size and spectacular dendritic intergrowths, included in hibonite, grossite, and spinel. Texturally late V0 averages 12 wt% Al and 2 wt% Mn. Spinels contain 10-16 wt% V in V0-free samples, and <0.5 wt% V in samples with abundant V 0. Ongoing paragenetic studies suggest that the fO2 evolution of the Mt Carmel magmatic system reflects the interaction between OIB-type mafic magmas and mantle-derived CH4+H2 fluids near the crust-mantle boundary. Temperatures estimated by comparison with 1 atm phase-equilibrium studies range from ca. 1500 °C down to 1200-1150 °C. When fO2 reached ca. ?IW = -7, the immiscible segregation of Fe,Ti-silicide melts and the crystallization of SiC and TiC effectively desilicated the magma, leading to supersaturation in Al2O3 and the rapid crystallization of corundum, preceding the development of the hibonite-bearing assemblages. Reports of Ti-rich corundum and SiC from other areas of explosive volcanism suggest that these phenomena may be more widespread than presently realized, and the hibonite-grossite assemblage may serve as another indicator to track such activity. This is the first reported terrestrial occurrence of krotite (CaAl2O4), and of at least two unknown Zr-Ti oxides.
Abstract: Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the solar system, the mechanisms of exchange of this element between the deep interior and surface of Earth are still uncertain. Hydrogen has profound effects on properties and processes on microscopic-to-global scales. Here we report the discovery of the first hydride (VH2) ever reported in nature. This phase has been found in the ejecta of Cretaceous pyroclastic volcanoes on Mt Carmel, N. Israel, which include abundant xenoliths containing highly reduced mineral assemblages. These xenoliths were sampled by their host magmas at different stages of their evolution but are not genetically related to them. The xenoliths are interpreted as the products of extended interaction between originally mafic magmas and CH4+H2 fluids, derived from a deeper, metal-saturated mantle. The last stages of melt evolution are recorded by coarse-grained aggregates of hibonite (CaAl12O19) + grossite (CaAl4O7) + V-rich spinels ± spheroidal to dendritic inclusions of metallic vanadium (V0), apparently trapped as immiscible metallic melts. The presence of V0 implies low oxygen fugacities and suggests crystallization of the aggregates in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. The presence of such reducing conditions in the upper mantle has major implications for the transport of carbon, hydrogen and other volatile species from the deep mantle to the surface.
Microscopy and Microanalysis ( M&M)Co. Conference, Sept. 9, posters 1 p. each
Europe, Israel
deposit - Kishon
Abstract: The Microscopy and Microanalysis (M&M) conference in Portland Oregon, USA is one of the biggest microscopy conferences in the world and this year it hosted its largest meeting in history with over 3,300 participants, up to 20 parallel sessions and over 600 posters. The two posters were presented by Sarah E.M. Gain who is from the University of Western Australia where she trains and supports researchers in Microscopy, Characterisation and Microanalysis. Sarah discussed some of the unique gem material collected from Shefa Gems’ exploration activity in the Kishon Mid Reach and Rakefet Magmatic Complex, analysed using a range of microscopy and microanalysis techniques. She also discussed the scientific importance of this material.The first poster looked at hibonite (a Ca-Al-oxide) with inclusions of vanadium metal. The second poster looked at, Cr corundum (ruby), which is unusual due to the extremely high Cr levels and the inclusions of Cr metal.
American Mineralogist, Vol. 105, pp. 1609-1621. pdf
Europe, Israel
deposit - Mt. Carmel
Abstract: Titanium diboride (TiB2) is a minor but common phase in melt pockets trapped in the corundum aggregates that occur as xenoliths in Cretaceous basaltic volcanoes on Mt. Carmel, north Israel. These melt pockets show extensive textural evidence of immiscibility between metallic (Fe-Ti-C-Si) melts, Ca-Al-Mg-Si-O melts, and Ti-(oxy)nitride melts. The metallic melts commonly form spherules in the coexisting oxide glass. Most of the observed TiB2 crystallized from the Fe-Ti-C silicide melts and a smaller proportion from the oxide melts. The parageneses in the melt pockets of the xenoliths require fO2 ? ?IW-6, probably generated through interaction between evolved silicate melts and mantle-derived CH4+H2 fluids near the crust-mantle boundary. Under these highly reducing conditions boron, like carbon and nitrogen, behaved mainly as a siderophile element during the separation of immiscible metallic and oxide melts. These parageneses have implications for the residence of boron in the peridotitic mantle and for the occurrence of TiB2 in other less well-constrained environments such as ophiolitic chromitites.
Minerals MDPI, Vol. 10, 1118, doi:10.3390/ min10121118 10p. Pdf
Europe, Israel
deposit - Mt. Carmel
Abstract: Here, we describe two new minerals, kishonite (VH2) and oreillyite (Cr2N), found in xenoliths occurring in pyroclastic ejecta of small Cretaceous basaltic volcanoes exposed on Mount Carmel, Northern Israel. Kishonite was studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and was found to be cubic, space group Fm3¯m, with a = 4.2680(10) Å, V = 77.75(3) Å3, and Z = 4. Oreillyite was studied by both single-crystal X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy and was found to be trigonal, space group P3¯1m, with a = 4.7853(5) Å, c = 4.4630(6) Å, V = 88.51 Å3, and Z = 3. The presence of such a mineralization in these xenoliths supports the idea of the presence of reduced fluids in the sublithospheric mantle influencing the transport of volatile species (e.g., C, H) from the deep Earth to the surface. The minerals and their names have been approved by the Commission of New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (No. 2020-023 and 2020-030a).
American Mineralogist , in press available 33p. Pdf
Europe, Israel
deposit - Mt. Carmel
Abstract: Titanium diboride (TiB2) is a minor but common phase in melt pockets trapped in the corundum aggregates that occur as xenoliths in Cretaceous basaltic volcanoes on Mt. Carmel, north Israel. These melt pockets show extensive textural evidence of immiscibility between metallic (Fe-Ti-C-Si) melts, Ca-Al-Mg-Si-O melts, and Ti-(oxy)nitride melts. The metallic melts commonly form spherules in the coexisting oxide glass. Most of the observed TiB2 crystallized from the Fe-Ti-C silicide melts and a smaller proportion from the oxide melts. The parageneses in the melt pockets of the xenoliths require fO2 ? ?IW-6, probably generated through interaction between evolved silicate melts and mantle-derived CH4+H2 fluids near the crust-mantle boundary. Under these highly reducing conditions boron, like carbon and nitrogen, behaved mainly as a siderophile element during the separation of immiscible metallic and oxide melts. These parageneses have implications for the residence of boron in the peridotitic mantle and for the occurrence of TiB2 in other less well-constrained environments such as ophiolitic chromitites.
Abstract: Titanium oxynitrides (Ti(N,O,C)) are abundant in xenolithic corundum aggregates in pyroclastic ejecta of Cretaceous volcanoes on Mount Carmel, northern Israel. Petrographic observations indicate that most of these nitrides existed as melts, immiscible with coexisting silicate and Fe-Ti-C silicide melts; some nitrides may also have crystallized directly from the silicide melts. The TiN phase shows a wide range of solid solution, taking up 0-10 wt% carbon and 1.7-17 wt% oxygen; these have crystallized in the halite (fcc) structure common to synthetic and natural TiN. Nitrides coexisting with silicide melts have higher C/O than those coexisting with silicate melts. Analyses with no carbon fall along the TiN-TiO join in the Ti-N-O phase space, implying that their Ti is a mixture of Ti3+ and Ti2+, while those with 1-3 at.% C appear to be solid solutions between TiN and Ti0.75O. Analyses with >10 at% C have higher Ti2+/Ti3+, reflecting a decrease in fO2. Oxygen fugacity was 6 to 8 log units below the iron-wüstite buffer, at or below the Ti2O3-TiO buffer. These relationships and coexisting silicide phases indicate temperatures of 1400-1100 °C. Ti oxynitrides are probably locally abundant in the upper mantle, especially in the presence of CH4-H2 fluids derived from the deeper metal-saturated mantle.
American Mineralogist, Vol. 106, pp. 1420-1437. pdf
Europe, Israel
deposit - Mount Carmel
Abstract: Xenocrysts and xenoliths in Upper Cretaceous pyroclastics on Mount Carmel (northern Israel) represent a series of similar magma-fluid systems at different stages of their evolution, recording a continuous decrease in oxygen fugacity (fO2) as crystallization proceeded. Corundum coexisting with Fe-Mg-Cr-Al spinels, other Fe-Mg-Al-Na oxides, and Fe-Ni alloys in apparent cumulates crystallized at fO2 values near the iron-wüstite (IW) buffer (fO2 = IW±1) and is zoned from high-Cr cores to lower-Cr rims, consistent with fractional crystallization trends. The reconstructed parental melts of the cumulates are Al-Cr-Fe-Mg oxides with ca. 2 wt% SiO2. Corundum in other possible cumulates that contain Cr-Fe (Fe 45 wt%) alloys has low-Cr cores and still lower-Cr rims. Corundum coexisting with Cr0 (fO2 = IW-5) in some possible cumulates has low-Cr cores, but high-Cr rims (to >30% Cr2O3). These changes in zoning patterns reflect the strong decrease in the melting point of Cr2O3, relative to Al2O3, with decreasing fO2. The electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) analyses show that all Cr in corundum that coexists with Cr0 is present as Cr3+. This suggests that late in the evolution of these reduced melts, Cr2+ has disproportionated via the reaction 3Cr2+(melt) ? 2Cr3+(Crn) + Cr0. The most Cr-rich corundum crystallized together with ?-alumina phases including NaAl11O17 (diaoyudaoite) and KAl11O17 (kahlenbergite) and ??-alumina phases; residual melts crystallized a range of (K,Mg)2(Al,Cr)10O17 phases with the kahlenbergite structure. The parental melts of these assemblages appear to have been Al-Cr-K-Na-Mg oxides, which may be related to the Al-Cr-Fe-Mg oxide melts mentioned above, through fractional crystallization or liquid immiscibility. These samples are less reduced (fO2 from IW to IW-5) than the assemblages of the trapped silicate melts in the more abundant xenoliths of corundum aggregates (fO2 = IW-6 to IW-10). They could be considered to represent an earlier stage in the fO2 evolution of an “ideal” Mt. Carmel magmatic system, in which mafic or syenitic magmas were fluxed by mantle-derived CH4+H2 fluids. This is a newly recognized step in the evolution of the Mt. Carmel assemblages and helps to understand element partitioning under highly reducing conditions.
Abstract: Xenolithic corundum aggregates in Cretaceous mafic pyroclastics from Mount Carmel contain pockets of silicate melts with mineral assemblages [SiC (moissanite), TiC, Ti2O3 (tistarite), Fe-Ti-Zr silicides/phosphides] indicative of magmatic temperatures and oxygen fugacity (fO2) at least 6 log units below the iron-wüstite buffer (?IW ? -6). Microstructural evidence indicates that immiscible, carbon-rich metallic (Fe-Ti-Zr-Si-P) melts separated during the crystallization of the silicate melts. The further evolution of these metallic melts was driven by the crystallization of two main ternary phases (FeTiSi and FeTiSi2) and several near-binary phases, as well as the separation of more evolved immiscible melts. Reconstructed melt compositions fall close to cotectic curves in the Fe-Ti-Si system, consistent with trapping as metallic liquids. Temperatures estimated from comparisons with experimental work range from ?1500 °C to ca. 1150 °C; these probably are maximum values due to the solution of C, H, P, and Zr. With decreasing temperature (T), the Si, Fe, and P contents of the Fe-Ti-Si melts increased, while contents of Ti and C decreased. The increase in Si with declining T implies a corresponding decrease in fO2, probably to ca. ?IW-9. The solubility of P in the metallic melts declined with T and fO2, leading to immiscibility between Fe-Ti-Si melts and (Ti,Zr)-(P,Si) melts. Decreasing T and fO2 also reduced the solubility of C in the liquid metal, driving the continuous crystallization of TiC and SiC during cooling. The lower-T metallic melts are richer in Cr, and to some extent V, as predicted by experimental studies showing that Cr and V become more siderophile with decreasing fO2. These observations emphasize the importance of melt-melt immiscibility for the evolution of magmas under reducing conditions. The low fO2 and the abundance of carbon in the Mt. Carmel system are consistent with a model in which differentiating melts were fluxed by fluids that were dominated by CH4+H2, probably derived from a metal-saturated sublithospheric mantle. A compilation of other occur-rences suggests that these phenomena may commonly accompany several types of explosive volcanism.
Preliminary characterization of the supergene evolution of the carbonatite rocks of the Juquia (sp) Alkaline carbonatite complex with phosphateenrichment
Xiii International Geochemical Exploration Symposium, Rio 89 Brazilian, p. 219. Abstract
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 149, pp. 215-234.
Africa, Cameroon
subduction
Abstract: High- to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic assemblages consisting of garnet-omphacitic clinopyroxene bearing mafic rocks have been identified within the Paleoproterozoic Nyong Group in SW Cameroon, at the northwestern margin of the Archean Congo craton. These rocks were investigated in detail and for the first time evidence for eclogite facies metamorphism at ca 25?kbar and 850?°C is provided. A clockwise P-T path with nearly isothermal decompression (ITD) is deduced from mineral zoning and textural relationships characterized by mineral recrystallization and multi-layered coronitic overgrowths of plagioclase and clinopyroxene surrounding garnet porphyroblasts. These P-T conditions imply a burial depth greater than 90?km, at lower geothermal gradient of ca 10?°C/km. The geochemical signature of ten representative rock samples show that two groups of eclogite facies rocks genetically originate from mostly basaltic and basaltic andesite compositions, with a characteristic upper mantle-derived tholeiitic trend. Moreover, their chondrite and MORB normalized REE and trace element concentrations are characterized by nearly flat REE patterns with very little to no Eu anomaly, (La/Sm)N???1 and Zr/Nb???10, as well as a gradual depletion from LREE to HREE with also very little to no Eu anomaly, but (La/Sm)N < 1, Zr/Nb > 10 and negative anomalies in Th, K, Nb, Ta, Sr, Zr and Ti consistent with mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) contaminated by a subduction component or by a crustal component. Previous available geochronological data coupled with our new petrological, mineralogical and geochemical findings clearly indicate that the eclogite facies metabasites from the Eburnean Nyong Group between 2100 and 2000 Ma represent one of the oldest subducted oceanic slab or trace of a suture zone so far recorded within the West Central African Fold Belt (WCAFB). The geodynamic implications of these eclogites suggest a subduction-related process followed by a rapid exhumation of their protoliths, therefore, providing critical information corroborating that plate tectonic processes operated during the Paleoproterozoic.
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, Vol. 173, 26p. Doi.org/10.1007/s00410-018-1505-y
Europe, Greenland
carbonatite
Abstract: Petrogenetic studies of carbonatites are challenging, because carbonatite mineral assemblages and mineral chemistry typically reflect both variable pressure-temperature conditions during crystallization and fluid-rock interaction caused by magmatic-hydrothermal fluids. However, this complexity results in recognizable alteration textures and trace-element signatures in the mineral archive that can be used to reconstruct the magmatic evolution and fluid-rock interaction history of carbonatites. We present new LA-ICP-MS trace-element data for magnetite, calcite, siderite, and ankerite-dolomite-kutnohorite from the iron-rich carbonatites of the 1.3 Ga Grønnedal-Íka alkaline complex, Southwest Greenland. We use these data, in combination with detailed cathodoluminescence imaging, to identify magmatic and secondary geochemical fingerprints preserved in these minerals. The chemical and textural gradients show that a 55 m-thick basaltic dike that crosscuts the carbonatite intrusion has acted as the pathway for hydrothermal fluids enriched in F and CO2, which have caused mobilization of the LREEs, Nb, Ta, Ba, Sr, Mn, and P. These fluids reacted with and altered the composition of the surrounding carbonatites up to a distance of 40 m from the dike contact and caused formation of magnetite through oxidation of siderite. Our results can be used for discrimination between primary magmatic minerals and later alteration-related assemblages in carbonatites in general, which can lead to a better understanding of how these rare rocks are formed. Our data provide evidence that siderite-bearing ferrocarbonatites can form during late stages of calciocarbonatitic magma evolution.
Korikovsky, S., Kotov, A., Salnikova, E., Aranovich, L., Korpechkov, D., Yakovleva, S., Tolmacheva, E., Anisimova, I.
The age of the protolith of metamorphic rocks in the southeastern Lapland granulite belt, southern Kola Peninsula: correlation with the Belomorian mobile belt in the context of the problem of Archean eclogites.
Abstract: We report new geological, mineralogical, geochemical and geochronological data about the Katugin Ta-Nb-Y-Zr (REE) deposit, which is located in the Kalar Ridge of Eastern Siberia (the southern part of the Siberian Craton). All these data support a magmatic origin of the Katugin rare-metal deposit rather than the previously proposed metasomatic fault-related origin. Our research has proved the genetic relation between ores of the Katugin deposit and granites of the Katugin complex. We have studied granites of the eastern segment of the Eastern Katugin massif, including arfvedsonite, aegirine-arfvedsonite and aegirine granites. These granites belong to the peralkaline type. They are characterized by high alkali content (up to 11.8?wt% Na2O?+?K2O), extremely high iron content (FeO?/(FeO??+?MgO)?=?0.96-1.00), very high content of most incompatible elements - Rb, Y, Zr, Hf, Ta, Nb, Th, U, REEs (except for Eu) and F, and low concentrations of CaO, MgO, P2O5, Ba, and Sr. They demonstrate negative and CHUR-close ?Nd(t) values of 0.0…?1.9. We suggest that basaltic magmas of OIB type (possibly with some the crustal contamination) represent a dominant part of the granitic source. Moreover, the fluorine-enriched fluid phases could provide an additional source of the fluorine. We conclude that most of the mineralization of the Katugin ore deposit occurred during the magmatic stage of the alkaline granitic source melt. The results of detailed mineralogical studies suggest three major types of ores in the Katugin deposit: Zr mineralization, Ta-Nb-REE mineralization and aluminum fluoride mineralization. Most of the ore minerals crystallized from the silicate melt during the magmatic stage. The accessory cryolites in granites crystallized from the magmatic silicate melt enriched in fluorine. However, cryolites in large veins and lens-like bodies crystallized in the latest stage from the fluorine enriched melt. The zircons from the ores in the aegirine-arfvedsonite granite have been dated at 2055?±?7?Ma. This age is close to the previously published 2066?±?6?Ma zircon age of the aegirine-arfvedsonite granites, suggesting that the formation of the Katugin rare-metal deposit is genetically related to the formation of peralkaline granites. We conclude that Katugin rare-metal granites are anorogenic. They can be related to a Paleoproterozoic (?2.05?Ga) mantle plume. As there is no evidence of the 2.05?Ga mantle plume in other areas of southern Siberia, we suggest that the Katugin mineralization occurred on the distant allochtonous terrane, which has been accreted to Siberian Craton later.
Conodonts in xenoliths from kimberlite pipes of the southeastern White Sea region ( Arkhangelsk Oblast): key to Ordovician stratigraphic and paleogeographic reconstructions of the East European Platform.
Abstract: Garnet chemistry provides a well-established tool in the discrimination and interpretation of sediment provenance. Current discrimination approaches, however, (i) suffer from using less variables than available, (ii) subjective determination of discrimination fields with strict boundaries suggesting clear separations where in fact probabilities are converging, and (iii) significant overlap of compositional fields of garnet from different host-rock groups. The new multivariate discrimination scheme is based on a large database, a hierarchical discrimination approach involving three steps, linear discriminant analysis at each step, and the five major host-rock groups to be discriminated: eclogite- (A), amphibolite- (B) and granulite- (C) facies metamorphic rocks as well as ultramafic (D) and igneous rocks (E). The successful application of statistical discrimination approaches requires consideration of the a priori knowledge of the respective geologic setting. This is accounted for by the use of prior probabilities. Three sets of prior probabilities (priors) are introduced and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The user is free to choose among these priors, which can be further modified according to the specific geologic problem and the level of a priori knowledge. The discrimination results are provided as integrated probabilities of belonging to the five major host-rock groups. For performing calculations and results a supplementary Excel® spreadsheet is provided. The discrimination scheme has been tested for a large variety of examples of crystalline rocks covering all of the five major groups and several subgroups from various geologic settings. In most cases, garnets are assigned correctly to the respective group. Exceptions typically reflect the peculiarities of the regional geologic situation. Evaluation of detrital garnets from modern and ancient sedimentary settings of the Western Gneiss Region (Norway), Eastern Alps (Austria) and Albertine Rift (Uganda) demonstrates the power to reflect the respective geologic situations and corroborates previous results. As most garnet is derived from metamorphic rocks and many provenance studies aim at reconstructing the tectonic and geodynamic evolution in the source area, the approach and the examples emphasize discrimination of metamorphic facies (i.e., temperature-pressure conditions) rather than protolith composition.
Abstract: Carbonates of the Tomtor complex of ultramafic alkaline rocks and carbonatites (the northern part of the Republic of Sakha Yakutia) are distinguished by a wide range of carbon isotopic composition ?13C from +2 to -59.9‰. The geological position, localization patterns, mineral and chemical compositions and the relationship with REE mineralization of samples with values of ?13C carbonates from -25 to -59‰ are characterized. The formation of abnormally low ?13C in carbonates is determined by the biogenic oxidation of methane from ?13Cmet to -70‰.
Petrochemical characteristics of the kimberlites in the Middle Markha region with application to the problem of the geochemical heterogeneity of kimberlites.
Geochemistry International, Vol. 45, 12, Dec. pp. 1197-1209.
Formation and evolution of hypabyssal kimberlites from the Siberian craton: part 1 - new insights from cathodluminescence of the carbonates. Anabar and Olenek area
Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 145, pt. B, pp. 670-678.
Mineralogy and Petrology, doi.org/10.1007/s00710-018-06174 12p.
Russia, Siberia
deposit - Mirny
Abstract: Here we present new data from a systematic Sr, Nd, O, C isotope and geochemical study of kimberlites of Devonian age Mirny field that are located in the southernmost part of the Siberian diamondiferous province. Major and trace element compositions of the Mirny field kimberlites show a significant compositional variability both between pipes and within one diatreme. They are enriched in incompatible trace elements with La/Yb ratios in the range of (65-00). Initial Nd isotope ratios calculated back to the time of the Mirny field kimberlite emplacement (t?=?360 ma) are depleted relative to the chondritic uniform reservoir (CHUR) model being 4 up to 6 ?Nd(t) units, suggesting an asthenospheric source for incompatible elements in kimberlites. Initial Sr isotope ratios are significantly variable, being in the range 0.70387-0.70845, indicating a complex source history and a strong influence of post-magmatic alteration. Four samples have almost identical initial Nd and Sr isotope compositions that are similar to the prevalent mantle (PREMA) reservoir. We propose that the source of the proto-kimberlite melt of the Mirny field kimberlites is the same as that for the majority of ocean island basalts (OIB). The source of the Mirny field kimberlites must possess three main features: It should be enriched with incompatible elements, be depleted in the major elements (Si, Al, Fe and Ti) and heavy rare earth elements (REE) and it should retain the asthenospheric Nd isotope composition. A two-stage model of kimberlite melt formation can fulfil those requirements. The intrusion of small bodies of this proto-kimberlite melt into lithospheric mantle forms a veined heterogeneously enriched source through fractional crystallization and metasomatism of adjacent peridotites. Re-melting of this source shortly after it was metasomatically enriched produced the kimberlite melt. The chemistry, mineralogy and diamond grade of each particular kimberlite are strongly dependent on the character of the heterogeneous source part from which they melted and ascended.
Abstract: Zircon from Tomtor syenites and kamaphorites was dated following the U-Pb method (SHRIMP-II), and the distribution of trace and rare-earth elements (REE) was studied at the same zircon point using an ion microprobe. The main zircon population from syenites was dated at 402?±?7 Ma, while the age range of single zircon grains was 700-660 M?. Different-aged zircon groups from syenites exhibited the characteristics of magmatic zircon, but their concentrations of REE and other trace elements differed markedly. The REE distribution in 700-660-M? zircon is consistent with that of the typical zircon from syenites (Belousova et al., 2002), while the heavy rare-earth elements (HREE), P, Ti, and Y concentrations of ca. 400-Ma zircon differ from those of older zircon. This is the first isotope-geochemical study of zircon from kamaphorites, and the U-Pb age of ca. 400 M? is within the error limits with of the main zircon population from syenites. The considerable enrichment of REE, C?, Ti, Sr, Y, Nb, and Ba in zircon from kamaphorites may be partly due to the presence of burbankite microinclusions. The trace-element distribution pattern of zircon from kamaphorites is very similar to the geochemical characteristics of zircon from Tiksheozero carbonatites (Tichomirowa et al., 2013). The new age dates for Tomtor syenites and kamaphorites, consistent with 700-660 M? and ca. 400 M? events, support the zircon (Vladykin et al., 2014) and pyrochlore (Antonov et al., 2017) age dates determined following the U-Pb method and those of biotite obtained following the 40Ar-39Ar method (Vladykin et al., 2014).
Abstract: We have studied a suite of mantle zircons from several differently aged pipes of the Siberian kimberlite province via UPb and LuHf isotope analyses and trace element compositions. The UPb ages we obtained confirmed four main episodes (Silurian, Devonian, Triassic and Jurassic) of kimberlite activity on the Siberian craton. The Druzhba pipe had two populations of zircons dating from the Silurian and Devonian, respectively. The geochemical features of our suite of mantle zircons show low concentrations of U, Th and heavy rare earth elements (REEs), positive Ce anomalies, and weak or absent Eu anomalies, which is in accord with the mantle-derived nature of the zircon. Despite having broadly similar geochemistry, zircons from differently aged kimberlites had some clear differences arising from variations in the composition of the protokimberlite metasomatic melt and from peculiarities of fractional crystallization. The Th/U ratios were highest in the Silurian zircons and sharply decreased toward the Devonian. The Triassic zircons had elevated and highly variable Ce/Nb ratios with low and nearly constant Th/U ratios. Zircons from Siberian kimberlites with different UPb ages showed systematic variations in their initial Hf isotope compositions. The oldest Silurian kimberlite field, Chomurdakh, had two zircon populations: Silurian zircons, with ?Hft values in the range of +2.8 to +5.9 units, and Devonian zircons, with ?Hft values in the range of +1.6 to +2.0 units. Zircons from the Devonian field kimberlites were in the range of +5.6 to +9.6 ?Hft units. The Triassic kimberlitic zircons had the most juvenile Hf isotope composition, at +9.3 to +11.2 ?Hft units, while the Jurassic zircons had +6.9 ?Hft units. The combination of the UPb and LuHf isotope data suggests a periodic rejuvenation of the lithospheric mantle roots by low-volume melts from the asthenospheric mantle, resulting shortly after in kimberlite emplacements. Some Devonian and Jurassic kimberlites may have been melted by re-heating the Silurian and Triassic age sources, respectively, about 60 Myr after they were formed.
Abstract: Zircon from Tomtor syenites and kamaphorites was dated following the U-Pb method (SHRIMP-II), and the distribution of trace and rare-earth elements (REE) was studied at the same zircon point using an ion microprobe. The main zircon population from syenites was dated at 402?±?7 Ma, while the age range of single zircon grains was 700-660 M?. Different-aged zircon groups from syenites exhibited the characteristics of magmatic zircon, but their concentrations of REE and other trace elements differed markedly. The REE distribution in 700-660-M? zircon is consistent with that of the typical zircon from syenites (Belousova et al., 2002), while the heavy rare-earth elements (HREE), P, Ti, and Y concentrations of ca. 400-Ma zircon differ from those of older zircon. This is the first isotope-geochemical study of zircon from kamaphorites, and the U-Pb age of ca. 400 M? is within the error limits with of the main zircon population from syenites. The considerable enrichment of REE, C?, Ti, Sr, Y, Nb, and Ba in zircon from kamaphorites may be partly due to the presence of burbankite microinclusions. The trace-element distribution pattern of zircon from kamaphorites is very similar to the geochemical characteristics of zircon from Tiksheozero carbonatites (Tichomirowa et al., 2013). The new age dates for Tomtor syenites and kamaphorites, consistent with 700-660 M? and ca. 400 M? events, support the zircon (Vladykin et al., 2014) and pyrochlore (Antonov et al., 2017) age dates determined following the U-Pb method and those of biotite obtained following the 40Ar-39Ar method (Vladykin et al., 2014).
Geochemistry, Vol. 80, doi.org/10.1016 /j.chemer. 2019.04.001 11p. Pdf
Russia
deposit - Tomtor
Abstract: Zircon from Tomtor syenites and kamaphorites was dated following the U-Pb method (SHRIMP-II), and the distribution of trace and rare-earth elements (REE) was studied at the same zircon point using an ion microprobe. The main zircon population from syenites was dated at 402?±?7 Ma, while the age range of single zircon grains was 700-660 M?. Different-aged zircon groups from syenites exhibited the characteristics of magmatic zircon, but their concentrations of REE and other trace elements differed markedly. The REE distribution in 700-660-M? zircon is consistent with that of the typical zircon from syenites (Belousova et al., 2002), while the heavy rare-earth elements (HREE), P, Ti, and Y concentrations of ca. 400-Ma zircon differ from those of older zircon. This is the first isotope-geochemical study of zircon from kamaphorites, and the U-Pb age of ca. 400 M? is within the error limits with of the main zircon population from syenites. The considerable enrichment of REE, C?, Ti, Sr, Y, Nb, and Ba in zircon from kamaphorites may be partly due to the presence of burbankite microinclusions. The trace-element distribution pattern of zircon from kamaphorites is very similar to the geochemical characteristics of zircon from Tiksheozero carbonatites (Tichomirowa et al., 2013).The new age dates for Tomtor syenites and kamaphorites, consistent with 700-660 M? and ca. 400 M? events, support the zircon (Vladykin et al., 2014) and pyrochlore (Antonov et al., 2017) age dates determined following the U-Pb method and those of biotite obtained following the 40Ar-39Ar method (Vladykin et al., 2014).
Abstract: Data indicating the important role of microorganisms in the redistribution of REEs in the weathering crust and the decisive role in the concentration of REEs during the formation of ores in the upper ore horizon of the Tomtor field are obtained. The uptake of REEs was carried out by the community of microorganisms, such as phototrophs, methanogens, methanotrophs, and proteobacteria, which form the basis of the microbiocenosis for this paleoecosystem. The isotopic composition of C carbonates in all samples studied with fossilized microorganisms corresponds to the biogenic one, and the isotopic composition ?18?SMOW (from 7 to 20‰) indicates the endogenous (hydrothermal) and, to a lesser extent, exogenous nature of the solutions. The low (87Sr/86Sr)I values of carbonates (~0.7036-0.7042) exclude the participation of seawater.
Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 213, 104756, 22p.pdf
Russia, Siberia
deposit - Zarnitsa
Abstract: Zarnitsa kimberlite pipe in Central Yakutia contains pyrope garnets with Cr2O3 ranging from 9 to 19.3 wt% derived from the asthenospheric mantle. They show mostly S-shaped, inflected rare earth element (REE) patterns for dunitic and harzburgitic, lherzolitic and harzburgitic varieties and all are rich in high field strength elements (HFSE) due to reaction with protokimberlite melts. Lithospheric garnets (<9 wt% Cr2O3) show a similar division into four groups but have more symmetric trace element patterns. Cr-diopsides suggest reactions with hydrous alkaline, protokimberlitic and primary (hydrous) partial melts. Cr-diopsides of metasomatic origin have inclined REE patterns and high LILE, U, Th and Zr concentrations. Four groups in REE of Ti-rich Cr-diopsides, and augites have asymmetric bell-like REE patterns and are HFSE-rich. Mg-ilmenites low in REE were formed within dunite conduits. Ilmenite derived from differentiated melts have inclined REE patterns with LREE ~ 100 × chondrite levels. Thermobarometry for dunites shows a 34 mWm?2 geotherm with a HT branch (>50 mWm?2) at 6-9 GPa, and a stepped HT geotherm with heated pyroxenite lenses at four levels from 6.5 to 3.5 GPa. Parental melts calculated with KDs suggest that augites and high-Cr garnets in the lithosphere base reacted with essentially carbonatitic melts while garnets from lower pressure show subduction peaks in U, Ba and Pb. The roots of the Zarnitsa pipe served to transfer large portions of deep (>9 GPa) protokimberlite melts to the lithosphere. Smaller diamonds were dissolved due to the elevated oxidation state but in peripheral zones large diamonds could grow.
Chemical composition, volatile components, and trace elements in melts of the Karymskii volcanic centre, Kamchatka and Golovnin a volcano, Kunashir Island....
Vladykin, N.V., Deep Seated Magmatism: its sources and plumes, pp. 104-127.
Paragenesis and origin of olivine macrocrysts from Udachnaya-East hypabyssal kimberlite, Yakutia, Russia.
V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences International Symposium Advances in high pressure research: breaking scales and horizons ( Courtesy of N. Poikilenko), Held Sept. 22-26, 2p. Abstract
Paragenesis and complex zoning of olivine macrocrysts from unaltered kimberlite of the Udachnaya-East pipe, Yakutia: relationship with the kimberlite formation conditions and evolution.
Russian Geology and Geophysics, Vol. 56, 1, pp. 260-279.
Abstract: The composition of volatiles from fluid and melt inclusions in olivine phenocrysts from Yakutian kimberlite pipes of various ages (Olivinovaya, Malokuonapskaya, and Udachnaya-East) were studied for the first time by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. It was shown that hydrocarbons and their derivatives, as well as nitrogen-, halogen-, and sulfur-bearing compounds, played a significant role in the mineral formation. The proportion of hydrocarbons and their derivatives in the composition of mantle fluids could reach 99%, including up to 4.9% of chlorineand fluorine-bearing compounds.
Abstract: It has been demonstrated for the first time that the isotopic compositions of carbon (?13C) in magmatic calcites from the Udachnaya–East pipe kimberlite groundmass varies from–2.5 to–1.0‰ (V-PDB), while those of oxygen (?18O) range from 15.0 to 18.2‰ (V-SMOW). The obtained results imply that during the terminal late magmatic and postmagmatic stages of the kimberlite pipe formation, the carbonates in the kimberlite groundmass became successively heavier isotopically, which indicates the hybrid nature of the carbonate component of the kimberlite: it was formed with contributions from mantle and sedimentary marine sources.
Formation and evolution of hypabyssal kimberlites from the Siberian craton: part 1 - new insights from cathodluminescence of the carbonates. Anabar and Olenek area
Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 145, pt. B, pp. 670-678.
Abstract: The primary melt and fluid inclusions in regenerated zonal crystals of olivine and homogeneous phenocrysts of olivine from kimberlites of the Udachnaya-East pipe, were first studied by means of microthermometry, optic and scanning electron microscopy, electron and ion microprobe analysis (SIMS), inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP MSC), and Raman spectroscopy. It was established that olivine crystals were regenerated from silicate-carbonate melts at a temperature of ~1100°C.
Journal of Volcanology and Seismology, Vol. 12, 2, pp. 140-149.
Russia
deposit- Nyurbinskaya
Abstract: The study of viscosity in sub-liquidus heterogeneous media, which includes kimberlite magma at the pressures and temperatures that prevail in the mantle, is an urgent task. We have conducted experiments in the serpentine-olivine, serpentine-CaCO3?olivine, and native kimberlite-olivine systems at a pressure of 4 GPa and temperatures of 1400?1600°? in a BARS high-pressure device using the technique of a falling Pt pellet. The samples were examined after experiments to find fine-grained chilled mass of crystals where the Pt pellet was observed at the time of chilling. The concentration of the solid phase was varied in the experiments between 10 and 50 wt %. We showed that when 50 wt % of olivine grains has been introduced, it was not possible to detect the motion of the Pt pellet, while when the concentration of olivine xenocrysts reached 10 wt %, the Pt pellet very rapidly descended to the bottom of the reaction volume. Viscosity was calculated using the Stokes method. We found that the viscosity of a homogeneous kimberlite melt at 4 GPa and 1600°? is below 2 Pa s, with the viscosity of a melt that contained up to 10 wt % of the solid phase being approximately constant. A kimberlite melt that contained 30 wt % of the solid phase had a viscosity on the order of 100 Pa s, while with 50 wt % of the solid phase the relative viscosity of an ultrabasic system increased to reach values over 1000 Pa s.
Doklady Earth Sciences, Vol. 482, 1, pp. 1207-1211.
Russia
spectrometry
Abstract: The first chromatography-mass spectroscopy data on volatiles in diamonds synthesized in the Fe-S-C system with 5 wt % S at 1400-1450°C and 5.0-5.5 GPa indicate the evolution of volatile composition during the diamond growth and, correspondingly, the variation in redox conditions of the reaction cell. A significant role is played by various hydrocarbons (HCs) and their derivatives, the content of which can reach 87%. Our data on possible abiogenic synthesis of HCs (components of natural gas and oil) can result in global recalculations (including climate) related to the global C cycle.
Abstract: Monocrystalline type Ia diamonds with octahedral growth morphology prevail among lithospheric diamonds, including precious stones. Unlike less common ‘fibrous’ diamonds that grew from alkali-rich carbonate-bearing melts and fluids, the growth medium of ‘monocrystalline’ type Ia diamonds remains debatable. Here we report the first finding of an optically visible (~30??m in size) carbonate inclusion in the center of a gem type Ia octahedral diamond from the Sytykanskaya kimberlite pipe, Yakutia. We found that the inclusion consists of submicron size carbonate phases represented by K2Ca(CO3)2 bütschliite (~15?vol%), Na2Mg(CO3)2 eitelite (~5?vol%), and dolomite (~80?vol%). Although neither bütschliite nor eitelite can coexist with dolomite under mantle P-T conditions, these phases readily appear all together in the quenched products of carbonatite melt under mantle pressures. Thus, at the moment of capture, the inclusion material was a carbonatite melt with the following composition 10(K0.75Na0.25)2CO3?90(Ca0.57Mg0.43)CO3. The content of alkali carbonates at the level of 10?mol% indicates that the melt was formed at a temperature of ?1300?°C. The high K/Na and Ca/(Ca?+?Mg) ratios in this melt indicate its derivation by partial melting of recycled marine sediments (pelites). Considering an age of the last subduction event beneath the Siberian craton, our new finding implies that subducting slabs drag carbonated material of the continental crust beneath ancient cratons, where it experiences partial melting to form a potassic dolomitic melt responsible for the formation of most diamonds, since the Late Archean.
Abstract: Monocrystalline type Ia diamonds with octahedral growth morphology prevail among lithospheric diamonds, including precious stones. Unlike less common ‘fibrous’ diamonds that grew from alkali-rich carbonate-bearing melts and fluids, the growth medium of ‘monocrystalline’ type Ia diamonds remains debatable. Here we report the first finding of an optically visible (~30??m in size) carbonate inclusion in the center of a gem type Ia octahedral diamond from the Sytykanskaya kimberlite pipe, Yakutia. We found that the inclusion consists of submicron size carbonate phases represented by K2Ca(CO3)2 bütschliite (~15?vol%), Na2Mg(CO3)2 eitelite (~5?vol%), and dolomite (~80?vol%). Although neither bütschliite nor eitelite can coexist with dolomite under mantle P-T conditions, these phases readily appear all together in the quenched products of carbonatite melt under mantle pressures. Thus, at the moment of capture, the inclusion material was a carbonatite melt with the following composition 10(K0.75Na0.25)2CO3?90(Ca0.57Mg0.43)CO3. The content of alkali carbonates at the level of 10?mol% indicates that the melt was formed at a temperature of ?1300?°C. The high K/Na and Ca/(Ca?+?Mg) ratios in this melt indicate its derivation by partial melting of recycled marine sediments (pelites). Considering an age of the last subduction event beneath the Siberian craton, our new finding implies that subducting slabs drag carbonated material of the continental crust beneath ancient cratons, where it experiences partial melting to form a potassic dolomitic melt responsible for the formation of most diamonds, since the Late Archean.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 266, pp. 197-212.
Russia, Urals
diamond inclusions
Abstract: The compositions of mineral inclusions from a representative collection (more than 140 samples) of diamonds from the placer deposits in the Ural Mountains were studied to examine their compositional diversity. The overwhelming majority of rounded octahedral and dodecahedral stones typical of placers contain eclogitic (E-type) mineral inclusions (up to 80%) represented by garnets with Mg# 40-75 and Ca# 10-56, including the unique high calcic “grospydite” composition, omphacitic pyroxenes containing up to 65% of jadeite, as well as kyanite, coesite, sulfides, and rutile. Peridotitic (P-type) inclusions are represented by olivine, subcalcic Cr-pyrope, chrome diopside, enstatite and magnesiochromite that are typical for diamonds worldwide. Comparing the chemical composition of olivine, pyrope and magnesiochromite in diamonds of the Urals, north-east of the Siberian platform placers and Arkhangelsk province kimberlites show striking similarity. There are significant differences only in the variations of carbon isotopic composition of the diamonds from the placers of the Urals and north-east of the Siberian platform. One typical rounded dodecahedral diamond was found to contain abundant primary oriented submicrometer-sized (<3.0?µm) octahedral fluid inclusions identified by transmission electron microscopy, which caused the milky color of the entire diamond crystal. The electron energy-loss spectrum of a singular inclusion has a peak at ?405?eV, indicating that nitrogen is present. The Raman spectra with peaks at 2346-2350?cm?1 confirmed that nitrogen exists in the solid state at room temperature. This means that fossilized pressure inside fluid inclusions may be over 6.0 GPa at room temperature, so the diamond may be considered sublithospheric in origin. However, identification of unique fluid inclusions in one typical placer diamond allows one to expand the pressure limit to at least more than 8.0 GPa. The volatile components of four diamonds from the Urals placers were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). They are represented (rel. %) by hydrocarbons and their derivatives (14.8-78.4), nitrogen and nitrogenated compounds (6.2-81.7), water (2.5-5.5), carbon dioxide (2.8-12.1), and sulfonated compounds (0.01-0.96). It is shown that high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons and their derivatives, including chlorinated, nitrogenated and sulfonated compounds, appear to be stable under upper mantle P-T conditions. A conclusion is drawn that Urals placer diamonds are of kimberlitic origin and are comparable in their high E-type/P-type inclusion ratios to those from the northeastern Siberian platform and in part to diamonds of the Arkhangelsk kimberlite province.
Alvaro, M., Mazzucchelli, M.L., Angel, R.J., Murri, M., Campmenosi, N., Scambelluri, M., Nestola, F., Korsakov, A., Tomilenko, A.A., Marone, F., Morana, M.
Abstract: Metamorphic rocks are the records of plate tectonic processes whose reconstruction relies on correct estimates of the pressures and temperatures (P-T) experienced by these rocks through time. Unlike chemical geothermobarometry, elastic geobarometry does not rely on chemical equilibrium between minerals, so it has the potential to provide information on overstepping of reaction boundaries and to identify other examples of non-equilibrium behavior in rocks. Here we introduce a method that exploits the anisotropy in elastic properties of minerals to determine the unique P and T of entrapment from a single inclusion in a mineral host. We apply it to preserved quartz inclusions in garnet from eclogite xenoliths hosted in Yakutian kimberlites (Russia). Our results demonstrate that quartz trapped in garnet can be preserved when the rock reaches the stability field of coesite (the high-pressure and high-temperature polymorph of quartz) at 3 GPa and 850 °C. This supports a metamorphic origin for these xenoliths and sheds light on the mechanisms of craton accretion from a subducted crustal protolith. Furthermore, we show that interpreting P and T conditions reached by a rock from the simple phase identification of key inclusion minerals can be misleading.
Abstract: The first results on the interaction between an Fe-Ni melt and anthracene (?14?10) in the presence of olivine at 3 GPa and 1500°? and on the study of the component composition of the fluid generated in this process are presented. The stability of aliphatic hydrocarbons in the implemented conditions is confirmed experimentally. It is established that, under these conditions, crystallization of high-magnesian olivines occurs (Fo = 97-98 mol %). The composition of the fluid is similar to the composition of the fluid from inclusions in synthetic diamonds. The conditions implemented in the experiment might have occurred at the early stages of the Earth’s evolution.
Abstract: Formation of hydrocarbons by reactions of hydrogenbearing fluids with carbon [1] (13C soot, graphite, or diamond), carbonate-bearing pelites [2] and iron carbides (Fe3C and Fe7C3) [3] was simulated at 5.5-7.8 GPa and 1100- 1400°C, fH2 in Pt and Au capsules being controlled at the Mo+MoO2+H2O or Fe+FeO+H2O equilibria. For the first time, formation of hydrocarbons from inorganic compounds was proved by the reaction of 13C with hydrogen, which yielded isotopically pure alkanes. The greatest amounts of HCs (CH4/C2H6 < 1, CH4/C3H8 and CH4/C4H10 ? 10) formed at 1400°C in the 10-hr run. The amount of HCs synthesized at 1200°C was twice smaller. The rate of HCs formation was slowest in runs with diamond. At 1200 °C, light alkanes (C1?C2>C3>C4) formed either by direct hydrogenation of Fe3C or Fe7C3, or by hydrogenation of graphite/diamond in the presence of Fe3C, Fe7C3. The CH4/C2H6 ratio in the fluids decreased from 5 to 0.5 with decreasing iron activity and the C fraction increased in the series: Fe-Fe3C?Fe3C- Fe7C3?Fe7C3-graphite?graphite-Fe3C-magnesite and Fe3C-H2O-CO2 systems at 1200 °C yielded magnesiowüstite and wüstite, respectively, and both produced C-rich Fe7C3 and mainly light alkanes (C1?C2>C3>C4). In the experiments containing pelites methaneimine (CH3N) was found to be the main N-bearing compound. The experiments have provided the first unambiguous evidence that volatile-rich and reduced mantles of terrestrial planets (at fO2 near or below IW) provided favorable conditions for abiotic generation of complex hydrocarbon systems that predominantly contain light alkanes. The conditions favorable for HC formation exist in earth mantle, where slab-derived H2O-, CO2- and carbonate-bearing fluids interact with metal-saturated mantle.
Abstract: Data on the interaction of the Fe-Ni melt with CaCO3 and graphite at 5 GPa and 1400°? under the thermogradient conditions used in experiments on the growth of diamond on the BARS high-pressure apparatus are presented. The phase composition and component composition of the fluid captured by diamonds in the form of inclusions were studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Diamonds were synthesized from graphite. During the interaction of the Fe-Ni melt with CaCO3, Ca-Fe oxides and (Fe, Ni)3C carbide were formed. The stability of heavy hydrocarbons under the experimental conditions was confirmed. It was established that the composition of the fluid in synthesized diamonds is close to the composition of the fluid from inclusions in some natural diamonds. Nevertheless, it was concluded that crystallization of large diamonds under natural conditions is hardly possible due to the filling of the main crystallization volume with refractory oxide phases.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 247, pp. 11-16.
Mantle
Experimental Petrology
Abstract: Lattice thermal conductivity of ferropericlase and radiative thermal conductivity of iron bearing magnesium silicate perovskite (bridgmanite) - the major mineral of Earth’s lower mantle- have been measured at room temperature up to 30 and 46 GPa, respectively, using time-domain thermoreflectance and optical spectroscopy techniques in diamond anvil cells. The results provide new constraints for the pressure dependencies of the thermal conductivities of Fe bearing minerals. The lattice thermal conductivity of ferropericlase Mg0.9Fe0.1O is 5.7(6) W/(m * K) at ambient conditions, which is almost 10 times smaller than that of pure MgO; however, it increases with pressure much faster (6.1(7)%/GPa vs 3.6(1)%/GPa). The radiative conductivity of a Mg0.94Fe0.06SiO3 bridgmanite single crystal agrees with previously determined values for powder samples at ambient pressure; it is almost pressure-independent in the investigated pressure range. Our results confirm the reduced radiative conductivity scenario for the Earth’s lower mantle, while the assessment of the heat flow through the core-mantle boundary still requires in situ measurements at the relevant pressure-temperature conditions.
Abstract: MgSiO3 tetragonal garnet, which is the last of the missing phases of experimentally predicted high-pressure polymorphs of pyroxene, has been discovered in a shocked meteorite. The garnet is formed from low-Ca pyroxene in the host rock through a solid-state transformation at 17 to 20 GPa and 1900° to 2000°C. On the basis of the degree of cation ordering in its crystal structure, which can be deduced from electron diffraction intensities, the cooling rate of the shock-induced melt veins from ~2000°C was estimated to be higher than 103°C/s. This cooling rate sets the upper bound for the shock-temperature increase in the bulk meteorite at ~900°C.
Abstract: A dense magnesium iron silicate polymorph with a structure intermediate between olivine, ringwoodite, and wadsleyite was theoretically predicted about four decades ago. As this group of minerals constitute the major component of shocked meteorites, constraining their transitional forms and behaviour is of potential importance for understanding impact events on their parent bodies. Here we use high-resolution transmission electron microscopy techniques and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses to identify naturally occurring examples of this mineral - recently named poirierite - in shocked chondritic meteorites. We observe nanoscale lamellar poirierite topotactically intergrown within wadsleyite, and additionally within ringwoodite as recently reported. Our results confirm the intermediate structure of poirierite and suggest it might be a relay point in the shear transformations between its polymorphs. We propose that poirierite formed during rapid decompression at relatively low temperature in retrograde shock metamorphism of the meteorites.
Speciation of and D/H partioning between fluids and melts in silicate D-O-H-C-N systems determined in-situ at upper mantle temperatures, pressures, and redox conditions.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 497, 1, pp. 181-192.
Mantle
metasomatism
Abstract: At convergent margins fluids liberated from subducting slabs metasomatise the overlying mantle wedge, enriching it in volatiles, incompatible elements and possibly ore-forming metals. Despite the genetic link between this process, the genesis of arc magmas, and formation of porphyry Cu-Au deposits, there is currently little understanding of the behaviour of chalcophile and siderophile elements during subduction-related mantle metasomatism. In this study, we report sulfur isotopic compositions and PGE concentrations of sulfides in a suite of garnet peridotites from the Western Gneiss Region of Norway, sampling mantle wedge from ?100 to ?250 km depth. Sulfides hosted in metasomatised samples have deviated from typical mantle values, ranging between ?10.0 and +5.4‰, indicating derivation of sulfur from subducted crust. Sulfides in pervasively metasomatised samples have atypical PGE signatures, with strong enrichment in Os and Ru relative to Ir, whereas channelised fluid flow produced sulfides extremely enriched in Pd, up to 700 times the concentration found in non-metasomatised samples. These signatures are reconcilable with a high oxidation state of the metasomatising agents and demonstrate that subduction can recycle chalcophile and siderophile elements into and within the mantle, along with sulfur. We further show that because the solubility of Os and Ru in fluids is redox sensitive, and Pd is more soluble than the I-PGE, ratios such as Os/Ir, Ru/Ir plotted against Pd/Ir can be used to trace the metasomatic oxidation of mantle samples, mantle-derived magmas and porphyry Cu±Au deposits. This geochemical insight is used to show that Au-rich porphyry Cu deposits are derived from more oxidised mantle wedge than Au-poor porphyry deposits.
Tomlinon, E.L., McMillan, P.F., Zhang, M., Jones, A.P., Redfern, S.A.T.
Quartz bearing C-O-H fluid inclusions diamond: retracing the pressure-temperature path in the mantle using calibrated high temperature IR spectroscopy.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, on line in press available, 10p.
Abstract: In the Archaean, global surface heat flow was substantially higher than today because of greater internal radiogenic heat production and primordial heat content within the Earth. Nonetheless, the lithospheric roots of Archaean cratons were apparently surprisingly cool, recording similarly low ambient temperatures to those inferred today, allowing e.g. for the stabilisation of diamond. This finding is seemingly in conflict with a generally ‘hotter’ Archaean mantle, as is widely postulated, but the paradox could be explained if the sub-cratonic lithospheric mantle was substantially thicker in the Archaean than today. Here, we report a re-investigation of the thermal structure of the Archaean Kalahari lithosphere using published and unpublished petrological data of diamond inclusions indicated to be of Archaean age. Our thermobarometric calculations agree with earlier findings that the Archaean cratonic mantle root was surprisingly cool. Importantly, the shape of the inclusion-derived P-T array deviates from the modern geotherm recorded by peridotite xenoliths. Specifically, diamond inclusions define a systematically steeper geothermal gradient than is observed in cratonic xenoliths. We find that Archaean diamond inclusion and modern xenolith P-T data cannot be reconciled by a single steady-state geotherm. The P-T conditions recorded in diamond inclusions are incompatible with the current characteristically low present-day heat-production of the overlying crust. Instead, the steeper geotherm implies high heat production in the crust during diamond formation and the distinctive geothermal gradient recorded in the studied diamond inclusions could reflect ancient mantle conditions. We modelled a suite of ‘fossil’ geotherms, with increased radiogenic heat production within the crust during the Archaean. Solutions providing very good fits with the diamond inclusion geotherm all require that the Archaean lithosphere must have extended to far greater depths than is preserved today. The required depth ranges from ~ 300 km to ~ 450 km depth, for a modern (~ 1350°C) and a significantly hotter (~ 1600°C) mantle potential temperature, respectively. In either case, it is clear that the Kalahari lithosphere must have experienced significant (at least 100 km) basal erosion subsequent to its formation.
Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, in press available
Technology
REE mass fractions
Abstract: Olivine offers huge, largely untapped, potential for improving our understanding of magmatic and metasomatic processes. In particular, a wealth of information is contained in rare earth element (REE) mass fractions, which are well studied in other minerals. However, REE data for olivine are scarce, reflecting the difficulty associated with determining mass fractions in the low ng g?1 range and with controlling the effects of LREE contamination. We report an analytical procedure for measuring REEs in olivine using laser ablation quadrupole-ICP-MS that achieved limits of determination (LOD) at sub-ng g?1 levels and biases of ~ 5-10%. Empirical partition coefficients (D values) calculated using the new olivine compositions agree with experimental values, indicating that the measured REEs are structurally bound in the olivine crystal lattice, rather than residing in micro-inclusions. We conducted an initial survey of REE contents of olivine from mantle, metamorphic, magmatic and meteorite samples. REE mass fractions vary from 0.1 to double-digit ng g?1 levels. Heavy REEs vary from low mass fractions in meteoritic samples, through variably enriched peridotitic olivine to high mass fractions in magmatic olivines, with fayalitic olivines showing the highest levels. The variable enrichment in HREEs demonstrates that olivine REE patterns have petrological utility.
Abstract: It is now well established that the cratonic sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) represents a residue of extensively melted fertile peridotite. The widespread occurrence of garnet in the Archaean SCLM remains a paradox because many experiments agree that garnet is exhausted beyond c. 20% melting. It has been suggested that garnet may have formed by exsolution from Al-rich orthopyroxene [1,2,3]. However, the few examples of putative garnet exsolution in cratonic samples remain exotic and have not afforded a link to garnet that occurs as distinct grains in granular harzburgite. We present crystallographic (EBSD), petrographic and chemical (SEM-EDS and LA-ICP-MS) data for an exceptionally well-preserved orthopyroxene megacryst juxtaposed against granular harzburgite. Garnet lamellae within the megacryst show crystallographic continuity and have a strong fabric relative to the host orthopyroxene, strongly indicating that the megacryst formed by exsolution. Garnet lamellae are sub-calcic Cr-pyropes with sinusoidal rare earth element patterns, while the orthopyroxene host is high-Mg enstatite; the reconstructed precursor is clinoestatite. The megacryst shows evidence for disintegrating into granular peridotite, and garnet and orthopyroxene within the granular peridotite are texturally and chemically identical to equivalent phases in the megacryst. Collectively, this evidence supports a common origin for the granular and exsolved portions of the sample. The compositions of the exsolved Cr pyrope and enstatite are typical of harzburgites and depleted lherzolites from the SCLM. Furthermore, garnet inclusions within orthopyroxene in several granular peridotites exhibit the same fabric as those in the exsolved megacryst. We hypothesise that clinoenstatite was a common phase in cratonic SCLM and that exsolution is the likely origin of many sub-calcic garnets in depleted peridotites.
Abstract: It is well established that the cratonic subcontinental lithospheric mantle (C-SCLM) represents a residue of extensively melted peridotite. The widespread occurrence of garnet in C-SCLM remains a paradox because experiments show that it should be exhausted beyond ?20% melting. It has been suggested that garnet may have formed by exsolution from Al-rich orthopyroxene; however, the few documented examples of garnet exsolution in cratonic samples are exotic and do not afford a direct link to garnet in granular harzburgite. We report crystallographic, petrographic, and chemical data for an exceptionally well preserved orthopyroxene megacryst containing garnet lamellae, juxtaposed against granular harzburgite. Garnet lamellae are homogeneously distributed within the host orthopyroxene and occur at an orientation that is unrelated to orthopyroxene cleavage, strongly indicating that they formed by exsolution. Garnet lamellae are subcalcic Cr-pyrope, and the orthopyroxene host is high-Mg enstatite; these phases equilibrated at 4.4 GPa and 975 °C. The reconstructed precursor is a high-Al enstatite that formed at higher pressure and temperature conditions of ?6 GPa and 1750 °C. The megacryst shows evidence for disintegrating into granular peridotite, and garnet and orthopyroxene within the granular peridotite are texturally and chemically identical to equivalent phases in the megacryst. Collectively, this evidence supports a common origin for the granular and exsolved portions of the sample. We hypothesize that high-Al enstatite was a common phase in the C-SCLM and that exsolution during cooling and stabilization of the C-SCLM could be the origin of most subcalcic garnets in depleted peridotites.
Abstract: The most outstanding features of Archaean cratons are their extraordinary thickness and enduring longevity. Seismically, Archaean cratonic fragments are sharply-bounded deep roots of mechanically strong, cold lithospheric mantle, clearly distinguishable from non-cratonic lithosphere. Rhenium-depletion of deep cratonic xenolith whole rocks and sulphide inclusions in diamond indicate that melting was broadly coeval with formation of the overlying proto-cratonic crust, which was of limited mechanical strength. A very important process of proto-cratonic development was vertical crustal reorganisation that eventually yielded a thermally stable, cratonised crust with a highly K-U-Th-rich uppermost crust and much more depleted deeper crust. Clastic sedimentary rocks available for geochemical study are predominantly found in the youngest parts of supracrustal stratigraphies and over-represent the highly evolved rocks that appeared during cratonisation. Vertical crustal reorganisation was driven by crustal radiogenic heat and emplacement of proto-craton-wide, incubating and dense supracrustal mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks. Statistical analysis of these cover sequences shows a preponderance of basalt and a high abundance of ultramafic lavas with a dearth of picrite. The ultramafic lavas can be grouped into Ti-enriched and Ti-depleted types and high pressure and temperature experimental data indicate that the latter formed from previously depleted mantle at temperatures in excess of 1700?°C. Most mantle harzburgite xenoliths from cratonic roots are highly refractory, containing very magnesian olivine and many have a high modal abundance of orthopyroxene. High orthopyroxene mode is commonly attributed to metasomatic silica-enrichment or a non-pyrolitic mantle source but much of the excess silica requirement disappears if melting occurred at high pressures of 4-6?GPa. Analysis of experimental data demonstrates that melting of previously depleted harzburgite can yield liquids with highly variable Si/Mg ratios and low Al2O3 and FeO contents, as found in komatiites, and complementary high Cr/Al residues. In many harzburgites, there is an intimate spatial association of garnet and spinel with orthopyroxene, which indicates formation of the Al-phase by exsolution upon cooling and decompression. New and published rare earth element (REE) data for garnet and orthopyroxene show that garnet has inherited its sinusoidal REE pattern from the orthopyroxene. The lack of middle-REE depletion in these refractory residues is consistent with the lack of middle- over heavy-REE fractionation in most komatiites. This suggests that such pyroxene or garnet (or precursor phases) were present during komatiite melting. In the Kaapvaal craton, garnet exsolution upon significant cooling occurred as early as 3.2?Ga and geobarometry of diamond inclusions from ancient kimberlites also supports cool Archaean cratonic geotherms. This requires that some mantle roots have extended to 300 to possibly 400?km and that early cratons must have been much larger than 500?km in diameter. We maintain that the Archaean-Proterozoic boundary continues to be of geological significance, despite the recognition that upper crustal chemistry, as sampled by sedimentary rocks, became more evolved from ca. 3?Ga onwards. The boundary coincides with the disappearance of widespread komatiite and marks the end of formation of typical refractory cratonic lithosphere. This may signify a fundamental change in the thermal structure of the mantle after which upwellings no longer resulted in very high temperature perturbations. One school of thought is that the thermal re-ordering occurred at the core-mantle boundary whereas others envisage Archaean plumes to have originated at the base of the upper mantle. Here we speculate that Archaean cratonic roots may contain remnants of older domains of non-convecting mantle. These domains are potential carriers of isotope anomalies and their base could have constituted a mechanical and thermal boundary layer. Above laterally extensive barriers, emerging proto-cratons were protected from the main mantle heat loss. The eventual collapse of these mechanical barriers terminated very high temperature upwellings and dismembered portions of the barrier were incorporated into the cratonic mantle during the final Neoarchaean ‘superplume’ event. The surviving cratons may therefore preserve biased evidence of geological processes that operated during the Archaean.
Nature Communications, doi:101038/s41467- 021-21343-9 33p. Pdf
Mantle
craton
Abstract: Peridotites from the thick roots of Archaean cratons are known for their compositional diversity, whose origin remains debated. We report thermodynamic modelling results for reactions between peridotite and ascending mantle melts. Reaction between highly magnesian melt (komatiite) and peridotite leads to orthopyroxene crystallisation, yielding silica-rich harzburgite. By contrast, shallow basalt-peridotite reaction leads to olivine enrichment, producing magnesium-rich dunites that cannot be generated by simple melting. Komatiite is spatially and temporally associated with basalt within Archaean terranes indicating that modest-degree melting co-existed with advanced melting. We envisage a relatively cool mantle that experienced episodic hot upwellings, the two settings could have coexisted if roots of nascent cratons became locally strongly extended. Alternatively, deep refractory silica-rich residues could have been detached from shallower dunitic lithosphere prior to cratonic amalgamation. Regardless, the distinct Archaean melting-reaction environments collectively produced skewed and multi-modal olivine distributions in the cratonic lithosphere and bimodal mafic-ultramafic volcanism at surface.
Mainprice, D., Tommasi, A., Ferre, D., Carrez, P., Cordier, P.
Predicted glide systems and crystal preferred orientations of polycrystalline silicate Mg perovskite at high pressure: implications for seismic anisotropy
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 271, 1-4, pp. 135-144.
Deformation, static recrystallization, and reactive melt transport in shallow subcontinental mantle xenoliths ( Tok Cenozoic volcanic field, SE Siberia).
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 272, 1-2, pp. 65-77.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: G3, Vol. 16, 11, Nov. pp. 3924-3945.
Mantle
Convection
Abstract: Numerical models show that small-scale convection (SSC) occurring atop a mantle plume is a plausible mechanism to rejuvenate the lithosphere. The triggering of SSC depends on the density contrast and on the rheology of the unstable layer underlying the stagnant upper part of the thermal boundary layer (TBL). Partial melting may change both properties. We analyze, using 2-D numerical simulations, how partial melting influences the dynamics of time-dependent SSC instabilities and the resulting thermo-mechanical rejuvenation of an oceanic plate moving atop of a plume. Our simulations show a complex behavior, with acceleration, no change, or delay of the SSC onset, due to competing effects of the latent heat of partial melting, which cools the plume material, and of the buoyancy increase associated with both melt retention and depletion of residue following melt extraction. The melt-induced viscosity reduction is too localized to affect significantly SSC dynamics. Faster SSC triggering is promoted for low melting degrees (low plume temperature anomalies, thick lithosphere, or fast moving plates), which limit both the temperature reduction due to latent heat of melting and the accumulation of depleted buoyant residue in the upper part of the unstable layer. In contrast, high partial melting degrees lead to a strong temperate decrease due to latent heat of melting and development of a thick depleted layer within the sublithospheric convecting layer, which delay the development of gravitational instabilities. Despite differences in SSC dynamics, the thinning of the lithosphere is not significantly enhanced relatively to simulations that neglect partial melting.
Journal of Petrology, Vol. 57, 11-12, pp. 2251-2270.
Africa, Morocco
Deposit - Beni Bousera
Abstract: Correlations between major and minor transition elements in tectonically emplaced orogenic peridotites have been ascribed to variable degrees of melt extraction and melt-rock reaction processes, leading to depletion or refertilization. To elucidate how such processes are recorded in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, we processed a large geochemical dataset for peridotites from the four tectono-metamorphic domains of the Beni Bousera orogenic massif (Rif Belt, northern Morocco). Our study reveals that variations in bulk-rock major and minor elements, Mg-number and modal mineralogy of lherzolites, as well as their clinopyroxene trace element compositions, are inconsistent with simple partial melting and mainly resulted from different reactions between melts and depleted peridotites. Up to 30% melting at <3 GPa and cryptic metasomatism can account for the geochemical variations of most harzburgites. In Grt-Sp mylonites, melting and melt-rock reactions are masked by tectonic mixing with garnet pyroxenites and subsolidus re-equilibration. In the rest of the massif, lherzolites were mostly produced by refertilization of a refractory protolith (Mg-number = 91, Ol = 70%, Cpx/Opx = 0.4) via two distinct near-solidus, melt- rock reactions: (1) clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene precipitation and olivine consumption at melt/rock ratios <0.75 and variable mass ratio between crystallized minerals and infiltrated melt ®, which are recorded fairly homogeneously throughout the massif; (2) dissolution of orthopyroxene and precipitation of clinopyroxene and olivine at melt/rock ratios <1 and R = 0.2-0.3, which affected mainly the Arie` gite-Seiland and Seiland domains. The distribution of secondary lherzolites in the massif suggests that the first refertilization reaction occurred prior to the differentiation of the Beni Bousera mantle section into petro-structural zones, whereas the second reaction was associated with the development of the tectono-metamorphic domains. Our data support a secondary, refertilization-related origin for most lherzolites in orogenic peridotite massifs.
Abstract: We studied a suite of mantle xenoliths carried by Cenozoic volcanism in the Borborema Province, NE Brazil. These xenoliths sample a subcontinental lithospheric mantle affected by multiple continental convergence and rifting events since the Archean. Equilibrium temperatures indicate a rather hot geotherm, implying a ca. 80?km thick lithosphere. Most xenoliths have coarse-granular and coarse-porphyroclastic microstructures, recording variable degrees of annealing following deformation. The high annealing degree and equilibrated pyroxene shapes in coarse-granular peridotites equilibrated at ~900?°C indicate that the last deformation event that affected these peridotites is several hundreds of Ma old. Coarse-porphyroclastic peridotites equilibrated at 950-1100?°C probably record younger (Cretaceous?) deformation in the deep lithospheric mantle. In addition, a few xenoliths show fine-porphyroclastic microstructures and equilibrium temperatures ?1200?°C, which imply recent deformation, probably related to the dykes that fed the Cenozoic volcanism. Chemical and microstructural evidence for reactive percolation of melts is widespread. Variation in textural and chemical equilibrium among samples implies multiple melt percolation events well spaced in time (from Neoproterozoic or older to Cenozoic). Crystal preferred orientations of olivine and pyroxenes point to deformation controlled by dislocation creep with dominant activation of the [100](010) and [001]{0kl} slip systems in olivine and pyroxenes, respectively, for all microstructures. Comparison of xenoliths' seismic properties to SKS splitting data in the nearby RCBR station together with the equilibrated microstructures in the low-temperature xenoliths point to coupled crust-mantle deformation in the Neoproterozoic (Brasiliano) continental-scale shear zones, which is still preserved in the shallow lithospheric mantle. This implies limited reworking of the lithospheric mantle in response to extension during the opening of the Equatorial Atlantic in the Cretaceous, which in the present sampling is restricted to the base of the lithosphere.
Abstract: Petrostructural analysis of 31 mantle xenoliths from three kimberlitic pipes intruding the Neoproterozoic Brasilia belt close to the southwestern margin of the São Francisco craton (SFC) reveals microstructures and compositions similar to those observed in cratonic roots worldwide. (1) The spinel-peridotites sampling the upper section of the lithospheric mantle have dominantly refractory modal and mineral compositions, whereas garnet-peridotites sampling the deep lithospheric mantle have more fertile compositions, consistent with those observed in cratonic roots worldwide. (2) The spinel-peridotites present a variation in microstructure from coarse-granular to coarse-porphyroclastic, but similar olivine crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO). (3) The garnet-peridotites have fine-porphyroclastic microstructures. (4) Many coarse-porphyroclastic spinel-peridotites display Fe-enrichment in olivine and pyroxenes, often associated with Ti-enrichment in pyroxenes or spinel and occurrence of modal phlogopite. (5) Equilibrium temperatures and pressures of garnet-peridotites are consistent with a cratonic geotherm, but equilibrium conditions of spinel-peridotites require a warmer geotherm. We interpret these observations as indicating that the xenoliths sample the SFC mantle root, which extends beneath the Brasilia belt, but was modified by reactive transport of the magmas forming the Alto Parnaiba Igneous Province (APIP) between 120 and 90 Ma. The APIP magmatism resulted in heterogeneous modal metasomatism, Fe enrichment, development of coarse-porphyroclastic microstructures in spinel peridotites and fine-porphyroclastic microstructures in garnet-peridotites, and moderate heating of the cratonic mantle root. These changes may produce a decrease in seismic velocities explaining the local weak negative anomaly observed in the lithospheric mantle beneath the APIP, which contrasts with the positive velocity anomalies characterizing the SFC mantle root in P-wave tomography models. However, reactive magma transport did not erase the olivine CPO. Comparison of the average seismic properties of the xenoliths with seismological data implies dominantly subhorizontal fossil flow directions and a non-negligible contribution of the cratonic root to teleseismic S-waves splitting.
Geological Society, London Special Publication, doi.org/10.1144/SP513-2021-36 49p. Pdf
Europe, Italy, France, Spain, Serbia, Macedonia, Turkey
lamproites
Abstract: High-MgO lamproite and lamproite-like (i.e., lamprophyric) ultrapotassic rocks are recurrent in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. They are associated in space and time with ultrapotassic shoshonites and high-K calc-alkaline rocks. This magmatism is linked with the geodynamic evolution of the westernmost sector of the Alpine-Himalaya collisional margin, which followed the closure of the Tethys ocean. Subduction-related lamproites, lamprophyres, shoshonites and high-K calc-alkaline suites were emplaced in the Mediterranean region in the form of shallow level intrusions (e.g., plugs, dykes, and laccoliths), and small volume lava flows, with very subordinate pyroclastic rocks, starting from the Oligocene, in the Western Alps (Northern Italy), through the Late Miocene in Corsica (Southern France) and in Murcia-Almeria (South-Eastern Spain), to the Plio-Pleistocene in Southern Tuscany and Northern Latium (Central Italy), in the Balkan peninsula (Serbia and Macedonia), and in the Western Anatolia (Turkey). The ultrapotassic rocks are mostly lamprophyric, but olivine latitic lavas with a clear lamproitic affinity are also found, as well as dacitic to trachytic differentiated products. Lamproite-like rocks range from slightly silica under-saturated to silica over-saturated composition, have relatively low Al2O3, CaO, and Na2O contents, resulting in plagioclase-free parageneses, and consist of abundant K-feldspar, phlogopite, diopsidic clinopyroxene and highly forsteritic olivine. Leucite is generally absent and it is rarely found only in the groudmasses of Spanish lamproites. Mediterranean lamproites and associated rocks share an extreme enrichment in many incompatible trace elements and depletion in High Field Strength Elements and high, and positively correlated Th/La and Sm/La ratios. They have radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd isotope compositions, high 207Pb over 206Pb and high time integrated 232Th/238U. Their composition requires an originally depleted lithospheric mantle source metasomatised by at least two different agents: i) a high Th/La and Sm/La (i.e., SALATHO) component deriving from lawsonite-bearing, ancient crustal domains likely hosted in mélanges formed during the diachronous collision of the northward drifting continental slivers from Gondwana; ii) a K-rich component derived from a recent subduction and recycling of siliciclastic sediments. These metasomatic melts produced a lithospheric mantle source characterised by network of felsic and phlogopite-rich veins, respectively. Geothermal readjustment during post-collisional events induced progressive melting of the different types of veins and the surrounding peridotite generating the entire compositional spectrum of the observed magmas. In this complex scenario, orogenic Mediterranean lamproites represent rocks that characterise areas that were affected by multiple Wilson cycles, as observed in the the Alpine-Himalayan realm.
Geological Society London Special Publication, doi.org/10.1144/SP513-2021-36. pdf
Mantle
lamproite
Abstract: High-MgO lamproite and lamproite-like (i.e., lamprophyric) ultrapotassic rocks are recurrent in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. They are associated in space and time with ultrapotassic shoshonites and high-K calc-alkaline rocks. This magmatism is linked with the geodynamic evolution of the westernmost sector of the Alpine-Himalaya collisional margin, which followed the closure of the Tethys ocean. Subduction-related lamproites, lamprophyres, shoshonites and high-K calc-alkaline suites were emplaced in the Mediterranean region in the form of shallow level intrusions (e.g., plugs, dykes, and laccoliths), and small volume lava flows, with very subordinate pyroclastic rocks, starting from the Oligocene, in the Western Alps (Northern Italy), through the Late Miocene in Corsica (Southern France) and in Murcia-Almeria (South-Eastern Spain), to the Plio-Pleistocene in Southern Tuscany and Northern Latium (Central Italy), in the Balkan peninsula (Serbia and Macedonia), and in the Western Anatolia (Turkey). The ultrapotassic rocks are mostly lamprophyric, but olivine latitic lavas with a clear lamproitic affinity are also found, as well as dacitic to trachytic differentiated products. Lamproite-like rocks range from slightly silica under-saturated to silica over-saturated composition, have relatively low Al2O3, CaO, and Na2O contents, resulting in plagioclase-free parageneses, and consist of abundant K-feldspar, phlogopite, diopsidic clinopyroxene and highly forsteritic olivine. Leucite is generally absent and it is rarely found only in the groudmasses of Spanish lamproites. Mediterranean lamproites and associated rocks share an extreme enrichment in many incompatible trace elements and depletion in High Field Strength Elements and high, and positively correlated Th/La and Sm/La ratios. They have radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd isotope compositions, high 207Pb over 206Pb and high time integrated 232Th/238U. Their composition requires an originally depleted lithospheric mantle source metasomatised by at least two different agents: i) a high Th/La and Sm/La (i.e., SALATHO) component deriving from lawsonite-bearing, ancient crustal domains likely hosted in mélanges formed during the diachronous collision of the northward drifting continental slivers from Gondwana; ii) a K-rich component derived from a recent subduction and recycling of siliciclastic sediments. These metasomatic melts produced a lithospheric mantle source characterised by network of felsic and phlogopite-rich veins, respectively. Geothermal readjustment during post-collisional events induced progressive melting of the different types of veins and the surrounding peridotite generating the entire compositional spectrum of the observed magmas. In this complex scenario, orogenic Mediterranean lamproites represent rocks that characterise areas that were affected by multiple Wilson cycles, as observed in the the Alpine-Himalayan realm.
Doklady Earth Sciences, Vol. 477, 2, pp. 1458-1460.
Russia
deposit - Nyturba
Abstract: Study of the magmatics in the Nakyn kimberlite field, with consideration of the isotope dating results, allowed us to establish a sequence of their formation. First, 368.5-374.4 Ma ago intrusions of the Vilyui-Markha dike belt formed. Then (363-364 Ma) intrusion of kimberlites took place. In the Early Carboniferous (338.2-345.6 Ma), alkaline basaltic magma intruded through faults controlling the kimberlites. The magmatic activity finished 331-324.9 Ma ago with the formation of explosive breccias. It has been found that the Nyurba kimberlite pipe consists of two bodies: their kimberlite melts have successively intruded through independent channels.
Episodes, doi.org/10.18814/ epiiugs/2020 /020092 24p. Pdf
India
Craton - Bundelkhand
Abstract: Spatial association of tonalite trondhjemite granodiorites (TTGs) and high-K granitoids (anatectic and hybrid granites) from the Bundelkhand Craton (BC), Central India, is well known. Geochronological data indicates multiple episodes of formation of these high silica rocks showing a spread of ~1 Ga during Paleo to Neoarchaean. In the present study, we try to understand the evolution of TTGs and high-K granitoids (hybrid granites) from the BC using amphibole composition. The amphibole in both TTGs and high-K granitoids (hybrid granites) from the BC are characterised as magmatic, zoned, and calcic in nature. We find that the amphibole composition of the studied rocks is dominated by magnesiohornblende along with less common occurrence of tschermakite, magnesiohastingsite and edenite. Overall variation in amphibole compositions in terms of exchange vectors show a well defined linear trend (except for a late stage low-grade metamorphic readjustment), which suggests melt control over crystallization and evolution of amphibole chemistry. Moreover, the geothermobarometric analysis points towards higher pressure formation of TTGs in comparison to that of high-K granitoids (hybrid granites), with nearly the same temperature conditions in both the cases. Combining all our findings, we propose the evolution of the two considered rock types through lower crustal melting under varying PH2O conditions at different depths of emplacement.
Abstract: Numerous Mesozoic bodies of lamproite-like intrusions are located NE and E of the city of Villarrica, Guairá Department, in eastern Paraguay. This magmatic field, known as Ybytyruzú Field, lies immediately on the margin of the SW part of Paranapanemá cratonic-block, just of the Asunción rift backs-horst and so related to deep crustal/lithospheric fracture zones.Mostly of observed rocks are weathered, however fresh samples were collected in dykes from Acaty (=Yzu-2), Tacuarita (=Yzu-7); lava/breccias from Mbocayaty (=Yzu-3); and sill from Salto Boni (=Yzu-6). They intrude, both, the sediments (Independencia Group and Misiones Formation) and the tholeiitic basalts of the Paraná Basin. In the present study we have performed petrographic and mineral chemistry data to show that all of the study rocks, from the Ybytyruzú Field, are lamproites (leucite lamproite from Yzu-2/Yzu-3/Yzu-7 and sanidine lamproite from Yzu-6).With respect to Yzu-2, Yzu-3 and Yzu-6, the following analyzes show the lamproite character: -phenocrysts/microphenocrysts of: olivine (mg# (Mg/(Mg+Fe)) 0.80-0.85), Al-poor diopside (Al2O3 0.53-2.09% and TiO2 0.65-1.61%), phlogopite/Al-poor-Ti phlogopite (mg# 0.76-0.85, TiO2 5.8-10.2% and Al2O3 12.7-13.9%), Mg-Ti magnetites and leucite (pseudomorphs). -and matrix phases of: Al-poor diopside (Al2O3 0.39-2.46% and TiO2 0.43-1.55%), Al-poor-Ti phlogopite/biotite (mg# 0.57-0.80, TiO2 5.6-10.2% and Al2O3 8.9-12.8%), Mg-Ti magnetites/Ti-magnetites; sanidine (0-4.0% Fe2O3, 0-2.6% BaO and 0-2.5% Na2O). And as accessory phases, ilmenite (0.2-5.7% MgO and 0.3-6.6% MnO), K and Ti-rich Feeckermanite/richterite (1.32-3.6% K2O and 4.7-9.0% TiO2), K-rich Fe-Mg-Mn amphiboles, apatite and quartz (Yzu-6). And so, Ybytyruzú lamproite-like intrusions authenticates the true lamproitic province in Paraguay. III; INTERNATIONAL, 2000 BRAZIL 2000; 3 1ST INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS; ABSTRACTS VOLUME
Abstract: The petrographic study of two samples (quartzite and impactite) of Cerro León, a mountain range located in the middle of very probable impact basins (Cerro Leon-1, 2, 3 and 4-department of Alto Paraguay, Western-Paraguay) indicated evidences of impact metamorphism: PDFs (Not decorated and decorated) and diaplectic glass. Associated with diaplectic glass, impact diamonds or diamond/lonsdaleite crystals (micro and small macros) were observed with a range of morphologies including isolated and mostly agglutinated crystal varieties. Impact diamonds estimated to have formed by carbonate impact metamorphism present in the sedimentary target-rock of the Silurian/Devonian age. The identification of elements that reveal the impact metamorphism, in the analyzed samples of the Cerro León, evidences that the area of occurrence that would have been indicated as Very Probable Impact Basin, would be more of an Impact Basin.
Fullerenes, nanotubes and carbon nanostructures, Vol. 28, 11, pp. 877-885.
global
synthetics
Abstract: In this paper, the phase transformation mechanism of various carbon sources in the synthesis of diamond by direct detonation method was studied. Through designing comparison experiment and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization technique, an experimental study was conducted on the detonation process with the external of the combined carbon source and free carbon source, and without the participation of the external carbon source. The laws of phase transformation of the various carbon sources are obtained, in which the surplus carbon in the explosives participates in the formation of diamonds through the collision growth of droplet-like carbon, the added bonded carbon does not participate in the synthesis of diamond, and the added free carbon forms diamonds through the Martensitic transformation.
Mineralogy and Petrology, Vol. 115, 19p. Doi.org/101007 /s00710-020- 00723-x pdf
South America, Colombia
REE
Abstract: A multi-methodological study was conducted in order to provide further insight into the structural and compositional complexity of rare earth element (REE) fluorcarbonates, with particular attention to their correct assignment to a mineral species. Polycrystals from La Pita Mine, Municipality de Maripí, Boyacá Department, Colombia, show syntaxic intergrowth of parisite-(Ce) with röntgenite-(Ce) and a phase which is assigned to B3S4 (i.e., bastnäsite-3-synchisite-4; still unnamed) fluorcarbonate. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images reveal well-ordered stacking patterns of two monoclinic polytypes of parisite-(Ce) as well as heavily disordered layer sequences with varying lattice fringe spacings. The crystal structure refinement from single crystal X-ray diffraction data - impeded by twinning, complex stacking patterns, sequential and compositional faults - indicates that the dominant parisite-(Ce) polytype M1 has space group Cc. Parisite-(Ce), the B3S4 phase and röntgenite-(Ce) show different BSE intensities from high to low. Raman spectroscopic analyses of parisite-(Ce), the B3S4 phase and röntgenite-(Ce) reveal different intensity ratios of the three symmetric CO3 stretching bands at around 1100 cm?1. We propose to non-destructively differentiate parisite-(Ce) and röntgenite-(Ce) by their 1092 cm?1 / 1081 cm?1 ?1(CO3) band height ratio.
Abstract: A multi-methodological study was conducted in order to provide further insight into the structural and compositional complexity of rare earth element (REE) fluorcarbonates, with particular attention to their correct assignment to a mineral species. Polycrystals from La Pita Mine, Municipality de Maripí, Boyacá Department, Colombia, show syntaxic intergrowth of parisite-(Ce) with röntgenite-(Ce) and a phase which is assigned to B3S4 (i.e., bastnäsite-3-synchisite-4; still unnamed) fluorcarbonate. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images reveal well-ordered stacking patterns of two monoclinic polytypes of parisite-(Ce) as well as heavily disordered layer sequences with varying lattice fringe spacings. The crystal structure refinement from single crystal X-ray diffraction data - impeded by twinning, complex stacking patterns, sequential and compositional faults - indicates that the dominant parisite-(Ce) polytype M1 has space group Cc. Parisite-(Ce), the B3S4 phase and röntgenite-(Ce) show different BSE intensities from high to low. Raman spectroscopic analyses of parisite-(Ce), the B3S4 phase and röntgenite-(Ce) reveal different intensity ratios of the three symmetric CO3 stretching bands at around 1100 cm-1. We propose to non-destructively differentiate parisite-(Ce) and röntgenite-(Ce) by their 1092 cm-1 / 1081 cm-1 ?1(CO3) band height ratio.
Abstract: The Hadean-Archaean transition is poorly known because of the dearth of Hadean rocks. A new conceptual model is presented based on variations in mantle potential temperature (Tp) with time. The critical issue is the depth of melting with respect to a negatively buoyant magma sink between 410 and 330 km (14-11 GPa). Hadean plume magmatism begins below the magma sink, leading to generation of a refractory upper mantle reservoir and the minor production of boninite-like magmas near the surface. With cooling, the onset of melting migrates above the magma sink, a situation likely occurring since 3.9 Ga and corresponding to Tps of ~1870°C or less. Therefore, a burst of mafic to ultramafic volcanism was produced at 3.9-3.8 Ga. This extensive volcanism may have triggered gravitational instabilities and favoured the recycling of the Hadean crust into the mantle. Results of this model are discussed in the light of existing isotopic data.
Abstract: How the Earth's continental crust was formed in the Hadean eon is a subject of considerable debates [1-4]. For example, shallow hydrous peridotites [2,5], in particular the Hadean Earth's serpentinites [6], are potentially important ingredients in the creation of the continental ptoto-crust, but the mechanisms of this formation remain elusive. In this work, experiments to explore serpentinite-basalt interaction under conditions of the Hadean Earth were conducted. Kinetic runs lasting 0.5 to 48 hours at 0.2 to 1.0 GPa and 1250 to 1300°C reveal dehydration of serpentinite and release of a Si-Al-Na-K-rich aqueous fluid. For the first time, generation of heterogeneous hydrous silicic melts (56 to 67 wt% SiO2) in response to the fluid-assisted fertilisation and the subsequent partial melting of the dehydrated serpentinite has been discovered. The melts produced at 0.2 GPa have compositions similar to those of the bulk continental crust [2,3]. These new findings imply that the Earth's sialic proto-crust may be generated via fluid-assisted melting of serpentinized peridotite at shallow depths (?7 km) that do not require plate subduction during the Hadean eon. Shallow serpentinite dehydration and melting may be the principal physico-chemical processes affecting the earliest lithosphere.
Making Earth's continental crust from serpentinite and basalt.
American Mineralogist, Vol. 105, pp. 1662-1671. pdf
Mantle
melting
Abstract: Zircon is the most frequently used mineral for dating terrestrial and extraterrestrial rocks. However, the system of zircon in mafic/ultramafic melts has been rarely explored experimentally and most existing models based on the felsic, intermediate and/or synthetic systems are probably not applicable for prediction of zircon survival in terrestrial shallow asthenosphere. In order to determine the zircon stability in such natural systems, we have performed high-temperature experiments of zircon dissolution in natural mid-ocean ridge basaltic and synthetic haplobasaltic melts coupled with in situ electron probe microanalyses of the experimental products at high current.
Taking into account the secondary fluorescence effect in zircon glass pairs during electron microprobe analysis, we have calculated zirconium diffusion coefficient necessary to predict zircon survival in asthenospheric melts of tholeiitic basalt composition. The data imply that typical 100 micron zircons dissolve rapidly (in 10 hours) and congruently upon the reaction with basaltic melt at mantle pressures. We observed incongruent (to crystal ZrO2 and SiO2 in melt) dissolution of zircon in natural mid-ocean ridge basaltic melt at low pressures and in haplobasaltic melt at elevated pressure. Our experimental data raise questions about the origin of zircons in mafic and ultramafic rocks, in particular, in shallow oceanic asthenosphere and deep lithosphere, as well as the meaning of the zircon-based ages estimated from the composition of these minerals. Large size zircon megacrysts in kimberlites, peridotites, alkali basalts and other magmas suggest the fast transport and short interaction between zircon and melt.The origin of zircon megacrysts is likely related to metasomatic addition of Zr into mantle as any mantle melting episode should obliterate them.
The Tornquist Zone, north east inclining lithospheric transition at the south western margin of the Baltic Shield: revealed through a nonlinear teleseismic tomographic inversion.
Tectonophysics, Vol. 416, 1-4, April 5, pp. 151-166.
Abstract: The use of drones in mining environments is one way in which data pertaining to the state of a site in various industries can be remotely collected. This paper proposes a combined system that employs a 6-bands multispectral image capturing camera mounted on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drone, Spectral Angle Mapping (SAM), as well as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Depth possessing multispectral data were captured at different flight elevations. This was in an attempt to find the best elevation where remote identification of magnetite iron sands via the UAV drone specialized in collecting spectral information at a minimum accuracy of +/? 16 nm was possible. Data were analyzed via SAM to deduce the cosine similarity thresholds at each elevation. Using these thresholds, AI algorithms specialized in classifying imagery data were trained and tested to find the best performing model at classifying magnetite iron sand. Considering the post flight logs, the spatial area coverage of 338 m2, a global classification accuracy of 99.7%, as well the per-class precision of 99.4%, the 20 m flight elevation outputs presented the best performance ratios overall. Thus, the positive outputs of this study suggest viability in a variety of mining and mineral engineering practices.
Abstract: LitMod2D integrates geophysical and petrological data sets to produce the thermal, density, and seismic velocity structure of the lithosphere and upper mantle. We present a new LitMod2D_2.0 package with improvements focused on (i) updated anelastic attenuation correction for anharmonic seismic velocities, (ii) chemical composition in the sublithospheric mantle, and (iii) incorporation of sublithospheric mantle anomalies. Sublithospheric mantle anomalies can be defined with different chemical composition, temperature, seismic velocities, and a combination of them, allowing the application of LitMod2D_2.0 to regions affected by mantle upwelling, subduction, delamination, and metasomatism. We demonstrate the potential application of LitMod2D_2.0 to such regions and the sensitivity of thermal and compositional anomalies on density and seismic velocities through synthetic models. Results show nonlinearity between the sign of thermal and seismic velocity anomalies, and that S wave velocities are more sensitive to temperature whereas P wave velocities are to composition. In a synthetic example of subduction, we show the sensitivity of sublithospheric mantle anomalies associated with the slab and the corner flow on surface observables (elevation, geoid height, and gravity anomalies). A new open?source graphic user interface is incorporated in the new package. The output of the code is simplified by writing only the relevant physical parameters (temperature, pressure, material type, density, and seismic velocities) to allow the user using predefined post?processing codes from a toolbox (flexure, mineral assemblages, synthetic passive seismological data, and tomography) or designing new ones. We demonstrate a post?processing example calculating synthetic seismic tomography, Rayleigh surface?wave dispersion curves, and P wave receiver functions from the output file of LitMod2D_2.0.
Variacion Vertical Y Lateral de Ocho Perfiles Aluvionales De la Quebrada Grande, Afluente Del Rio Guaniamo, Comprendidos Entre Los Campos Mineros la Bicicleta Y
Journal of Geochemical Exploration, Vol. 204, pp. 270-288.
Europe, Spain
REE
Abstract: Gran Canaria is a hotspot-derived, intraplate, oceanic island, comprising a variety of alkaline felsic magmatic rocks (i.e. phonolites, trachytes, rhyolites and syenites). These rocks are enriched in rare-earth elements (REE) in relation to the mean concentration in the Earth's crust and they are subsequently mobilised and redistributed in the soil profile. From a set of 57 samples of felsic rocks and 12 samples from three paleosol profiles, we assess the concentration and mobility of REE. In the saprolite that developed over the rhyolites, we identified REE-bearing minerals such as primary monazite-(Ce), as well as secondary phases associated with the edaphic weathering, such as rhabdophane-(Ce) and LREE oxides. The averaged concentration of REE in the alkaline bedrock varies from trachytes (449?mg?kg?1), to rhyolites (588?mg?kg?1) and to phonolites (1036?mg?kg?1). REE are slightly enriched in saprolites developed on trachyte (498?mg?kg?1), rhyolite (601?mg?kg?1) and phonolite (1171?mg?kg?1) bedrocks. However, B-horizons of paleosols from trachytes and phonolites showed REE depletion (436 and 994?mg?kg?1, respectively), whereas a marked enrichment was found in soils developed on rhyolites (1584?mg?kg?1). According to our results, REE resources on Gran Canaria are significant, especially in Miocene alkaline felsic magmatic rocks (declining stage) and their associated paleosols. We estimate a total material volume of approximately 1000?km3 with REE concentrations of 672?±?296?mg?kg?1, yttrium contents of 57?±?30?mg?kg?1, and light and heavy REE ratios (LREE/HREE) of 17?±?6. This mineralisation can be considered as bulk tonnage and low-grade ore REE deposits but it remains necessary to develop detailed mineral exploration on selected insular zones in the future, without undermining environmental and socioeconomic interests.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 484, pp. 1-14.
Mantle
kimberlite, origin, magmatism
Abstract: Kimberlite magmatism has occurred in cratonic regions on every continent. The global age distribution suggests that this form of mantle melting has been more prominent after 1.2 Ga, and notably between 250-50 Ma, than during early Earth history before 2 Ga (i.e., the Paleoproterozoic and Archean). Although preservation bias has been discussed as a possible reason for the skewed kimberlite age distribution, new treatment of an updated global database suggests that the apparent secular evolution of kimberlite and related CO2-rich ultramafic magmatism is genuine and probably coupled to lowering temperatures of Earth's upper mantle through time. Incipient melting near the CO2- and H2O-bearing peridotite solidus at >200 km depth (1100-1400?°C) is the petrologically most feasible process that can produce high-MgO carbonated silicate melts with enriched trace element concentrations akin to kimberlites. These conditions occur within the convecting asthenospheric mantle directly beneath thick continental lithosphere. In this transient upper mantle source region, variable CHO volatile mixtures control melting of peridotite in the absence of heat anomalies so that low-degree carbonated silicate melts may be permanently present at ambient mantle temperatures below 1400?°C. However, extraction of low-volume melts to Earth's surface requires tectonic triggers. Abrupt changes in the speed and direction of plate motions, such as typified by the dynamics of supercontinent cycles, can be effective in the creation of lithospheric pathways aiding kimberlite magma ascent. Provided that CO2- and H2O-fluxed deep cratonic keels, which formed parts of larger drifting tectonic plates, existed by 3 Ga or even before, kimberlite volcanism could have been frequent during the Archean. However, we argue that frequent kimberlite magmatism had to await establishment of an incipient melting regime beneath the maturing continents, which only became significant after secular mantle cooling to below 1400?°C during post-Archean times, probably sometime shortly after 2 Ga. At around this time kimberlites replace komatiites as the hallmark mantle-derived magmatic feature of continental shields worldwide. The remarkable Mesozoic-Cenozoic ‘kimberlite bloom’ between 250-50 Ma may represent the ideal circumstance under which the relatively cool and volatile-fluxed cratonic roots of the Pangea supercontinent underwent significant tectonic disturbance. This created more than 60% of world's known kimberlites in a combination of redox- and decompression-related low-degree partial melting. Less than 2% of world's known kimberlites formed after 50 Ma, and the tectonic settings of rare ‘young’ kimberlites from eastern Africa and western North America demonstrate that far-field stresses on cratonic lithosphere enforced by either continental rifting or cold subduction play a crucial role in enabling kimberlite magma transfer to Earth's surface.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, 10, pp. 4945-4953.
Mantle
Subduction
Abstract: Advances in global seismic tomography have increasingly motivated identification of subducted lithosphere in Earth’s deep mantle, creating novel opportunities to link plate tectonics and mantle evolution. Chief among those is the quest for a robust subduction reference frame, wherein the mantle assemblage of subducted lithosphere is used to reconstruct past surface tectonics in an absolute framework anchored in the deep Earth. However, the associations heretofore drawn between lower mantle structure and past subduction have been qualitative and conflicting, so the very assumption of a correlation has yet to be quantitatively corroborated. Here we show that a significant, time-depth progressive correlation can be drawn between reconstructed subduction zones of the last 130 Myr and positive S wave velocity anomalies at 600 -2300 km depth, but that further correlation between greater times and depths is not presently demonstrable. This correlation suggests that lower mantle slab sinking rates average between 1.1 and 1.9 cmyr 1.
Nature Communications, Jan. 31, doi 10:1038/ncomms1048
Africa, Mauritius
Hot spots
Abstract: A fragment of continental crust has been postulated to underlie the young plume-related lavas of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius based on the recovery of Proterozoic zircons from basaltic beach sands. Here we document the first U-Pb zircon ages recovered directly from 5.7?Ma Mauritian trachytic rocks. We identified concordant Archaean xenocrystic zircons ranging in age between 2.5 and 3.0?Ga within a trachyte plug that crosscuts Older Series plume-related basalts of Mauritius. Our results demonstrate the existence of ancient continental crust beneath Mauritius; based on the entire spectrum of U-Pb ages for old Mauritian zircons, we demonstrate that this ancient crust is of central-east Madagascar affinity, which is presently located ?700?km west of Mauritius. This makes possible a detailed reconstruction of Mauritius and other Mauritian continental fragments, which once formed part of the ancient nucleus of Madagascar and southern India.
Earth and Planetary science Letters, Vol. 466, pp. 152-167.
Mantle
Metasomatism, magma, carbonatite
Abstract: Kimberlite and carbonatite magmas that intrude cratonic lithosphere are among the deepest probes of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Their co-existence on thick continental shields is commonly attributed to continuous partial melting sequences of carbonated peridotite at >150 km depths, possibly as deep as the mantle transition zone. At Tikiusaaq on the North Atlantic craton in West Greenland, approximately 160 Ma old ultrafresh kimberlite dykes and carbonatite sheets provide a rare opportunity to study the origin and evolution of carbonate-rich melts beneath cratons. Although their Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb-Li isotopic compositions suggest a common convecting upper mantle source that includes depleted and recycled oceanic crust components (e.g., negative ??Hf??Hf coupled with View the MathML source>+5‰?7Li), incompatible trace element modelling identifies only the kimberlites as near-primary low-degree partial melts (0.05-3%) of carbonated peridotite. In contrast, the trace element systematics of the carbonatites are difficult to reproduce by partial melting of carbonated peridotite, and the heavy carbon isotopic signatures (?3.6 to View the MathML source?2.4‰?13C for carbonatites versus ?5.7 to View the MathML source?3.6‰?13C for kimberlites) require open-system fractionation at magmatic temperatures.
Given that the oxidation state of Earth's mantle at >150 km depth is too reduced to enable larger volumes of ‘pure’ carbonate melt to migrate, it is reasonable to speculate that percolating near-solidus melts of carbonated peridotite must be silicate-dominated with only dilute carbonate contents, similar to the Tikiusaaq kimberlite compositions (e.g., 16-33 wt.% SiO2). This concept is supported by our findings from the North Atlantic craton where kimberlite and other deeply derived carbonated silicate melts, such as aillikites, exsolve their carbonate components within the shallow lithosphere en route to the Earth's surface, thereby producing carbonatite magmas. The relative abundances of trace elements of such highly differentiated ‘cratonic carbonatites’ have only little in common with those of metasomatic agents that act on the deeper lithosphere. Consequently, carbonatite trace element systematics should only be used with caution when constraining carbon mobility and metasomatism at mantle depths. Regardless of the exact nature of carbonate-bearing melts within the mantle lithosphere, they play an important role in enrichment processes, thereby decreasing the stability of buoyant cratons and promoting rift initiation - as exemplified by the Mesozoic-Cenozoic breakup of the North Atlantic craton.
Abstract: Constructing palaeogeographical maps is best achieved through the integration of data from hotspotting (since the Cretaceous), palaeomagnetism (including ocean-floor magnetic anomalies since the Jurassic), and the analysis of fossils and identification of their faunal and floral provinces; as well as a host of other geological information, not least the characters of the rocks themselves. Recently developed techniques now also allow us to determine more objectively the palaeolongitude of continents from the time of Pangaea onwards, which palaeomagnetism alone does not reveal. This together with new methods to estimate true polar wander have led to hybrid mantle plate motion frames that demonstrate that TUZO and JASON, two antipodal thermochemical piles in the deep mantle, have been stable for at least 300 Ma, and where deep plumes sourcing large igneous provinces and kimberlites are mostly derived from their margins. This remarkable observation has led to the plume generation zone reconstruction method which exploits the fundamental link between surface and deep mantle processes to allow determination of palaeolongitudes, unlocking a way forward in modelling absolute plate motions prior to the assembly of Pangaea. The plume generation zone method is a novel way to derive ‘absolute’ plate motions in a mantle reference frame before Pangaea, but the technique assumes that the margins of TUZO and JASON did not move much and that Earth was a degree-2 planet, as today.
Abstract: The breakup of Africa from South America is associated with the emplacement of the Paraná-Etendeka flood basalt province from around 134 Ma and the Tristan da Cunha plume. Yet many additional volcanic events occur that are younger than the main pulse of the Paraná-Etendeka and straddle the rift to drift phases of the main breakup. This contribution reports on new geochronological constraints from the Angolan part of the African Margin. Three coastal and one inland section have been sampled stretching across some 400 Km, with 39Ar/40Ar, U-Pb and Palaeontology used to provide age constraints. Ages from the new data range from ~100 to 81 Ma, with three main events (cr. 100, 91 and 82-81 Ma). Volcanic events are occurring within the Early to Late Cretaceous, along this part of the margin with a general younging towards Namibia. With the constraints of additional age information both onshore and offshore Angola, a clear younging trend at the early stages of rift to drift is recorded in the volcanic events that unzip from North to South. Similar age volcanic events are reported from the Brazilian side of the conjugate margin, and highlight the need to fully incorporate these relatively low volume volcanic pulses into the plate tectonic breakup models of the South Atlantic Margin.
Abstract: The invention of a robust and accurate sea-going chronometer transformed navigation in the mid-eighteenth century. The calibration of longitude against the prime meridian at Greenwich, in combination with latitude derived from the positions of celestial bodies gave mariners for the first time confidence that they could calculate their position on the Earth's surface. Until recently, Earth scientists have been in a comparable position of having no way of calculating the longitudes of continents before the Cretaceous. Here I discuss Phanerozoic polar wander and paleogeographies and describe ways of quantitatively establishing ancient longitudes which also establish how the Earth's interior can be linked to its surface in geological time. The first method makes use of the fact that longitudinal uncertainty of continents that were assembled in Pangea can, for subsequent times, be eliminated, if longitude motion is known for only one of these continents. The best assumption is zero-longitude motion for Africa and with this assumption we can show that large igneous provinces (LIPs) and kimberlites almost exclusively erupted above the margins of TUZO and JASON in the lower mantle. This remarkable observation, also considering the effect of true polar wander, has led to a second method the plume generation zone reconstruction method unlocking a way forward in modelling absolute plate motions before Pangea and exploring links between plate tectonics, intra-plate volcanism and Deep Earth dynamics. Conceptually, that link can be viewed as a simple mass-balance: subducted lithosphere slabs restore mass to the mantle and trigger the return flow toward the surface including mantle plumes rising from the margins of TUZO and JASON. The surface manifestations of plumes are hotspot lavas, kimberlites and LIPs.
Abstract:
A half-century has passed since the dawning of the plate tectonic revolution, and yet, with rare exception, palaeogeographic models of pre-Jurassic time are still constructed in a way more akin to Wegener's paradigm of continental drift. Historically, this was due to a series of problems - the near-complete absence of in situ oceanic lithosphere older than 200 Ma, a fragmentary history of the latitudinal drift of continents, unconstrained longitudes, unsettled geodynamic concepts and a lack of efficient plate modelling tools - which together precluded the construction of plate tectonic models. But over the course of the last five decades strategies have been developed to overcome these problems, and the first plate model for pre-Jurassic time was presented in 2002. Following on that pioneering work, but with a number of significant improvements (most notably longitude control), we here provide a recipe for the construction of full-plate models (including oceanic lithosphere) for pre-Jurassic time. In brief, our workflow begins with the erection of a traditional (or ‘Wegenerian’) continental rotation model, but then employs basic plate tectonic principles and continental geology to enable reconstruction of former plate boundaries, and thus the resurrection of lost oceanic lithosphere. Full-plate models can yield a range of testable predictions that can be used to critically evaluate them, but also novel information regarding long-term processes that we have few (or no) alternative means of investigating, thus providing exceptionally fertile ground for new exploration and discovery.
Abstract: Constructing palaeogeographical maps is best achieved through the integration of data from hotspotting (since the Cretaceous), palaeomagnetism (including ocean-floor magnetic anomalies since the Jurassic), and the analysis of fossils and identification of their faunal and floral provinces; as well as a host of other geological information, not least the characters of the rocks themselves. Recently developed techniques now also allow us to determine more objectively the palaeolongitude of continents from the time of Pangaea onwards, which palaeomagnetism alone does not reveal. This together with new methods to estimate true polar wander have led to hybrid mantle plate motion frames that demonstrate that TUZO and JASON, two antipodal thermochemical piles in the deep mantle, have been stable for at least 300 Ma, and where deep plumes sourcing large igneous provinces and kimberlites are mostly derived from their margins. This remarkable observation has led to the plume generation zone reconstruction method which exploits the fundamental link between surface and deep mantle processes to allow determination of palaeolongitudes, unlocking a way forward in modelling absolute plate motions prior to the assembly of Pangaea. The plume generation zone method is a novel way to derive ‘absolute’ plate motions in a mantle reference frame before Pangaea, but the technique assumes that the margins of TUZO and JASON did not move much and that Earth was a degree-2 planet, as today.
Abstract: The breakup of Africa from South America is associated with the emplacement of the Paraná-Etendeka flood basalt province from around 134?Ma and the Tristan da Cunha plume. Yet many additional volcanic events occur that are younger than the main pulse of the Paraná-Etendeka and straddle the rift to drift phases of the main breakup. This contribution reports on new geochronological constraints from the Angolan part of the African Margin. Three coastal and one inland section have been sampled stretching across some 400?Km, with 39Ar/40Ar, U-Pb and Palaeontology used to provide age constraints. Ages from the new data range from ~100 to 81?Ma, with three main events (cr. 100, 91 and 82-81?Ma). Volcanic events are occurring within the Early to Late Cretaceous, along this part of the margin with a general younging towards Namibia. With the constraints of additional age information both onshore and offshore Angola, a clear younging trend at the early stages of rift to drift is recorded in the volcanic events that unzip from North to South. Similar age volcanic events are reported from the Brazilian side of the conjugate margin, and highlight the need to fully incorporate these relatively low volume volcanic pulses into the plate tectonic breakup models of the South Atlantic Margin.
Abstract: The invention of a robust and accurate sea-going chronometer transformed navigation in the mid-eighteenth century. The calibration of longitude against the prime meridian at Greenwich, in combination with latitude derived from the positions of celestial bodies gave mariners for the first time confidence that they could calculate their position on the Earth's surface. Until recently, Earth scientists have been in a comparable position of having no way of calculating the longitudes of continents before the Cretaceous. Here I discuss Phanerozoic polar wander and paleogeographies and describe ways of quantitatively establishing ancient longitudes which also establish how the Earth's interior can be linked to its surface in geological time. The first method makes use of the fact that longitudinal uncertainty of continents that were assembled in Pangea can, for subsequent times, be eliminated, if longitude motion is known for only one of these continents. The best assumption is zero-longitude motion for Africa and with this assumption we can show that large igneous provinces (LIPs) and kimberlites almost exclusively erupted above the margins of TUZO and JASON in the lower mantle. This remarkable observation, also considering the effect of true polar wander, has led to a second method the plume generation zone reconstruction method unlocking a way forward in modelling absolute plate motions before Pangea and exploring links between plate tectonics, intra-plate volcanism and Deep Earth dynamics. Conceptually, that link can be viewed as a simple mass-balance: subducted lithosphere slabs restore mass to the mantle and trigger the return flow toward the surface including mantle plumes rising from the margins of TUZO and JASON. The surface manifestations of plumes are hotspot lavas, kimberlites and LIPs.
Abstract: The basins and orogens of the Mediterranean region ultimately result from the opening of oceans during the early break-up of Pangea since the Triassic, and their subsequent destruction by subduction accommodating convergence between the African and Eurasian Plates since the Jurassic. The region has been the cradle for the development of geodynamic concepts that link crustal evolution to continental break-up, oceanic and continental subduction, and mantle dynamics in general. The development of such concepts requires a first-order understanding of the kinematic evolution of the region for which a multitude of reconstructions have previously been proposed. In this paper, we use advances made in kinematic restoration software in the last decade with a systematic reconstruction protocol for developing a more quantitative restoration of the Mediterranean region for the last 240 million years. This restoration is constructed for the first time with the GPlates plate reconstruction software and uses a systematic reconstruction protocol that limits input data to marine magnetic anomaly reconstructions of ocean basins, structural geological constraints quantifying timing, direction, and magnitude of tectonic motion, and tests and iterations against paleomagnetic data. This approach leads to a reconstruction that is reproducible, and updatable with future constraints. We first review constraints on the opening history of the Atlantic (and Red Sea) oceans and the Bay of Biscay. We then provide a comprehensive overview of the architecture of the Mediterranean orogens, from the Pyrenees and Betic-Rif orogen in the west to the Caucasus in the east and identify structural geological constraints on tectonic motions. We subsequently analyze a newly constructed database of some 2300 published paleomagnetic sites from the Mediterranean region and test the reconstruction against these constraints. We provide the reconstruction in the form of 12 maps being snapshots from 240 to 0 Ma, outline the main features in each time-slice, and identify differences from previous reconstructions, which are discussed in the final section.
Toscani, L., Salvioli-Mariani, E., Mattioli, M., Tellini, C., Boschetti, T., Iacumin, P., Selmo, E.
The pyroclastic breccia of the Cabezo Negro de Tallant ( SE Spain): the first finding of carbonatite volcanism in the internal domain of the Betic Cordillera.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 287, pp. 37-50.
Mantle
plate tectonics
Abstract: Is the present-day water-land ratio a necessary outcome of the evolution of plate tectonic planets with a similar age, volume, mass, and total water inventory as the Earth? This would be the case - largely independent of initial conditions - if Earth’s present-day continental volume were at a stable unique equilibrium with strong self-regulating mechanisms of continental growth steering the evolution to this state. In this paper, we question this conjecture. Instead we suggest that positive feedbacks in the plate tectonics model of continental production and erosion may dominate and show that such a model can explain the history of continental growth. We investigate the main mechanisms that contribute to the growth of the volume of the continental crust. In particular, we analyze the effect of the oceanic plate speed, depending on the area and thickness of thermally insulating continents, on production and erosion mechanisms. Effects that cause larger continental production rates for larger values of continental volume are positive feedbacks. In contrast, negative feedbacks act to stabilize the continental volume. They are provided by the increase of the rate of surface erosion, subduction erosion, and crustal delamination with the continental volume. We systematically analyze the strengths of positive and negative feedback contributions to the growth of the continental crust. Although the strengths of some feedbacks depend on poorly known parameters, we conclude that a net predominance of positive feedbacks is plausible. We explore the effect of the combined feedback strength on the feasibility of modeling the observed small positive net continental growth rate over the past 2-3 billion years. We show that a model with dominating positive feedbacks can readily explain this observation in spite of the cooling of the Earth’s mantle acting to reduce the continental production rate. In contrast, explaining this observation using a model with dominating negative feedbacks would require the continental erosion and production rates to both have the same or a sufficiently similar functional dependence on the thermal state of the mantle, which appears unreasonable considering erosion to be largely dominated by the surface relief and weathering. The suggested scenario of dominating positive feedbacks implies that the present volume of the continental crust and its evolution are strongly determined by initial conditions. Therefore, exoplanets with Earth-like masses and total water inventories may substantially differ from the Earth with respect to their relative land/surface ratios and their habitability.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 305, 106457, 17p. Pdf
Mantle
geothermometry
Abstract: The role of heat flow coming from the core is often overlooked or underestimated in simple models of Earth's thermal evolution. Throughout most of Earth's history, the mantle must have been extracting from the core at least the amount of heat that is required to operate the geodynamo. In view of recent laboratory measurements and theoretical calculations indicating a higher thermal conductivity of iron than previously thought, the above constraint has important implications for the thermal history of the Earth's mantle. In this work we construct a paramaterized mantle convection model that treats both the top and the core-mantle boundary heat fluxes according to the boundary layer theory, or alternatively employs the model of Labrosse (2015) to compute the thermal evolution of the Earth's core. We show that the core is likely to provide all the missing heat that is necessary in order to avoid the so-called “thermal catastrophe” of the mantle. Moreover, by analyzing the mutual feedback between the core and the mantle, we provide the necessary ingredients for obtaining thermal histories that are consistent with the petrological record and have reasonable initial conditions. These include a sufficiently high viscosity contrast between the lower and upper mantle, whose exact value is sensitive to the activation energy that governs the temperature dependence of the viscosity.
Abstract: The West-African craton is defined by a combination of Archean and Palaeoproterozoic rocks that stabilised at ~2 Ga towards the end of the Paleoproterozoic Eburnean Orogeny, and therefore may reflect the transition from Archean to modern tectonic processes. Exploring its present lithospheric architecture aids further understanding of not only the craton’s stability through its history but also its formation. We investigate the lithospheric structure of the craton through analysing and modelling magnetotelluric (MT) data from a 500-km-long east-west profile in northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso crossing part of the Baoulé-Mossi Domain and reaching the Volta Basin in the south-eastern part of the craton. Although the MT stations are along a 2D profile, due to the complexity of the structures characterising the area, 3D resistivity modelling of the data is performed to obtain insights on the thermal signature and composition of the subcontinental lithosphere beneath the area. The thermal structure and water content estimates from different resistivity models highlight a strong dependence on the starting model in the 3D inversions, but still enable us to put constraints on the deep structure of the craton. The present?day thermal lithosphere?asthenosphere boundary (LAB) depth is estimated to be at least 250 km beneath the Baoulé-Mossi domain. The area likely transitions from a cold and thick lithosphere with relatively low water content into thinner, more fertile lithosphere below the Volta Basin. Although the inferred amount of water could be explained by Paleoproterozoic subduction processes involved in the formation of the Baoulé-Mossi domain, later enrichment of the lithosphere cannot be excluded.
Ephemeral carbonate melts in the upper mantle; carbonate silicate immiscibility in microveins and inclusions within spinel peridotite xenoliths, la Gomera
European Journal of Mineralogy, Vol. 14, 5, pp. 891-904.
Abstract: Kimberlites are mantle-derived, CO2 and H2O rich magmas that entrain abundant mantle material, including diamonds during rapid ascent to the surface. Most kimberlite magmas that reach the upper crust either erupt explosively or are emplaced as shallow hypabyssal intrusions. Catastrophic volatile exsolution, local geology and stress regimes, and interaction with external water are suggested as possible controls of magma explosivity. A full understanding of the processes promoting the explosive emplacement of kimberlite magmas has been hindered by common alteration and crustal contamination of pyroclastic kimberlites (PK). To address this issue, we have undertaken a detailed petrographic and mineral-chemical study of fresh pyroclastic and hypabyssal kimberlites (i.e. dykes either cross-cutting or isolated from volcanic pipes) from the Diavik Diamond Mine (Lac de Gras, Canada). Diavik kimberlites feature the same olivine compositions regardless of emplacement style. The cross-cutting kimberlite dykes (xHK) and pyroclastic kimberlites also feature the same chromite (i.e. liquidus spinel) compositions, and spinel evolution to indistinguishable magnesian ulvospinel-magnetite compositions. These results demonstrate that primitive melt compositions, and early magmatic evolutionary trends are the same for kimberlite melts that erupt explosively or those that are emplaced as shallow intrusions. The magmaclasts in PKs contain higher abundances of phlogopite, and lower contents of carbonate than the groundmass of xHKs suggesting higher H2O/CO2 ratios in the magmas that erupt explosively. This finding highlights divergence of the PK and xHK parental melt compositions after late spinel formation, which underpins explosive CO2 exsolution only in some magmas. While the causes of explosive volcanism remain uncertain, our study indicates that primitive melt composition has no significant influence on the emplacement style of kimberlites.
Abstract: Kimberlites are mantle-derived magmas that either crystallise as hypabyssal intrusions, erupt explosively after rapid ascent to the surface, or less commonly form lava lakes and flows, thereby creating texturally distinct kimberlite units. Efforts to fully understand the processes responsible for the explosive eruption of kimberlite magmas have been hindered by the widespread alteration and crustal contamination of most volcaniclastic kimberlites. To address this issue, we have undertaken a detailed petrographic and mineral chemical study of fresh (i.e. minimally altered) pyroclastic and hypabyssal kimberlites (HK) from the ca. 55-56?Ma A154 North and South kimberlite pipes in the Diavik Mine (Lac de Gras, Canada). These localities host exceptionally fresh kimberlites and are therefore ideally suited to this study. Kimberlite emplacement at A154 North and South initiated with the intrusion of hypabyssal kimberlite (external dykes), and was followed by the explosive formation of kimberlite pipes and volcaniclastic kimberlite infill. Subsequent kimberlite magmas intruded the volcaniclastic kimberlite units forming multiple cross-cutting, internal dykes. The studied volcaniclastic units feature abundant rounded magmaclasts and massive textures, suggestive of primary deposits. These units are classified as pyroclastic kimberlites (PK). Pyroclastic and hypabyssal kimberlite units at Diavik exhibit subtle mineral compositional differences. Samples from both internal HK units and PK units feature identical compositions for liquidus olivine rims (Mg#?=?90.5?±?0.1 and 90.7?±?0.2, respectively), with a marginally lower Mg# of 90.2?±?0.2 in olivine rims from the external HK dykes. Similarly, early-formed chromite compositions are the same for internal HK and PK units (Cr#?=?79.1?±?3.4 and 78.3?±?5.7; Mg#?=?60.0?±?1.3 and 60.0?±?2.2), but, differ in the external HK units (Cr#?=?86.9?±?2.7; Mg#?=?52.8?±?1.9). The internal HK and PK units also exhibit lower carbonate contents than the internal HK units. These compositional differences indicate that the external dykes were probably derived from slightly different primitive melt compositions to those parental to the internal HK and PK units. Spinel evolutionary trends from chromite to magnesian ulv?spinel-magnetite (MUM) compositions (Fe3+#?=?47.2?±?5.8 and 49.7?±?9.3; Cr#?=?25.7?±?11.0 and 17.0?±?14.0 for MUM) are indistinguishable in internal HK and PK samples. These results demonstrate that the primitive melt compositions and early magmatic evolution processes are identical for the internal kimberlite units, regardless of whether the kimberlite melts erupted explosively or were emplaced as shallow intrusions. However, magmaclasts in the PK units contain higher abundances of phlogopite (<52 vol%) and lower quantities of carbonate (<4 vol%) than the groundmass of the hypabyssal kimberlite samples (<2 vol% and 25-65 vol%, respectively). This indicates that the explosively erupted magmas featured higher H2O/CO2 ratios. In contrast, abundant carbonates, including dolomite, in the internal HK samples indicate that CO2, and therefore low H2O/CO2 ratios, were retained during the emplacement of this magma, which likely prevented phlogopite crystallisation. Lower K and Rb whole-rock compositions for internal HK samples compared to PK samples, are attributed to the removal of these components in late-stage kimberlitic fluids, as indicated by hydrothermal alteration of the adjacent volcaniclastic kimberlite units. The above results clearly rule out variations in primitive melt composition and melt evolution trajectories as a primary control on the explosive behaviour of the kimberlite magmas at Diavik. Our study also emphasises how volatile loss resulting from different emplacement styles can have a profound effect on the whole-rock compositions and petrography of kimberlite units. Controls on kimberlite explosivity at Diavik are likely due to external factors, such as local stress regimes, the availability of groundwater (i.e. phreatomagmatism) and differing magma supply rates.
South America, Brazil, Africa, South Africa, Canada, Northwest Territories
geochronology
Abstract: Kimberlites emplaced since ~2 Ga show Nd and Hf isotopic compositions that follow a remarkably consistent linear evolution [1]. However, kimberlites emplaced <200 Ma within a few thousand kilometers of the western paleo-margin of Pangea (i.e. Brazil, southern Africa, and Lac de Gras in western Canada) deviate towards more enriched Nd and Hf isotopic compositions possibly due to contribution by recycled crustal material, introduced to the deep kimberlite source via subduction [1]. To address this anomaly further we have compared new and existing geochronological and Nd isotopic data for 28 kimberlites from Lac de Gras (LDG; ca. 47 - 75 Ma) with their olivine and spinel mineral chemistries. Olivine grains typically include mantle-derived xenocrystic cores (Mg# = 83.5-94.2) overgrown by magmatic rims with relatively constant Mg# values. Olivine rims and chromite are the first magmatic phases to crystallise from kimberlite and can be used as proxies for primitive melt compositions. The average Mg# of olivine cores from each kimberlite is positively correlated with average olivine rim Mg#, suggesting that assimilation of heterogeneous lithospheric mantle contributed to the primitive melt compositions. The ?Nd(i) values from whole-rock and perovskite from LDG kimberlites vary between -3.4 and -0.4 that are negatively correlated with their emplacement ages. This correlation is indicative of an evolving kimberlite source which may have resulted from a progressively lower contribution of recycled material. No systematic relationships were observed between olivine rim or chromite compositions and age or Nd isotopic composition. This observation highlights decoupling between kimberlite source evolution and primitive melt compositions due to the combined effects of crustal recycling in the kimberlite source and lithospheric mantle assimilation during kimberlite ascent.
Journal of Petrology, 10.1093/petrology/egac028/6553928 24p. pdf
Canada, Northwest Territories
deposit - Lac de Gras
Abstract: In the Lac de Gras (LDG) kimberlite field, Northwest Territories, Canada, coherent kimberlites (CKs) occur as tabular dykes, pipe-shaped diatremes, and irregular bodies without well-defined geometries. Combining the morphology of CK bodies with the occurrence of fragmented olivine microcrysts allows distinction of four CK types at LDG: (1) dykes with no broken olivine; (2) CK without well-defined but probable sheet geometry and no broken olivine; (3) pipe-filling CK (pfCK) with abundant broken olivine and (4) pfCK with no broken olivine. These features suggest an intrusive origin for type 1 and, probably, type 2 CK; a high-energy extrusive emplacement for CK type 3 and a low-energy intrusive or extrusive emplacement for the CK type 4. Here, we compare petrographic and whole-rock, olivine and spinel compositional data for high-energy extrusive pfCK, low-energy pfCK and intrusive CK units to understand the factors controlling their variable emplacement styles. Extrusive CK contain more abundant groundmass phlogopite and monticellite, lower carbonate/silicate mineral abundance ratios and significantly lower dolomite and pleonaste-spinel abundances compared to intrusive CK. This indicates greater CO2 loss and higher H2O/CO2 in the melt phase for the extrusive CK during emplacement. Lower incompatible element concentrations in the extrusive CKs and different chromite Ti# and olivine rim Mg# indicate derivation from distinct primitive melt compositions. The extrusive CK feature higher ?Ndi and marginally higher ?Hfi compositions than the intrusive CK, pointing to derivation from distinct sources. These findings strongly imply that distinct primary melt compositions were largely responsible for the differences in emplacement styles of CK at LDG. Low-energy pfCKs have similar olivine rim Mg#, chromite Ti# and, hence, primitive melt compositions to the high-energy extrusive CK samples. Their marginally different emplacement styles may depend on local factors, such as changing stress regimes, or slightly different volatile concentrations. Both types of pfCK might reflect the waning stages of volcanic sequences resulting from the eruption of a segregated magma column that started with pipe excavation and the explosive emplacement of gas-rich magma (volcaniclastic kimberlite), followed by the less energetic emplacement of melt-rich magma (pfCK). This hypothesis underscores different primary melt compositions for dyke vs pipe-forming (and filling) kimberlites and hence a fundamental primary melt control on the explosivity of kimberlites.
Smith, C.B., Haggerty, S.E., Chatterjee, B., Beard, A., Townend, R.
Kimberlite, lamproite, ultramafic lamprophyre, and carbonatite relationships on the Dharwar Craton, India: an example from the Khaderpet pipe, a Diamondiferous ultramafic with associated carbonatite intrusion.
Smith, C.B., Haggerty, S.E., Chatterjee, B., Beard, A., Townend, R.
Kimberlite, lamproite, ultramafic lamprophyre, carbonatite relationships on the Dharwar Craton, India; and example from the Khaderpet pipe, a Diamondiferous ultramafic with associated carbonatite intrusion.
Abstract: In this study, we report the first direct evidence for water-bearing fluids in the uppermost lower mantle from natural ferropericlase crystal contained within a diamond from São Luíz, Brazil. The ferropericlase exhibits exsolution of magnesioferrite, which places the origin of this assemblage in the uppermost part of the lower mantle. The presence of brucite-Mg(OH)2 precipitates in the ferropericlase crystal reflects the later-stage quenching of H2O-bearing fluid likely in the transition zone, which has been trapped during the inclusion process in the lower mantle. Dehydration melting may be one of the key processes involved in transporting water across the boundary between the upper and lower mantle.
Abstract: Storage pressures of magma chambers influence the style, frequency and magnitude of volcanic eruptions. Neutral buoyancy or rheological transitions are commonly assumed to control where magmas accumulate and form such chambers. However, the density of volatile-rich silicic magmas is typically lower than that of the surrounding crust, and the rheology of the crust alone does not define the depth of the brittle-ductile transition around a magma chamber. Yet, typical storage pressures inferred from geophysical inversions or petrological methods seem to cluster around 2?±?0.5?kbar in all tectonic settings and crustal compositions. Here, we use thermomechanical modelling to show that storage pressure is controlled by volatile exsolution and crustal rheology. At pressures ?1.5?kbar, and for geologically realistic water contents, chamber volumes and recharge rates, the presence of an exsolved magmatic volatile phase hinders chamber growth because eruptive volumes are typically larger than recharges feeding the system during periods of dormancy. At pressures >rsim2.5?kbar, the viscosity of the crust in long-lived magmatic provinces is sufficiently low to inhibit most eruptions. Sustainable eruptible magma reservoirs are able to develop only within a relatively narrow range of pressures around 2?±?0.5?kbar, where the amount of exsolved volatiles fosters growth while the high viscosity of the crust promotes the necessary overpressurization for eruption.
Africa, South Africa, Europe, Greenland, China, Russia, Siberia, Canada, South America, Brazil
subduction, metasomatism
Abstract: To investigate halogen heterogeneity in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM), we measured the concentrations of Cl, Br, and I in kimberlites and their mantle xenoliths from South Africa, Greenland, China, Siberia, Canada, and Brazil. The samples can be classified into two groups based on halogen ratios: a high-I/Br group (South Africa, Greenland, Brazil, and Canada) and a low-I/Br group (China and Siberia). The halogen compositions were examined with the indices of crustal contamination using Sr and Nd isotopes and incompatible trace elements. The results indicate that the difference between the two groups was not due to different degrees of crustal contamination but from the contributions of different mantle sources. The low-I/Br group has a similar halogen composition to seawater-influenced materials such as fluids in altered oceanic basalts and eclogites and fluids associated with halite precipitation from seawater. We conclude that the halogens of the high-I/Br group are most likely derived from a SCLM source metasomatized by a fluid derived from subducted serpentinite, whereas those of the low-I/Br group are derived from a SCLM source metasomatized by a fluid derived from seawater-altered oceanic crust. The SCLM beneath Siberia and China could be an important reservoir of subducted, seawater-derived halogens, while such role of SCLM beneath South Africa, Greenland, Canada, and Brazil seems limited.
GSA Annual Meeting, Paper 300-2, 1p. Abstract only Booth
Technology
GIA library
Abstract: Through its digitization project, the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) Richard T. Liddicoat Library is making available digital copies of historic and unique books to geoscientists worldwide. By the end of 2015, more than 100 volumes from the library’s rare book collection, including the gemology and mineralogy library collected by John and Marjorie Sinkankas, will be posted online in a readily accessible, searchable format.
In December 2014, the library purchased the BC100 Book Capture system by Digital Transitions. This equipment includes two Phase One digital camera backs with Schneider Kreuznach lenses, which photograph the two pages of an open book simultaneously. Images are captured at a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch, with higher resolutions used for books that are small, have highly detailed color images, or have small or faded text.
Capture One imaging software is used to generate a TIFF image for each page. These TIFF files will be saved indefinitely as preservation masters, from which derivative files can be created and modified for future use. Then docWorks post-processing software by Content Conversion Specialists is used to perform optical character recognition (OCR) and generate a searchable PDF and ePub output for each book. The OCR supports a variety of languages including those using European and Cyrillic alphabets, as well as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters.
A number of GIA’s digital books are now available online to view and download for free through Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/@gia_library) with new books being uploaded every few days. Available books include out-of-copyright titles dating from 1496 to the 1920s. One of the oldest digitized books, Libellus de Lapidibus Preciosis (Book of Precious Stones) by Marbode, Bishop of Rennes, printed in 1511, was originally written in the 11th century and discusses properties of 60 gems. Another title, René Just Haüy’s influential Traité de Minéralogie (Treatise of Mineralogy) published in 1801, describes the laws governing crystal structure and was the first rational system for identifying and classifying minerals. The digitization project is ongoing with plans to ultimately post hundreds of volumes related to gems and minerals.
Abstract: Mg2GeO4 is important as an analog for the ultrahigh-pressure behavior of Mg2SiO4, a major component of planetary interiors. In this study, we have investigated magnesium germanate to 275 GPa and over 2,000 K using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell combined with in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and density functional theory (DFT) computations. The experimental results are consistent with the formation of a phase with disordered Mg and Ge, in which germanium adopts eightfold coordination with oxygen: the cubic, Th3P4-type structure. DFT computations suggest partial Mg-Ge order, resulting in a tetragonal I4¯2d structure indistinguishable from I4¯3d Th3P4 in our experiments. If applicable to silicates, the formation of this highly coordinated and intrinsically disordered phase may have important implications for the interior mineralogy of large, rocky extrasolar planets.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 429, pp. 101-109.
Mantle
Seismic -anisotropy
Abstract: The seismic structure of Earth’s inner core is highly complex, displaying strong anisotropy and further regional variations. However, few seismic waves are sensitive to the inner core and fundamental questions regarding the origin of the observed seismic features remain unanswered. Thus, newtechniques to observe different types of inner corewaves are imperative to improve data coverage. Here, we detail our method for detecting exotic inner core phases such as PKJKP and PKIIKP, using inner core compressional waves as proof of concept.We use phase weighted stacking on long period data from a global distribution of stations, and employ several synthetic methods, including normal mode summation and SPECFEM, to identify and confirm the inner core phases. We present evidence for two observations of exotic inner core compressional waves, and apply the technique to a previously detected inner core shear wave. A possible new inner core shear wave remains unconfirmed. Additionally, we show how our method is important for rejecting potential observations, and distinguishing between waves with similar traveltime and slowness. The method is most successful for detecting exotic inner core compressional waves, and will provide a new approach for studying the compressional wave structures in the upper inner core.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 250, pp. 46-63.
Mantle
Water
Abstract: Although water has a major influence on tectonic and other geodynamic processes, little is known about its quantity and distribution within the deep Earth. In the last few decades, laboratory experiments on nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) of the transition zone have shown that these minerals can contain significant amounts of water, up to 3.3 wt%. In this study, we investigate if it is possible to use seismic observations to distinguish between a hydrous and anhydrous transition zone. We perform an extensive literature search of mineral experimental data, to generate a compilation of the water storage capacities, elastic parameters and phase boundary data for potentially hydrous minerals in the transition zone, and use thermodynamic modelling to compute synthetic seismic profiles of density, VP and VS at transition zone temperatures and pressures. We find that large uncertainties on the mineral phase equilibria (ca. 2 GPa) and elastic properties produce a wide range of seismic profiles. In particular, there is a lack of data at temperatures corresponding to those along a 1300 °C adiabat or hotter, which may be expected at transition zone pressures. Comparing our hydrous transition zone models with equivalent profiles at anhydrous conditions, we see that the depths of the 410 and 660 discontinuities cannot at present be used to map the water content of the transition zone due to these uncertainties. Further, while average velocities and densities inside the transition zone clearly decrease with increasing water content, there is a near-perfect trade-off with increases in temperature. It is therefore difficult to distinguish thermal from water effects, and the conventional view of a slow and thick transition zone for water and slow and thin transition zone for high temperature should be regarded with caution. A better diagnostic for water may be given by the average velocity gradients of the transition zone, which increase with increasing water content (but decrease for increasing temperature). However the significance of this effect depends on the degree of water saturation and partitioning between the NAMs. Since seismology is better able to constrain the thickness of the transition zone than velocity gradients, our study indicates that the most useful input from future mineral physics experiments would be to better constrain the phase relations between hydrous olivine and its high-pressure polymorphs, especially at high temperatures. Additionally, the uncertainties on the mineral seismic properties could be reduced significantly if the experimentally-observable correlations between bulk and shear moduli and their corresponding pressure derivatives would be published.
Abstract: Large (> 100 mm3), relatively pure (type II) and low birefringence single crystal diamond can be produced by high pressure high temperature (HPHT) synthesis. In this study we examine a HPHT sample of good crystalline perfection, containing less than 1 ppb (part per billion carbon atoms) of boron impurity atoms in the {001} growth sector and only tens of ppb of nitrogen impurity atoms. It is shown that the boundaries between {111} and {113} growth sectors are decorated by negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centres (NV?): no decoration is observed at any other type of growth sector interface. This decoration can be used to calculated the relative {111} and {113} growth rates. The bulk (001) sector contains concentrations of luminescent point defects (excited with 488 and 532 nm wavelengths) below 1011 cm?3 (10?3 ppb). We observe the negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV?) defect in the bulk {111} sectors along with a zero phonon line emission associated with a nickel defect at 884 nm (1.40 eV). No preferential orientation is seen for either NV? or SiV? defects, but the nickel related defect is oriented with its trigonal axis along the <111> sector growth direction. Since the NV? defect is expected to readily re-orientate at HPHT diamond growth temperatures, no preferential orientation is expected for this defect but the lack of preferential orientation of SiV? in {111} sectors is not explained.
Trap, P., Faure, P., Lin, M., Bruguier, O., Monie, P.
Contrasted tectonic styles for the Paleoproterozoic evolution of the North Chin a Craton: evidence for a 2.1 Ga thermal and tectonic event in the Fuping Massif.
Journal of Structural Geology, Vol. 30, 9, pp. 1109-1125.
Vendian Early Ordovician geodynamic evolution and model for exhumation of ultrahigh and high pressure rocks from the Kokchetav subduction collision zone.
Russian Geology and Geophysics, Vol. 47, 4, pp. 424-440.
Precamrbian terranes in the southwestern framing of the Siberian craton: isotopic provinces, stages of crustal evolution and accretion collision events.
Russian Geology and Geophysics, Vol. 48, pp. 61-70.
Abstract: Mantle xenoliths (>150) and concentrates from late autolithic breccia and porphyritic kimberlite from the Sytykanskaya pipe of the Alakit field (Yakutia) were analyzed by EPMA and LAM ICP methods. In P-T-X-f(O2) diagrams minerals from xenoliths show widest variations, the trends P-Fe#-CaO, f(O2) for minerals from porphyric kimberlites are more stepped than for xenocrysts from breccia. Ilmenite PTX points mark moving for protokimberlites from the lithosphere base (7.5 GPa) to pyroxenite lens (5-3.5 GPa) accompanied by Cr increase by AFC and creation of two trends P-Fe#Ol ?10-12% and 13-15%. The Opx-Gar-based mantle geotherm in Alakit field is close to 35 mW/m2 at 65 GPa and 600 °C near Moho was determined. The oxidation state for the megacrystalline ilmenites is lower for the metasomatic associations due to reduction of protokimberlites on peridotites than for uncontaminated varieties at the lithosphere base. Highly inclined linear REE patterns with deep HFSE troughs for the parental melts of clinopyroxene and garnet xenocrysts from breccia were influenced by differentiated protokimberlite. Melts for metasomatic xenoliths reveal less inclined slopes without deep troughs in spider diagrams. Garnets reveal S-shaped REE patterns. The clinopyroxenes from graphite bearing Cr-websterites show inclined and inflected in Gd spectrums with LREE variations due to AFC differentiation. Melts for garnets display less inclined patterns and Ba-Sr troughs but enrichment in Nb-Ta-U. The 40Ar/39Ar ages for micas from the Alakit mantle xenoliths for disseminated phlogopites reveal Proterozoic (1154 Ma) age of metasomatism in early Rodinia mantle. Veined glimmerites with richterite - like amphiboles mark ?1015 Ma plume event in Rodinia mantle. The ?600-550 Ma stage manifests final Rodinia break-up. The last 385 Ma metasomatism is protokimberlite-related.
Abstract: The paper reports detailed data on phlogopite from kimberlite of three facies types in the Arkhangelsk Diamondiferous Province (ADP): (i) massive magmatic kimberlite (Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe), (ii) transitional type between massive volcaniclastic and magmatic kimberlite (Grib Pipe), and (iii) volcanic kimberlite (Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes). Kimberlite from the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe contains only groundmass phlogopite. Kimberlite from the Grib Pipe contains a number of phlogopite populations: megacrysts, macrocrysts, matrix phlogopite, and this mineral in xenoliths. Phlogopite macrocrysts and matrix phlogopite define a single compositional trend reflecting the evolution of the kimberlite melt. The composition points of phlogopite from the xenoliths lie on a single crystallization trend, i.e., the mineral also crystallized from kimberlite melt, which likely actively metasomatized the host rocks from which the xenoliths were captured. Phlogopite from volcaniclastic kimberlite from the Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes does not show either any clearly distinct petrographic setting or compositional differentiation. The kimberlite was dated by the Rb-Sr technique on phlogopite and additionally by the 40Ar/39Ar method. Because it is highly probable that phlogopite from all pipes crystallized from kimberlite melt, the crystallization age of the kimberlite can be defined as 376 ± 3 Ma for the Grib Pipe, 380 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-1 pipe, 375 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-2 Pipe, and 377 ± 0.4 Ma for the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe. The age of the pipes coincides within the error and suggests that the melts of the pipes were emplaced almost simultaneously. Our geochronologic data on kimberlite emplacement in ADP lie within the range of 380 ± 2 to 375 ± Ma and coincide with most age values for Devonian alkaline-ultramafic complexes in the Kola Province: 379 ± 5 Ma; Arzamastsev and Wu, 2014). These data indicate that the kimberlite was formed during the early evolution of the Kola Province, when alkaline-ultramafic complexes (including those with carbonatite) were emplaced.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the occurrences of tholeiitic magmatism in the northeastern Fennoscandian shield. It was found that numerous dolerite dikes of the Pechenga, Barents Sea, and Eastern Kola swarms were formed 380-390 Ma ago, i.e., directly before the main stage of the Paleozoic alkaline magmatism of the Kola province. The isotope geochemical characteristics of the dolerites suggest that their primary melts were derived from the mantle under the conditions of the spinel lherzolite facies. The depleted mantle material from which the tholeiites were derived shows no evidence for metasomatism and enrichment in high fieldstrength and rare earth elements, whereas melanephelinite melts postdating the tholeiites were generated in an enriched source. It was shown that the relatively short stage of mantle metasomatism directly after the emplacement of tholeiitic magmas was accompanied by significant mantle fertilization. In contrast to other large igneous provinces, where pulsed intrusion of large volumes of tholeiitic magmas coinciding or alternating with phases of alkaline magmatism was documented, the Kola province is characterized by systematic evolution of the Paleozoic plume-lithosphere process with monotonous deepening of the level of magma generation, development of mantle metasomatism and accompanying fertilization of mantle materials, and systematic changes in the composition of melts reaching the surface.
Abstract: The paper reports detailed data on phlogopite from kimberlite of three facies types in the Arkhangelsk Diamondiferous Province (ADP): (i) massive magmatic kimberlite (Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe), (ii) transitional type between massive volcaniclastic and magmatic kimberlite (Grib Pipe), and (iii) volcanic kimberlite (Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes). Kimberlite from the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe contains only groundmass phlogopite. Kimberlite from the Grib Pipe contains a number of phlogopite populations: megacrysts, macrocrysts, matrix phlogopite, and this mineral in xenoliths. Phlogopite macrocrysts and matrix phlogopite define a single compositional trend reflecting the evolution of the kimberlite melt. The composition points of phlogopite from the xenoliths lie on a single crystallization trend, i.e., the mineral also crystallized from kimberlite melt, which likely actively metasomatized the host rocks from which the xenoliths were captured. Phlogopite from volcaniclastic kimberlite from the Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes does not show either any clearly distinct petrographic setting or compositional differentiation. The kimberlite was dated by the Rb–Sr technique on phlogopite and additionally by the 40Ar/39Ar method. Because it is highly probable that phlogopite from all pipes crystallized from kimberlite melt, the crystallization age of the kimberlite can be defined as 376 ± 3 Ma for the Grib Pipe, 380 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-1 pipe, 375 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-2 Pipe, and 377 ± 0.4 Ma for the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe. The age of the pipes coincides within the error and suggests that the melts of the pipes were emplaced almost simultaneously. Our geochronologic data on kimberlite emplacement in ADP lie within the range of 380 ± 2 to 375 ± Ma and coincide with most age values for Devonian alkaline–ultramafic complexes in the Kola Province: 379 ± 5 Ma; Arzamastsev and Wu, 2014). These data indicate that the kimberlite was formed during the early evolution of the Kola Province, when alkaline–ultramafic complexes (including those with carbonatite) were emplaced.
Abstract: Results from thermochronological studies have multiple applications to various problems in tectonics and landform evolution However, up to now a lack of thermochronological data from the northeastern Fennoscandian Shield has complicated the interpretation of tectonothermal evolution of the region Here, we use both new and previously published multimineral 40Ar/39Ar data (amphibole, mica, and feldspar) on the various Precambrian magmatic and metamorphic complexes to reconstruct the thermal history of NE Fennoscandia within the Kola Peninsula area in the interval 1900–360 Ma Using the apatite fission track method as well as a numerical model of the heating?cooling process of northeastern Fennoscandia's upper crust, we have reconstructed its thermal evolution for the interval 360–0 Ma According to our model, since Lapland?Kola orogenesis (1930–1905 Ma) northeastern Fennoscandia experienced a quasi?monotonous cooling with the average rate of ~0 15 °C/Myr, which is equal to an exhumation rate of ~1–2 m/Myr New apatite fission track data and time?temperature modeling reveal a “hidden” endogenous thermal event in the NE Fennoscandia that took place between 360 and 300 Ma This we attribute to an elevated geothermal gradient due to Baltica's drift over the African large low shear?wave velocity province in the lowest mantle and/or thermal blanketing by insulating Devonian?Carboniferous sedimentary/volcanic cover Our model is further supported by evidence of Late Devonian?Carboniferous rifting in the East and South?Western Barents Basin, as well as various 360–300 Ma magmatic events within SW Fennoscandia and the Baltic countries
Abstract: Results from thermochronological studies have multiple applications to various problems in tectonics and landform evolution. However, up to now a lack of thermochronological data from the northeastern Fennoscandian Shield has complicated the interpretation of tectonothermal evolution of the region. Here, we use both new and previously published multimineral 40Ar/39Ar data (amphibole, mica, and feldspar) on the various Precambrian magmatic and metamorphic complexes to reconstruct the thermal history of NE Fennoscandia within the Kola Peninsula area in the interval 1900-360 Ma. Using the apatite fission track method as well as a numerical model of the heating?cooling process of northeastern Fennoscandia's upper crust, we have reconstructed its thermal evolution for the interval 360-0 Ma. According to our model, since Lapland?Kola orogenesis (1930-1905 Ma) northeastern Fennoscandia experienced a quasi?monotonous cooling with the average rate of ~0.15 °C/Myr, which is equal to an exhumation rate of ~1-2 m/Myr. New apatite fission track data and time?temperature modeling reveal a “hidden” endogenous thermal event in the NE Fennoscandia that took place between 360 and 300 Ma. This we attribute to an elevated geothermal gradient due to Baltica's drift over the African large low shear?wave velocity province in the lowest mantle and/or thermal blanketing by insulating Devonian?Carboniferous sedimentary/volcanic cover. Our model is further supported by evidence of Late Devonian?Carboniferous rifting in the East and South?Western Barents Basin, as well as various 360-300 Ma magmatic events within SW Fennoscandia and the Baltic countries.
Yellowknife Forum NWTgeoscience.ca, abstract volume p. 95-96.
Canada, Northwest Territories
deposit - Ekati
Abstract: The Ekati Diamond Mine is a surface and underground diamond mine operated by Dominion Diamond Mines. It is located near Lac de Gras within the Northwest Territories, Canada approximately 300 km north of Yellowknife and roughly 200 km south of the Arctic Circle. The Long Lake Containment Facility (LLCF) is the primary containment area for processed kimberlite (PK) storage after the extraction of diamonds from kimberlite ore. The facility has been in operation since 1998 and is the main repository of PK from open pit and underground mines at the Ekati Mine. The overall reclamation goal for the LLCF is the design and construction of a long-term cover that will physically stabilize the PK, with a landscape that will be safe for human and wildlife use. The proposed final closure design for the LLCF includes the following components: 1) Combination of vegetation and rock cover system to physically stabilize the PK. Vegetation is planned to be the main stabilization component of the PK. Rock placement is intended to promote a localized environment for vegetation growth and provide larger-scale wind and water erosion protection. 2) Water drainage channels to convey surface water flow through the containment cells and into settling ponds. Since 2012, reclamation research has been ongoing at Cell B of the LLCF with the overall intent of addressing uncertainties with the proposed final LLCF cover design. Separate reclamation research programs focused on addressing the uncertainties of vegetation growth in PK are being carried out under this project. Dominion’s short-term research goal has been to establish and evaluate the vegetation growth directly within PK. Main components of the LLCF reclamation research includes evaluation of soil amendments, rock/vegetation combinations, annual crop cover, plant species trials, mine-generated organic matter application, seed collection/distribution, and natural vegetation colonization. The LLCF reclamation research aims to establish a best practice that could be adapted by other mining operations looking to reclaim PK containment sites. Annual vegetation monitoring and continued program expansion aid in reaching that goal. Recent program undertakings have included: 1)Surface water management research through trial channel construction and further bio-engineering of existing channels 2) Mycorrhizae inoculation to improve soil microbial communities 3) Implementation of rough and loose mounding as an erosion control measure 4) Evaluation of the feasibility of using organic matter generated from the Ekati composter facility 5) Harvesting of halophytic seed and live plant specimens from saline environments near Kugluktuk, Nunavut for planting in Cell B 6) Utilization of reclamation equipment for earthworks. The LLCF reclamation research has been a vessel for developing methods of utilizing PK as an effective growth medium. High sodium concentrations and low organic matter content present challenges, but also provide opportunities for innovative research to improve environmental conditions and lead to a final closure design. Dominion has included Traditional Knowledge, other scientific knowledge, as well as regulatory and community input as a key component of LLCF reclamation research planning and final cover design.
Integration of COCORP deep relfection and magnetic anomaly analysis in the southeast USA:implications for origin of the Brunswick and East Coast magneticanomalies
Geological Society of America (GSA) Bulletin, Vol. 102, No. 2, February pp. 271-279
Abstract: Large igneous provinces and some hotspot volcanoes are thought to form above thermochemical anomalies known as mantle plumes. Petrologic investigations that support this model suggest that plume-derived melts originated at high mantle temperatures (greater than 1,500?°C) relative to those generated at ambient mid-ocean ridge conditions (about 1,350?°C). Earth’s mantle has also cooled appreciably during its history and the temperatures of modern mantle derived melts are substantially lower than those produced during the Archaean (2.5 to 4.0 billion years ago), as recorded by komatiites (greater than 1,700?°C). Here we use geochemical analyses of the Tortugal lava suite to show that these Galapagos-Plume-related lavas, which formed 89 million years ago, record mantle temperatures as high as Archaean komatiites and about 400?°C hotter than the modern ambient mantle. These results are also supported by highly magnesian olivine phenocrysts and Al-in-olivine crystallization temperatures of 1,570 ± 20?°C. As mantle plumes are chemically and thermally heterogeneous, we interpret these rocks as the result of melting the hot core of the plume head that produced the Caribbean large igneous province. Our results imply that a mantle reservoir as hot as those responsible for some Archaean lavas has survived eons of convection in the deep Earth and is still being tapped by mantle plumes.
Abstract: Large igneous provinces and some hotspot volcanoes are thought to form above thermochemical anomalies known as mantle plumes. Petrologic investigations that support this model suggest that plume-derived melts originated at high mantle temperatures (greater than 1,500?°C) relative to those generated at ambient mid-ocean ridge conditions (about 1,350?°C). Earth’s mantle has also cooled appreciably during its history and the temperatures of modern mantle derived melts are substantially lower than those produced during the Archaean (2.5 to 4.0 billion years ago), as recorded by komatiites (greater than 1,700?°C). Here we use geochemical analyses of the Tortugal lava suite to show that these Galapagos-Plume-related lavas, which formed 89 million years ago, record mantle temperatures as high as Archaean komatiites and about 400?°C hotter than the modern ambient mantle. These results are also supported by highly magnesian olivine phenocrysts and Al-in-olivine crystallization temperatures of 1,570 ± 20?°C. As mantle plumes are chemically and thermally heterogeneous, we interpret these rocks as the result of melting the hot core of the plume head that produced the Caribbean large igneous province. Our results imply that a mantle reservoir as hot as those responsible for some Archaean lavas has survived eons of convection in the deep Earth and is still being tapped by mantle plumes.
Abiogenic Fischer-Topsch synthesis of hydrocarbons in alkaline igneous rocks: fluid inclusions, textural and isotopic evidence from the Lovozero complex, NW Russia.
Mineralogical Magazine, Vol. 81, 6, pp. 1367-1395.
Africa, Malawi
carbonatite - Chilwa
Abstract: Carbonatites are enriched in critical raw materials such as the rare earth elements (REE), niobium, fluorspar and phosphate. A better understanding of their fluid regimes will improve our knowledge of how to target and exploit economic deposits. This study shows that multiple fluid phases penetrated the surrounding fenite aureole during carbonatite emplacement at Chilwa Island, Malawi. The first alkaline fluids formed the main fenite assemblage and later microscopic vein networks contain the minerals of potential economic interest such as pyrochlore in high-grade fenite and RE minerals throughout the aureole. Seventeen samples of fenite rock from the metasomatic aureole around the Chilwa Island carbonatite complex were chosen for study (Natural History Museum, London collection BM1968 P37). In addition to the main fenite assemblage of feldspar and aegirine ± arfvedsonite, riebeckite and richterite, the fenite contains micro-mineral assemblages including apatite, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite, zircon, RE minerals and pyrochlore in vein networks. Petrography using SEM-EDX showed that the RE minerals (monazite, bastnäsite and parisite) formed later than the fenite feldspar, aegirine and apatite and provide evidence of REE mobility into all grades of fenite. Fenite apatite has a distinct negative Eu anomaly (determined by LA-ICP-MS) that is rare in carbonatite-associated rocks and interpreted as related to pre-crystallisation of plagioclase and co-crystallisation with K-feldspar in the fenite. The fenite minerals have consistently higher mid REE/light REE ratios (La/Sm = ~1.3 monazite, ~1.9 bastnäsite, ~1.2 parisite) than their counterparts in the carbonatites (La/Sm = ~2.5 monazite, ~4.2 bastnäsite, ~3.4 parisite). Quartz in the low- and medium-grade fenite hosts fluid inclusions, typically a few µm in diameter, secondary and extremely heterogeneous. Single phase, 2- and 3-phase, single solid and multi solid-bearing examples are present, with 2-phase the most abundant. Calcite, nahcolite, burbankite and barite were found in the inclusions. Decrepitation of inclusions occurred at around 200?C before homogenisation but melting temperature data indicate that the inclusions contain relatively pure CO2. A minimum salinity of around 24 wt.% NaCl equivalent was determined. Among the trace elements in whole rock analyses, enrichment in Ba, Mo, Nb, Pb, Sr, Th and Y and depletion in Co, Hf and V are common to carbonatite and fenite but enrichment in carbonatitic type elements (Ba, Nb, Sr, Th, Y, and REE) generally increases towards the inner parts of the aureole. A schematic model contains multiple fluid events, related to first and second boiling of the magma, accompanying intrusion of the carbonatites at Chilwa Island, each contributing to the mineralogy and chemistry of the fenite. The presence of distinct RE mineral micro-assemblages in fenite at some distance from carbonatite could be developed as an exploration indicator of REE enrichment.
Mineralogical Magazine, Vol. 81, 6, pp. 1367-1395.
Africa, Malawi
carbonatite
Abstract: Carbonatites are enriched in critical raw materials such as the rare earth elements (REE), niobium, fluorspar and phosphate. A better understanding of their fluid regimes will improve our knowledge of how to target and exploit economic deposits. This study shows that multiple fluid phases penetrated the surrounding fenite aureole during carbonatite emplacement at Chilwa Island, Malawi. The first alkaline fluids formed the main fenite assemblage and later microscopic vein networks contain the minerals of potential economic interest such as pyrochlore in high-grade fenite and RE minerals throughout the aureole. Seventeen samples of fenite rock from the metasomatic aureole around the Chilwa Island carbonatite complex were chosen for study (Natural History Museum, London collection BM1968 P37). In addition to the main fenite assemblage of feldspar and aegirine ± arfvedsonite, riebeckite and richterite, the fenite contains micro-mineral assemblages including apatite, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite, zircon, RE minerals and pyrochlore in vein networks. Petrography using SEM-EDX showed that the RE minerals (monazite, bastnäsite and parisite) formed later than the fenite feldspar, aegirine and apatite and provide evidence of REE mobility into all grades of fenite. Fenite apatite has a distinct negative Eu anomaly (determined by LA-ICP-MS) that is rare in carbonatite-associated rocks and interpreted as related to pre-crystallisation of plagioclase and co-crystallisation with K-feldspar in the fenite. The fenite minerals have consistently higher mid REE/light REE ratios (La/Sm = ~1.3 monazite, ~1.9 bastnäsite, ~1.2 parisite) than their counterparts in the carbonatites (La/Sm = ~2.5 monazite, ~4.2 bastnäsite, ~3.4 parisite). Quartz in the low- and medium-grade fenite hosts fluid inclusions, typically a few µm in diameter, secondary and extremely heterogeneous. Single phase, 2- and 3-phase, single solid and multi solid-bearing examples are present, with 2-phase the most abundant. Calcite, nahcolite, burbankite and barite were found in the inclusions. Decrepitation of inclusions occurred at around 200?C before homogenisation but melting temperature data indicate that the inclusions contain relatively pure CO2. A minimum salinity of around 24 wt.% NaCl equivalent was determined. Among the trace elements in whole rock analyses, enrichment in Ba, Mo, Nb, Pb, Sr, Th and Y and depletion in Co, Hf and V are common to carbonatite and fenite but enrichment in carbonatitic type elements (Ba, Nb, Sr, Th, Y, and REE) generally increases towards the inner parts of the aureole. A schematic model contains multiple fluid events, related to first and second boiling of the magma, accompanying intrusion of the carbonatites at Chilwa Island, each contributing to the mineralogy and chemistry of the fenite. The presence of distinct RE mineral micro-assemblages in fenite at some distance from carbonatite could be developed as an exploration indicator of REE enrichment.
Geochemistry, origin and provenance of upper Proterozoic to upper Cambrian alkaline to transitional basaltic rocks in and contiguous to sector Humberzone
American Journal of Science, Vol. 293, November pp. 980-1009
Symposium on critical and strategic materials, British Columbia Geological Survey Paper 2015-3, held Nov. 13-14, pp. 75-82.
Canada, Quebec
Niobium
Abstract: The mineralogy of rare earth element (REE) ore deposits is critical in understanding their petrogenesis but also has signifi cant implications for metallurgy. Like many ore deposits, high-grade rocks do not necessarily equate to positive economic viability and this is especially true for REE deposits. Consequently, knowledge of sample mineralogy acquired early in a project’s life can lead to more effi cient exploration programs through confi rmation of either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ mineralogy. Many REE minerals show fi ne grain sizes and their accumulation can be diffi cult to recognize in hand sample or drill core with an unaided eye. Knowledge of their distribution before sampling can ensure that the best rocks or core lengths are sampled for petrographic or detailed study. REE minerals generally have complex yet diagnostic absorption patterns in visible to shortwave infrared (VNIRSWIR) refl ectance spectra that are driven primarily by REErelated 4f-4f intraconfi gurational electronic transitions. Our recent research (Turner et al., 2014, Turner 2015) has focused on three important mineral classes: REE fl uorocarbonates (bastnaesite, synchysite, and parisite), REE phosphates (monazite, xenotime, and britholite), and REE-bearing silicates (cerite, mosandrite, kainosite, zircon and eudialyte). Refl ectance spectra were acquired in the visible to short wave infrared regions (500 nm to 2500 nm) and samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. The results of our work and publications from other research groups (e.g., Rowan et al., 1986, Swayze et al., 2013, Hoefen et al., 2014, Boesche et al., 2015) have shown the strong applicability of refl ectance spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging to understanding, exploring, and exploiting rare earth element ore deposits and their associated rocks.
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 52, 1, pp. 51-67.
Canada, Alberta
Deposit - Buffalo Head Hills
Abstract: Ice flow of the last glaciation in the Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite field of northern Alberta is reconstructed from landform interpretations and clast orientations for the purpose of aiding kimberlite exploration in the region. The paucity of bedrock outcrop and the absence of preserved striae and other erosional ice-flow indicators on the soft Cretaceous marine sediments inhibit detailed interpretations on glacial flow chronology. Poorly developed bedrock drumlins on the Buffalo Head Hills and erosional ice-flow indicators preserved on the kimberlite outcrops indicate southwestward ice flow during the maximum extent of ice during the last glaciation. During the deglaciation of northern Alberta, later phases of ice flow were controlled by lobes of surging ice, which surged into proglacial lakes. West of the Buffalo Head Hills, the maximum phase of southwest flow was followed by southeastward ice movement of the Peace River ice lobe. Similarly, east of the Buffalo Head Hills, the maximum phase of ice flow was superceded by a south-southwest ice advance of the Wasbasca ice lobe.
Abstract: Mineralogical studies and U-Pb dating have been carried out on rutile included in peridotitic and eclogitic garnets from the Internatsionalnaya pipe, Mirny field, Siberian craton. We also describe a unique peridotitic paragenesis (rutile + forsterite + enstatite + Cr-diopside + Cr-pyrope) preserved in diamond from the Mir pipe, Mirny field. Compositions of rutile from the heavy mineral concentrates of the Internatsionalnaya pipe and rutile inclusions in crustal almandine-rich garnets from the Mayskaya pipe (Nakyn field), as well as from a range of different lithologies, are presented for comparison. Rutile from cratonic mantle peridotites shows characteristic enrichment in Cr, in contrast to lower-Cr rutile from crustal rocks and off-craton mantle. Rutile with Cr2O3 > 1.7 wt% is commonly derived from cratonic mantle, while rutiles with lower Cr2O3 may be both of cratonic and off-cratonic origin. New analytical developments and availability of standards have made rutile accessible to in situ U-Pb dating by laser ablation ICP-MS. A U-Pb age of 369 ± 10 Ma for 9 rutile grains in 6 garnets from the Internatsionalnaya pipe is consistent with the accepted eruption age of the pipe (360 Ma). The equilibrium temperatures of pyropes with rutile inclusions calculated using Ni-in-Gar thermometer range between ~ 725 and 1030 °C, corresponding to a depth range of ca ~ 100-165 km. At the time of entrainment in the kimberlite, garnets with Cr-rich rutile inclusions resided at temperatures well above the closure temperature for Pb in rutile, and thus U-Pb ages on mantle-derived rutile most likely record the emplacement age of the kimberlites. The synthesis of distinctive rutile compositions and U-Pb dating opens new perspectives for using rutile in diamond exploration in cratonic areas.
Abstract: Mineralogical studies and U-Pb dating have been carried out on rutile included in peridotitic and eclogitic garnets from the Internatsionalnaya pipe, Mirny field, Siberian craton. We also describe a unique peridotitic paragenesis (rutile + forsterite + enstatite + Cr-diopside + Cr-pyrope) preserved in diamond from the Mir pipe, Mirny field. Compositions of rutile from the heavy mineral concentrates of the Internatsionalnaya pipe and rutile inclusions in crustal almandine-rich garnets from the Mayskaya pipe (Nakyn field), as well as from a range of different lithologies, are presented for comparison. Rutile from cratonic mantle peridotites shows characteristic enrichment in Cr, in contrast to lower-Cr rutile from crustal rocks and off-craton mantle. Rutile with Cr2O3 > 1.7 wt% is commonly derived from cratonic mantle, while rutiles with lower Cr2O3 may be both of cratonic and off-cratonic origin. New analytical developments and availability of standards have made rutile accessible to in situ U-Pb dating by laser ablation ICP-MS. A U-Pb age of 369 ± 10 Ma for 9 rutile grains in 7 garnets from the Internatsionalnaya pipe is consistent with the accepted eruption age of the pipe (360 Ma). The equilibrium temperatures of pyropes with rutile inclusions calculated using Ni-in-Gar thermometer range between ~ 725 and 1030 °C, corresponding to a depth range of ca ~ 100-165 km. At the time of entrainment in the kimberlite, garnets with Cr-rich rutile inclusions resided at temperatures well above the closure temperature for Pb in rutile, and thus U-Pb ages on mantle-derived rutile most likely record the emplacement age of the kimberlites. The synthesis of distinctive rutile compositions and U-Pb dating opens new perspectives for using rutile in diamond exploration in cratonic areas.
Abstract: Kimberlites are not only the most economically important source of diamonds; they also carry unique information encapsulated in rock fragments entrained as the magma traverses the whole thickness of the lithosphere. The Nurbinskaya pipe in the Siberian kimberlite province (Russia) is one of several intruded along the Vilyui Rift, a major terrane boundary. The pipe contains three populations of mantle-derived zircon xenocrysts: Archean (mean age 2709 ± 9 Ma), Devonian (mean age 371 ± 2.3 Ma), and a subset of grains with evidence of brittle deformation and rehealing, and a range of ages between 370 and 450 Ma. The Hf-isotope, O-isotope and trace-element signatures of the last group provide a link between the Archean and Devonian events, indicating at least three episodes of magmatic activity and zircon crystallization in the lithosphere beneath the pipe. The emplacement of the Nurbinskaya pipe ca 370 Ma ago was only the youngest activity in a magma plumbing system that has been periodically reactivated over at least 2.7 billion years, controlled by the lithosphere-scale structure of the Vilyui Rift.
Abstract: According to present views, the crustal terranes of the Anabar province of the Siberian craton were initially independent blocks, separated from the convecting mantle at 3.1 (Daldyn terrane), 2.9 (Magan terrane) and 2.5?Ga (Markha terrane) (Rosen, 2003, 2004; Rosen et al., 1994, 2005, 2009). Previous studies of zircons in a suite of crustal xenoliths from kimberlite pipes of the Markha terrane concluded that the evolution of the crust of the Markha terrane is very similar to that of the Daldyn terrane. To test this conclusion we present results of U-Pb and Hf-isotope studies on zircons in crustal xenoliths from the Zapolyarnaya kimberlite pipe (Upper Muna kimberlite field), located within the Daldyn terrane, and the Botuobinskaya pipe (Nakyn kimberlite field) in the center of the Markha terrane. The data on xenoliths from the Botuobinskaya kimberlite pipe record tectonothermal events at 2.94, 2.8, 2.7 and 2?Ga. The event at 2?Ga caused Pb loss in zircons from a mafic granulite. U-Pb dating of zircons from the Zapolyarnaya pipe gives an age of 2.7?Ga. All zircons from the studied crustal xenoliths have Archean Hf model ages ranging from 3.65 to 3.11?Ga. This relatively narrow range suggests that reworking of the ancient crust beneath the Nakyn and Upper Muna kimberlite fields was minor, compared with the Daldyn and Alakit-Markha fields (Shatsky et al., 2016). This study, when combined with dating of detrital zircons, implies that tectonic-thermal events at 2.9-2.85, 2.75-2.7 and 2.0-1.95?Ga occurred everywhere on the Anabar tectonic province, and could reflect the upwelling of superplumes at 2.9, 2.7 and 2?Ga. The presence of the same tectonic-thermal events in the Daldyn and Markha terranes (Rosen et al., 2006a,b) supports the conclusion that the identification of the Markha terrane as a separate unit is not valid.
Abstract: Cr-pyrope xenocrysts and associated inclusions of crichtonite-group minerals from the Internatsionalnaya kimberlite pipe were studied to provide new insights into processes in the lithospheric mantle beneath the Mirny kimberlite field, Siberian craton. Pyropes are predominantly of lherzolitic paragenesis (Cr2O3 2-6?wt%) and have trace-element spectra typical for garnets from fertile mantle (gradual increase in chondrite-normalized values from LREE to MREE-HREE). Crichtonite-group minerals commonly occur as monomineralic elongated inclusions, mostly in association with rutile, Mg-ilmenite and Cr-spinel within individual grains of pyrope. Sample INT-266 hosts intergrowth of crichtonite-group mineral and Cl-apatite, while sample INT-324 contains polymineralic apatite- and dolomite-bearing assemblages. Crichtonite-group minerals are Al-rich (1.1-4.5?wt% Al2O3), moderately Zr-enriched (1.3-4.3?wt% ZrO2), and are Ca-, Sr-, and occasionally Ba-dominant in terms of A-site occupancy; they also contain significant amounts of Na and LREE. T-estimates and chemical composition of Cr-pyropes imply that samples represent relatively low-T peridotite assemblages with ambient T ranging from 720 to 820°?. Projected onto the 35?mW/m2 cratonic paleogeotherm for the Mirny kimberlite field (Griffin et al., 1999b. Tectonophysics 310, 1-35), temperature estimates yield a P range of ~34-42?kbar (~110-130?km), which corresponds to a mantle domain in the uppermost part of the diamond stability field. The presence of crichtonite-group minerals in Cr-pyropes has petrological and geochemical implications as evidence for metasomatic enrichment of some incompatible elements in the lithospheric mantle beneath the Mirny kimberlite field. The genesis of Cr-pyropes with inclusions of crichtonite-group minerals is attributed to the percolation of Ca-Sr-Na-LREE-Zr-bearing carbonate-silicate metasomatic agents through Mg- and Cr-rich depleted peridotite protoliths. The findings of several potentially new members of the crichtonite group as inclusions in garnet extend existing knowledge on the compositions and occurrences of exotic titanates stable in the lithospheric mantle.
Abstract: According to present views, the crustal terranes of the Anabar province of the Siberian craton were initially independent blocks, separated from the convecting mantle at 3.1 (Daldyn terrane), 2.9 (Magan terrane) and 2.5?Ga (Markha terrane) (Rosen, 2003, 2004; Rosen et al., 1994, 2005, 2009). Previous studies of zircons in a suite of crustal xenoliths from kimberlite pipes of the Markha terrane concluded that the evolution of the crust of the Markha terrane is very similar to that of the Daldyn terrane. To test this conclusion we present results of U-Pb and Hf-isotope studies on zircons in crustal xenoliths from the Zapolyarnaya kimberlite pipe (Upper Muna kimberlite field), located within the Daldyn terrane, and the Botuobinskaya pipe (Nakyn kimberlite field) in the center of the Markha terrane. The data on xenoliths from the Botuobinskaya kimberlite pipe record tectonothermal events at 2.94, 2.8, 2.7 and 2?Ga. The event at 2?Ga caused Pb loss in zircons from a mafic granulite. U-Pb dating of zircons from the Zapolyarnaya pipe gives an age of 2.7?Ga. All zircons from the studied crustal xenoliths have Archean Hf model ages ranging from 3.65 to 3.11?Ga. This relatively narrow range suggests that reworking of the ancient crust beneath the Nakyn and Upper Muna kimberlite fields was minor, compared with the Daldyn and Alakit-Markha fields (Shatsky et al., 2016). This study, when combined with dating of detrital zircons, implies that tectonic-thermal events at 2.9 -2.85, 2.75 -2.7 and 2.0 -1.95?Ga occurred everywhere on the Anabar tectonic province, and could reflect the upwelling of superplumes at 2.9, 2.7 and 2?Ga. The presence of the same tectonic-thermal events in the Daldyn and Markha terranes (Rosen et al., 2006a,b) supports the conclusion that the identification of the Markha terrane as a separate unit is not valid.
Abstract: Archean cratons are underlain by highly depleted subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). However, there are extensive evidences that Archean SCLM has been extensively refertilized by metasomatic processes, with the addition of Fe, Ca, and Al to depleted protoliths. The distribution of sub-calcic Cr-rich garnets in the SCLM beneath the Siberian craton suggests (1) sub-calcic garnets and diamonds are metasomatic phases in the cratonic SCLM; (2) the distribution of both phases is laterally heterogeneous on relatively small scales and related to ancient structural controls [1]. Re-Os isotopic compositions of twenty six sulfide inclusions in lherzolitic Cr-pyropes from Upper Muna kimberlites have been determined by laser ablation MCICPMS. Most analysed sulfides (~92%) have very low Re/Os ratios (<0.07), and their Re-depletion ages (TRD) form three major peaks: 3.4-2.8, 2.2-1.8 and 1.4-1.2 Ga (±0.03 Ga, mean 2s analytical uncertainty). One sulfide give the oldest TRD age at 4 Ga. Our data suggest that refertilization of the highly depleted SCLM and the introduction of Cr-pyrope garnet occurred in several episodes. The oldest age of ca 4 Ga indicate on the beginning of the formation of the depleted SCLM of the Siberian Craton in Hadean time [2].
Geological Society of London Special Publication 513, pp. 45-70.
Russia
lamproites
Abstract: Ingashi lamproite dykes are the only known primary sources of diamond in the Irkutsk district (Russia) and the only non-kimberlitic one in the Siberian craton. The Ingashi lamproite field is situated in the Urik-Iya graben within the Prisayan uplift of the Siberian craton. The phlogopite-olivine lamproites contain olivine, talc, phlogopite, serpentine, chlorite, olivine, garnet, chromite, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene as well as Sr-F-apatite, monazite, zircon, armolcolite, priderite, potassium Mg-arfvedsonite, Mn-ilmenite, Nb-rutile and diamond. The only ultramafic lamprophyre dyke is composed mainly of serpentinized olivine and phlogopite in the talc-carbonate groundmass and is similar to Ingashi lamproites accessory assemblage with the same major element compositions. Trace element and Sr-Nd isotopic relationships of the Ingashi lamproites are similar to classic lamproites. Different dating methods have provided the ages of lamproites: 1481 Ma (Ar-Ar phlogopite), 1268 Ma (Rb-Sr whole rock) and 300 Ma (U-Pb zircon). Ingashi lamproite ages are controversial and require additional study. The calculated pressure of 3.5 GPamax for clinopyroxenes indicates that lamproite magma originated deeper than 100 km. A Cr-in-garnet barometer shows a 3.7-4.3 GPamin and derivation of Ingashi lamproites deeper than 120 km in depth. Based on the range of typical cratonic geotherms and the presence of diamonds, the Ingashi lamproite magma originated at a depth greater than 155 km.
Tretyachenko, W., Bovkun, A.V., Garanin, K.V., Garanin, V.K., Tretyachenko, N.G.
Formation features of the early Hercynic alkaline ultrabasic and basic volcanic complexes from Zimny Bereg area, north east of Archangelsk region, Russia.
10th. International Kimberlite Conference Held Bangalore India Feb. 6-11, Poster abstract
Evolution of deep crustal roots of the Arhangelsk Diamondiferous province: evidences from crustal xenoliths and xenocrysts from Devonian kimberlite pipes.
Abstract: Here we present major and trace element data for garnet and clinopyroxene from mantle-derived peridotite xenoliths of the Grib kimberlite, the Arkhangelsk diamond province, Russia, and provide new insights into the metasomatic processes that occur within the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) during the kimberlite generation and ascent. The mantle xenoliths examined in this study are both coarse and sheared garnet peridotites and consist of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, garnet with minor ilmenite, magnetite, and Cr-spinel. Based on garnet and clinopyroxene composition, two groups of peridotite are recognized. One group contains high-Ti, light rare earth elements (LREE) enriched garnets and low-Mg# clinopyroxenes with low (La/Sm)n (C1 chondrite-normalized) values. This mineral assemblage was in equilibrium with a high-temperature carbonate-silicate metasomatic agent, presumably, a protokimberlite melt. Pressure-temperature (P-T) estimates (T = 1220 °C and P = 70 kbar) suggest that this metasomatic event occurred at the base of the SCLM. Another group contains low-Ti garnet with normal to sinusoidal rare earth elements (REE) distribution patterns and high-Mg# clinopyroxenes with wide range of (La/Sm)n values. The geochemical equilibrium between garnet and clinopyroxene coupled with their REE composition indicates that peridotite mantle experienced metasomatic transformation by injection of a low-Ti (after crystallizations of the ilmenite megacrysts) kimberlite melt that subsequently percolated through a refractory mantle column. Peridotites of this group show a wide range of P-T estimates (T = 730-1070 °C and P = 22-44 kbar). It is suggested that evolution of a kimberlite magma from REE-enriched carbonate-bearing to carbonate-rich ultramafic silicate compositions with lower REE occurs during the ascent and interaction with a surrounding lithospheric mantle, and this process leads to metasomatic modification of the SCLM with formation of both high and low-Ti garnets and clinopyroxene widely varying in Mg# and (La/Sm)n values.
Abstract: The paper reports detailed data on phlogopite from kimberlite of three facies types in the Arkhangelsk Diamondiferous Province (ADP): (i) massive magmatic kimberlite (Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe), (ii) transitional type between massive volcaniclastic and magmatic kimberlite (Grib Pipe), and (iii) volcanic kimberlite (Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes). Kimberlite from the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe contains only groundmass phlogopite. Kimberlite from the Grib Pipe contains a number of phlogopite populations: megacrysts, macrocrysts, matrix phlogopite, and this mineral in xenoliths. Phlogopite macrocrysts and matrix phlogopite define a single compositional trend reflecting the evolution of the kimberlite melt. The composition points of phlogopite from the xenoliths lie on a single crystallization trend, i.e., the mineral also crystallized from kimberlite melt, which likely actively metasomatized the host rocks from which the xenoliths were captured. Phlogopite from volcaniclastic kimberlite from the Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes does not show either any clearly distinct petrographic setting or compositional differentiation. The kimberlite was dated by the Rb-Sr technique on phlogopite and additionally by the 40Ar/39Ar method. Because it is highly probable that phlogopite from all pipes crystallized from kimberlite melt, the crystallization age of the kimberlite can be defined as 376 ± 3 Ma for the Grib Pipe, 380 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-1 pipe, 375 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-2 Pipe, and 377 ± 0.4 Ma for the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe. The age of the pipes coincides within the error and suggests that the melts of the pipes were emplaced almost simultaneously. Our geochronologic data on kimberlite emplacement in ADP lie within the range of 380 ± 2 to 375 ± Ma and coincide with most age values for Devonian alkaline-ultramafic complexes in the Kola Province: 379 ± 5 Ma; Arzamastsev and Wu, 2014). These data indicate that the kimberlite was formed during the early evolution of the Kola Province, when alkaline-ultramafic complexes (including those with carbonatite) were emplaced.
Abstract: The paper presents data on the composition of olivine macrocrysts from two Devonian kimberlite pipes in the Arkhangelsk diamond province: the Grib pipe (whose kimberlite belongs to type I) and Pionerskaya pipe (whose kimberlite is of type II, i.e., orangeite). The dominant olivine macrocrysts in kimberlites from the two pipes significantly differ in geochemical and isotopic parameters. Olivine macrocrysts in kimberlite from the Grib pipe are dominated by magnesian (Mg# = 0.92-0.93), Ti-poor (Ti < 70 ppm) olivine possessing low Ti/Na (0.05-0.23), Zr/Nb (0.28-0.80), and Zn/Cu (3-20) ratios and low Li concentrations (1.2-2.0 ppm), and the oxygen isotopic composition of this olivine ?18O = 5.64‰ is higher than that of olivine in mantle peridotites (?18O = 5.18 ± 0.28‰). Olivine macrocrysts in kimberlite from the Pionerskaya pipe are dominated by varieties with broadly varying Mg# = 0.90-0.93, high Ti concentrations (100-300 ppm), high ratios Ti/Na (0.90-2.39), Zr/Nb (0.31-1.96), and Zn/Cu (12-56), elevated Li concentrations (1.9-3.4 ppm), and oxygen isotopic composition ?18O = 5.34‰ corresponding to that of olivine in mantle peridotites. The geochemical and isotopic traits of low-Ti olivine macrocrysts from the Grib pipe are interpreted as evidence that the olivine interacted with carbonate-rich melts/fluids. This conclusion is consistent with the geochemical parameters of model melt in equilibrium with the low-Ti olivine that are similar to those of deep carbonatite melts. Our calculations indicate that the variations in the ?18O of the olivine relative the “mantle range” (toward both higher and lower values) can be fairly significant: from 4 to 7‰ depending on the composition of the carbonate fluid. These variations were formed at interaction with carbonate fluid, whose ?18O values do not extend outside the range typical of mantle carbonates. The geochemical parameters of high-Ti olivine macrocrysts from the Grib pipe suggest that their origin was controlled by the silicate (water-silicate) component. This olivine is characterized by a zoned Ti distribution, with the configuration of this distribution between the cores of the crystals and their outer zones showing that the zoning of the cores and outer zones is independent and was produced during two episodes of reaction interaction between the olivine and melt/fluid. The younger episode (when the outer zone was formed) likely involved interaction with kimberlite melt. The transformation of the composition of the cores during the older episode may have been of metasomatic nature, as follows from the fact that the composition varies from grain to grain. The metasomatic episode most likely occurred shortly before the kimberlite melt was emplaced and was related to the partial melting of pyroxenite source material.
Abstract: The paper reports detailed data on phlogopite from kimberlite of three facies types in the Arkhangelsk Diamondiferous Province (ADP): (i) massive magmatic kimberlite (Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe), (ii) transitional type between massive volcaniclastic and magmatic kimberlite (Grib Pipe), and (iii) volcanic kimberlite (Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes). Kimberlite from the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe contains only groundmass phlogopite. Kimberlite from the Grib Pipe contains a number of phlogopite populations: megacrysts, macrocrysts, matrix phlogopite, and this mineral in xenoliths. Phlogopite macrocrysts and matrix phlogopite define a single compositional trend reflecting the evolution of the kimberlite melt. The composition points of phlogopite from the xenoliths lie on a single crystallization trend, i.e., the mineral also crystallized from kimberlite melt, which likely actively metasomatized the host rocks from which the xenoliths were captured. Phlogopite from volcaniclastic kimberlite from the Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes does not show either any clearly distinct petrographic setting or compositional differentiation. The kimberlite was dated by the Rb–Sr technique on phlogopite and additionally by the 40Ar/39Ar method. Because it is highly probable that phlogopite from all pipes crystallized from kimberlite melt, the crystallization age of the kimberlite can be defined as 376 ± 3 Ma for the Grib Pipe, 380 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-1 pipe, 375 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-2 Pipe, and 377 ± 0.4 Ma for the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe. The age of the pipes coincides within the error and suggests that the melts of the pipes were emplaced almost simultaneously. Our geochronologic data on kimberlite emplacement in ADP lie within the range of 380 ± 2 to 375 ± Ma and coincide with most age values for Devonian alkaline–ultramafic complexes in the Kola Province: 379 ± 5 Ma; Arzamastsev and Wu, 2014). These data indicate that the kimberlite was formed during the early evolution of the Kola Province, when alkaline–ultramafic complexes (including those with carbonatite) were emplaced.
Abstract: The paper presents data on the composition of olivine macrocrysts from two Devonian kimberlite pipes in the Arkhangelsk diamond province: the Grib pipe (whose kimberlite belongs to type I) and Pionerskaya pipe (whose kimberlite is of type II, i.e., orangeite). The dominant olivine macrocrysts in kimberlites from the two pipes significantly differ in geochemical and isotopic parameters. Olivine macrocrysts in kimberlite from the Grib pipe are dominated by magnesian (Mg# = 0.92–0.93), Ti-poor (Ti < 70 ppm) olivine possessing low Ti/Na (0.05–0.23), Zr/Nb (0.28–0.80), and Zn/Cu (3–20) ratios and low Li concentrations (1.2–2.0 ppm), and the oxygen isotopic composition of this olivine ?18O = 5.64‰ is higher than that of olivine in mantle peridotites (?18O = 5.18 ± 0.28‰). Olivine macrocrysts in kimberlite from the Pionerskaya pipe are dominated by varieties with broadly varying Mg# = 0.90–0.93, high Ti concentrations (100–300 ppm), high ratios Ti/Na (0.90–2.39), Zr/Nb (0.31–1.96), and Zn/Cu (12–56), elevated Li concentrations (1.9–3.4 ppm), and oxygen isotopic composition ?18O = 5.34‰ corresponding to that of olivine in mantle peridotites. The geochemical and isotopic traits of low-Ti olivine macrocrysts from the Grib pipe are interpreted as evidence that the olivine interacted with carbonate-rich melts/fluids. This conclusion is consistent with the geochemical parameters of model melt in equilibrium with the low-Ti olivine that are similar to those of deep carbonatite melts. Our calculations indicate that the variations in the ?18O of the olivine relative the “mantle range” (toward both higher and lower values) can be fairly significant: from 4 to 7‰ depending on the composition of the carbonate fluid. These variations were formed at interaction with carbonate fluid, whose ?18O values do not extend outside the range typical of mantle carbonates. The geochemical parameters of high-Ti olivine macrocrysts from the Grib pipe suggest that their origin was controlled by the silicate (water–silicate) component. This olivine is characterized by a zoned Ti distribution, with the configuration of this distribution between the cores of the crystals and their outer zones showing that the zoning of the cores and outer zones is independent and was produced during two episodes of reaction interaction between the olivine and melt/fluid. The younger episode (when the outer zone was formed) likely involved interaction with kimberlite melt. The transformation of the composition of the cores during the older episode may have been of metasomatic nature, as follows from the fact that the composition varies from grain to grain. The metasomatic episode most likely occurred shortly before the kimberlite melt was emplaced and was related to the partial melting of pyroxenite source material.
Abstract: The paper presents data on the composition of olivine macrocrysts from two Devonian kimberlite pipes in the Arkhangelsk diamond province: the Grib pipe (whose kimberlite belongs to type I) and Pionerskaya pipe (whose kimberlite is of type II, i.e., orangeite). The dominant olivine macrocrysts in kimberlites from the two pipes significantly differ in geochemical and isotopic parameters. Olivine macrocrysts in kimberlite from the Grib pipe are dominated by magnesian (Mg# = 0.92–0.93), Ti-poor (Ti < 70 ppm) olivine possessing low Ti/Na (0.05–0.23), Zr/Nb (0.28–0.80), and Zn/Cu (3–20) ratios and low Li concentrations (1.2–2.0 ppm), and the oxygen isotopic composition of this olivine ?18O = 5.64‰ is higher than that of olivine in mantle peridotites (?18O = 5.18 ± 0.28‰). Olivine macrocrysts in kimberlite from the Pionerskaya pipe are dominated by varieties with broadly varying Mg# = 0.90–0.93, high Ti concentrations (100–300 ppm), high ratios Ti/Na (0.90–2.39), Zr/Nb (0.31–1.96), and Zn/Cu (12–56), elevated Li concentrations (1.9–3.4 ppm), and oxygen isotopic composition ?18O = 5.34‰ corresponding to that of olivine in mantle peridotites. The geochemical and isotopic traits of low-Ti olivine macrocrysts from the Grib pipe are interpreted as evidence that the olivine interacted with carbonate-rich melts/fluids. This conclusion is consistent with the geochemical parameters of model melt in equilibrium with the low-Ti olivine that are similar to those of deep carbonatite melts. Our calculations indicate that the variations in the ?18O of the olivine relative the “mantle range” (toward both higher and lower values) can be fairly significant: from 4 to 7‰ depending on the composition of the carbonate fluid. These variations were formed at interaction with carbonate fluid, whose ?18O values do not extend outside the range typical of mantle carbonates. The geochemical parameters of high-Ti olivine macrocrysts from the Grib pipe suggest that their origin was controlled by the silicate (water–silicate) component. This olivine is characterized by a zoned Ti distribution, with the configuration of this distribution between the cores of the crystals and their outer zones showing that the zoning of the cores and outer zones is independent and was produced during two episodes of reaction interaction between the olivine and melt/fluid. The younger episode (when the outer zone was formed) likely involved interaction with kimberlite melt. The transformation of the composition of the cores during the older episode may have been of metasomatic nature, as follows from the fact that the composition varies from grain to grain. The metasomatic episode most likely occurred shortly before the kimberlite melt was emplaced and was related to the partial melting of pyroxenite source material.
Abstract: To provide new insights into the origin of megacrysts and metasomatism of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM), we present a detailed petrographic and geochemical investigation of clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths and clinopyroxene megacrysts from the Grib kimberlite (Arkhangelsk diamond province, Russia). Clinopyroxene megacrysts and clinopyroxene from clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths have similar petrography, major and trace element compositions, and are therefore classified as Cr-rich megacrysts. Geothermobarometry suggests that Cr-rich clinopyroxenes originate from within the SCLM (3.6-4.7 GPa and 764-922 °C). Phlogopite from clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths have low-Ti and -Cr compositions that overlaps with phlogopite megacrysts from the Grib kimberlite. The clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks within the SCLM are the main source for Cr-rich clinopyroxene and low-Ti phlogopite megacrysts in the Grib kimberlite matrix. Trace element compositions of studied Cr-rich clinopyroxenes have similar geochemical features to clinopyroxenes megacrysts occurrences worldwide and overlap with clinopyroxenes from phlogopite-garnet peridotite xenoliths from the Grib kimberlite. The strong depletion in Ti, Nb, Ta and to a lesser extent in Zr and Hf in clinopyroxene reflects equilibrium with Ti-oxides, such as ilmenite. The clinopyroxene-phlogopite xenoliths could be the final product of metasomatism of garnet peridotites within the SCLM beneath the Grib kimberlite. The calculated equilibrium of clinopyroxene melt compositions suggests that the metasomatic agents were derived from silicate-bearing kimberlite melts. The presence of veinlets infilled with kimberlitic mineral assemblages in clinopyroxene grains suggests that the clinopyroxene-phlogopite rocks experienced intense interactions with kimberlite melt after their formation, but before their entrainment into the host kimberlite magma. This interaction resulted in the formation of high-Ti and -Cr phlogopite and high-Ti clinopyroxene rims, zones and grains with spongy textures. Finally, we propose the sequence of metasomatic events that occurred in the SCLM and the subsequent formation of the Grib kimberlite.
Abstract: To provide new insights into the origin and evolution of kimberlitic magmas with different diamond concentrations from the Arkhangelsk diamond province in northwestern Russia, we examined the major-and trace-element compositions of ilmenite from diamondiferous kimberlite of the Grib pipe and diamond barren kimberlites from the Kepino cluster (Stepnaya and TsNIGRI-Arkhangelskaya pipes). Ilmenite from diamond-barren kimberlites shows lower Mg, Ti, Cr, Ni and Cu concentrations with increase in both Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ and Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Zn and V concentrations. The main differences between kimberlites with different diamond contents are the Nb and Zr concentrations and their correlation patterns with Mg and Cr concentrations. Ilmenite from the Grib kimberlite has Zr concentrations <110 ppm, whereas ilmenite from the Kepino kimberlites has Zr concentrations >300 ppm. Ilmenite crystallisation within the Grib kimberlite occurred under increasing oxygen fugacity (fO 2), which may reflect assimilation of mantle peridotite by the kimberlitic magmas. Ilmenite from the Kepino kimberlites suggests its crystallisation under constant fO 2 , with the ilmenite composition being controlled by processes of fractional crystallisation of megacrystic minerals. These assumptions were confirmed with assimilation-fractional crystallisation calculations. On the basis of obtained data, we developed a model for the evolution of the kimberlitic magmas for both diamon-diferous and barren kimberlites. The diamond-bearing kimberlitic magmas were generated under intense interaction of kimberlitic magmas with the surrounding lithospheric mantle. It may be that during early modification of the lithospheric mantle by kimberlitic magmas as well as with kimberlitic magmas' local stretching and swift ascent, the capture of the mantle xenoliths was favoured over the crystallisation of phenocrysts. The formation of barren kimberlitic magmas may have occurred when the lithospheric mantle in the vicinity of ascending magmas was already geochemically equilibrated with them. It also is possible that the magma's ascent slowed under conditions of dominantly compressive stresses with crystallisation of olivine and other megacrystic phases.
Abstract: To provide new insights into the origin and evolution of kimberlitic magmas with different diamond concentrations from the Arkhangelsk diamond province in north-western Russia, we examined the major- and trace-element compositions of ilmenite from diamondiferous kimberlite of the Grib pipe and diamond-barren kimberlites from the Kepino cluster (Stepnaya and TsNIGRI-Arkhangelskaya pipes). Ilmenite from diamond-barren kimberlites shows lower Mg, Ti, Cr, Ni and Cu concentrations with increase in both Fe3+ and Fe2+ and Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Zn and V concentrations. The main differences between kimberlites with different diamond contents are the Nb and Zr concentrations and their correlation patterns with Mg and Cr concentrations. Ilmenite from the Grib kimberlite has Zr concentrations <110 ppm, whereas ilmenite from the Kepino kimberlites has Zr concentrations >300 ppm. Ilmenite crystallisation within the Grib kimberlite occurred under increasing oxygen fugacity (fO2), which may reflect assimilation of mantle peridotite by the kimberlitic magmas. Ilmenite from the Kepino kimberlites suggests its crystallisation under constant fO2, with the ilmenite composition being controlled by processes of fractional crystallisation of megacrystic minerals. These assumptions were confirmed with assimilation-fractional crystallisation calculations. On the basis of obtained data, we developed a model for the evolution of the kimberlitic magmas for both diamondiferous and barren kimberlites. The diamond-bearing kimberlitic magmas were generated under intense interaction of kimberlitic magmas with the surrounding lithospheric mantle. It may be that during early modification of the lithospheric mantle by kimberlitic magmas as well as with kimberlitic magmas’ local stretching and swift ascent, the capture of the mantle xenoliths was favoured over the crystallisation of phenocrysts. The formation of barren kimberlitic magmas may have occurred when the lithospheric mantle in the vicinity of ascending magmas was already geochemically equilibrated with them. It also is possible that the magma’s ascent slowed under conditions of dominantly compressive stresses with crystallisation of olivine and other megacrystic phases.
Abstract: To provide new insights into the evolution of kimberlitic magmas, we have undertaken a detailed petrographic and mineralogical investigation of highly evolved carbonate-phlogopite-bearing kimberlites of the Kepino cluster, Arkhangelsk kimberlite province, Russia. The Kepino kimberlites are represented by volcanoclastic breccias and massive macrocrystic units within pipes as well as coherent porphyritic kimberlites within sills. The volcanoclastic units from pipes are similar in petrography and mineral composition to archetypal (Group 1) kimberlite, whereas the sills represent evolved kimberlites that exhibit a wide variation in amounts of carbonate and phlogopite. The late-stage evolution of kimberlitic melts involves increasing oxygen fugacity and fluid-phase evolution (forming carbonate segregations by exsolution, etc.). These processes are accompanied by the transformation of primary Al- and Ti-bearing phlogopite toward tetraferriphlogopite and the transition of spinel compositions from magmatic chromite to magnesian ulvöspinel and titanomagnetite. Similar primary kimberlitic melts emplaced as sills and pipes may be transitional to carbonatite melts in the shallow crust. The kimberlitic pipes are characterised by low carbonate amounts that may reflect the fluid degassing process during an explosive emplacement of the pipes. The Kepino kimberlite age, determined as 397.3 ± 1.2 Ma, indicates two episodes of ultramafic alkaline magmatism in the Arkhangelsk province, the first producing non-economic evolved kimberlites of the Kepino cluster and the second producing economic-grade diamondiferous kimberlites.
Tretyachenko, W., Bovkun, A.V., Garanin, K.V., Garanin, V.K., Tretyachenko, N.G.
Formation features of the early Hercynic alkaline ultrabasic and basic volcanic complexes from Zimny Bereg area, north east of Archangelsk region, Russia.
10th. International Kimberlite Conference Held Bangalore India Feb. 6-11, Poster abstract
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) Preprint, Annual Meeting held Phoenix Arizona Feb. 24-27th. 1992, Preprint No. 92-95, 5p
40 Ar 39 Ar dating of a phlogopite bearing websterite: evidence for ancient metasomatism in the subcontinental lithosphere mantle under the Arabian Shield?
40 Ar 39 Ar dating of a phlogopite bearing websterite: evidence for ancient metasomatism in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle under the Arabian Shield?
Hopp, J., Trieloff, M., Brey, G.P., Woodland, A.B., Simon, N.S.C., Wijbrans, J.R., Siebel, W., Reitter, E.
40 Ar 39 Ar ages of phlogopite in mantle xenoliths from South African kimberlites: evidence for metasomatic mantle impregnation during Kilbaran orogenic cycle.
Buikin, A.I., Trieloff, M., Korochantseeva, E.V., Hopp, J., Kaliwood, M., Meyer, H-P.,Altherr, R.
Distribution of mantle and atmospheric argon in mantle xenoliths from western Arabian Peninsula: constraints on timing and composition of metasomatizing agents....
Geochemistry International, Vol. 55, 5, pp. 457-464.
Russia
carbonatite - Guli
Abstract: For better understanding of the fluid phase sources of carbonatites of Guli alkaline-ultrabasic intrusion (Maymecha-Kotuy complex) we have studied isotope composition of He and Ne in the carbonatites of different formation stages. The data definitely point to the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) as a primary source of fluid phase of Guli carbonatites. The absence of plume signature in such a plume-like object (from petrological point of view) could be explained in terms that Guli carbonatites have been formed at the waning stage of plume magmatic activity with an essential input of SCLM components.
Abstract: Here we present summarizing of isotopic compositions and element ratios of noble gases, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen in carbonatites of different generations of the Guli massif (West Siberia, Russia) obtained by stepwise crushing. The data point to the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) as a primary source of the fluid phase in Guli carbonatites. However, the estimated 40Ar/36Ar ratio in the Guli mantle source of about 5400 is similar to the Kola plume value of 5000 ± 1000 (Marty et al., 1998). One explanation of such a low estimated 40Ar/36Ar ratio in the mantle end-member with SCLM type helium (4??/3?? ~ 120000) and neon (21N?/22N?mantle ~ 0.7) is an admixture of atmospheric argon to the local mantle source. This assumption is supported by the Ar-Ne systematics as well as by the data for hydrogen isotopic composition. Early carbonatite differs significantly from the later ones by the concentration of highly volatile components, as well as by the isotopic compositions of carbon (CO2), argon, and hydrogen (H2O). The mantle component dominated in fluids at the early formation stages of the Guli massif rocks, whereas the late stages of carbonatite formation were characterized by an additional fluid source, which introduced atmospheric argon and neon, and most likely a high portion of CO2 with isotopically heavy carbon. The argon-neon-hydrogen isotope systematics suggest that the most plausible source of these late stage fluids are high temperature paleometeoric waters. The absence of a plume signature could be explained in terms that Guli carbonatites have been formed at the waning stage of plume magmatic activity with an essential input of SCLM components.
Physicsa Status Solidi , doi:10.1002/pssa.201900888
Global
HPHT
Abstract: Various samples of multisectoral high?pressure high?temperature (HPHT) single?crystal diamond plate (IIa type) (4?×?4?×?0.53?mm) are tested for particle detection applications. The samples are investigated by X?ray diffractometry, photoluminescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier?transform infrared, and visible/ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectroscopy. High crystalline perfection and low impurity concentration (in the {100} growth sector) are observed. To investigate detector parameters, circular 1.0 and 1.5?mm diameter Pt Schottky barrier contacts are created on {111} and {100} growth sectors. On the backside, a Pt contact (3.5?×?3.5?mm) is produced. The {100} growth sector is proved to be a high?quality detector: the full width at half maximum energy resolution is 0.94% for the 5.489?MeV 226Ra ??line at an operational bias of +500?V. Therefore, it is concluded that the HPHT material {100} growth sector is used for radiation detector production, whose quality is not worse than the chemical vapor deposition method or specially selected natural diamond detectors.
Sverkhtverdie Materiali ( Ukraine) in RUSSIAN, No. 2, pp. 3-17.
Technology
Morphology of lonsdaleite, diamond
Abstract: External and internal morphologies of natural impact apographitic diamonds (paramorphoses) have been studied. The (0001) surface morphology of the paramorphoses reflects their phase composition and the structural relationship of its constituting phases. Growth and etch figures together with the elements of crystal symmetry of lonsdaleite and diamond are developed on these surfaces. The crystal size of lonsdaleite is up to 100 nm, and that of diamond is up to 300 nm. Two types of structural relations between graphite, lonsdaleite, and diamond in the paramorphoses are observed: the first type (black, black-gray, colorless and yellowish paramorphoses): the (0001) graphite face is parallel to the (100) lonsdaleite face and parallel to (111) diamond; the second type (milky-white paramorphoses): the (0001) graphite is parallel to the (100) lonsdaleite and parallel to the (112) diamond. The first type of the paramorphoses contains lonsdaleite, diamond, graphite or diamond, lonsdaleite, the second type of the paramorphoses contains predominantly diamond. The direct phase transition of graphite ? lonsdaleite and/or graphite ?diamond occurred in the paramorphoses of the first type. A successive phase transition graphite ? lonsdaleite ? diamond was observed in the paramorphoses of the second type. The structure of the paramorphoses of this type shows characteristic features of recrystallization.
Abstract: Diamonds and their inclusions are unique probes into the deep Earth, tracking the deep carbon cycle to >800?km. Understanding the mechanisms of carbon mobilization and freezing is a prerequisite for quantifying the fluxes of carbon in the deep Earth. Here we show direct evidence for the formation of diamond by redox reactions involving FeNi sulfides. Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction identifies an arrested redox reaction from pyrrhotite to magnetite included in diamond. The magnetite corona shows coherent epitaxy with relict pyrrhotite and diamond, indicating that diamond nucleated on magnetite. Furthermore, structures inherited from h-Fe3O4 define a phase transformation at depths of 320 -330?km, the base of the Kaapvaal lithosphere. The oxidation of pyrrhotite to magnetite is an important trigger of diamond precipitation in the upper mantle, explaining the presence of these phases in diamonds.
Abstract: One of the most controversial diamond types is carbonado, as its origin and geological history are still under debate. Here, we investigate selected carbonado samples using neutron diffraction and high resolution orientation mapping in combination with numerical simulations. Neutron diffraction analyses show that fine grained carbonado samples exhibit a distinct lack of crystallographic preferred orientation. Quantitative crystallographic orientation analyses performed on transmission electron microscope (TEM) sections reveal that the 2-10 ?m grains exhibit locally significant internal deformation. Such features are consistent with crystal plastic deformation of a grain aggregate that initially formed by rapid nucleation, characterized by a high number of nucleation sites and no crystallographic preferred orientation. Crystal plastic deformation resulted in high stress heterogeneities close to grain boundaries, even at low bulk strains, inducing a high degree of lattice distortion without significant grain size reduction and the development of a crystallographic preferred orientation. Observed differences in the character of the grain boundary network and internal deformation structures can be explained by significant post-deformation annealing occurring to variable degrees in the carbonado samples. Differences in intensity of crystal bending and subgrain boundary sharpness can be explained by dislocation annihilation and rearrangement, respectively. During annealing grain energy is reduced resulting in distinct changes to the grain boundary geometry. Grain scale numerical modelling shows that anisotropic grain growth, where grain boundary energy is determined by the orientation of a boundary segment relative to the crystallographic orientation of adjacent grains results in straight boundary segments with abrupt changes in orientation even if the boundary is occurring between two triple junctions forming a "zigzag" pattern. In addition, in diamond anisotropic grain growth results in triple junctions that rarely show 120° angles. Our results support the interpretation that carbonados may have undergone at least 2 or 3 stages of development with rapid nucleation, crystal plastic deformation to low strains and variable degrees of post-deformation annealing. Such a history is commonly observed in Earth's crustal or mantle rocks. Hence, for carbonados it is not necessary to invoke an extraordinary and/or extraterrestrial origin and history. The combination of methods utilized here, promises to help advance our understanding of diamond and diamond aggregates in the future.
Abstract: One of the most controversial diamond types is carbonado, as its origin and geological history are still under debate. Here, we investigate selected carbonado samples using neutron diffraction and high resolution orientation mapping in combination with numerical simulations. Neutron diffraction analyses show that fine grained carbonado samples exhibit a distinct lack of crystallographic preferred orientation. Quantitative crystallographic orientation analyses performed on transmission electron microscope (TEM) sections reveal that the 2-10 ?m grains exhibit locally significant internal deformation. Such features are consistent with crystal plastic deformation of a grain aggregate that initially formed by rapid nucleation, characterized by a high number of nucleation sites and no crystallographic preferred orientation. Crystal plastic deformation resulted in high stress heterogeneities close to grain boundaries, even at low bulk strains, inducing a high degree of lattice distortion without significant grain size reduction and the development of a crystallographic preferred orientation. Observed differences in the character of the grain boundary network and internal deformation structures can be explained by significant post-deformation annealing occurring to variable degrees in the carbonado samples. Differences in intensity of crystal bending and subgrain boundary sharpness can be explained by dislocation annihilation and rearrangement, respectively. During annealing grain energy is reduced resulting in distinct changes to the grain boundary geometry. Grain scale numerical modelling shows that anisotropic grain growth, where grain boundary energy is determined by the orientation of a boundary segment relative to the crystallographic orientation of adjacent grains results in straight boundary segments with abrupt changes in orientation even if the boundary is occurring between two triple junctions forming a “zigzag” pattern. In addition, in diamond anisotropic grain growth results in triple junctions that rarely show 120° angles. Our results support the interpretation that carbonados may have undergone at least 2 or 3 stages of development with rapid nucleation, crystal plastic deformation to low strains and variable degrees of post-deformation annealing. Such a history is commonly observed in Earth's crustal or mantle rocks. Hence, for carbonados it is not necessary to invoke an extraordinary and/or extraterrestrial origin and history. The combination of methods utilized here, promises to help advance our understanding of diamond and diamond aggregates in the future.
McGee, B., Collins, A.S., Trindade, R.I.F., Jourdan, F.
Investigating mid-Edicaran glaciation and final Gondwana amalgamation using coupled sedimentology and 40 Ar/39Ar detrital muscovite provenance from the Paraguay Belt, Brazil.
Geological Society of London Special Publication Supercontinent Cycles through Earth History., Vol. 424, pp. 167-190.
South America, Brazil
Supercontinents
Abstract: Moderate to high palaeolatitudes recorded in mafic dykes, exposed along the coast of Bahia, Brazil, are partly responsible for some interpretations that the São Francisco/Congo craton was separate from the low-latitude Rodinia supercontinent at about 1050 Ma. We report new palaeomagnetic data that replicate the previous results. However, we obtain substantially younger U-Pb baddeleyite ages from five dykes previously thought to be 1.02- 1.01 Ga according to the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar method. Specifically, the so-called 'A-normal' remanence direction from Salva-dor is dated at 924.2 + 3.8 Ma, within error of the age for the 'C' remanence direction at 921.5 + 4.3 Ma. An 'A-normal' dyke at Ilhéus is dated at 926.1 + 4.6 Ma, and two 'A-normal' dykes at Olivença have indistinguishable ages with best estimate of emplacement at 918.2 + 6.7 Ma. We attribute the palaeomagnetic variance of the 'A-normal' and 'C' directions to lack of averaging of geomagnetic palaeosecular variation in some regions. Our results render previous 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages from the dykes suspect, leaving late Mesoproterozoic palaeolatitudes of the São Francisco/Congo craton unconstrained. The combined 'A-normal' palaeomagnetic pole from coastal Bahia places the São Francisco/Congo craton in moderate to high palaeolatitudes at c. 920 Ma, allowing various possible positions of that block within Rodinia. Despite more than two decades of intense global research, the configuration of Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia remains enigmatic. Following the first global synthesis by Hoffman (1991), most models include a central location for Laurentia, flanked by 'East' Gondwana-Land cra-tons along its proto-Cordilleran margin and 'West'
Abstract: The original connections of Archean cratons are becoming traceable due to an increasing amount of paleomagnetic data and refined magmatic barcodes. The Uauá block of the northern São Francisco craton may represent a fragment of a major Archean craton. Here, we report new paleomagnetic data from the 2.62 Ga Uauá tholeiitic mafic dyke swarm of the Uauá block in the northern São Francisco craton, Eastern Brazil. Our paleomagnetic results confirm the earlier results for these units, but our interpretation differs. We suggest that the obtained characteristic remanent magnetization for the 2.62 Ga swarm is of primary origin, supported by a provisionally-positive baked contact test. The corresponding paleomagnetic pole (25.2°N, 330.5°E, A95 = 8.1° N = 20) takes the present northern part of the São Francisco craton to moderate latitudes. Based on the comparison of the paleolatitudes of cratons with high-quality paleomagnetic data and magmatic barcodes, we suggest that the northern part of the São Francisco craton could have been part of the proposed Supervaalbara supercraton during the Archean. Supervaalbara is proposed as including (but not limited to) the part of the São Francisco craton as well as the Superior, Wyoming, Kola + Karelia, Zimbabwe, Kaapvaal, Tanzania, Yilgarn, and Pilbara cratons.
Abstract: Here, we reassess the paleomagnetic database for Amazonia and its geodynamic implications for supercontinents. According to paleomagnetic and geological data Amazonia and West Africa joined at c.2.00 Ga defining a single long-lived block. This landmass eventually formed a part of the Columbia supercontinent together with Baltica and Laurentia between 1.78 and 1.42 Ga. For the formation of Rodinia paleomagnetic and geological data permit three different models: an oblique collision at c.1.2 Ga, a clockwise rotation of Amazonia/West Africa and Baltica from Columbia to Rodinia joining Laurentia at c.1.0 Ga, or a scenario where Amazonia/West Africa were a wandering block that did not take part in Columbia and collided with Laurentia to form Rodinia at c.1.0-0.95 Ga. The time Amazonia/West Africa joined Gondwana is also debatable, with contrasting geochronological and geological evidence supporting an early collision at 0.65-0.60 Ga or a late collision at 0.53-0.52 Ga.
Hidden gems in the NURE data: placer exploration potential for gold, PGM, rare earth elements (REE) and other metals in the Arctic coastal plain and Foothills Province, Alaska
Abstract: Diamonds in alluvial deposits in Southeast Asia are not accompanied by indicator minerals suggesting primary kimberlite or lamproite sources. The Meratus Mountains in Southeast Borneo (Province Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia) provide the largest known deposit of these so-called “headless” diamond deposits. Proposals for the origin of Kalimantan diamonds include the adjacent Meratus ophiolite complex, ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic terranes, obducted subcontinental lithospheric mantle and undiscovered kimberlite-type sources. Here we report results from detailed sediment provenance analysis of diamond-bearing Quaternary river channel material and from representative outcrops of the oldest known formations within the Alino Group, including the diamond-bearing Campanian-Maastrichtian Manunggul Formation. Optical examination of surfaces of diamonds collected from artisanal miners in the Meratus area (247 stones) and in West Borneo (Sanggau Area, Province Kalimantan Barat;
Academia.edu, Supplementary material app. 1 and 2, both 10p.
Asia, Kalimantan
deposit - Kalimantan
Abstract: Diamonds in alluvial deposits in Southeast Asia are not accompanied by indicator minerals suggesting primary kimberlite or lamproite sources. The Meratus Mountains in Southeast Borneo (Province Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia) provide the largest known deposit of these so-called “headless” diamond deposits. Proposals for the origin of Kalimantan diamonds include the adjacent Meratus ophiolite complex, ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic terranes, obducted subcontinental lithospheric mantle and undiscovered kimberlite-type sources. Here we report results from detailed sediment provenance analysis of diamond-bearing Quaternary river channel material and from representative outcrops of the oldest known formations within the Alino Group, including the diamond-bearing Campanian–Maastrichtian Manunggul Formation. Optical examination of surfaces of diamonds collected from artisanal miners in the Meratus area (247 stones) and in West Borneo (Sanggau Area, Province Kalimantan Barat; 85 stones) points toward a classical kimberlite-type source for the majority of these diamonds. Some of the diamonds host mineral inclusions suitable for deep single-crystal X-ray diffraction investigation. We determined the depth of formation of two olivines, one coesite and one peridotitic garnet inclusion. Pressure of formation estimates for the peridotitic garnet at independently derived temperatures of 930–1250 °C are between 4.8 and 6.0 GPa. Sediment provenance analysis includes petrography coupled to analyses of detrital garnet and glaucophane. The compositions of these key minerals do not indicate kimberlite-derived material. By analyzing almost 1400 zircons for trace element concentrations with laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) we tested the mineral's potential as an alternative kimberlite indicator. The screening ultimately resulted in a small subset of ten zircons with a kimberlitic affinity. Subsequent U–Pb dating resulting in Cretaceous ages plus a detailed chemical reflection make a kimberlitic origin unfavorable with respect to the regional geological history. Rather, trace elemental analyses (U, Th and Eu) suggest an eclogitic source for these zircons. The age distribution of detrital zircons allows in general a better understanding of collisional events that formed the Meratus orogen and identifies various North Australian Orogens as potential Pre-Mesozoic sediment sources. Our data support a model whereby the majority of Kalimantan diamonds were emplaced within the North Australian Craton by volcanic processes. Partly re-deposited into paleo-collectors or residing in their primary host, these diamond-deposits spread passively throughout Southeast Asia by terrane migration during the Gondwana breakup. Terrane amalgamation events largely metamorphosed these diamond-bearing lithologies while destroying the indicative mineral content. Orogenic uplift finally liberated their diamond-content into new, autochthonous placer deposits.
Abstract: In response to rising demand of the rare earth elements (REE), recent exploration of the British Columbia alkaline province has identified the Wicheeda Carbonatite, which contains an estimated 11.3 million tons of light REE-enriched ore grading 1.95 wt.% TREO, to be the highest-grade prospect known in British Columbia. However, research of the deposit is restricted to one paper describing mineralization in carbonatite dikes adjacent to the main plug. This study describes the nature and origin of REEmineralization in the Wicheeda plug. The carbonatite was emplaced in metasedimentary limestone and argillaceous limestone belonging to the Kechika Group, which has been altered to potassic fenite immediately adjacent to the carbonatite and to sodic fenite at greater distances from it. The carbonatite comprises a ferroan dolomite core, which passes outwards gradationally into calcite carbonatite. Three texturally distinct varieties of dolomite have been recognized. Dolomite 1 constitutes most of the carbonatite; Dolomite 2 replaced Dolomite 1 near veins and vugs; Dolomite 3 occurs as a fracture and vug-lining phase with the REE mineralization. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios indicate that the calcite carbonatite is of mantle origin, that Dolomite 1 is of primary igneous origin, that Dolomite 2 is largely primary igneous with minor hydrothermal signature contamination, and that Dolomite 3 is of hydrothermal origin. Rare-metal mineralization in the deposit is, with the exception of pyrochlore, which occurs in the calcite carbonatite, restricted to veins and vugs in the dolomite carbonatite. There it occurs as hydrothermal veins and in vugs infilled by REE-fluorocarbonates, i.e., bastnäsite-(Ce), ancylite-(Ce), and monazite- (Ce) together with accessory pyrite, barite, molybdenite, and thorite. A model is proposed in which calcite carbonatite was the earliest magmatic phase to crystallize. The calcite carbonatite magma saturated with niobium relatively early, precipitating pyrochlore. The magma later evolved to a dolomite carbonatite composition which, upon cooling exsolved an aqueous carbonic fluid, which altered the Kechika metasediments to potassic fenite and mixed with formational waters further from the carbonatite to produce sodic fenite. This fluid mobilized the REE as chloride complexes into vugs and fractures in the dolomite carbonatite. Upon progressive fluid-rock interaction, the REE precipitated largely in response to cooling and pH. Hydrothermal concentration led to remarkable grade consistency, with virtually all of the dolomite carbonatite containing >1 wt.% TREO, making the Wicheeda Carbonatite a very attractive exploration target.
Abstract: The Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) in Canada, although dominated by tholeiites (135-90?Ma), contains two main groups of alkaline igneous rocks. The older alkaline rocks (?96?Ma) scatter around major fault and basement structures. They are represented by the newly defined Fulmar Suite alkaline basalt dykes and sills, and include Hassel Formation volcanic rocks. The younger alkaline group is represented by the Wootton Intrusive Complex (92•2-92•7?Ma), and the Audhild Bay Suite (83-73?Ma), both emplaced near the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. Fulmar Suite rocks resemble EM-type ocean island basalts (OIB) and most show limited crustal contamination. The Fulmar Suite shows increases of P2O5 at near-constant Ba-K-Zr-Ti that are nearly orthogonal to predicted fractionation- or melting-related variations, which we interpret as the result of melting composite mantle sources containing a regionally widespread apatite-bearing enriched component (P1). Low-P2O5 Fulmar Suite variants overlap compositionally with enriched HALIP tholeiites, and fall on common garnet lherzolite trace element melting trajectories, suggesting variable degrees of melting of a geochemically similar source. High-P2O5 Hassel Formation basalts are unusual among Fulmar rocks, because they are strongly contaminated with depleted lower crust; and because they involve a high-P2O5-Ba-Eu mantle component (P2), similar to that seen in alkali basalt dykes from Greenland. The P2 component may have contained Ba-Eu-rich hawthorneite and/or carbonate minerals as well as apatite, and may typify parts of the Greenlandic sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Mafic alkaline Audhild Bay Suite (ABS) rocks are volcanic and hypabyssal basanites, alkaline basalts and trachy-andesites, and resemble HIMU ocean island basalts in having high Nb, low Zr/Nb and low 87Sr/86Sri. These mafic alkaline rocks are associated with felsic alkaline lavas and syenitic intrusions, but crustally derived rhyodacites and rhyolites also exist. The Wootton Intrusive Complex (WIC) contains geochemically similar plutonic rocks (alkali gabbros, diorites and anatectic granites), and may represent a more deeply eroded, slightly older equivalent of the ABS. Low-P2O5 ABS and WIC alkaline mafic rocks have flat heavy rare earth element (HREE) profiles suggesting shallow mantle melting; whereas High-P2O5 variants have steep HREE profiles indicating deeper separation from garnet-bearing residues. Some High-P2O5 mafic ABS rocks seem to contain the P1 and P2 components identified in Fulmar-Hassel rocks, whereas other samples trend towards possible High-P2O5 + Zr (PZr) and High-P2O5 + K2O (PK) components. We argue that the strongly alkaline northern Ellesmere Island magmas sampled mineralogically heterogeneous veins or metasomes in Greenlandic-type SCLM, which contained trace phases such as apatite, carbonates, hawthorneite, zircon, mica or richterite. The geographically more widespread apatite-bearing component (P1) could have formed part of a heterogeneous plume or upwelling mantle current that also generated HALIP tholeiites when melted more extensively, but may also have resided in the SCLM as relics of older events. Rare HALIP alkaline rocks with high K-Rb-U-Th fall on mixing paths implying strong local contamination from either Sverdrup Basin sedimentary rocks or granitic upper crust. However, the scarcity of potassic alkaline HALIP facies, together with the other trace element and isotopic signatures, provides little support for a ubiquitous fossil sedimentary subduction-zone component in the HALIP mantle source.
Abstract: The Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) in Canada, although dominated by tholeiites (135-90?Ma), contains two main groups of alkaline igneous rocks. The older alkaline rocks (?96?Ma) scatter around major fault and basement structures. They are represented by the newly-defined Fulmar Suite alkaline basalt dykes and sills, and include Hassel Formation volcanics. The younger alkaline group is represented by the Wootton Intrusive Complex (92.2-92.7?Ma), and the Audhild Bay Suite (83-73?Ma); both emplaced near the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. Fulmar Suite rocks resemble EM-type ocean island basalts (OIB) and most show limited crustal contamination. The Fulmar Suite shows increases of P2O5 at near-constant Ba-K-Zr-Ti that are nearly orthogonal to predicted fractionation- or melting-related variations; which we interpret as the result of melting composite mantle sources containing a regionally widespread apatite-bearing enriched component (P1). Low-P2O5 Fulmar Suite variants overlap compositionally with enriched HALIP tholeiites, and fall on common garnet lherzolite trace element melting trajectories, suggesting variable degrees of melting of a geochemically similar source. High-P2O5 Hassel Formation basalts are unusual among Fulmar rocks, because they are strongly contaminated with depleted lower crust; and because they involve a high-P2O5-Ba-Eu mantle component (P2), similar to that seen in alkali basalt dykes from Greenland. The P2 component may have contained Ba-Eu-rich hawthorneite and/or carbonate minerals as well as apatite, and may typify parts of the Greenlandic sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Mafic alkaline Audhild Bay Suite (ABS) rocks are volcanic and hypabyssal basanites, alkaline basalts and trachy-andesites, and resemble HIMU ocean island basalts in having high Nb, low Zr/Nb and low 87Sr/86Sri. These mafic alkaline rocks are associated with felsic alkaline lavas and syenitic intrusions, but crustally-derived rhyodacites and rhyolites also exist. The Wootton Intrusive Complex (WIC) contains geochemically similar plutonic rocks (alkali gabbros, diorites and anatectic granites), and may represent a more deeply eroded, slightly older equivalent of the ABS. Low-P2O5 ABS and WIC alkaline mafic rocks have flat heavy rare-earth (HREE) profiles suggesting shallow mantle melting; whereas High-P2O5 variants have steep HREE profiles indicating deeper separation from garnet-bearing residues. Some High-P2O5 mafic ABS rocks seem to contain the P1 and P2 components identified in Fulmar-Hassel rocks, whereas other samples trend towards possible High-P2O5+Zr (PZr) and High-P2O5+K2O (PK) components. We argue that the strongly alkaline northern Ellesmere Island magmas sampled mineralogically heterogeneous veins or metasomes in Greenlandic-type SCLM, which contained trace phases like apatite, carbonates, hawthorneite, zircon, mica or richterite. The geographically more widespread apatite-bearing component (P1), could have formed part of a heterogeneous plume or upwelling mantle current that also generated HALIP tholeiites when melted more extensively, but may also have resided in the SCLM as relics of older events. Rare HALIP alkaline rocks with high K-Rb-U-Th fall on mixing paths implying strong local contamination from either Sverdrup Basin sedimentary rocks or granitic upper crust. However, the scarcity of potassic alkaline HALIP facies, together with the other trace element and isotopic signatures, provide little support for an ubiquitous fossil sedimentary subduction zone component in the HALIP mantle source.
Abstract: The Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) in Canada, although dominated by tholeiites (135-90?Ma), contains two main groups of alkaline igneous rocks. The older alkaline rocks (?96?Ma) scatter around major fault and basement structures. They are represented by the newly-defined Fulmar Suite alkaline basalt dykes and sills, and include Hassel Formation volcanics. The younger alkaline group is represented by the Wootton Intrusive Complex (92.2-92.7?Ma), and the Audhild Bay Suite (83-73?Ma); both emplaced near the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. Fulmar Suite rocks resemble EM-type ocean island basalts (OIB) and most show limited crustal contamination. The Fulmar Suite shows increases of P2O5 at near-constant Ba-K-Zr-Ti that are nearly orthogonal to predicted fractionation- or melting-related variations; which we interpret as the result of melting composite mantle sources containing a regionally widespread apatite-bearing enriched component (P1). Low-P2O5 Fulmar Suite variants overlap compositionally with enriched HALIP tholeiites, and fall on common garnet lherzolite trace element melting trajectories, suggesting variable degrees of melting of a geochemically similar source. High-P2O5 Hassel Formation basalts are unusual among Fulmar rocks, because they are strongly contaminated with depleted lower crust; and because they involve a high-P2O5-Ba-Eu mantle component (P2), similar to that seen in alkali basalt dykes from Greenland. The P2 component may have contained Ba-Eu-rich hawthorneite and/or carbonate minerals as well as apatite, and may typify parts of the Greenlandic sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Mafic alkaline Audhild Bay Suite (ABS) rocks are volcanic and hypabyssal basanites, alkaline basalts and trachy-andesites, and resemble HIMU ocean island basalts in having high Nb, low Zr/Nb and low 87Sr/86Sri. These mafic alkaline rocks are associated with felsic alkaline lavas and syenitic intrusions, but crustally-derived rhyodacites and rhyolites also exist. The Wootton Intrusive Complex (WIC) contains geochemically similar plutonic rocks (alkali gabbros, diorites and anatectic granites), and may represent a more deeply eroded, slightly older equivalent of the ABS. Low-P2O5 ABS and WIC alkaline mafic rocks have flat heavy rare-earth (HREE) profiles suggesting shallow mantle melting; whereas High-P2O5 variants have steep HREE profiles indicating deeper separation from garnet-bearing residues. Some High-P2O5 mafic ABS rocks seem to contain the P1 and P2 components identified in Fulmar-Hassel rocks, whereas other samples trend towards possible High-P2O5+Zr (PZr) and High-P2O5+K2O (PK) components. We argue that the strongly alkaline northern Ellesmere Island magmas sampled mineralogically heterogeneous veins or metasomes in Greenlandic-type SCLM, which contained trace phases like apatite, carbonates, hawthorneite, zircon, mica or richterite. The geographically more widespread apatite-bearing component (P1), could have formed part of a heterogeneous plume or upwelling mantle current that also generated HALIP tholeiites when melted more extensively, but may also have resided in the SCLM as relics of older events. Rare HALIP alkaline rocks with high K-Rb-U-Th fall on mixing paths implying strong local contamination from either Sverdrup Basin sedimentary rocks or granitic upper crust. However, the scarcity of potassic alkaline HALIP facies, together with the other trace element and isotopic signatures, provide little support for an ubiquitous fossil sedimentary subduction zone component in the HALIP mantle source.
Abstract: The goal of this work is to determine the effect of multiple glaciations on till composition, in a zone of transition from a multi-till stratigraphy within the Hudson Bay Lowland (HBL) to a single till stratigraphy over the Precambrian shield. The study area, in NE Manitoba, has access to numerous sections that expose multiple tills, in addition to interglacial and postglacial sediments. Sequences of thick till are not easily separated into different units, despite previous field attempts to define four named tills. The compositional transition to thin till overlying the Precambrian Shield in the west is also not well understood. Yet, the two different settings were affected by the same 3+ glacial cycles. The wide range in eastern- and/or northeastern-sourced calcareous clast concentrations, and ‘locally’-sourced shield clast concentrations, combined with variable concentrations of northern-sourced clasts, suggests that the tills of northeastern Manitoba are ‘provenance’ hybrids. Local tills result from the net effect of multiple glacial processes that underwent spatiotemporal variability. Mixed provenance applies not only to surface tills, but to the subsurface tills as well. Preliminary results suggest that carbonate transport across the shield was continuous throughout several glacial cycles, but the bulk of transport likely occurred prior to the most recent glacial cycle. Current work has established a northern-Manitoba ice-flow history using the erosional and depositional record, which encompasses 5 to 7 phases. This new compilation is used in conjunction with ‘till-clast’ stratigraphy and ‘till-geochemistry’ stratigraphy, to identify a new provenance framework for tills in northeastern Manitoba.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 282, pp. 297-323.
Africa, East Africa
carbonatites
Abstract: Rare earth element (REE) enrichments in carbonatites are often described as resulting from late magmatic-hydrothermal or supergene processes. However, magmatic pre-enrichment linked to the igneous processes at the origin of carbonatites are likely to contribute to the REE fertilisation. Experimental constraints reveals that immiscibility processes between carbonate and silicate melts can lead to both REE enrichments and depletions in carbonatites making the magmatic processes controlling REE enrichments unclear.
We link REE contents of carbonatites to the magmatic stage at which carbonatites are separated from silicate magma in their course of differentiation. We present results of experiments made at pressure and temperature conditions of alkaline magmas and associated carbonatites differentiation (0.2-1.5 GPa; 725-975?°C; FMQ to FMQ?+?2.5), simultaneously addressing crystal fractionation of alkaline magmas and immiscibility between carbonate (calcio-carbonate type) and silicate melts (nephelinite to phonolite type). The experimental data shows that the degree of differentiation, controlling the chemical composition of alkaline melts, is a key factor ruling the REE concentration of the coexisting immiscible carbonate melts. In order to predict carbonate melt REE enrichments during alkaline magma differentiation, we performed a parameterisation of experimental data on immiscible silicate and carbonate melts, based exclusively on the silica content, the alumina saturation index and the alkali/alkaline-earth elements ratio of silicate melts. This parameterisation is applied to more than 1600 geochemical data of silicate magmas from various alkaline provinces (East African Rift, Canary and Cape Verde Islands) and show that REE concentrations of their potential coeval carbonatite melts can reach concentration ranges similar to those of highly REE enriched carbonatites (?REE?>?30 000?ppm) by immiscibility with phonolitic/phono-trachytic melt compositions, while more primitive alkaline magmas can only be immiscible with carbonatites that are not significantly enriched in REE.
Experimental constraints on the relative stability of phlogopite and amphibole in subducted lithosphere
Geological Association of Canada (GAC)/Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) Vancouver 90 Program with Abstracts, Held May 16-18, Vol. 15, p. A132. Abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, 8, pp. 3717-3726.
Europe, Greenland
Magmatism
Abstract: Understanding the evolution of extinct ocean basins through time and space demands the integration of surface kinematics and mantle dynamics. We explore the existence, origin, and implications of a proposed oceanic slab burial ground under Greenland through a comparison of seismic tomography, slab sinking rates, regional plate reconstructions, and satellite-derived gravity gradients. Our preferred interpretation stipulates that anomalous, fast seismic velocities at 1000-1600?km depth imaged in independent global tomographic models, coupled with gravity gradient perturbations, represent paleo-Arctic oceanic slabs that subducted in the Mesozoic. We suggest a novel connection between slab-related arc mantle and geochemical signatures in some of the tholeiitic and mildly alkaline magmas of the Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province in the Sverdrup Basin. However, continental crustal contributions are noted in these evolved basaltic rocks. The integration of independent, yet complementary, data sets provides insight into present-day mantle structure, magmatic events, and relict oceans.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, 8, pp. 3717-3726.
Europe, Greenland
Magmatism
Abstract: Understanding the evolution of extinct ocean basins through time and space demands the integration of surface kinematics and mantle dynamics. We explore the existence, origin, and implications of a proposed oceanic slab burial ground under Greenland through a comparison of seismic tomography, slab sinking rates, regional plate reconstructions, and satellite-derived gravity gradients. Our preferred interpretation stipulates that anomalous, fast seismic velocities at 1000 -1600?km depth imaged in independent global tomographic models, coupled with gravity gradient perturbations, represent paleo-Arctic oceanic slabs that subducted in the Mesozoic. We suggest a novel connection between slab-related arc mantle and geochemical signatures in some of the tholeiitic and mildly alkaline magmas of the Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province in the Sverdrup Basin. However, continental crustal contributions are noted in these evolved basaltic rocks. The integration of independent, yet complementary, data sets provides insight into present-day mantle structure, magmatic events, and relict oceans.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 7, 10.1002/ 2016GL068424
Europe, Greenland
Magmatism
Abstract: Understanding the evolution of extinct ocean basins through time and space demands the integration of surface kinematics and mantle dynamics. We explore the existence, origin, and implications of a proposed oceanic slab burial ground under Greenland through a comparison of seismic tomography, slab sinking rates, regional plate reconstructions, and satellite-derived gravity gradients. Our preferred interpretation stipulates that anomalous, fast seismic velocities at 1000-1600?km depth imaged in independent global tomographic models, coupled with gravity gradient perturbations, represent paleo-Arctic oceanic slabs that subducted in the Mesozoic. We suggest a novel connection between slab-related arc mantle and geochemical signatures in some of the tholeiitic and mildly alkaline magmas of the Cretaceous High Arctic Large Igneous Province in the Sverdrup Basin. However, continental crustal contributions are noted in these evolved basaltic rocks. The integration of independent, yet complementary, data sets provides insight into present-day mantle structure, magmatic events, and relict oceans.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, 15, pp. 7523-7532.
Mantle
bridgemanite
Abstract: Seismic images of the Earth's mantle show two anomalous continent?sized regions close to the core?mantle boundary. The inferred properties of these regions suggest that they have a different composition than the surrounding mantle. Two possible candidate materials have been proposed: accumulated oceanic crust from the Earth's surface or an iron?rich residue remaining from Earth's original magma ocean. Although both materials are denser than the surrounding mantle, it remains unclear whether piles of these chemical heterogeneities can survive at the core?mantle boundary beneath vigorous mantle convection. Numerical models show that the excess density required to preserve these structures is typically larger than indicated by seismological and gravitational observations. In this study, we show that the excess density used in numerical models can be reduced toward the observed values if the pile material is also stiffer than the surrounding mantle. Furthermore, we show that piles must be denser and/or stiffer to avoid destruction during episodes of strong deformation. Because pile formation probably includes vigorous deformation, we expect long?term survival of the piles after their formation is completed.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 543, 116358 14p. Pdf
Mantle
mantle plumes
Abstract: Two large areas of anomalously low seismic velocities are visible in all tomographic models of the lowermost mantle. Depending on the density structure of these Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs), the core-mantle boundary (CMB) will deform upwards or downwards due to isostatic and dynamic topography, the latter being sensitive to the viscosity structure of the lowermost mantle. Heterogeneities in the viscosity structure, although difficult to constrain, might be especially important if the LLSVPs are thermochemical piles with elevated intrinsic viscosity as suggested by mineral physics. Based on numerical models, we identify a short-wavelength (about 80-120 km wide, up to a few km deep) topographic depression that forms around the pile edges if the pile is more viscous than the surrounding mantle. The depression forms when a wedge of thermal boundary layer material becomes compressed against the viscous pile, and is enhanced by relative uplift of the CMB beneath the pile by plumes rising above it. The depth and asymmetry of the depression constrain the magnitude of the viscosity contrast between pile and the surrounding mantle. Furthermore, (periodic) plume initiation and pile collapse at the pile margin systematically modify the characteristic depression, with a maximum in asymmetry and depth at the time of plume initiation. Core-reflected waves or scattered energy may be used to detect this topographic signature of stiff thermochemical piles at the base of the mantle.
Abstract: The two most abundant minerals in the Earth’s lower mantle are bridgmanite and ferropericlase. The bulk modulus of ferropericlase (Fp) softens as iron d-electrons transition from a high-spin to low-spin state, affecting the seismic compressional velocity but not the shear velocity. Here, we identify a seismological expression of the iron spin crossover in fast regions associated with cold Fp-rich subducted oceanic lithosphere: the relative abundance of fast velocities in P- and S-wave tomography models diverges in the?~1,400-2,000 km depth range. This is consistent with a reduced temperature sensitivity of P-waves throughout the iron spin crossover. A similar signal is also found in seismically slow regions below?~1,800 km, consistent with broadening and deepening of the crossover at higher temperatures. The corresponding inflection in P-wave velocity is not yet observed in 1-D seismic profiles, suggesting that the lower mantle is composed of non-uniformly distributed thermochemical heterogeneities which dampen the global signature of the Fp spin crossover.
Abstract: The two most abundant minerals in the Earth’s lower mantle are bridgmanite and ferropericlase. The bulk modulus of ferropericlase (Fp) softens as iron d-electrons transition from a high-spin to low-spin state, affecting the seismic compressional velocity but not the shear velocity. Here, we identify a seismological expression of the iron spin crossover in fast regions associated with cold Fp-rich subducted oceanic lithosphere: the relative abundance of fast velocities in P- and S-wave tomography models diverges in the?~1,400-2,000 km depth range. This is consistent with a reduced temperature sensitivity of P-waves throughout the iron spin crossover. A similar signal is also found in seismically slow regions below?~1,800 km, consistent with broadening and deepening of the crossover at higher temperatures. The corresponding inflection in P-wave velocity is not yet observed in 1-D seismic profiles, suggesting that the lower mantle is composed of non-uniformly distributed thermochemical heterogeneities which dampen the global signature of the Fp spin crossover.
Discussion of Grampian metamorphic conditions deduced from mafic granulites and sillimanite K feldspar gneisses in the Dalradian of Glen Muick, Scotland, Discussion
Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol. 141, No. 3, pp. 603-605
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 306, pp. 143-170. pdf
Europe, Italy
subduction
Abstract: The volatile transfer in subduction zones and the role of sulfate as a vector for the mobilization of oxidized components from down-going slabs remain hotly debated issues. Orogenic spinel and garnet peridotite lenses from the Ulten Zone (Eastern Alps, Italy), exhumed as part of felsic metamorphic terranes in continental collision zones, bear witness to mass transfer processes in these pivotal environments. In this study, we carried out a multi-method investigation of mantle sulfides coexisting with four generations of carbonates, indicating coupled sulfur and carbon mobility throughout the peridotites’ metamorphic evolution as part of the Variscan subduction architecture. Detailed petrography, bulk rock measurements, in situ chemical and geochemical analyses of sulfides as well as Sr isotope analyses of associated clinopyroxene and amphibole are combined with the aim to constrain the origin, nature and effect of multiple C-O-H-S-bearing fluids and melts the peridotites interacted with. The first, pre-peak, metasomatic pulse (Stage 1) is represented by an H2S-CO2-bearing melt from the subduction-modified hot mantle wedge, which formed a pyroxenite layer hosting matrix pentlandite with ?34S of +2.77‰. Matrix carbonates occasionally occur in the coarse-grained peridotite under eclogite-facies conditions (Stage 2), with heavier ?34S (up to +3.43‰), radiogenic Sr (87Sr/86Srclinopyroxene > 0.7052) and elevated Pb abundances. These are ascribed to interaction with isotopically heavy melts carrying recycled crustal component, permissive of, but not requiring, involvement of oxidized S species. Conversely, isotopically lighter matrix pentlandite (?34S = ?1.62 to +0.67‰), and radiogenic Sr in amphibole (87Sr/86Sr = 0.7056) and associated dolomite (published data) from fine-grained garnet-amphibole peridotites may point to involvement of H2S-CO2-bearing crustal fluids, which variably equilibrated with the mantle before interacting with the peridotites. The post-peak Stage 3 marks the entrapment of peridotites into a tectonic mélange. Here, kelyphitization of garnet is catalyzed by further ingress of a S-bearing fluid (?34S = ?0.38‰), while carbonate veining with occasional sulfides bear witness to channelized fluid flow. Sulfide and amphibole grains in retrogressed spinel peridotites reveal the highest contents of fluid-mobile elements (As, Sb) and 87Sr/86Sramphibole up to 0.7074, suggesting late interactions with isotopically heavy crustal fluids at high fluid-rock ratios. Textural observations indicate that, during Stage 4, serpentinization of peridotites at low ƒS2 played an active role not only in CO2 release by conversion of dolomite to calcite + brucite intergrowths, but also in local removal of 32S during the final exhumation stage. Late channelized sulfur remobilization is evidenced by the serpentine + magnetite (±millerite ± calcite) vein carrying > 300 ppm S. Overall, the relatively narrow range of sulfur isotope composition (?34S = ?1.62 to +3.76‰) is indicative of limited interaction with isotopically heavy crustal liquids, and points to a subordinate role of subduction-derived sulfate throughout the extended fluid(melt)/rock evolution of the Ulten Zone peridotites, first in the mantle wedge and then as part of a tectonic mélange.
Physicsa Status Solidi , doi:10.1002/pssa.201900888
Global
HPHT
Abstract: Various samples of multisectoral high?pressure high?temperature (HPHT) single?crystal diamond plate (IIa type) (4?×?4?×?0.53?mm) are tested for particle detection applications. The samples are investigated by X?ray diffractometry, photoluminescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier?transform infrared, and visible/ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectroscopy. High crystalline perfection and low impurity concentration (in the {100} growth sector) are observed. To investigate detector parameters, circular 1.0 and 1.5?mm diameter Pt Schottky barrier contacts are created on {111} and {100} growth sectors. On the backside, a Pt contact (3.5?×?3.5?mm) is produced. The {100} growth sector is proved to be a high?quality detector: the full width at half maximum energy resolution is 0.94% for the 5.489?MeV 226Ra ??line at an operational bias of +500?V. Therefore, it is concluded that the HPHT material {100} growth sector is used for radiation detector production, whose quality is not worse than the chemical vapor deposition method or specially selected natural diamond detectors.
Abstract: T-shaped orogenic triple junctions between mobile belts usually form in two unrelated stages by subsequent and oblique continental collisions separated by a significant time span. Besides these "oblique triple junctions", another type, named "transverse triple junctions", may exist. Such junctions are created by a more complex mechanism of partly contemporaneous convergence of three cratons in a restricted time frame, involving strike slip. The Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Kaoko-Damara junction between the Rio de la Plata, Congo, and Kalahari cratons in Namibia is an example of such a transverse orogenic triple junction, formed by at least four subsequent but partly related deformation events. Initial north-south convergence between the Congo and Kalahari cratons was followed by east-west collision of the Rio de la Plata and Congo cratons. Subsequently, the Kalahari and Congo cratons collided, contemporaneous with sinistral strike-slip motion between the Congo and Rio de la Plata cratons and with the intrusion of large granite-syenite plutons, probably associated with slab detachment aided by the strike-slip movement. Other examples of transverse triple junctions may exist in Gondwana. Transcurrent shear zones, some possibly nucleated on transform faults from the pre-collision setting, are essential for the formation of transverse triple junctions.
Abstract: The Damara Orogen is composed of the Damara, Kaoko and Gariep belts developed during the Neoproterozoic Pan-African Orogeny. The Damara Belt contains Neoproterozoic siliciclastic and carbonate successions of the Damara Supergroup that record rift to proto-ocean depositional phases during the Rodinia supercontinent break up. There are two conflicting interpretations of the geotectonic framework of the Damara Supergroup basin: i) as one major basin, composed of the Outjo and Khomas basins, related to rifting in the Angola-Congo-Kalahari paleocontinent or, ii) as two independent passive margin basins, one related to the Angola-Congo and the other to the Kalahari proto-cratons. Detrital zircon provenance studies linked to field geology were used to solve this controversy. U-Pb zircon age data were analyzed in order to characterize depositional ages and provenance of the sediments and evolution of the succession in the northern part of the Outjo Basin. The basal Nabis Formation (Nosib Group) and the base of the Chuos Formation were deposited between ca. 870 Ma and 760 Ma. The upper Chuos, Berg Aukas, Gauss, Auros and lower Brak River formations formed between ca. 760 Ma and 635 Ma. It also includes the time span recorded by the unconformity between the Auros and lower Brak River formations. The Ghaub, upper Brak River, Karibib and Kuiseb formations were deposited between 663 Ma and 590 Ma. The geochronological data indicate that the main source areas are related to: i) the Angola-Congo Craton, ii) rift-related intrabasinal igneous rocks of the Naauwpoort Formation, iii) an intrabasinal basement structural high (Abbabis High), and iv) the Coastal Terrane of the Kaoko Belt. The Kalahari Craton units apparently did not constitute a main source area for the studied succession. This is possibly due to the position of the succession in the northern part of the Outjo Basin, at the southern margin of the Congo Craton. Comparison of the obtained geochronological data with those from the literature shows that the Abbabis High forms part of the Kalahari proto-craton and that Angola-Congo and Kalahari cratons were part of the same paleocontinent in Rodinia times.
Abstract: The São Francisco Craton, in Brazil, together with adjacent orogenic systems formed during Gondwana assemblage, are well-suited for the study of crustal growth processes. The region's geological history is marked by a series of complete tectono-metamorphic cycles, from the Archean to late Neoproterozoic, comprising arc-related magmatism followed by continental collisions and ultimately post-tectonic igneous events and rifting. In this contribution, a comprehensive isotopic database was compiled from the literature, composed mainly of high-quality U-Pb magmatic and metamorphic ages (ca. 1000), together with Lu-Hf (ca. 1300) and Sm-Nd (ca. 300) data. Using this database, combined with a tectonic/geochemical synthesized review of the region, it is possible to test which of the available contending models can better explain the apparent periodicity in the formation of the continental crustal. Some interpreted the peaks and troughs in the crustal age record as periods of increased magmatic production, controlled by periodic mantellic events. Another hypothesis is that subduction-related rocks are shielded from tectonic erosion after continental amalgamation, the peaks thus reflecting enhanced preservation potential. The latter hypothesis is favored, as the variability regarding the timing of arc-related peak magmatic production (U-Pb age peaks) from different tectonic provinces around the globe and in the considered regions, coupled to the fact that peak arc-production is always closely followed in time by major continental amalgamations (supercontinent formation), precludes a unified global causation effect, such as mantellic overturns or slab avalanches, and supports the preservation bias hypothesis. Furthermore, the worldwide (including the São Francisco Craton) occurrence of plume-related magmatism is concentrated during the periods of supercontinent break-up (i.e. after major collisions), which better relates to a top-down control on mantle convection and opposes most of the models that advocate for the primary periodicity of magmatic production, which predict enhanced plume activity slightly prior or concomitant to supercontinent formation events.
Russian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 15, ES3001 8p.
Mantle
Plume
Abstract: The regularities of the global intraplate volcanism of the Earth are explained by the mantle plumes originating at the heads and margins of two piles of dense material of the hot and relatively heavy D?? layer at the base of the mantle. Due to thermal blanket effect under a supercontinent the overheated region with ascending flows arises in the mantle. These flows distort the D?? layer and produce the thermochemical piles in the lowermost mantle under the supercontinent. It is supposed that the pile under Africa originated at the time of existence of Pangea, while the pile under the Pacific Ocean originated at the time of existence of Rodinia. As Africa succeeds to Pangea, the pile under Africa exists until now. But it stays unclear why the pile under the Pacific Ocean exists up to now despite supercontinent Rodinia has been broken-up a long time ago. The numerical models of thermochemical convection in the whole mantle with spherical geometry which include the heavy D?? layer allow to clear up effects of supercontinents and lithospheric plates on deformations of the D?? layer by mantle flows and formation of the thermochemical piles.
Russian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 15, ES3001 8p.
Mantle
Plume
Abstract: The regularities of the global intraplate volcanism of the Earth are explained by the mantle plumes originating at the heads and margins of two piles of dense material of the hot and relatively heavy D?? layer at the base of the mantle. Due to thermal blanket effect under a supercontinent the overheated region with ascending flows arises in the mantle. These flows distort the D?? layer and produce the thermochemical piles in the lowermost mantle under the supercontinent. It is supposed that the pile under Africa originated at the time of existence of Pangea, while the pile under the Pacific Ocean originated at the time of existence of Rodinia. As Africa succeeds to Pangea, the pile under Africa exists until now. But it stays unclear why the pile under the Pacific Ocean exists up to now despite supercontinent Rodinia has been broken-up a long time ago. The numerical models of thermochemical convection in the whole mantle with spherical geometry which include the heavy D?? layer allow to clear up effects of supercontinents and lithospheric plates on deformations of the D?? layer by mantle flows and formation of the thermochemical piles.
Trumbull, R.B., Reid, D.L., De Beer, C., Van Acken, D., Romer, R.L.
Magmatism and continental breakup at the west margin of southern Africa: a geochemical comparison of dolerite dikes from northwestern Namibia and the Western Cape.
South African Journal of Geology, Vol. 110, 2-3, Sept. pp. 477-502.
2018 Yellowknife Geoscience Forum , p. 49-50. abstract
Canada
deposit - De Beers
Abstract: Over the past two years, De Beers Canada has undergone a transformation. This has included: opening the world's largest newdiamond mine (Gahcho Kué Mine); relocating its operational supportcentre to Calgary from Toronto, andrefocusing the Calgary organizationto ensure it provides support servicesto our remote operations rather thanacting as a “head office”; improving partnerships with localcommunities; preparing to close the highlysuccessful Victor Mine in NorthernOntario; and, looking for opportunities to grow thecompany in Canada. The De Beers Canada of 2018 is a dramatically different company, one that has become a solid contributor to the De Beers Group, is a national leader in safety and has its focus on developing the first diamond mine on Baffin Island. Our presentation will provide an update on the activities of De Beers Canada since 2016 and a look ahead at where our company is going in the future.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 198, pp. 70-91.
Mantle
Subduction
Abstract: The equilibrium between aqueous fluids and allanite-bearing eclogite has been investigated to constrain the effect of temperature (T) and fluid composition on the stability of allanite and on the mobility of major and trace elements during the dehydration of eclogites. The experiments were performed at 590-800 °C and 2.4-2.6 GPa, and fluids were sampled as synthetic fluid inclusions in quartz using an improved entrapment technique. The concentrations and bulk partition coefficients were determined for a range of major (Mg, Ca, Na, Fe, Al, Ti) and 16 trace elements as a function of T and fluid composition. The results reveal a significant effect of T on element partitioning between the fluids and the solid mineral assemblage. The partition coefficients increase by more than an order of magnitude for most of the major and trace elements, and several orders of magnitude for light rare-earth elements (LREE) from 590 to 800 °C. The addition of various ligand species into the fluid at 700 °C results in distinctive trends on element partitioning. The concentrations and corresponding partition coefficients of most of the elements are enhanced upon addition of NaF to the fluid. In contrast, NaCl displays a nearly opposite effect by suppressing the solubilities of major elements and consequently affecting the mobility of trace elements that form stable complexes with alkali-(alumino)-silicate clusters in the fluid, e.g. high field strength elements (HFSE). The results further suggest that fluids in equilibrium with orthopyroxene and/or diopsidic clinopyroxene are peralkaline (ASI ?0.1-0.7), whereas fluids in equilibrium with omphacitic pyroxene are more peraluminous (ASI ?1.15). Therefore, natural aqueous fluids in equilibrium with eclogite at about 90 km depth will be slightly peraluminous in composition. Another important finding of this study is the relatively high capacity of aqueous fluids to mobilize LREE, which may be even higher than that of hydrous melts.
Africa, South Africa, China, United States, Canada, South America
diamond inclusions
Abstract: We present the first evidence for inclusions of ice-VII in diamonds from southern Africa, China, North- and South-America [1]. Combining synchrotron X-ray diffraction, - X-ray fluorescence and IR spectroscopy, we show the presence of ice-VII as inclusions in diamonds that have formed at depth > 410 km to about 800 km in the Earth's mantle. What is now crystalline ice-VII, a high pressure polymorph of water-ice, was component of an aqueous fluid entrapped in the diamonds that were growing in the deep mantle. Because of the confinement by the host diamonds, the inclusions retain high pressures. The same holds for inclusions of magnesian calcite, halite, and ilmenite found in the same diamond specimens. These inclusions reflect the presence of aqueous and carbonaceous fluids in the mantle transition zone and the shallow lower mantle. Using their current residual pressures and the equations of state, we can reconstruct their recovery paths [2,3]. Further, we can use the intersection of modelled recovery paths to better constrain the encapsulation pressure and temperature of these inclusions in diamonds.
Abstract: This article is dedicated to the occurrence, relevance, and structure of minerals whose formation involves high pressure. This includes minerals that occur in the interior of the Earth as well as minerals that are found in shock-metamorphized meteorites and terrestrial impactites. I discuss the chemical and physical reasons that render the definition of high-pressure minerals meaningful, in distinction from minerals that occur under surface-near conditions on Earth or at high temperatures in space or on Earth. Pressure-induced structural transformations in rock-forming minerals define the basic divisions of Earth's mantle in the upper mantle, transition zone, and lower mantle. Moreover, the solubility of minor chemical components in these minerals and the occurrence of accessory phases are influential in mixing and segregating chemical elements in Earth as an evolving planet. Brief descriptions of the currently known high-pressure minerals are presented. Over the past 10 years more high-pressure minerals have been discovered than during the previous 50 years, based on the list of minerals accepted by the IMA. The previously unexpected richness in distinct high-pressure mineral species allows for assessment of differentiation processes in the deep Earth.
Abstract: Mantle plumes sample the deep mantle. A limited number of geochemical endmember components can describe the isotopic and compositional variations in the ocean island basalts (OIBs), which are produced by plume volcanism. The endmembers are correlated to compositions in the OIB source regions or represent incorporation of material upon ascent. However, their actual nature and origins are still highly debated. The depths of plume sources have been proposed to be anywhere between the core-mantle boundary and the upper mantle, and need not be the same for all plume-related volcanic activities. Using a combination of synchrotron micro-X ray fluorescence and -diffraction mapping, and in-situ Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, we show that the elemental features of HIMU-rich OIBs, such as Bermuda, St Helena, and Cook-Austral, exactly match the geochemical signature of a multiphase inclusion in a diamond. The geochemical signature in our studied diamond inclusion is markedly different from that of inclusions in lithospheric diamonds. The phases identified in the inclusion are majorite-rich garnet, ilmenite, the sodic 10Å-phase (TAP), and liebermannite. Furthermore, we show that this inclusion was entrapped at 14.5 ± 0.5 GPa (420-440 km) and 1450 ± 50 K. At the conditions of entrapment, the diamond inclusion phase assembly was garnet + ilmenite + liebermannite + clinopyroxene + stishovite + fluid. Sodic TAP is a retrograde product of reaction between clinopyroxene, stishovite, and fluid upon ascent. Its presence shows that the HIMU source is water-saturated. Entrapment in diamond indicates that the fluid also contained carbonate. The conditions of 14.5 ± 0.5 GPa and 1450 ± 50 K plot right on top of the alkaline carbonatite solidus, and match the formation of carbonatitic melt from subducted slabs plus diamond formation from reaction of carbonate with iron. In summary, our data show that the transition zone source accounts for the global HIMU endmember.
Abstract: Calcium silicate perovskite, CaSiO3, is arguably the most geochemically important phase in the lower mantle, because it concentrates elements that are incompatible in the upper mantle, including the heat-generating elements thorium and uranium, which have half-lives longer than the geologic history of Earth. We report CaSiO3-perovskite as an approved mineral (IMA2020-012a) with the name davemaoite. The natural specimen of davemaoite proves the existence of compositional heterogeneity within the lower mantle. Our observations indicate that davemaoite also hosts potassium in addition to uranium and thorium in its structure. Hence, the regional and global abundances of davemaoite influence the heat budget of the deep mantle, where the mineral is thermodynamically stable.
Abstract: Current models for unconformity-associated uranium deposits predict fluid flow and ore deposition along reactivated faults in >1.76 Ga basement beneath Mesoproterozoic siliciclastic basins. In frontier regions such as the Thelon Basin in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, little is known about the sub-basin distribution of units and structures, making exploration targeting very tenuous. We constructed a geological map of the basement beneath the unconformity by extrapolating exposed features into the subsurface. The new map is constrained by detailed geological, geophysical, and rock property observations of outcrops adjacent to the basin and by aeromagnetic and gravity data over the geophysically transparent sedimentary basin. From rock property measurements, it is clear that the diverse magnetic and density characteristics of major rock packages provide quantitative three-dimensional constraints. Gravity profiles forward modelled in four cross sections define broad synforms of the Amer Belt and Archean volcanic rocks that are consistent with the structural style outside the basin. Major lithotectonic entities beneath the unconformity include: supracrustal rocks of the Archean Woodburn Lake group and Marjorie Hills meta sedimentary gneiss and associated mixed granitoid and amphibolitic gneiss; the Amer Mylonite Zone and inferred mafic intrusions oriented parallel and sub-parallel; other igneous intrusions of 2.6 Ga, 1.83 Ga, and 1.75 Ga vintage; and the <2.3 Ga to >1.84 Ga Amer Group. Four main brittle regional fault arrays (040°-060°, 075°-90°, 120°, and 150°) controlled development and preservation of the basin. The reactivated intersections of such faults along fertile basement units such as the Rumble assemblage, Marjorie Hills assemblage, Nueltin igneous rocks, and Pitz formation are the best targets for uranium exploration.
Abstract: Current models for unconformity-associated uranium deposits predict fluid flow and ore deposition along reactivated faults in >1.76 Ga basement beneath Mesoproterozoic siliciclastic basins. In frontier regions such as the Thelon Basin in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, little is known about the sub-basin distribution of units and structures, making exploration targeting very tenuous. We constructed a geological map of the basement beneath the unconformity by extrapolating exposed features into the subsurface. The new map is constrained by detailed geological, geophysical, and rock property observations of outcrops adjacent to the basin and by aeromagnetic and gravity data over the geophysically transparent sedimentary basin. From rock property measurements, it is clear that the diverse magnetic and density characteristics of major rock packages provide quantitative three-dimensional constraints. Gravity profiles forward modelled in four cross sections define broad synforms of the Amer Belt and Archean volcanic rocks that are consistent with the structural style outside the basin. Major lithotectonic entities beneath the unconformity include: supracrustal rocks of the Archean Woodburn Lake group and Marjorie Hills meta sedimentary gneiss and associated mixed granitoid and amphibolitic gneiss; the Amer Mylonite Zone and inferred mafic intrusions oriented parallel and sub-parallel; other igneous intrusions of 2.6 Ga, 1.83 Ga, and 1.75 Ga vintage; and the <2.3 Ga to >1.84 Ga Amer Group. Four main brittle regional fault arrays (040°-060°, 075°-90°, 120°, and 150°) controlled development and preservation of the basin. The reactivated intersections of such faults along fertile basement units such as the Rumble assemblage, Marjorie Hills assemblage, Nueltin igneous rocks, and Pitz formation are the best targets for uranium exploration.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 48, 21p. pdf
Mantle
mineralogy
Abstract: Recent progress in theoretical mineral physics based on the ab initio quantum mechanical computation method has been dramatic in conjunction with the rapid advancement of computer technologies. It is now possible to predict stability, elasticity, and transport properties of complex minerals quantitatively with uncertainties that are comparable to or even smaller than those attached in experimental data. These calculations under in situ high-pressure (P) and high-temperature conditions are of particular interest because they allow us to construct a priori mineralogical models of the deep Earth. In this article, we briefly review recent progress in studying high-P phase relations, elasticity, thermal conductivity, and rheological properties of lower mantle minerals including silicates, oxides, and some hydrous phases. Our analyses indicate that the pyrolitic composition can describe Earth's properties quite well in terms of density and P- and S-wave velocity. Computations also suggest some new hydrous compounds that could persist up to the deepest mantle and that the postperovskite phase boundary is the boundary of not only the mineralogy but also the thermal conductivity. 1) The ab initio method is a strong tool to investigate physical properties of minerals under high pressure and high temperature.
2) Calculated thermoelasticity indicates that the pyrolytic composition is representative to the chemistry of Earth's lower mantle. 3) Simulations predict new dense hydrous phases stable in the whole lower mantle pressure and temperature condition. 4) Calculated lattice thermal conductivity suggests a heat flow across the core mantle boundary no greater than 10 TW.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 48, 1, pp. 99-119.
Mantle
mineralogy
Abstract: Recent progress in theoretical mineral physics based on the ab initio quantummechanical computation method has been dramatic in conjunction with the rapid advancement of computer technologies. It is now possible to predict stability, elasticity, and transport properties of complex minerals quantitatively with uncertainties that are comparable to or even smaller than those attached in experimental data. These calculations under in situ high-pressure (P) and high-temperature conditions are of particular interest because they allow us to construct a priori mineralogical models of the deep Earth. In this article, we briefly review recent progress in studying high-P phase relations, elasticity, thermal conductivity, and rheological properties of lower mantle minerals including silicates, oxides, and some hydrous phases. Our analyses indicate that the pyrolitic composition can describe Earth’s properties quite well in terms of density and P- and S-wave velocity. Computations also suggest some new hydrous compounds that could persist up to the deepestmantle and that the postperovskite phase boundary is the boundary of not only the mineralogy but also the thermal conductivity.
Abstract: Knowledge about the viscosity and other transport properties of CaCO3 melts at high pressures and temperatures relevant to the Earth’s mantle is critically important for understanding the deep carbon cycle [1,2]. We have conducted First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Calculations of CaCO3 melts up to 52.5 GPa and 3000 K to provide atomistic insights into the mechanisms of diffusion and viscosity. Our calculated viscosities of CaCO3 melts at low pressures are in good agreement with those from experiments. In particular, viscosity is almost constant at low pressures but increases linearly with pressure above 10 GPa. The ultralow viscosity of CaCO3 melts at low pressures [1] is readily attributed to the uncorrelated diffusion of Ca2+ and CO3 2- ions (Fig. 1). In contrast, the motions of the Ca2+ cations and CO3 2- anions at pressures >10 GPa become increasingly correlated (Fig. 1), leading to higher viscosities. Compared to water, the viscosity of CaCO3 melts is not anomalously low. Rather, the viscosity of water is anomalously high, because water molecules are strongly H-bonded and behave like polymers.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 19, 5, pp. 1464-1483.
Mantle
geophysics - seismic
Abstract: SubMachine is a collection of web-based tools for the interactive visualisation, analysis, and quantitative comparison of global-scale, volumetric (3-D) data sets of the subsurface, with supporting tools for interacting with other, complementary models and data sets as listed below. In short, SubMachine is a computational engine (Machine) to visualize models and datasets of the sub-surface (Sub).
Abstract: The Epembe Alkaline Carbonatite Complex (EACC) in northwestern Namibia was emplaced along a fault zone into medium- to high-grade Palaeoproterozoic basement rocks of the Epupa Metamorphic Complex (EMC), and extends over a distance of 9 km in a south-easterly direction with a width of 1 km. Nepheline syenite with minor syenite constitute the main lithologies, cross-cut by a calcite?carbonatite dyke. Apatite grains from one syenite, six nepheline syenite and five carbonatite samples were studied using cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging, trace element and Sr-Nd isotope compositions as well as U-Pb geochronology. Syenite-hosted apatite is homogenous in CL and contains the highest concentration of REE (9189-44,100 ppm) with light rare-earth element (LREE) enrichment (LaN/YbN = 4-91) relative to heavy (H) REE consistent with a magmatic origin. Negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.4-0.9) in syenite apatite are attributed to the formation of apatite in an evolved mantle-derived melt associated with plagioclase fractionation. Nepheline syenite and carbonatite-hosted apatite is also commonly homogeneous in CL, while core-rim zoning and patchy textures are observed occasionally. Both texturally homogeneous and core-rim zoned apatite are enriched in LREE (LaN/YbN = 24-9) relative to HREE, consistent with a magmatic origin. Core-rim zoned apatite is characterized by rim-ward increase in REE concentrations, which can be attributed to mineral fractionation. Patchy apatite is depleted in Na, Y and REE, particularly the LREE (LaN/YbN = 4-19) relative to other nepheline syenite apatite, reflecting interaction with fluids (metasomatism). The strontium isotope composition of metasomatic apatite and magmatic apatite is indistinct suggesting a magmatic origin of the alteration fluids. No Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 1) in chondrite-normalized REE patterns are observed in any apatite hosted by nepheline syenite and carbonatite. An LA-ICPMS U-Pb age of 1216 ± 11 Ma (MSWD = 4.3, 2 SE) for apatite constrains emplacement of the syenite, while magmatic nepheline syenite apatite ages are 1193 ± 14 Ma, 1197 ± 17 Ma and 1194 ± 16 Ma (MSWDs <4.0, 2 SE). The Sr and Nd isotopic composition of apatite in syenite (87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7035-0.7048; ?Nd(t) = +2.5 to +3.2), nepheline syenites (87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7031-0.7037; ?Nd(t) = +1.5 to +4.4) and carbonatite (87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7031-0.7033; ?Nd(t) = 0 to +3.3) overlap, pointing to a common but heterogeneous source, located in the sub-lithospheric mantle.
Abstract: We studied the petrography, mineralogy, thermobarometry and whole rock chemistry of 120 peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths collected from the 156 - 138 Ma Chidliak kimberlites CH-1, -6, -7 and -44. The xenoliths have higher CaO contents relative to Al2O3, and high Al for a given Mg/Si ratio compared to other cratonic peridotites. We assign the complex Ca-Al systematics of the Chidliak peridotites to repeated episodes of Ca-rich, Si-poor metasomatism, which introduced clinopyroxene and garnet, and later replaced orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene with secondary clinopyroxene and monticellite. This carbonatitic metasomatism, manifest in formation of wehrlites, acted upon the entire sampled mantle depth on a regional scale, including the proximal blocks of the North Atlantic Craton and the Chidliak mantle, where clinopyroxene and garnet modes are uniformly and heterogeneously high in the ~ 110 km deep mantle segment. Another, more recent type of mantle metasomatism, is expressed as elevated Ti in clinopyroxene and elevated Na and Ti in garnet, typical of sheared peridotites from CH-1, -7, and -44, but absent from CH-6 xenolith suite. The Ti-Na imprint is most intense in xenoliths derived from depths equivalent to 5.5 to 6.5 GPa, where it is associated with higher strain, the presence of sheared peridotites and higher temperatures varying isobarically by up to 200 °C. The horizontal scale of the thermal-metasomatic imprint is more ambiguous and could be as regional as 10's of kilometers or as local as < 1 km. The latter is constrained by the varied abundance of Ti-enriched garnets within a single kimberlite. The time-scale of this metasomatism relates to a conductive length-scale and could be as short as 100's ka, shortly predating the kimberlite formation. The Ti-Na, megacryst-like metasomatism may have resulted from a highly localized influx of hot hydrous proto-kimberlite fluids that weakened the mantle and triggered the formation of sheared peridotites.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 48, 21p. pdf
Mantle
mineralogy
Abstract: Recent progress in theoretical mineral physics based on the ab initio quantum mechanical computation method has been dramatic in conjunction with the rapid advancement of computer technologies. It is now possible to predict stability, elasticity, and transport properties of complex minerals quantitatively with uncertainties that are comparable to or even smaller than those attached in experimental data. These calculations under in situ high-pressure (P) and high-temperature conditions are of particular interest because they allow us to construct a priori mineralogical models of the deep Earth. In this article, we briefly review recent progress in studying high-P phase relations, elasticity, thermal conductivity, and rheological properties of lower mantle minerals including silicates, oxides, and some hydrous phases. Our analyses indicate that the pyrolitic composition can describe Earth's properties quite well in terms of density and P- and S-wave velocity. Computations also suggest some new hydrous compounds that could persist up to the deepest mantle and that the postperovskite phase boundary is the boundary of not only the mineralogy but also the thermal conductivity. 1) The ab initio method is a strong tool to investigate physical properties of minerals under high pressure and high temperature.
2) Calculated thermoelasticity indicates that the pyrolytic composition is representative to the chemistry of Earth's lower mantle. 3) Simulations predict new dense hydrous phases stable in the whole lower mantle pressure and temperature condition. 4) Calculated lattice thermal conductivity suggests a heat flow across the core mantle boundary no greater than 10 TW.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 48, 1, pp. 99-119.
Mantle
mineralogy
Abstract: Recent progress in theoretical mineral physics based on the ab initio quantummechanical computation method has been dramatic in conjunction with the rapid advancement of computer technologies. It is now possible to predict stability, elasticity, and transport properties of complex minerals quantitatively with uncertainties that are comparable to or even smaller than those attached in experimental data. These calculations under in situ high-pressure (P) and high-temperature conditions are of particular interest because they allow us to construct a priori mineralogical models of the deep Earth. In this article, we briefly review recent progress in studying high-P phase relations, elasticity, thermal conductivity, and rheological properties of lower mantle minerals including silicates, oxides, and some hydrous phases. Our analyses indicate that the pyrolitic composition can describe Earth’s properties quite well in terms of density and P- and S-wave velocity. Computations also suggest some new hydrous compounds that could persist up to the deepestmantle and that the postperovskite phase boundary is the boundary of not only the mineralogy but also the thermal conductivity.
Abstract: First-principles calculations are performed to investigate vacancy formation and migration in the B2 phase of MgO. Defect energetics suggest the importance of intrinsic non-interacting vacancy pairs, even though the extrinsic vacancy concentration might govern atomic diffusion in the B2 phase of MgO. The enthalpies of ionic vacancy migration are generally found to decrease across the B1-B2 phase transition around a pressure of 500?GPa. It is shown that this enthalpy change induces a substantial increase in the rate of vacancy diffusion in MgO of almost four orders of magnitude (?104) when the B1 phase transforms into the B2 phase with increasing pressure. If plastic deformation is controlled by vacancy diffusion, mantle viscosity is expected to decrease in relation to this enhanced diffusion rate in MgO across the B1-B2 transition in the interior of Earth-like large exoplanets. Our results of atomic relaxations near the defects suggest that diffusion controlled creep viscosity may generally decrease across high-pressure phase transitions with increasing coordination number. Plastic flow and resulting mantle convection in the interior of these super-Earths may be therefore less sluggish than previously thought.
Tsuji, L.J.S., McCarthy, D.D., Whitelaw, G.S., McEachren, J.
Getting back to basics: the Victor diamond mine environmental assessment scoping process and the issue of family based traditional lands versus reg. traplines
Impact assessment and Project Appraisal, March Vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 37-47.
Tsuji, L.J.S., McCarthy, D.D., Whielaw, G.S., McEachren, J.
Getting back to basics: the Victor diamond mine environmental assessment scoping process and the issue of family based traditional lands versus traplines.
Impact Assessment and Project Aapraisal, Vol. 29, 1, pp. 37-47.
Epidote rich talc kyanite phengite eclogites, Sulu terrane, eastern China: P T fo2 estimates and the significance of epidote talc assemblage in eclogite.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 43, pp. 105-138.
Mantle
Jadeites
Abstract: Jadeitite is a relatively rare, very tough rock composed predominantly of jadeite and typically found associated with tectonic blocks of high-pressure/low-temperature metabasaltic rocks (e.g., eclogite, blueschist) in exhumed serpentinite-matrix mélanges. Studies over the past ?20 years have interpreted jadeitite either as the direct hydrous fluid precipitate from subduction channel dewatering into the overlying mantle wedge or as the metasomatic replacement by such fluids of oceanic plagiogranite, graywacke, or metabasite along the channel margin. Thus, jadeitites directly sample and record fluid transport in the subduction factory and provide a window into this geochemical process that is critical to a major process in the Earth system. They record the remarkable transport of large ion lithophile elements, such as Li, Ba, Sr, and Pb, as well as elements generally considered more refractory, such as U, Th, Zr, and Hf. Jadeitite is also the precious form of jade, utilized since antiquity in the form of tools, adornments, and symbols of prestige.
Abstract: We want to know when plate tectonics began and will consider any important Earth feature that shows significant temporal evolution. Kimberlites, the primary source of diamonds, are rare igneous features. We analyze their distribution throughout Earth history; most are young (?95% are younger than 0.75 Ga), but rare examples are found as far back as the Archean (older than 2.5 Ga). Although there are differing explanations for this age asymmetry (lack of preservation, lack of exposure, fewer mantle plumes, or lack of old thick lithosphere in the Archean and Proterozoic), we suggest that kimberlite eruptions are a consequence of modern-style plate tectonics, in particular subduction of hydrated oceanic crust and sediments deep into the mantle. This recycling since the onset of modern-style plate tectonics ca. 1 Ga has massively increased mantle CO2 and H2O contents, leading to the rapid and explosive ascent of diamond-bearing kimberlite magmas. The age distribution of kimberlites, combined with other large-scale tectonic indicators that are prevalent only in the past ?1 Ga (blueschists, glaucophane-bearing eclogites; coesite- or diamond-bearing ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks; lawsonite-bearing metamorphic rocks; and jadeitites), indicates that plate tectonics, as observed today, has only operated for <25% of Earth history.
Abstract: Bridgmanite (Mg,Fe)SiO3, a high pressure silicate with a perovskite structure, is dominant material in the Lower Mantle and therefore is probably the most abundant mineral in the Earth. One single-phase and two composite inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 coexisting with jeffbenite ((Mg,Fe)3Al2Si3O12), and with jeffbenite and olivine ((Mg,Fe)2SiO4) have been analyzed to identify retrograde phases of former bridgmanite in diamonds from Juina (Brazil). XRD and Raman spectroscopy have revealed that (Mg,Fe)SiO3 inclusions are orthopyroxene at ambient conditions. XRD patterns of these inclusions indicate that they consist of polycrystals. This polycrystalline textures together with high lattice strain of host diamond around these inclusions observed from EBSD may be an evidence for the retrograde phase transition of former bridgmanite. Single-phase inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 in superdeep diamonds are suggested to represent a retrograde phase of bridgmanite and fully inherit its initial chemical composition, including a high Al and low Ni contents [1,2]. The composite inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 with jeffbenite and other silicate and oxide phases may be interpreted as exsolution products from originally homogeneous bridgmanite [3]. The bulk compositions of these inclusions are rich in Al, Ti, and Fe which are similar to bridgmanite produced in experiments on the MORB composition. However, the retrograde origin of composite inclusions due to decomposition of Al-rich bridgmanite may be doubtful because each of observed phases may represent single-phase inclusions, i.e. bridgmanite and high pressure garnet (majoritic garnet), with similar compositional features.
South America, Brazil, Africa, South Africa, Guinea, Canada, Northwest Territories
deposit - Sao Luis, Juina
Abstract: Bridgmanite (Mg,Fe)SiO3, a high pressure silicate with a perovskite structure, is dominant material in the lower mantle at the depths from 660 to 2700 km and therefore is probably the most abundant mineral in the Earth. Although synthetic analogues of this mineral have been well studied, no naturally occurring samples had ever been found in a rock on the planet’s surface except in some shocked meteorites. Due to its unstable nature under ambient conditions, this phase undergoes retrograde transformation to a pyroxene-type structure. The identification of the retrograde phase as ‘bridgmanite’ in so-called superdeep diamonds was based on the association with ferropericlase (Mg,Fe)O and other high-pressure (supposedly lower-mantle) minerals predicted from theoretical models and HP-HT experiments. In this study pyroxene inclusions in diamond grains from Juina (Brazil), one single-phase (Sample SL-14) and two composite inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 coexisting with (Mg,Fe)3Al2Si3O12 (Sample SL-13), and with (Mg,Fe)3Al2Si3O12 and (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 (Sample SL-80) have been analyzed to identify retrograde phases of former bridgmanite. XRD and Raman spectroscopy have revealed that these are orthopyroxene (Opx). (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 and (Mg,Fe)3Al2Si3O12 in these inclusions are identified as olivine and jeffbenite (TAPP). These inclusions are associated with inclusions of (Mg,Fe)O (SL-14), CaSiO3 (SL-80) and composite inclusion of CaSiO3+CaTiO3 (SL-13). XRD patterns of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 inclusions indicate that they consist of polycrystals. This polycrystalline textures together with high lattice strain of host diamond around these inclusions observed from EBSD may be an evidence for the retrograde phase transition of former bridgmanite. Single-phase inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 in superdeep diamonds are suggested to represent a retrograde phase of bridgmanite and fully inherit its initial chemical composition, including a high Al and low Ni contents [Harte, Hudson, 2013; Kaminsky, 2017]. The composite inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 with jeffbenite and other silicate and oxide phases may be interpreted as exolusion products from originally homogeneous bridgmanite [Walter et al., 2011]. The bulk compositions of these composite inclusions are rich in Al, Ti, and Fe which are similar to Al-rich bridgmanite produced in experiments on the MORB composition. However, the retrograde origin of composite inclusions due to decomposition of Al-rich bridgmanite may be doubtful because each of observed phases may represent single-phase inclusions, i.e. bridgmanite and high pressure garnet (majoritic garnet), with similar compositional features.
Africa, South Africa, Guinea, Australia,South America, Brazil, Canada, Northwest Territories
deposit - Koffiefontein, Kankan, Lac de Gras, Juina, Machado, Orroroo
Abstract: (Mg,Fe)SiO3 bridgmanite is the dominant phase in the lower mantle; however no naturally occurring samples had ever been found in terrestrial samples as it undergoes retrograde transformation to a pyroxene-type structure. To identify retrograde phases of former bridgmanite single-phase and composite inclusions of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 in a series of superdeep diamonds have been examined with electron microscopy, electron microprobe, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. Our study revealed that (Mg,Fe)SiO3 inclusions are represented by orthopyroxene. Orthopyroxenes in single-phase and composite inclusions inherit initial chemical composition of bridgmanites, including a high Al and low Ni contents. In composite inclusions they coexist with jeffbenite (ex-TAPP) and olivine. The bulk compositions of these composite inclusions are rich in Al, Ti, and Fe, which are similar but not fully resembling Al-rich bridgmanite produced in experiments on the MORB composition. The retrograde origin of composite inclusions due to decomposition of Al-rich bridgmanite may be doubtful because each of observed minerals may represent coexisting HP phases, i.e. bridgmanite or ringwoodite.
Abstract: The Ubendian Belt between the Archean Tanzania Craton and the Bangweulu Block, represents a Paleoproterozoic orogeny of these two constituents of the Congo Craton assembled at ~1.8?Ga, forming the Central African Shield, during the Columbia Supercontinent cycle and consolidated during the Gondwana assembly. Metagranitoids from the Southern and Northern Ufipa Terranes (Western Ubendian Corridor) and those of the Bangweulu Block are compositionally similar and are contemporaneous. The protolith of the Ufipa Terrane is originated from the collided crustal rocks of the Bangweulu Block. New LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb age of metagranitoids and granoporphyries confirmed magmatic events from 1.89 to 1.85?Ga. The metagranitoids of the Western Ubendian Corridor and that of the Bangweulu Block cannot be distinguished by their trace element characteristics and ages. Geochemically, they belong to high-K calc-alkaline to tholeiite series. The 1.89-1.85?Ga metagranitoids and granoporphyries are characterized by evolved nature, which are common for slab-failure derived magmas. Such geochemical features and the presence of ~2.0?Ga eclogites suggest an Orosirian oceanic subduction and subsequent slab break-off. Melt derived from the mafic upper portion of torn slab led to the partial melting of crust which formed high-K and calc-alkaline, I- and S-type magmatism in the Bangweulu Block and the Ufipa Terrane. Zircons from two metagranites from the Northern Ufipa Terrane show Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) overprints at ~570?Ma, suggesting the Bangweulu Block collided with the continental margin of the Tanzania Craton. However, we found non-annealed Orosirian apatites in metagranitoids from the Southern Ufipa Terrane and the Kate-Ufipa Complex, implying that areal heterogeneity of the Pan-African tectonothermal overprint in the Ufipa Terrane. All evidences suggest that the Bangweulu Block and the Ubendian Belt participated in the amalgamation of the Central African Shield as separated continents surrounded by oceanic crusts during the Paleoproterozoic Eburnean and the Neoproterozoic Pan-African orogenies.
Abstract: New mineralogical and isotope-geochemical data for zircon megacrysts (n = 48) from alluvium of Kholomolokh Creek (a tributary of the Ebelakh River) are reported. Using the geochemical classification schemes, the presence of zircons of kimberlitic and carbonatitic genesis was shown. The U-Pb dating of zircons revealed two major age populations: the Triassic (258-221 Ma, n = 18) and Jurassic (192-154 Ma, n = 30). Weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages allowed us to distinguish the following age stages: 155 ± 3, 161 ± 2, 177 ± 1.5, 183 ± 1.5, 190 ± 2, 233 ± 2.5, and 252 ± 4 Ma. It is suggested that the Ebelyakh diamonds could have been transported from the mantle depths by kimberlite, as well as by other related rocks, such as carbonatite, lamprophyre, lamproite, olivine melilitite, etc. Diamonds from the Ebelyakh placers most likely have polygenic native sources and may be associated with polychronous and multistage Middle Paleozoic and Mesozoic kimberlite and alkaline-ultrabasic magmatism in the eastern slope of the Anabar Shield (the Ebelyakh, Mayat, and Billyakh river basins).
Abstract: Seismic shear wave anisotropy1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is observed in Earth’s uppermost lower mantle around several subducted slabs. The anisotropy caused by the deformation-induced crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of bridgmanite (perovskite-structured (Mg,Fe)SiO3) is the most plausible explanation for these seismic observations. However, the rheological properties of bridgmanite are largely unknown. Uniaxial deformation experiments7, 8, 9 have been carried out to determine the deformation texture of bridgmanite, but the dominant slip system (the slip direction and plane) has not been determined. Here we report the CPO pattern and dominant slip system of bridgmanite under conditions that correspond to the uppermost lower mantle (25 gigapascals and 1,873 kelvin) obtained through simple shear deformation experiments using the Kawai-type deformation-DIA apparatus10. The fabrics obtained are characterized by [100] perpendicular to the shear plane and [001] parallel to the shear direction, implying that the dominant slip system of bridgmanite is [001](100). The observed seismic shear- wave anisotropies near several subducted slabs1, 2, 3, 4 (Tonga-Kermadec, Kurile, Peru and Java) can be explained in terms of the CPO of bridgmanite as induced by mantle flow parallel to the direction of subduction.
Abstract: The Earth’s mantle is characterized by a sharp seismic discontinuity at a depth of 660?km that can provide insights into deep mantle processes. The discontinuity occurs over only 2?km—or a pressure difference of 0.1?GPa—and is thought to result from the post-spinel transition, that is, the decomposition of the mineral ringwoodite to bridgmanite plus ferropericlase. Existing high-pressure, high-temperature experiments have lacked the pressure control required to test whether such sharpness is the result of isochemical phase relations or chemically distinct upper and lower mantle domains. Here, we obtain the isothermal pressure interval of the Mg-Fe binary post-spinel transition by applying advanced multi-anvil techniques with in situ X-ray diffraction with the help of Mg-Fe partition experiments. It is demonstrated that the interval at mantle compositions and temperatures is only 0.01?GPa, corresponding to 250?m. This interval is indistinguishable from zero at seismic frequencies. These results can explain the discontinuity sharpness and provide new support for whole-mantle convection in a chemically homogeneous mantle. The present work suggests that distribution of adiabatic vertical flows between the upper and lower mantles can be mapped on the basis of discontinuity sharpness.
Fe Ni Cu C S phase relations at high pressures and temperatures - the role of sulfur in carbon storage and diamond stability at mid to deep upper mantle.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 412, pp. 132-142.
Abstract: The abundances of volatile elements in the Earth’s mantle have been attributed to the delivery of volatile-rich material after the main phase of accretion1, 2, 3. However, no known meteorites could deliver the volatile elements, such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulfur, at the relative abundances observed for the silicate Earth4. Alternatively, Earth could have acquired its volatile inventory during accretion and differentiation, but the fate of volatile elements during core formation is known only for a limited set of conditions4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Here we present constraints from laboratory experiments on the partitioning of carbon and sulfur between metallic cores and silicate mantles under conditions relevant for rocky planetary bodies. We find that carbon remains more siderophile than sulfur over a range of oxygen fugacities; however, our experiments suggest that in reduced or sulfur-rich bodies, carbon is expelled from the segregating core. Combined with previous constraints9, we propose that the ratio of carbon to sulfur in the silicate Earth could have been established by differentiation of a planetary embryo that was then accreted to the proto-Earth. We suggest that the accretion of a Mercury-like (reduced) or a sulfur-rich (oxidized) differentiated body—in which carbon has been preferentially partitioned into the mantle—may explain the Earth’s carbon and sulfur budgets.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 19, 3, pp. 595-620.
Mantle
peridotites
Abstract: We present phase equilibria experiments on a depleted peridotite (Mg# 92) fluxed with variable proportions of a slab?derived rhyolitic melt (with 9.4 wt.% H2O, 5 wt.% CO2), envisaging an interaction that could occur during formation of continents by imbrication of slabs/accretion of subarc mantles. Experiments were performed with 5 wt.% (Bulk 2) and 10 wt.% (Bulk 1) melt at 950-1175°C and 2-4 GPa using a piston?cylinder and a multi?anvil apparatus, to test the hypothesis that volatile?bearing mineral?phases produced during craton formation can cause reduction in aggregate shear?wave velocities (VS) at mid?lithospheric depths beneath continents. In addition to the presence of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and garnet/spinel, phlogopite (Bulk 1: 3-7.6 wt.%; Bulk 2: 2.6-5 wt.%) at 2-4 GPa, and amphibole (Bulk 1: 3-9 wt.%; Bulk 2: 2-6 wt.%) at 2-3 GPa (?1050°C) are also present. Magnesite (Bulk 1: ?1 wt.% and Bulk 2: ?0.6 wt.%) is present at 2-4 GPa (<1000°C at 3 and?100 km depth.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 238, pp. 477-495.
Mantle
carbon
Abstract: Constraining carbon (C) fractionation between silicate magma ocean (MO) and core-forming alloy liquid during early differentiation is essential to understand the origin and early distribution of C between reservoirs such as the crust-atmosphere, mantle, and core of Earth and other terrestrial planets. Yet experimental data at high pressure (P)-temperature (T) on the effect of other light elements such as sulfur (S) in alloy liquid on alloy-silicate partitioning of C and C solubility in Fe-alloy compositions relevant for core formation is lacking. Here we have performed multi-anvil experiments at 6-13?GPa and 1800-2000?°C to examine the effects of S and Ni on the solubility limit of C in Fe-rich alloy liquid as well as partitioning behavior of C between alloy liquid and silicate melt (). The results show that C solubility in the alloy liquid as well as decreases with increasing in S content in the alloy liquid. Empirical regression on C solubility in alloy liquid using our new experimental data and previous experiments demonstrates that C solubility significantly increases with increasing temperature, whereas unlike in S-poor or S-free alloy compositions, there is no discernible effect of Ni on C solubility in S-rich alloy liquid. Our modelling results confirm previous findings that in order to satisfy the C budget of BSE, the bulk Earth C undergoing alloy-silicate fractionation needs to be as high as those of CI-type carbonaceous chondrite, i.e., not leaving any room for volatility-induced loss of carbon during accretion. For Mars, on the other hand, an average single-stage core formation at relatively oxidized conditions (1.0 log unit below IW buffer) with 10-16?wt% S in the core could yield a Martian mantle with a C budget similar to that of Earth’s BSE for a bulk C content of ?0.25-0.9?wt%. For the scenario where C was delivered to the proto-Earth by a S-rich differentiated impactor at a later stage, our model calculations predict that bulk C content in the impactor can be as low as ?0.5?wt% for an impactor mass that lies between 9 and 20% of present day Earth’s mass. This value is much higher than 0.05-0.1?wt% bulk C in the impactor predicted by Li et al. (Li Y., Dasgupta R., Tsuno K., Monteleone B., and Shimizu N. (2016) Carbon and sulfur budget of the silicate Earth explained by accretion of differentiated planetary embryos. Nat. Geosci.9, 781-785) because C-solubility limit of 0.3?wt% in a S-rich alloy predicted by their models is significantly lower than the experimentally derived C-solubility of ?1.6?wt% for the relevant S-content in the core of the impactor.
Abstract: Earth’s status as the only life-sustaining planet is a result of the timing and delivery mechanism of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and hydrogen (H). On the basis of their isotopic signatures, terrestrial volatiles are thought to have derived from carbonaceous chondrites, while the isotopic compositions of nonvolatile major and trace elements suggest that enstatite chondrite-like materials are the primary building blocks of Earth. However, the C/N ratio of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) is superchondritic, which rules out volatile delivery by a chondritic late veneer. In addition, if delivered during the main phase of Earth’s accretion, then, owing to the greater siderophile (metal loving) nature of C relative to N, core formation should have left behind a subchondritic C/N ratio in the BSE. Here, we present high pressure-temperature experiments to constrain the fate of mixed C-N-S volatiles during core-mantle segregation in the planetary embryo magma oceans and show that C becomes much less siderophile in N-bearing and S-rich alloys, while the siderophile character of N remains largely unaffected in the presence of S. Using the new data and inverse Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the impact of a Mars-sized planet, having minimal contributions from carbonaceous chondrite-like material and coinciding with the Moon-forming event, can be the source of major volatiles in the BSE.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 251. pp. 87-115.
Mantle
nitrogen
Abstract: Nitrogen, the most dominant constituent of Earth’s atmosphere, is critical for the habitability and existence of life on our planet. However, its distribution between Earth’s major reservoirs, which must be largely influenced by the accretion and differentiation processes during its formative years, is poorly known. Sequestration into the metallic core, along with volatility related loss pre- and post-accretion, could be a critical process that can explain the depletion of nitrogen in the Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) relative to the primitive chondrites. However, the relative effect of different thermodynamic parameters on the alloy-silicate partitioning behavior of nitrogen is not well understood. Here we present equilibrium partitioning data of N between alloy and silicate melt () from 67 new high pressure (P?=?1-6?GPa)-temperature (T?=?1500-2200?°C) experiments under graphite saturated conditions at a wide range of oxygen fugacity (logfO2????IW ?4.2 to ?0.8), mafic to ultramafic silicate melt compositions (NBO/T?=?0.4 to 2.2), and varying chemical composition of the alloy melts (S and Si contents of 0-32.1?wt.% and 0-3.1?wt.%, respectively). Under relatively oxidizing conditions (??IW ?2.2 to ?0.8) nitrogen acts as a siderophile element ( between 1.1 and 52), where decreases with decrease in fO2 and increase in T, and increases with increase in P and NBO/T. Under these conditions remains largely unaffected between S-free conditions and up to ?17?wt.% S content in the alloy melt, and then drops off at >?20?wt.% S content in the alloy melt. Under increasingly reduced conditions (
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 251, pp. 87-115.
Mantle
nitrogen
Abstract: Nitrogen, the most dominant constituent of Earth’s atmosphere, is critical for the habitability and existence of life on our planet. However, its distribution between Earth’s major reservoirs, which must be largely influenced by the accretion and differentiation processes during its formative years, is poorly known. Sequestration into the metallic core, along with volatility related loss pre- and post-accretion, could be a critical process that can explain the depletion of nitrogen in the Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) relative to the primitive chondrites. However, the relative effect of different thermodynamic parameters on the alloy-silicate partitioning behavior of nitrogen is not well understood. Here we present equilibrium partitioning data of N between alloy and silicate melt () from 67 new high pressure (P?=?1-6?GPa)-temperature (T?=?1500-2200?°C) experiments under graphite saturated conditions at a wide range of oxygen fugacity (logfO2????IW ?4.2 to ?0.8), mafic to ultramafic silicate melt compositions (NBO/T?=?0.4 to 2.2), and varying chemical composition of the alloy melts (S and Si contents of 0-32.1?wt.% and 0-3.1?wt.%, respectively). Under relatively oxidizing conditions (??IW ?2.2 to ?0.8) nitrogen acts as a siderophile element ( between 1.1 and 52), where decreases with decrease in fO2 and increase in T, and increases with increase in P and NBO/T. Under these conditions remains largely unaffected between S-free conditions and up to ?17?wt.% S content in the alloy melt, and then drops off at >?20?wt.% S content in the alloy melt. Under increasingly reduced conditions (
Abstract: The Kumta and Mercara suture zones welding together Archean crustal blocks in western peninsular India offer critical insights into Precambrian continental juxtapositions and the crustal evolution of eastern Gondwana. Here we present the results from an integrated study of the structure, geology, petrology, mineral chemistry, metamorphic P-T conditions, zircon U-Pb ages and Lu-Hf isotopes of metasedimentary rocks from the two sutures. The dominant rocks in the Kumta suture are greenschist- to amphibolite-facies quartz-phengite schist, garnet-biotite schist, chlorite schist, fuchsite schist and marble. The textural relations, mineral chemistry and thermodynamic modelling of garnet-biotite schist from the Kumta suture indicate peak metamorphic P-T conditions of ca. 11 kbar at 790 °C, with detrital SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages ranging from 3420 to 2547 Ma, ?Hf (t) values from ? 9.2 to 5.6, and TDMc model ages from 3747 to 2792 Ma. The K-Ar age of phengite from quartz-phengite schist is ca. 1326 Ma and that of biotite from garnet-biotite schist is ca. 1385 Ma, which are interpreted to broadly constrain the timing of metamorphism related to the suturing event. The Mercara suture contains amphibolite- to granulite-facies mylonitic quartzo-feldspathic gneiss, garnet-kyanite-sillimanite gneiss, garnet-biotite-kyanite-gedrite-cordierite gneiss, garnet-biotite-hornblende gneiss, calc-silicate granulite and metagabbro. The textural relations, mineral chemistry and thermodynamic modelling of garnet-biotite-kyanite-gedrite-cordierite gneiss from the Mercara suture indicate peak metamorphic P-T conditions of ca. 13 kbar at 825 °C, followed by isothermal decompression and cooling. For pelitic gneisses from the Mercara suture, LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon ages vary from 3249 to 3045 Ma, ?Hf (t) values range from ? 18.9 to 4.2, and TDMc model ages vary from 4094 to 3314 Ma. The lower intercept age of detrital zircons in the pelitic gneisses from the Mercara suture ranges from 1464 to 1106 Ma, indicating the approximate timing of a major lead-loss event, possibly corresponding to metamorphism, and is broadly coeval with events in the Kumta suture. Synthesis of the above results indicates that the Kumta and Mercara suture zones incorporated sediments from Palaeoarchean to Mesoproterozoic sources and underwent high-pressure metamorphism in the late Mesoproterozoic. The protolith sediments were derived from regions containing juvenile Palaeoarchean crust, together with detritus from the recycling of older continental crust. Integration of the above results with published data suggests that the Mesoproterozoic (1460-1100 Ma) Kumta and Mercara suture zones separate the Archean (3400-2500 Ma) Karwar-Coorg block and Dharwar Craton in western peninsular India. Based on regional structural and other geological data we interpret the Kumta and Mercara suture zones as extensions of the Betsimisaraka suture of eastern Madagascar into western India.
Abstract: The Bastar craton in central India, surrounded by cratonic blocks and Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic orogenic belts, is a window to investigate the Archean-Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution and tectonic processes. Here we propose a new tectonic classification of the craton into the Western Bastar Craton (WBC), Eastern Bastar Craton (EBC), and the intervening Central Bastar Orogen (CBO). We present petrologic, geochemical and zircon U-Pb, REE and Lu-Hf data from a suite of rocks from the CBO and along the eastern margin of the WBC Including: (1) volcanic successions comprising meta-andesite and fine-grained amphibolite, representing arc-related volcanics along a convergent margin; (2) ferruginous sandstone, in association with rhyolite, representing a volcano-sedimentary succession, deposited in an active trench; and (3) metamorphosed mafic-ultramafic suite including gabbro, pyroxenite and dunite invaded by trondhjemite representing the section of sub-arc mantle and arc root adjacent to a long-lasting subduction system. Petrologic studies indicate that the mafic-ultramafic suite crystallized from an island arc tholeiitic parental magma in a suprasubduction zone environment. The chondrite-normalized and primitive mantle normalized diagrams of the mafic and ultramafic rocks suggest derivation from MORB magma. The mixed characters from N-MORB to E-MORB of the studied samples are consistent with subduction modification of a MORB related magma, involving partial melting of the metasomatized mantle wedge. Our zircon U-Pb age data suggest that the cratonic nuclei was constructed as early as Paleoarchean. We present evidence for active subduction and arc magmatism through Mesoarchean to Neoarchean and early Paleoproterozoic, with the trench remaining open until at least 2.3 Ga. Two major crust building events are recognized in the Bastar craton: during Mesoarchean (recycled Paleoarchean subduction-related as well as juvenile/depleted mantle components) and Neoarchean (accretion of juvenile oceanic crust, arc magmatism including granite batholiths and related porphyry mineralization). The final cratonization occurred during latest Paleoproterozoic, followed by collisional assembly of the craton and its incorporation within the Peninsular Indian mosaic during Mesoproterozoic. In the global supercontinent context, the craton preserves the history of Ur, the earliest supercontinent, followed by the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Columbia, as well as minor thermal imprints of the Neoproterozoic Rodinia and associated Grenvillian orogeny.
Abstract: The Bastar craton in central India, surrounded by cratonic blocks and Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic orogenic belts, is a window to investigate the Archean-Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution and tectonic processes. Here we propose a new tectonic classification of the craton into the Western Bastar Craton (WBC), Eastern Bastar Craton (EBC), and the intervening Central Bastar Orogen (CBO). We present petrologic, geochemical and zircon U-Pb, REE and Lu-Hf data from a suite of rocks from the CBO and along the eastern margin of the WBC Including: (1) volcanic successions comprising meta-andesite and fine-grained amphibolite, representing arc-related volcanics along a convergent margin; (2) ferruginous sandstone, in association with rhyolite, representing a volcano-sedimentary succession, deposited in an active trench; and (3) metamorphosed mafic-ultramafic suite including gabbro, pyroxenite and dunite invaded by trondhjemite representing the section of sub-arc mantle and arc root adjacent to a long-lasting subduction system. Petrologic studies indicate that the mafic-ultramafic suite crystallized from an island arc tholeiitic parental magma in a suprasubduction zone environment. The chondrite-normalized and primitive mantle normalized diagrams of the mafic and ultramafic rocks suggest derivation from MORB magma. The mixed characters from N-MORB to E-MORB of the studied samples are consistent with subduction modification of a MORB related magma, involving partial melting of the metasomatized mantle wedge. Our zircon U-Pb age data suggest that the cratonic nuclei was constructed as early as Paleoarchean. We present evidence for active subduction and arc magmatism through Mesoarchean to Neoarchean and early Paleoproterozoic, with the trench remaining open until at least 2.3?Ga. Two major crust building events are recognized in the Bastar craton: during Mesoarchean (recycled Paleoarchean subduction-related as well as juvenile/depleted mantle components) and Neoarchean (accretion of juvenile oceanic crust, arc magmatism including granite batholiths and related porphyry mineralization). The final cratonization occurred during latest Paleoproterozoic, followed by collisional assembly of the craton and its incorporation within the Peninsular Indian mosaic during Mesoproterozoic. In the global supercontinent context, the craton preserves the history of Ur, the earliest supercontinent, followed by the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Columbia, as well as minor thermal imprints of the Neoproterozoic Rodinia and associated Grenvillian orogeny.
Abstract: The Bastar craton in central India, surrounded by cratonic blocks and Paleoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic orogenic belts, is a window to investigate the Archean-Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution and tectonic processes. Here we propose a new tectonic classification of the craton into the Western Bastar Craton (WBC), Eastern Bastar Craton (EBC), and the intervening Central Bastar Orogen (CBO). We present petrologic, geochemical and zircon U-Pb, REE and Lu-Hf data from a suite of rocks from the CBO and along the eastern margin of the WBC Including: (1) volcanic successions comprising meta-andesite and fine-grained amphibolite, representing arc-related volcanics along a convergent margin; (2) ferruginous sandstone, in association with rhyolite, representing a volcano-sedimentary succession, deposited in an active trench; and (3) metamorphosed mafic-ultramafic suite including gabbro, pyroxenite and dunite invaded by trondhjemite representing the section of sub-arc mantle and arc root adjacent to a long-lasting subduction system. Petrologic studies indicate that the mafic-ultramafic suite crystallized from an island arc tholeiitic parental magma in a suprasubduction zone environment. The chondrite-normalized and primitive mantle normalized diagrams of the mafic and ultramafic rocks suggest derivation from MORB magma. The mixed characters from N-MORB to E-MORB of the studied samples are consistent with subduction modification of a MORB related magma, involving partial melting of the metasomatized mantle wedge. Our zircon U-Pb age data suggest that the cratonic nuclei was constructed as early as Paleoarchean. We present evidence for active subduction and arc magmatism through Mesoarchean to Neoarchean and early Paleoproterozoic, with the trench remaining open until at least 2.3?Ga. Two major crust building events are recognized in the Bastar craton: during Mesoarchean (recycled Paleoarchean subduction-related as well as juvenile/depleted mantle components) and Neoarchean (accretion of juvenile oceanic crust, arc magmatism including granite batholiths and related porphyry mineralization). The final cratonization occurred during latest Paleoproterozoic, followed by collisional assembly of the craton and its incorporation within the Peninsular Indian mosaic during Mesoproterozoic. In the global supercontinent context, the craton preserves the history of Ur, the earliest supercontinent, followed by the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Columbia, as well as minor thermal imprints of the Neoproterozoic Rodinia and associated Grenvillian orogeny.
Abstract: The relative abundance of light elements in the Earth’s core has long been controversial. Recently, the presence of carbon in the core has been emphasized, because the density and sound velocities of the inner core may be consistent with solid Fe7C3. Here we report the longitudinal wave velocity of liquid Fe84C16 up to 70?GPa based on inelastic X-ray scattering measurements. We find the velocity to be substantially slower than that of solid iron and Fe3C and to be faster than that of liquid iron. The thermodynamic equation of state for liquid Fe84C16 is also obtained from the velocity data combined with previous density measurements at 1 bar. The longitudinal velocity of the outer core, about 4% faster than that of liquid iron, is consistent with the presence of 4-5 at.% carbon. However, that amount of carbon is too small to account for the outer core density deficit, suggesting that carbon cannot be a predominant light element in the core.
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, Vol. 7, 23, 7p. Pdf
Mantle
wustite
Abstract: The longitudinal sound velocity (VP) and the density (?) of wüstite, FeO, were measured at pressures of up to 112.3?GPa and temperatures of up to 1700?K using both inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray diffraction combined with a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell. The linear relationship between VP and ?, Birch’s law, for wüstite can be expressed as VP = 1.55 (1) × ? [g/cm3] ? 2.03 (8) [km/s] at 300?K and VP = 1.61 (1) × ? [kg/m3] ? 2.82 (10) [km/s] at 1700?K. The sound velocity of wüstite is significantly lower than that of bridgmanite and ferropericlase under lower mantle conditions. In other words, the existence of wüstite in the lower mantle can efficiently decrease the seismic velocity. Considering its slow velocity and several mechanisms for the formation of FeO-rich regions at the core-mantle boundary, we confirm earlier suggestions indicating that wüstite enrichment at the bottom of the Earth’s mantle may contribute to the formation of denser ultra-low velocity zones.
Abstract: Neoarchean intraplate granitoid (2.61 Ga) and carbonatite magmatism are established in the Kursk block of Sarmatia in close spatial association. Alkaline pyroxenites, carbonatites, and syenites of the Dubravinskii complex are represented by two relatively large intrusions and a few small plutons. They underwent amphibolite facies metamorphism at about 2.07 Ga. The age of alkaline-carbonatite magmatism is 2.59 Ga according to SIMS isotope dating of zircon from syenites. The close age and spatial conjugation allow the Dubravinskii carbonatite complex to be considered to have formed in intraplate conditions. The mantle plume upwelling caused metasomatic alteration and consequent partial melting of the sublithospheric mantle and intrusion of enriched magmas into the crust. Contamination of alkaline mantle melts in the crust by Archean TTGs caused the formation of syenites melts in the form of dykes that cutting through pyroxenites and carbonatites.
Theory, methods and some results of quantitative reliability evaluation of prospecting systems (with reference to the practice of diamond prospecting inW.
Classification of failures of prospecting for kimberlite bodies using indicator minerals and heavy mineral concentrates (Malo-Botuobia andDadyn-Alakit).
Diamonds of Yakutia, pp. 143-156.
Russia, Yakutia
Sampling -indicator minerals, Deposit -Mal-Botuobia, Dadyn-Alkit areas
The structure of the geological prospecting enterprises of Almazy Rossii Sahka company: general technological schemes of prospecting and exploration fordiamonds.
Lithos, Vol. 406-407. doi: 10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106528 12p. Pdf
Russia
deposit - Azov
Abstract: Zircon megacrysts are commonly found in kimberlites and, together with olivine, low-Cr garnet, pyroxene, phlogopite, and ilmenite megacrysts, they constitute a mineral assemblage known as the "low-Cr suite". The generally close similarity of ages and similar isotope geochemical characteristics of megacrysts and matrix minerals in the host kimberlites support a cognate origin. However, alteration rims commonly develop on zircon and ilmenite megacrysts, providing evidence for a lack of chemical equilibrium between the megacrysts and kimberlitic melts. Here, we report results of a detailed geochronological and geochemical study of zircon megacrysts found in the Middle Devonian Novolaspa kimberlite pipe and dyke located in the Azov Domain of the Ukrainian Shield. The concordia age of zircons is 397.0 ± 2.0 Ma, and it is 14 m.y. older than the age of kimberlite emplacement as defined by a Rb-Sr isochron on phlogopite. The average ?Hf(397) value for unaltered zircon megacrysts is 6.8 ± 0.14, with the alteration rims having similar Hf isotope systematics. These hafnium isotope data indicate a moderately depleted mantle source for zircon. Unaltered megacrystic zircons have low abundances of trace elements and fractionated REE, with pronounced positive Ce/Ce* anomalies and almost no Eu/Eu* anomalies. In contrast, alteration rims have very high and variable concentrations of trace elements, indicating a reaction between zircon and kimberlite melt. The melt or fluid responsible for zircon and ilmenite megacryst formation, in contrast to kimberlitic melt, was poor in incompatible trace elements, except for the HFSE (Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, and Ti). The oxygen fugacity during crystallization of the megacryst suite was close to the FMQ buffer. Azov zircon megacrysts do not demonstrate close geochronological and isotope-geochemical similarities with their host kimberlites. They are cognate in the broad sense of being related to the same plume event, but their direct affinity is not clearly defined. The megacryst suite may have crystallized from the earliest melts/fluids that separated from the ascending mantle plume, whereas kimberlite magmas were emplaced 14 m.y. after this event.
Abstract: Precise measurement of variations in the local gravitational acceleration is valuable for natural hazard forecasting, prospecting, and geophysical studies. Common issues of the present gravimetry technologies include their high cost, high mass, and large volume, which can potentially be solved by micro-electromechanical-system (MEMS) technology. However, the reported MEMS gravimeter does not have a high sensitivity and a large dynamic range comparable with those of the present commercial gravimeters, lowering its practicability and ruling out worldwide deployment. In this paper, we introduce a more practical MEMS gravimeter that has a higher sensitivity of 8??Gal/?Hz and a larger dynamic range of 8000 mGal by using an advanced suspension design and a customized optical displacement transducer. The proposed MEMS gravimeter has performed the co-site earth tides measurement with a commercial superconducting gravimeter GWR iGrav with the results showing a correlation coefficient of 0.91.
Journal of Metamorphic Geology, In press available
Europe, Sweden
Eclogite
Abstract: Conditions of the prograde, peak-pressure and part of the decompressional P-T path of two Precambrian eclogites in the eastern Sveconorwegian orogen have been determined using the pseudosection approach. Cores of garnet from a Fe-Ti-rich eclogite sample record a first prograde and syn-deformational stage along a Barrovian geothermal gradient from ~670 °C and 7 kbar to 710 °C and 8.5 kbar. Garnet rims grew during further burial to 16.5-19 kbar at ~850-900 °C, along a steep dP/dT gradient. The pseudosection model of a kyanite-bearing eclogite sample of more magnesian bulk composition confirms the peak conditions. Matrix reequilibration associated with subsequent near-isothermal decompression and partial exhumation produced plagioclase-bearing symplectites replacing kyanite and clinopyroxene and is estimated at 850-870 °C and 10-11 kbar. The validity of the pseudosections is discussed in detail. It is shown that in pseudosection modelling the fractionation of FeO in accessory sulphides may cause a significant shift of field boundaries (here displaced by up to 1.5 kbar and 70 °C) and must not be neglected. Fast burial, exhumation and subsequent cooling are supported by the steepness of both the prograde and the decompressional P-T paths as well as the preservation of garnet growth zoning and the symplectitic reaction textures. These features are compatible with deep tectonic burial of the eclogite-bearing continental crust as part of the underthrusting plate (Eastern Segment, continent Baltica) in a collisional setting that led to an effectively doubled crustal thickness and subsequent exhumation of the eclogites through tectonic extrusion. Our results are in accordance with regional structural and petrologic relationships, which demonstrate foreland-vergent partial exhumation of the eclogite-bearing nappe along a basal thrust zone and support a major collisional stage at c. 1 Ga. We argue that the similarities between Sveconorwegian and Himalayan eclogite occurrences emphasize the modern style of Grenvillian-aged tectonics.
Abstract: Heterogeneity in the lithophile isotopic compositions of ocean island basalts (OIBs) has long been ascribed to the incorporation of recycled materials into the plume source. OIB heterogeneity indicates that plumes do not sample a pristine primordial reservoir, but rather sample an inhomogeneous mixture of primordial and recycled material generated by convective processes over Earth history. Here we present a synthesis of new insights into the characteristics and nature of the plume mantle source. Recent high precision noble gas data demonstrate that the origin of the reservoir supplying noble gases to plumes is fundamentally distinct from that of the mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) mantle reservoir: the two reservoirs cannot be related simply by differential degassing or incorporation of recycled atmospheric volatiles. Based on differences observed in the extinct 129I-129Xe system (t1/2 of 15.7?Ma), the mantle source supplying noble gases to plumes differentiated from the MORB source within ~100?Ma of the start of the Solar System, and the two sources have not been homogenized by 4.45?Ga of mantle convection. Thus, the 129I-129Xe data require a plume source that has experienced limited direct mixing with the MORB source mantle. Analysis of mantle source Xe isotopic compositions of plume-influenced samples with primordial He and Ne indicates that the plume source Xe budget is dominated by regassed atmospheric Xe. He and Ne isotopes are not sensitive to regassing due to low overall concentrations of He and Ne in recycled material relative to primordial material. Therefore, plume-influenced samples with primitive He and Ne isotopic compositions do not necessarily reflect sampling of pristine primordial mantle and the lithophile compositions of these samples should not be taken to represent undifferentiated mantle. In addition to recycled atmospheric Xe, the plume mantle source exhibits high ratios of Pu-fission Xe to U-fission Xe. The high proportion of Pu-fission Xe independently confirms a low extent of degassing of the plume source relative to the MORB source. Heavy noble gases illustrate that the mantle reservoir sampled by plumes is fundamentally distinct from the MORB mantle and reflects ongoing degassing of, and incorporation of recycled material into, an ancient (>4.45?Ga) primordial source. If plumes are derived from large low shear-wave velocity provinces (LLSVPs), then these seismically-imaged structures are ancient and long-lived.
IN: Deep carbon: past to present, Orcutt, Daniel, Dasgupta eds., pp. 237-275.
Mantle
carbon
Abstract: This chapter provides a summary of the flux of carbon through various oceanic volcanic centers such as mid-ocean ridges and intraplate settings, as well as what these fluxes indicate about the carbon content of the mantle. By reviewing methods used to measure the carbon geochemistry of basalts and then to estimate fluxes, the chapter provides insight into how mantle melting and melt extraction processes are estimated. The chapter discusses how the flux of carbon compares with other incompatible trace elements and gases. From there, the chapter discusses whether the budget of carbon in the ocean mantle can be explained by primordial carbon or whether carbon recycling is required to balance the budget.
Abstract: The Ampasindava alkaline province consists of a series of circular and elliptical intrusions, lava flows, dyke swarms and plugs of Cenozoic age emplaced into the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Antsiranana basin (NW Madagascar) and above the crystalline basement. The magmatism in the Ampasindava region is linked to a NW-SE trending extensional tectonic setting. New 40Ar/39Ar age determinations on feldspar separate of alkali granites and basaltic dykes yielded ages of 18.01?±?0.36 Ma and 26?±?7 Ma, respectively. Alkali basalts and basanites, nepheline syenites and phonolites, and silica saturated-to-oversaturated syenites, trachytes, granites and rhyolites are the main outcropping lithologies. These rocks have sodic affinity. The felsic rocks are dominant, and range from peraluminous to peralkaline. The mantle-normalized incompatible element patterns of the mafic lavas match those of Na-alkaline lavas in within-plate rift settings. The patterns are identical in shape and absolute concentrations to those of the Bobaomby (Cap d’Ambre) and Massif d’Ambre primitive volcanic rocks. These geochemical features are broadly compatible with variable degrees of partial melting of incompatible element-enriched mantle sources. The mineralogical and geochemical variations are consistent with fractional crystallization processes involving removal of olivine, feldspar, clinopyroxene, amphibole, Fe-Ti oxides and apatite. Removal of small amount of titanite explains the concave upward lanthanide pattern in the evolved nepheline syenites and phonolites, which are additionally rich in exotic silicates typical of agpaitic magmas (eudialyte, F-disilicates).
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 458, 1, pp.405-417.
Africa, Madagascar
geophysics - seismics
Abstract: The crust and upper mantle of the Madagascar continental fragment remained largely unexplored until a series of recent broadband seismic experiments. An island-wide deployment of broadband seismic instruments has allowed the first study of phase velocity variations, derived from surface waves, across the entire island. Late Cenozoic alkaline intraplate volcanism has occurred in three separate regions of Madagascar (north, central and southwest), with the north and central volcanism active until <1 Ma, but the sources of which remains uncertain. Combined analysis of three complementary surface wave methods (ambient noise, Rayleigh wave cross-correlations, and two-plane-wave) illuminate the upper mantle down to depths of 150 km. The phase-velocity measurements from the three methods for periods of 8-182 s are combined at each node and interpolated to generate the first 3-D shear-velocity model for sub-Madagascar velocity structure. Shallow (upper 10 km) low-shear-velocity regions correlate well with sedimentary basins along the west coast. Upper mantle low-shear-velocity zones that extend to at least 150 km deep underlie the north and central regions of recent alkali magmatism. These anomalies appear distinct at depths <100 km, suggesting that any connection between the zones lies at depths greater than the resolution of surface-wave tomography. An additional low-shear velocity anomaly is also identified at depths 50-150 km beneath the southwest region of intraplate volcanism. We interpret these three low-velocity regions as upwelling asthenosphere beneath the island, producing high-elevation topography and relatively low-volume magmatism.
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 174, 104059, 17p. Pdf
Africa, Madagascar
melilitites
Abstract: The olivine melilitites from the southern part of the 6.8 Ma-old Takarindiona volcanic field (Eastern Madagascar) are olivine ± chromite -phyric lavas, with zoned titanaugite, perovskite, melilite, nepheline, monticellite, Ba-Ti-mica and Fe-Ti oxides as microphenocrysts and groundmass phases. The rocks are very primitive, rich in incompatible trace elements (e.g., Ba = 1049 ± 153 ppm, Sr = 1050 ± 167 ppm, Nb = 98 ± 13 ppm; La/Ybn = 41 ± 5; La/Nb = 0.88 ± 0.05), and have restricted ranges of initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.70391-0.70410) and 143Nd/144Nd (0.51272-0.51282). The rocks follow a differentiation trend controlled by ab. 20% removal/addition of phenocryst olivine ± chromite. The olivine melilititic magmas are the product of small degrees of partial melting (1-3%) of a peridotitic source, enriched in highly incompatible trace elements by CO2-, F-, and H2O-rich melts, located within the garnet stability field (3-3.5 GPa and ~100 km depth) of sub-continental lithospheric mantle, where carbonates (dolomite) and possibly phlogopite were stable phases. Mantle xenoliths within the volcanics are mostly spinel harzburgites having mineral modes and chemical compositions suggesting variable degrees of "basalt" melt extraction. Based on textural and chemical evidence, and quantitative thermobarometric estimates, the xenoliths were incorporated at a pressure of ~1.1 GPa (~35-40 km depth), far shallower than the source of the melilititic magmas, and along a predictably cool geotherm beneath Archean continental lithosphere. Highly resorbed orthopyroxene xenocrysts mantled by augite indicate that the melilitites may have also entrained lower crustal materials or underplated subalkaline rocks. The mantle sources of the lavas and mantle xenoliths of the Takarindiona district indicate stratification of the lithospheric mantle, and help constraining the lithospheric features and the magmatic history of the Eastern Madagascar craton.
Abstract: The continental margins of East Africa and West Madagascar are a frontier for hydrocarbon exploration. However, the links between the regional tectonic history of sedimentary basins and margin evolution are relatively poorly understood. We use a plate kinematic model built by joint inversion of seafloor spreading data as a starting point to analyse the evolution of conjugate margin segments and corresponding sedimentary basins. By correlating megasequences in the basins to the plate model we produce a margin?scale tectono?stratigraphic framework comprising four phases of tectonic development. During Phase 1 (183-133 Ma) Madagascar/India/Antarctica separated from Africa, first by rifting and later, after breakup (at ca. 170-165 Ma), by seafloor spreading in the West Somali and Mozambique basins and dextral strike?slip movement on the Davie Fracture Zone. Mixed continental/marine syn?rift megasequences were deposited in rift basins followed by shallow?marine early postrift sequences. In Phase 2 (133-89 Ma) spreading ceased in the West Somali basin and Madagascar became fixed to the African plate. However, spreading continued between the African and Antarctic plates and deposition of the early postrift megasequence continued. The onset of spreading on the Mascarene Ridge separated India from Madagascar in Phase 3 (89-60 Ma). Phase 3 was characterized by the onset of deposition of the late postrift megasequence with continued deep marine sedimentation. At the onset of Phase 4 (60 Ma onward) spreading on the Mascarene ridge ceased and the Carlsberg Ridge propagated south to form the Central Indian Ridge, separating India from the Seychelles and the Mascarene Plateau. Late postrift deposition continued until a major unconformity linked to the development of the East African Rift System marked the change to deposition of the modern margin megasequence.
Abstract: Plate reconstruction studies show that the Neotethys Ocean was closing due to the convergence of Africa and Eurasia toward the end of the Cretaceous. The period around 75 Ma reflects the onset of continental collision between the two plates as convergence continued to be taken up mostly by subduction of the Neotethys slab beneath Eurasia. The Owen transform plate boundary in the northeast accommodated the fast northward motion of the Indian plate relative to the African plate. The rest of the plate was surrounded by mid-ocean ridges. Africa was experiencing continent-wide rifting related to northeast-southwest extension. We aim to quantify the forces and paleostresses that may have driven this continental extension. We use the latest plate kinematic reconstructions in a grid search to estimate horizontal gravitational stresses (HGSs), plate boundary forces, and the plate's interaction with the asthenosphere. The contribution of dynamic topography to HGSs is based on recent mantle convection studies. We model intraplate stresses and compare them with the strain observations. The fit to observations favors models where dynamic topography amplitudes are smaller than 300 m. The results also indicate that the net pull transmitted from slab to the surface African plate was low. To put this into context, we notice that available tectonic reconstructions show fragmented subduction zones and various colliding micro-continents along the northern margin of the African plate around this time. We therefore interpret a low net pull as resulting from either a small average slab length or from the micro-continents' resistance to subduction.
Abstract: Carbonatite and alkaline magma constitute one of the principal resources of rare metals (REE, Nb, Ti, Zr). Carbonatite rare metals enrichment is mainly considered as the result of hydrothermal or supergen processes. However, the magmatic processes linked to carbonatites genesis and differentiation are still debated and whether these processes can significantly impact on the rare metal concentrations remains unclear. Experimental studies have shown that immiscibility processes between carbonate and silicate melts can lead to both REE enrichments and depletions in carbonatites. Anionic species (F, Cl, P or S) and water may impact both melt compositions and expand the immiscibility gap. Morever, anionic species are assumed to play an important role in REE behaviour in carbonate melts [1]. Indeed, halogens may occur in carbonatites as immiscible salt melts in melt inclusions [2] and primary REE- fluoride minerals have been identified as magmatic phases in carbonatites. Such occurrences thus question on the role of salt (carbonate, phosphate, fluoride and chloride) melts in REE and other rare metals partitioning. F, Cl, P and also H2O may all significantly increase the window of primary REE enrichment in carbonatites. Here we present high pressure and high temperature experiments made in piston-cylinder (850 to 1050°C, 8kb) simulating the immiscibility between carbonate and differentiated alkaline melts. We added F, Cl, P and H2O in order to assess the effect of salts and water on the immiscibility gap and on the rare metals partitoning between carbonatite and evolved silicate melts. The partitioning data are analysed using LA-ICP-MS, nano-SIMS, FTIR and RAMAN. The characterization of rare metal partition coefficients allow to determine the relative importance of F, Cl, P and H2O on carbonatites rare metal enrichments at evolved magmatic stage.
Abstract: uncommon type of magmatic rocks dominates by carbonate, are broadly enriched in rare earth elements (REE) relative to the majority of igneous silicate rocks. While more than 500 carbonatites are referenced worldwide [1], only a few contain economic REE concentrations that are widely considered as resulting from late magmatic-hydrothermal or supergene processes. Magmatic pre-enrichment, linked to the igneous processes at the origin of carbonatites, are, however, likely to contribute to the REE fertilisation. Field observations [1] and experimental surveys [2, 3] suggest that a large part of the carbonatite melts can be produced as immiscible liquids with silicate magmas. Experimental constraints reveals that such immiscibility processes can lead to both REE enrichments and depletions in carbonatites [2, 3], making the magmatic processes controlling REE enrichments unclear. Here we present results of high-pressure and hightemperature experiments, simultaneously addressing crystal fractionation of alkaline magmas and immiscibility between carbonate and silicate melts. The experimental data reveal that the degree of differentiation, controlling the chemical composition of alkaline melts is a key factor ruling the REE concentration of the coexisting immiscible carbonatites. The parameterization of the experimental data together with the compilation of geochemical data from various alkaline provinces show that REE concentrations similar to those of highly REE enriched carbonatites (?REE > 30000 ppm) can be produced by immiscibility with phono-trachytic melt compositions, while more primitive alkaline magma can only be immiscible with carbonatites that are not significantly enriched in REE.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press available 57p. Pdf
Mantle
carbonatite
Abstract: Rare earth element (REE) enrichments in carbonatites are often described as resulting from late magmatic-hydrothermal or supergene processes. However, magmatic pre-enrichment linked to the igneous processes at the origin of carbonatites are likely to contribute to the REE fertilisation. Experimental constraints reveals that immiscibility processes between carbonate and silicate melts can lead to both REE enrichments and depletions in carbonatites making the magmatic processes controlling REE enrichments unclear.
We link REE contents of carbonatites to the magmatic stage at which carbonatites are separated from silicate magma in their course of differentiation. We present results of experiments made at pressure and temperature conditions of alkaline magmas and associated carbonatites differentiation (0.2-1.5 GPa; 725-975?°C; FMQ to FMQ?+?2.5), simultaneously addressing crystal fractionation of alkaline magmas and immiscibility between carbonate (calcio-carbonate type) and silicate melts (nephelinite to phonolite type). The experimental data shows that the degree of differentiation, controlling the chemical composition of alkaline melts, is a key factor ruling the REE concentration of the coexisting immiscible carbonate melts. In order to predict carbonate melt REE enrichments during alkaline magma differentiation, we performed a parameterisation of experimental data on immiscible silicate and carbonate melts, based exclusively on the silica content, the alumina saturation index and the alkali/alkaline-earth elements ratio of silicate melts. This parameterisation is applied to more than 1600 geochemical data of silicate magmas from various alkaline provinces (East African Rift, Canary and Cape Verde Islands) and show that REE concentrations of their potential coeval carbonatite melts can reach concentration ranges similar to those of highly REE enriched carbonatites (?REE?>?30 000?ppm) by immiscibility with phonolitic/phono-trachytic melt compositions, while more primitive alkaline magmas can only be immiscible with carbonatites that are not significantly enriched in REE.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 282, pp. 297-323.
Africa, East Africa
carbonatites
Abstract: Rare earth element (REE) enrichments in carbonatites are often described as resulting from late magmatic-hydrothermal or supergene processes. However, magmatic pre-enrichment linked to the igneous processes at the origin of carbonatites are likely to contribute to the REE fertilisation. Experimental constraints reveals that immiscibility processes between carbonate and silicate melts can lead to both REE enrichments and depletions in carbonatites making the magmatic processes controlling REE enrichments unclear.
We link REE contents of carbonatites to the magmatic stage at which carbonatites are separated from silicate magma in their course of differentiation. We present results of experiments made at pressure and temperature conditions of alkaline magmas and associated carbonatites differentiation (0.2-1.5 GPa; 725-975?°C; FMQ to FMQ?+?2.5), simultaneously addressing crystal fractionation of alkaline magmas and immiscibility between carbonate (calcio-carbonate type) and silicate melts (nephelinite to phonolite type). The experimental data shows that the degree of differentiation, controlling the chemical composition of alkaline melts, is a key factor ruling the REE concentration of the coexisting immiscible carbonate melts. In order to predict carbonate melt REE enrichments during alkaline magma differentiation, we performed a parameterisation of experimental data on immiscible silicate and carbonate melts, based exclusively on the silica content, the alumina saturation index and the alkali/alkaline-earth elements ratio of silicate melts. This parameterisation is applied to more than 1600 geochemical data of silicate magmas from various alkaline provinces (East African Rift, Canary and Cape Verde Islands) and show that REE concentrations of their potential coeval carbonatite melts can reach concentration ranges similar to those of highly REE enriched carbonatites (?REE?>?30 000?ppm) by immiscibility with phonolitic/phono-trachytic melt compositions, while more primitive alkaline magmas can only be immiscible with carbonatites that are not significantly enriched in REE.
Comptes Rendus Geoscience, Vol. 353, no S2, pp. 217-231.
Global
carbonatite
Abstract: Carbonatites host Earth’s main REE deposits, with bastnaesite (LREE)CO
F being the main economic REE-bearing mineral. However, bastnaesite mineralisation processes are debated between hydrothermal or magmatic origin. This study aims to assess if bastnaesite can be magmatic, and to characterise the REE behaviour during carbonatite crystallisation. Crystallisation experiments have been performed from 900 to 600 °C at 1 kbar, on a REE-rich calciocarbonatitic composition. REE-bearing calcite is the dominant crystallising mineral, driving the residual melt towards natrocarbonatitic compositions. Both halogens (i.e., Cl and F) and water decrease the temperature of calcite saturation. REE are slightly incompatible with calcite: for all REE, partition coefficients between carbonate melt and calcite are comprised between 1 and 11, and increase with temperature decrease. Britholite (REE, Ca) (Si,P)O) (F,OH) crystallises at high temperatures (700-900 °C), while pyrochlore (Ca,Na,REE) NbO (OH,F) crystallises at low temperatures (600-700 °C), as well as REE-rich apatite (600-650 °C). No bastnaesite is found in crystallisation experiments. We thus performed a bastnaesite saturation experiment at 600 °C. The bastnaesite-saturated melt contains 20 wt% of REE: such magmatic saturation is unlikely to happen in nature. Textural evidences imply a Na, Cl, REE-rich fluid at high temperatures and hydrous conditions. We propose that fluids are the main mineralising agent for bastnaesite at hydrothermal stage (600 °C).
Malaspina, N., Langenhorst, F., Fumagalli, P., Tumiati, S., Poli, S.
Fe 3+ distribution between garnet and pyroxenes in mantle wedge carbonate bearing garnet peridotites ( Sulu, China) and implications for their oxidation state.
Malaspina, N., Langenhorst, F., Fumagalli, P., Tumiati, S., Poli, S.
Fe 3 + distribution between garnet and pyroxenes in mantle wedge carbonate bearing garnet peridotites ( Sulu China) and implications for their oxidation state.
Geochemical Perspectives Letters, Vol. 4, pp. 19-23.
China
UHP
Abstract: Multiphase inclusions represent microenvironments where the interaction between fluid and host mineral is preserved during the rock geological path. Under its peculiar chemical-physical constraints, the entrapped solute-rich fluid might follow a crystallisation mechanism which is not predictable through simple equilibrium arguments. In this letter, by the modelling of solid-solution equilibrium and the application of principles of mass conservation, we demonstrate that cavities in mantle garnet filled with slab-derived fluids can re-equilibrate to a pyrope + spinel + chlorite assemblage at the same high P-T of their formation. The basis of this occurrence is a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism, triggered by a dilute, non-equilibrated slab fluid.
Journal of the Geological Society, doi.org/10.1144/jgs20`8-046 10p.
Mantle
metasomatism
Abstract: The valence of carbon is governed by the oxidation state of the host system. The subducted oceanic lithosphere contains considerable amounts of iron so that Fe3+/Fe2+ equilibria in mineral assemblages are able to buffer the (intensive) fO2 and the valence of carbon. Alternatively, carbon itself can be a carrier of (extensive) ‘excess oxygen’ when transferred from the slab to the mantle, prompting the oxidation of the sub-arc mantle. Therefore, the correct use of intensive and extensive variables to define the slab-to-mantle oxidation by C-bearing fluids is of primary importance when considering different fluid/rock ratios. Fluid-mediated processes at the slab-mantle interface can also be investigated experimentally. The presence of CO2 (or CH4 at highly reduced conditions) in aqueous COH fluids in peridotitic systems affects the positions of carbonation or decarbonation reactions and of the solidus. Some methods to produce and analyse COH fluid-saturated experiments in model systems are introduced, together with the measurement of experimental COH fluids composition in terms of volatiles and dissolved solutes. The role of COH fluids in the stability of hydrous and carbonate minerals is discussed comparing experimental results with thermodynamic models and the message of nature. The investigation of redox processes and the role of volatiles especially at the slab-mantle interface are crucial for depicting the framework of Earth carbon cycling. During the early stages of the Earth's history, the abundances of carbon and other volatiles in the different reservoirs were determined by the coupled evolution of the terrestrial magma ocean and the primitive atmosphere (Hier-Majumder & Hirschmann 2017). Since the Archean, the efficient deep subduction of organic carbon produced by photosynthesis could have promoted carbon burial in the mantle and an increase of atmospheric levels of oxygen through time (Duncan & Dasgupta 2017). In this picture the oxidation state of the mantle, mainly governed by Fe0 and Fe2+/Fe3+ ratios, and its dynamics played a key role in modulating the fO2 of the Earth's surface, leading to the precipitation of minerals in their oxidized forms such as carbonates (Sverjensky & Lee 2010; Andrault et al. 2018). Carbon at the modern terrestrial surface is largely divided between carbonates and organic deposits, with a total budget of 1?×?1023 g C, corresponding to about 100 ppm in the upper mantle (Porcelli & Pepin 2014). Recent estimates from volcanic degassing suggest that the carbon content in the modern deep mantle is even higher (c. 263 ppm; Anderson & Poland 2017; Barry 2017). In fact, the fate of carbonates and organic carbon in modern subduction zones is still largely unconstrained, although recent studies suggest that most of the subducted carbon, in the form of carbonates and organic matter, could be recycled back to the surface (Kelemen & Manning 2015). In this contribution we aim to introduce some basic principles regarding the importance of the use of intensive and extensive variables to define the ‘oxidation transfer’ from the slab to the overlying mantle by C-bearing fluids, and the buffering capacity of the mantle in the carbon speciation at subduction zones, both from the natural and experimental point of view.
Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol. 176, pp. 388-397.
Mantle
carbon
Abstract: The valence of carbon is governed by the oxidation state of the host system. The subducted oceanic lithosphere contains considerable amounts of iron so that Fe3+/Fe2+ equilibria in mineral assemblages are able to buffer the fO2 and the valence of carbon. Alternatively, carbon itself can be a carrier of redox budget when transferred from the slab to the mantle, prompting the oxidation of the sub-arc mantle. Also, the oxidation of sedimentary carbonaceous matter to CO2 in the slab could consume the available redox budget. Therefore, the correct use of intensive and extensive variables to define the slab-to-mantle redox budget by C-bearing fluids is of primary importance when considering different fluid/rock ratios. Fluid-mediated processes at the slab-mantle interface can be investigated also experimentally. The presence of CO2 (or CH4 at highly reduced conditions) in aqueous COH fluids in peridotitic systems affects the positions of carbonation/decarbonation reactions and of the solidus. Some methods to produce and analyse COH fluid-saturated experiments in model systems are introduced, together with the measurement of experimental COH fluids composition in terms of volatiles and dissolved solutes. The role of COH fluids in the stability of hydrous and carbonate minerals is discussed comparing experimental results with thermodynamic models.
The 4th Colloquium on Diamonds - source to use held Gabarone March 1-3, 2010, 18p.
Africa, Botswana
Deposit - Jwaneng
Abstract: Slope stability is a fundamental part of a successful mining operation. It impacts directly on the safety of personnel and the economics of the mine. The Jwaneng Mine in Botswana is planning a push back of 644m depth in the south east wall. Mining will commence in 2010 and be completed in 2024. This will put the mine in the deep pit category. The mine has invested in extensive geotechnical data gathering and design programs that started as far back as 2003 for the south east wall. The south east wail of Jwaneng Mine is characterized by foliation that dips adversely into the mining faces. The orienta1ion of the foliation is variable due to intense tectonic movements that have also caused the occurrence of faults that are sub-vertical. A considerable amount of information on the characteristics of structural patterns and the rock mass has been collected. This paper presents an overview of the feasibility level geotechnical design that is about to be concluded.
Journal of South American Earth Sciences, in press available, 16p. Pdf
South America, Brazil
geophysics
Abstract: Identification of mafic dike swarms and LIPs (Large Igneous Provinces) are of vital importance in geologic history because they provide information on geodynamics, mantle geochemistry, and paleomagnetism. These data provide key information for paleogeographic reconstructions with the aid of barcode matches and precise radiometric ages. Considering such issues, the Brazilian Precambrian shield can be used as a case for refining the cartography of the relevant intraplate activity (e.g., dikes, sills, flood basalts) in space and time. This work presents an updated map of Brazilian mafic dike swarms produced from airborne geophysical maps (Series 1000 - Geological Survey of Brazil). Linear and strong anomalies found on aeromagnetic maps using First Vertical Derivative of the Magnetic Field and Amplitude of the Analytic Signal were mapped on a GIS platform. The obtained data were compared to ternary radiometric maps and geological maps in order to exclude those that do not correspond to mafic dikes. The remaining structures - those believed to represent mafic dikes - were classified based on data compiled from the literature. The updated map exhibits more than 5000 elements, including dikes and magmatic suites, in which about 75% were geologically identified and divided into 60 dike swarms and 10 igneous suites and/or units. The dikes were grouped into sixteen extensional episodes from the Archean to the Cenozoic, although some are related to extension/transtension domains within regional compressive zones akin to orogenic settings. The most frequent records refer to the Proterozoic, representing intraplate episodes, some of them consistent with LIPs. The dataset also includes a large record of the Mesozoic age, which corresponds to major LIP events related to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and the fragmentation of Gondwana.
European Journal of Mineralogy, Vol. 31, pp. 13-143.
Russia, Kola Peninsula
deposit - Khibiny
Abstract: The new mineral alexkhomyakovite K6(Ca2Na)(CO3)5Cl?6H2O (IMA2015-013) occurs in a peralkaline pegmatite at Mt. Koashva, Khibiny alkaline complex, Kola peninsula, Russia. It is a hydrothermal mineral associated with villiaumite, natrite, potassic feldspar, pectolite, sodalite, biotite, lamprophyllite, titanite, fluorapatite, wadeite, burbankite, rasvumite, djerfisherite, molybdenite and an incompletely characterized Na-Ca silicate. Alexkhomyakovite occurs as equant grains up to 0.2 mm, veinlets up to 3 cm long and up to 1 mm thick and fine-grained aggregates replacing delhayelite. Alexkhomyakovite is transparent to translucent, colourless, white or grey, with vitreous to greasy lustre. It is brittle, the Mohs hardness is ca. 3. No cleavage was observed, the fracture is uneven. D meas = 2.25(1), D calc = 2.196 g cm?3. Alexkhomyakovite is optically uniaxial (-), ? = 1.543(2), ? = 1.476(2). The infrared spectrum is reported. The chemical composition [wt%, electron microprobe data, CO2 and H2O contents calculated for 5 (CO3) and 6 (H2O) per formula unit (pfu), respectively] is: Na2O 4.09, K2O 35.72, CaO 14.92, MnO 0.01, FeO 0.02, SO3 0.11, Cl 4.32, CO2 28.28, H2O 13.90, -O=Cl -0.98, total 100.39. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 9 metal cations pfu is K5.90Ca2.07Na1.03(CO3)5(SO4)0.01O0.05Cl0.95?6H2O. The numbers of CO3 groups and H2O molecules are based on structure data. Alexkhomyakovite is hexagonal, P63/mcm, a = 9.2691(2), c = 15.8419(4) Å, V = 1178.72(5) Å3 and Z = 2. The strongest reflections of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d Å(I)(hkl)] are: 7.96(27)(002), 3.486(35)(113), 3.011(100)(114), 2.977(32)(211), 2.676(36)(300), 2.626(42)(213, 115), 2.206(26)(311) and 1.982(17)(008). The crystal structure (solved from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, R = 0.0578) is unique. It is based on (001) heteropolyhedral layers of pentagonal bipyramids (Ca,Na)O5(H2O)2 interconnected via carbonate groups of two types, edge-sharing ones and vertex-sharing ones. Ca and Na are disordered. Ten-fold coordinated K cations centre KO6Cl(H2O)3 polyhedra on either side of the heteropolyhedral layer. A third type of carbonate group and Cl occupy the interlayer. The mineral is named in honour of the outstanding Russian mineralogist Alexander Petrovich Khomyakov (1933-2012).
Abstract: here are three major reservoirs for carbon in the Earth at the present time, the core, the mantle, and the continental crust. The carbon in the continental crust is mainly in carbonates (limestones, marbles, etc.). In this paper we consider the origin of the carbonates. In 1952, Harold Urey proposed that calcium silicates produced by erosion reacted with atmospheric CO2 to produce carbonates, this is now known as the Urey reaction. In this paper we first address how the Urey reaction could have scavenged a significant mass of crustal carbon from the early atmosphere. At the present time the Urey reaction controls the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. The CO2 enters the atmosphere by volcanism and is lost to the continental crust through the Urey reaction. We address this process in some detail. We then consider the decay of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM). We quantify how the Urey reaction removes an injection of CO2 into the atmosphere. A typical decay time is 100 000 yr but depends on the variable rate of the Urey reaction.
Comptes Rendus Geoscience, Vol. 353, no S2, pp. 233-272. pdf
Global
carbonatites
Abstract: This study presents new insights into the effects of halogens (F and Cl) and phosphorous (P) on rare earth element (REE) partitioning between carbonatite and alkaline silicate melts. F, Cl and P are elements that are abundant in carbonatites and alkaline magmatic systems and they are considered to play an important role on the REE behaviour. Nonetheless, their effect on REE partitioning between carbonate and alkaline silicate melts has not yet been constrained. Here we present new experimental data on REE partitioning between carbonate and alkaline silicate melts doped in F, Cl and P, in order to (1) test the Nabyl et al. [2020] REE partitioning model in F-, Cl- and P-rich systems, and (2) identify the possible role of F, Cl and P in carbonate melt REE enrichments during alkaline–carbonatite magma differentiation. The experiments were performed at 850–1050 °C and 0.8 GPa using piston-cylinder devices. Starting materials consisted of carbonatite and phonolite compositions doped in F, Cl and P. The experimental results show that REE partitioning is similar in F-Cl-P-rich and -poor systems. The silicate melt composition and its molecular structure (i.e. SiO contents, the alumina saturation index and the alkali/alkaline-earth element ratio), which have already been identified as controlling REE partitioning in F-, Cl- and P-poor systems, still operate in doped systems. No direct effect of the F, Cl or P melt concentrations on REE partitioning has been identified. We also propose an application to natural systems.
Abstract: The permafrost zone is expected to be a substantial carbon source to the atmosphere, yet large-scale models currently only simulate gradual changes in seasonally thawed soil. Abrupt thaw will probably occur in <20% of the permafrost zone but could affect half of permafrost carbon through collapsing ground, rapid erosion and landslides. Here, we synthesize the best available information and develop inventory models to simulate abrupt thaw impacts on permafrost carbon balance. Emissions across 2.5?million?km2 of abrupt thaw could provide a similar climate feedback as gradual thaw emissions from the entire 18?million?km2 permafrost region under the warming projection of Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5. While models forecast that gradual thaw may lead to net ecosystem carbon uptake under projections of Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, abrupt thaw emissions are likely to offset this potential carbon sink. Active hillslope erosional features will occupy 3% of abrupt thaw terrain by 2300 but emit one-third of abrupt thaw carbon losses. Thaw lakes and wetlands are methane hot spots but their carbon release is partially offset by slowly regrowing vegetation. After considering abrupt thaw stabilization, lake drainage and soil carbon uptake by vegetation regrowth, we conclude that models considering only gradual permafrost thaw are substantially underestimating carbon emissions from thawing permafrost.
From subcalcic pyropes to uvarovites: experimental crystalllization of Cr-rich garnets in ultramafic systems with presence of Ca bearing hydrous fluid.
European Journal of Mineralogy, Vol. 28, pp. 329-336.
Russia
Deposit - Udachnaya
Abstract: An experimental simulation of serpentine and chromite interaction was conducted at the pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions of garnet-peridotite stability in order to clarify the potential role of serpentinite as a source for the crystallization of subcalcic garnet in the depleted subcratonic mantle. The experiments were performed at 4 GPa and 1100 C and 5.5 GPa and 1200 C using the high-pressure apparatus BARS. Natural antigorite from ophiolites of the Eastern Sayan (Russia) was used as a starting material. Two groups of chromite grains with different Cr# ¼ 100Cr/(Cr þ Al) ratios (from spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe, Yakutia) were added to the antigorite. Newly formed garnet, spinel, olivine and orthopyroxene were observed as the products in the experiments. Garnet formed only around chromite grains with the lower Cr# value (46.4). Garnet has low CaO contents (,0.05 -1.10 wt.%) with chromium contents showing wide intra- and inter-grain variations (Cr# ¼ 0.7 -33.5). The Cr content increases from core to rim with the outer zones corresponding most closely to the equilibrium composition of the relevant bulk composition. The garnet total FeO content is in the range 3.4 -5.8 wt.%. The experiments demonstrate that serpentinite decomposed at a temperature of 700 C to olivine þ orthopyroxene þ water. If mingled mechanically with spinel-bearing mantlewedge peridotite upon subduction, it could react to form the range of subcalcic garnet compositions found as inclusions in diamonds.
Precamrbian terranes in the southwestern framing of the Siberian craton: isotopic provinces, stages of crustal evolution and accretion collision events.
Russian Geology and Geophysics, Vol. 48, pp. 61-70.
Russian Geology and Geophysics, Vol. 56, pp. 978-995.
Mantle
Subduction
Abstract: The Hadean and Archean geologic history of the Earth is discussed in the context of available knowledge from different sources: space physics and comparative planetology; isotope geochronology; geology and petrology of Archean greenstone belts (GB) and tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) complexes; and geodynamic modeling review to analyse plate-tectonic, plume activity, and impact processes. Correlation between the age peaks of terrestrial Hadean-Early Archean zircons and late heavy bombardment events on the Moon, as well as the Hf isotope composition of zircons indicating their mostly mafic sources, hint to an important role of impact processes in the Earth’s history between 4.4 and 3.8 Ga. The earliest continental crust (TTG complexes) formed at 4.2 Ga (Acasta gneisses), while its large-scale recycling left imprint in Hf isotope signatures after 3.75 Ga. The associations and geochemistry of rocks suggest that Archean greenstone belts formed in settings of rifting, ocean floor spreading, subduction, and plume magmatism generally similar to the present respective processes. The Archean history differed in the greater extent of rocks derived from mantle plumes (komatiites and basalts), boninites, and adakites as well as in shorter subduction cycles recorded in alternation of typical calc-alkaline andesite-dacite-rhyolite and adakite series that were generated in a hotter mantle with more turbulent convection and unsteady subduction. The Archean is interpreted as a transient period of small plate tectonics.
A Hawaiian beginning for the Iceland plume: modelling of reconnaissance dat a for olivine hosted melt inclusions in Palaeogene picrite lavas East Greenland.
Abstract: The graphite-to-diamond transformation under shock compression has been of broad scientific interest since 1961. The formation of hexagonal diamond (HD) is of particular interest because it is expected to be harder than cubic diamond and due to its use in terrestrial sciences as a marker at meteorite impact sites. However, the formation of diamond having a fully hexagonal structure continues to be questioned and remains unresolved. Using real-time (nanosecond), in situ x-ray diffraction measurements, we show unequivocally that highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, shock-compressed along the c axis to 50 GPa, transforms to highly oriented elastically strained HD with the (100)HD plane parallel to the graphite basal plane. These findings contradict recent molecular dynamics simulation results for the shock-induced graphite-to-diamond transformation and provide a benchmark for future theoretical simulations. Additionally, our results show that an earlier report of HD forming only above 170 GPa for shocked pyrolytic graphite may lead to incorrect interpretations of meteorite impact events.
Diamond Bearing Upper Karoo Fluvial Sediments in Northeast Swaziland.
Paper Presented Institute of Mining And Metallurgy. And British Geomorphological R, Nov. 15TH. LONDON, ABSTRACT IN Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (IMM) Bulletin. No. 934, P.9.
43rd Annual Yellowknife Geoscience Forum Abstracts, abstract p. 65.
Canada, Northwest Territories
Geomorphology
Abstract: The Northwest Territories Geological Survey recently funded a strategic overburden drilling program in the Lac de Gras (NTS 076D) and Alymer Lake (NTS 076C) map areas of the Slave Province, Northwest Territories. This program was designed to help stimulate mineral exploration, and to collect permafrost and geotechnical data required for future infrastructure development. To provide guidance for the drill program and a basis for interpreting the results, we compiled, analyzed and interpreted an unprecedented collection of privately-collected and public data. The data set included extensive LiDAR-derived hillshade models; regional surficial and bedrock geology mapping; and mineralogical, geochemical, grain size and sample description data from surface sediment (till) samples. Our systematic mapping of the LiDAR coverage area resulted in the identification of 649 linear features, including eskers, meltwater channels, moraines, paleo-shorelines and streamlined bedforms, which strengthened understanding of local ice flow histories and patterns of deglaciation. Based on a comprehensive review and re-evaluation of the data, we identified six important trends: (1) samples collected from till blankets have lower indicator mineral counts than those collected from till veneers and thick, hummocky till deposits; (2) indicator mineral counts from glaciofluvial sediments were lower and show more subtle anomalies than those from till; (3) the =0.5 mm size-fraction in the mineralogy data set has ~25-40% higher indicator mineral counts than the >0.5 mm size-fraction; (4) when comparing the analytical results of different size fractions, Cr and La concentrations are higher in the clay-sized fraction, while Ba concentrations are higher in the silt- and clay-sized fraction; (5) anomalous Au concentrations in the northern portion of the study area likely represent a lithological change and subsequent glacial dispersion, rather than significant mineralization; and (6) local variations in pyrope and Cr-diopside counts in the study area may affect interpretations of kimberlite indicator mineral dispersal plumes. We also delineated 60 areas of interest that present unique research opportunities, or represent important data gaps that compromise the understanding of glacial history, mineral dispersal and permafrost conditions within the region.
Abstract: Concentrations of H2O, F, Cl, C, P, and S have been measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in experimentally produced peridotite phases (including clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, olivine, garnet, amphibole, and mica) and coexisting basanitic glasses. Because only two experiments produced glasses on quenching (with the melt phase in others reverting to felt-like crystallite masses) H2O concentrations in melts were also separately determined from mass-balance relationships and by assuming constant H2O/La in melts and starting materials. The resulting values were used to calculate mineral/melt partition coefficients (D values) for H2O [where DH2Ocrystal/melt = (mass fraction of H2O in crystal)/(mass fraction of H2O in melt)] for conditions of 1025-1190 °C and 1.0-3.5 GPa. These gave 0.0064-0.0164 for clinopyroxene, 0.0046-0.0142 for orthopyroxene, 0.0015-0.0016 for olivine, and 0.0016-0.0022 for garnet. Although less information was obtained for the other volatiles, F was found to be significantly more compatible than H2O during peridotite melting, whereas Cl is significantly less compatible. S also has small but appreciable solubilities in amphiboles and micas, but not in pyroxenes or olivine. The solubility of C in silicate minerals appears to be negligible, although C was present in coexisting melts (~0.5 wt% as CO2) and as residual graphite during experiments. The D values for H2O in clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene are positively correlated with ivAl but negatively correlated with the H2O concentrations of melts (when considered as wt%). These relationships are consistent with the broad trends of previously published partitioning data. Although some of the concentration dependence can be related to cross-correlation between ivAl in pyroxenes and H2O concentrations in melts (via the latter’s control of liquidus temperatures) this relationship is too inconsistent to be a complete explanation. A concentration dependence for DH2Omineral/melt can also be independently predicted from speciation models for H2O in silicate melts. Thus it is likely that DH2Opyx/melt is influenced by both ivAl and the absolute concentration of H2O in melts. DH2O/DCe for clinopyroxene is inversely correlated with M2 site radii. Because the latter decrease with increasing pressure and temperature, relatively hot and/or deeply derived melts should be enriched in Ce relative to H2O when compared to melts from cooler and shallower mantle sources. Conversely, melts from H2O-rich settings (e.g., subduction zones) should have higher H2O/Ce than their source rocks. When combined with previously obtained partitioning data for non-volatile elements (from the same experiments), our data are consistent with the enrichment of intraplate basalt sources in both volatile and non-volatile incompatible elements by small-degree melts derived from local mid-ocean ridge basalt sources. In this way, volatiles can be seen to play an active role (via their promotion of partial-melting and metasomatic processes) in the auto-regulation of incompatible element concentrations in the depleted upper mantle.
Abstract: One poorly constrained reservoir of the Earth's water budget is that of clinopyroxene in metasomatised, mantle peridotites. This study presents reconnaissance Sensitive High-Resolution, Ion Microprobe–Stable Isotope (SHRIMP–SI) determinations of the H2O contents of (dominantly) clinopyroxenes in rare mantle xenoliths from four different subduction zones, i.e. Mexico, Kamchatka, Philippines, and New Britain (Tabar-Feni island chain) as well as one intra-plate setting (western Victoria). All of the sub-arc xenoliths have been metasomatised and carry strong arc trace element signatures. Average measured H2O contents of the pyroxenes range from 70 ppm to 510?ppm whereas calculated bulk H2O contents range from 88 ppm to 3?737?ppm if the variable presence of amphibole is taken into account. In contrast, the intra-plate, continental mantle xenolith from western Victoria has higher water contents (3?447?ppm) but was metasomatised by alkali and/or carbonatitic melts and does not carry a subduction-related signature. Material similar to the sub-arc peridotites can either be accreted to the base of the lithosphere or potentially be transported by convection deeper into the mantle where it will lose water due to amphibole breakdown.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, doi.org/10.1016/ j.pepi.2-19.106325 54p. Pdf
Mantle
melting
Abstract: It has long been inferred that mantle metasomatism and the incompatible element enrichment of the continents both require movement of melts formed by very low degree melting of the mantle. Yet establishing the presence of these melts and whether this process is on-going and continuous, or spatially and temporally restricted, has proved difficult. Here we report large U-Th-Ra disequilibria in metasomatised, mantle xenoliths erupted in very young lavas from the Newer Volcanics Province in southeastern Australia. The 226Ra-230Th disequilibria appear to require reappraisal of previous estimates for the age of eruption that now seems unlikely to be more than a few kyr at most. We propose that infiltration of carbonatitic melts/fluids, combined with crystallization of pargasite, can account for the first order U-series disequilibria observations. Irrespective of the exact details of the complex processes responsible, the half-lives of the nuclides require that some of the chemical and isotopic disturbance was extremely young (« 8?kyr) and potentially on-going at the time of incorporation into the alkali basalts that transported the xenoliths to the surface. This provides evidence for the presence and possibly continuing migration of small melt fractions (~0.02%) in the upper convecting mantle that may contribute to the seismic low velocity zone. By implication, it appears that the asthenosphere must lie close to its solidus, at least in this region. Pressure-temperature estimates indicate that the small degree melts identified could infiltrate as far as 25?km upwards into the sub-continental lithospheric mantle leading to strong incompatible element enrichment and the recent timing of this event this urges a reappraisal of the meaning of 300-500?Ma Nd model ages in mantle xenoliths from this region. In principle, the resultant metasomatised mantle could provide a component for some ocean island basalts, should the sub-continental lithospheric mantle be returned to the asthenosphere by convective removal at some later time.
Abstract: Inclusions can tell us a great deal about a diamond’s formation history. Inclusions such as olivine, garnet, and chromite are more common, while others such as kyanite, zircon, and corundum (Al2O3) can be quite rare. Regardless of their rarity, diamond inclusions are often quite fascinating as they trap a small bit of the deep earth that cannot otherwise be sampled.
Abstract: Concentrations of H2O, F, Cl, C, P, and S have been measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in experimentally produced peridotite phases (including clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, olivine, garnet, amphibole, and mica) and coexisting basanitic glasses. Because only two experiments produced glasses on quenching (with the melt phase in others reverting to felt-like crystallite masses) H2O concentrations in melts were also separately determined from mass-balance relationships and by assuming constant H2O/La in melts and starting materials. The resulting values were used to calculate mineral/melt partition coefficients (D values) for H2O [where DH2Ocrystal/melt = (mass fraction of H2O in crystal)/(mass fraction of H2O in melt)] for conditions of 1025-1190 °C and 1.0-3.5 GPa. These gave 0.0064-0.0164 for clinopyroxene, 0.0046-0.0142 for orthopyroxene, 0.0015-0.0016 for olivine, and 0.0016-0.0022 for garnet. Although less information was obtained for the other volatiles, F was found to be significantly more compatible than H2O during peridotite melting, whereas Cl is significantly less compatible. S also has small but appreciable solubilities in amphiboles and micas, but not in pyroxenes or olivine. The solubility of C in silicate minerals appears to be negligible, although C was present in coexisting melts (~0.5 wt% as CO2) and as residual graphite during experiments. The D values for H2O in clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene are positively correlated with ivAl but negatively correlated with the H2O concentrations of melts (when considered as wt%). These relationships are consistent with the broad trends of previously published partitioning data. Although some of the concentration dependence can be related to cross-correlation between ivAl in pyroxenes and H2O concentrations in melts (via the latter’s control of liquidus temperatures) this relationship is too inconsistent to be a complete explanation. A concentration dependence for DH2Omineral/melt can also be independently predicted from speciation models for H2O in silicate melts. Thus it is likely that DH2Opyx/melt is influenced by both ivAl and the absolute concentration of H2O in melts. DH2O/DCe for clinopyroxene is inversely correlated with M2 site radii. Because the latter decrease with increasing pressure and temperature, relatively hot and/or deeply derived melts should be enriched in Ce relative to H2O when compared to melts from cooler and shallower mantle sources. Conversely, melts from H2O-rich settings (e.g., subduction zones) should have higher H2O/Ce than their source rocks. When combined with previously obtained partitioning data for non-volatile elements (from the same experiments), our data are consistent with the enrichment of intraplate basalt sources in both volatile and non-volatile incompatible elements by small-degree melts derived from local mid-ocean ridge basalt sources. In this way, volatiles can be seen to play an active role (via their promotion of partial-melting and metasomatic processes) in the auto-regulation of incompatible element concentrations in the depleted upper mantle.
Abstract: One poorly constrained reservoir of the Earth's water budget is that of clinopyroxene in metasomatised, mantle peridotites. This study presents reconnaissance Sensitive High-Resolution, Ion Microprobe–Stable Isotope (SHRIMP–SI) determinations of the H2O contents of (dominantly) clinopyroxenes in rare mantle xenoliths from four different subduction zones, i.e. Mexico, Kamchatka, Philippines, and New Britain (Tabar-Feni island chain) as well as one intra-plate setting (western Victoria). All of the sub-arc xenoliths have been metasomatised and carry strong arc trace element signatures. Average measured H2O contents of the pyroxenes range from 70 ppm to 510?ppm whereas calculated bulk H2O contents range from 88 ppm to 3?737?ppm if the variable presence of amphibole is taken into account. In contrast, the intra-plate, continental mantle xenolith from western Victoria has higher water contents (3?447?ppm) but was metasomatised by alkali and/or carbonatitic melts and does not carry a subduction-related signature. Material similar to the sub-arc peridotites can either be accreted to the base of the lithosphere or potentially be transported by convection deeper into the mantle where it will lose water due to amphibole breakdown.
Abstract: The development of plate tectonics from a pre-plate tectonics regime requires both the initiation of subduction and the development of nascent subduction zones into long-lived contiguous features. Subduction itself has been shown to be sensitive to system parameters such as thermal state and the specific rheology. While generally it has been shown that cold-interior high-Rayleigh-number convection (such as on the Earth today) favours plates and subduction, due to the ability of the interior stresses to couple with the lid, a given system may or may not have plate tectonics depending on its initial conditions. This has led to the idea that there is a strong history dependence to tectonic evolution—and the details of tectonic transitions, including whether they even occur, may depend on the early history of a planet. However, intrinsic convective stresses are not the only dynamic drivers of early planetary evolution. Early planetary geological evolution is dominated by volcanic processes and impacting. These have rarely been considered in thermal evolution models. Recent models exploring the details of plate tectonic initiation have explored the effect of strong thermal plumes or large impacts on surface tectonism, and found that these ‘primary drivers’ can initiate subduction, and, in some cases, over-ride the initial state of the planet. The corollary of this, of course, is that, in the absence of such ongoing drivers, existing or incipient subduction systems under early Earth conditions might fail. The only detailed planetary record we have of this development comes from Earth, and is restricted by the limited geological record of its earliest history. Many recent estimates have suggested an origin of plate tectonics at approximately 3.0?Ga, inferring a monotonically increasing transition from pre-plates, through subduction initiation, to continuous subduction and a modern plate tectonic regime around that time. However, both numerical modelling and the geological record itself suggest a strong nonlinearity in the dynamics of the transition, and it has been noted that the early history of Archaean greenstone belts and trondhjemite-tonalite-granodiorite record many instances of failed subduction. Here, we explore the history of subduction failure on the early Earth, and couple these with insights from numerical models of the geodynamic regime at the time.
Abstract: The development of plate tectonics from a pre-plate tectonics regime requires both the initiation of subduction and the development of nascent subduction zones into long-lived contiguous features. Subduction itself has been shown to be sensitive to system parameters such as thermal state and the specific rheology. While generally it has been shown that cold-interior high-Rayleigh-number convection (such as on the Earth today) favours plates and subduction, due to the ability of the interior stresses to couple with the lid, a given system may or may not have plate tectonics depending on its initial conditions. This has led to the idea that there is a strong history dependence to tectonic evolution—and the details of tectonic transitions, including whether they even occur, may depend on the early history of a planet. However, intrinsic convective stresses are not the only dynamic drivers of early planetary evolution. Early planetary geological evolution is dominated by volcanic processes and impacting. These have rarely been considered in thermal evolution models. Recent models exploring the details of plate tectonic initiation have explored the effect of strong thermal plumes or large impacts on surface tectonism, and found that these ‘primary drivers’ can initiate subduction, and, in some cases, over-ride the initial state of the planet. The corollary of this, of course, is that, in the absence of such ongoing drivers, existing or incipient subduction systems under early Earth conditions might fail. The only detailed planetary record we have of this development comes from Earth, and is restricted by the limited geological record of its earliest history. Many recent estimates have suggested an origin of plate tectonics at approximately 3.0?Ga, inferring a monotonically increasing transition from pre-plates, through subduction initiation, to continuous subduction and a modern plate tectonic regime around that time. However, both numerical modelling and the geological record itself suggest a strong nonlinearity in the dynamics of the transition, and it has been noted that the early history of Archaean greenstone belts and trondhjemite-tonalite-granodiorite record many instances of failed subduction. Here, we explore the history of subduction failure on the early Earth, and couple these with insights from numerical models of the geodynamic regime at the time.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, doi.org/10.1016/ j.pepi.2-19.106325 54p. Pdf
Mantle
melting
Abstract: It has long been inferred that mantle metasomatism and the incompatible element enrichment of the continents both require movement of melts formed by very low degree melting of the mantle. Yet establishing the presence of these melts and whether this process is on-going and continuous, or spatially and temporally restricted, has proved difficult. Here we report large U-Th-Ra disequilibria in metasomatised, mantle xenoliths erupted in very young lavas from the Newer Volcanics Province in southeastern Australia. The 226Ra-230Th disequilibria appear to require reappraisal of previous estimates for the age of eruption that now seems unlikely to be more than a few kyr at most. We propose that infiltration of carbonatitic melts/fluids, combined with crystallization of pargasite, can account for the first order U-series disequilibria observations. Irrespective of the exact details of the complex processes responsible, the half-lives of the nuclides require that some of the chemical and isotopic disturbance was extremely young (« 8?kyr) and potentially on-going at the time of incorporation into the alkali basalts that transported the xenoliths to the surface. This provides evidence for the presence and possibly continuing migration of small melt fractions (~0.02%) in the upper convecting mantle that may contribute to the seismic low velocity zone. By implication, it appears that the asthenosphere must lie close to its solidus, at least in this region. Pressure-temperature estimates indicate that the small degree melts identified could infiltrate as far as 25?km upwards into the sub-continental lithospheric mantle leading to strong incompatible element enrichment and the recent timing of this event this urges a reappraisal of the meaning of 300-500?Ma Nd model ages in mantle xenoliths from this region. In principle, the resultant metasomatised mantle could provide a component for some ocean island basalts, should the sub-continental lithospheric mantle be returned to the asthenosphere by convective removal at some later time.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 49, pp. 37-70.
Mantle
subduction
Abstract: Volatile elements (water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, halogens, and noble gases) played an essential role in the secular evolution of the solid Earth and emergence of life. Here we provide an overview of Earth's volatile inventories and describe the mechanisms by which volatiles are conveyed between Earth's surface and mantle reservoirs, via subduction and volcanism. Using literature data, we compute volatile concentration and flux estimates for Earth's major volatile reservoirs and provide an internally balanced assessment of modern global volatile recycling. Using a nitrogen isotope box model, we show that recycling of N (and possibly C and S) likely began before 2 Ga and that ingassing fluxes have remained roughly constant since this time. In contrast, our model indicates recycling of H2O(and most likely noble gases) was less efficient in the past. This suggests a decoupling of major volatile species during subduction through time, which we attribute to the evolving thermal regime of subduction zones and the different stabilities of the carrier phases hosting each volatile. This review provides an overview of Earth's volatile inventory and the mechanisms by which volatiles are transferred between Earth reservoirs via subduction. The review frames the current thinking regarding how Earth acquired its original volatile inventory and subsequently evolved through subduction processes and volcanism.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 584, 13p. 117424
Mantle
subduction
Abstract: Hydrous arc magmas are produced when water-bearing materials from subducted oceanic plates are transported to the mantle beneath volcanic arcs, though the mechanism of mass transport remains debated. The geochemical characteristics of the slab component have important implications for the thermal structures of down-going plates and the fluxes of elements into the deep mantle. If slab temperatures are low, then elemental fluxes from the slab will be carried in a dilute fluid. If temperatures are high, the slab may melt instead. While a long-standing paradigm for arc volcanism has been that sediments melt and ocean crust dehydrates, a growing body of evidence from arc geochemistry and experimental petrology suggests both sediment and ocean crust melt. The low solubility of many elements in aqueous fluids prevents them from making a substantial contribution to arc mass-balance. Constraints from Sr concentrations and 87Sr/86Sr ratios require a large flux of Sr from the ocean crust, which is only possible if the crust melts. H2O/Sr ratios of arc volcanics are also inconsistent with slab fluids. These conclusions are supported by thermo-mechanical models indicating that slab temperatures exceed the hydrous solidus for both ocean crust and sediments. Examination of experimental data shows a likely strong effect of oxygen fugacity on residual phases during slab melting. Arc data are best explained if the ocean crust melts beneath all arcs under oxidizing conditions somewhere between FMQ and NNO+2. Experimental constraints on sediments also require melting and that sediment melt compositions depend on bulk composition as well as temperature. If these experiments serve as analogs to sediment melting beneath arcs, then sediment bulk compositions are a necessary input for any rare earth element-based slab thermometer. We present compositions for ocean crust partial melts and partition coefficients for sediment melting based on existing experiments, physical models, and arc data, that can be used in geochemical models of arc volcanism.
Geochemical comparison between minettes and kersantites from the Western European Hercynian orogen-trace element and lead Sr neodymium isotope constraints on their origin
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 87, No. 1-2, January pp. 73-86
Abstract: We present geochemical and isotopic (Nd, Sr) data for a picrite lava suite from the Luenha River and adjacent areas in Mozambique. The Luenha picrites represent a previously unknown type of picrites related to the Karoo large igneous province (LIP) and are distinguished by their notably low TiO2 contents (0.3-1.0?wt%) and coupling of high Nb/Y with low Zr/Y and Sm/Yb. Relatively high CaO and low Zn/Fe point to a peridotitic mantle source. Contamination-sensitive incompatible element ratios show that one lava flow is likely to be uncontaminated by the crust and its composition suggests a mantle source with primitive mantle-like incompatible element ratios and mildly depleted isotopic ratios (initial 87Sr/86Sr?=?0.7041 and ?Nd?=?+1.4 at 180?Ma). The primary melts of the Luenha picrites had MgO contents in the range of 13-21?wt%. Our preferred estimate for a primary melt composition (MgO?=?18?wt%) resembles experimental melts of fertile mantle peridotite at 3-4?GPa and indicates liquidus temperature of 1445-1582?°C. Geochemical similarities suggest the Luenha picrites were generated from the same overall primitive mantle-like reservoir that produced the main volume of Karoo flood basalts in the Karoo, Kalahari, and Zambezi basins, whereas the previously identified enriched and depleted (upper) mantle sources of Karoo picrite suites (Mwenezi, Antarctica) were subordinate sources for flood basalts. We propose that the Luenha picrites record melting of a hot, chemically primitive mantle plume source that may have been rooted in the sub-African large low shear velocity province boundary and that such a source might have been the most significant magma source in the Karoo LIP.
Abstract: We present geochemical and isotopic (Nd, Sr) data for a picrite lava suite from the Luenha River and adjacent areas in Mozambique. The Luenha picrites represent a previously unknown type of picrites related to the Karoo large igneous province (LIP) and are distinguished by their notably low TiO2 contents (0.3-1.0?wt%) and coupling of high Nb/Y with low Zr/Y and Sm/Yb. Relatively high CaO and low Zn/Fe point to a peridotitic mantle source. Contamination-sensitive incompatible element ratios show that one lava flow is likely to be uncontaminated by the crust and its composition suggests a mantle source with primitive mantle-like incompatible element ratios and mildly depleted isotopic ratios (initial 87Sr/86Sr?=?0.7041 and ?Nd?=?+1.4 at 180?Ma). The primary melts of the Luenha picrites had MgO contents in the range of 13-21?wt%. Our preferred estimate for a primary melt composition (MgO?=?18?wt%) resembles experimental melts of fertile mantle peridotite at 3-4?GPa and indicates liquidus temperature of 1445-1582?°C. Geochemical similarities suggest the Luenha picrites were generated from the same overall primitive mantle-like reservoir that produced the main volume of Karoo flood basalts in the Karoo, Kalahari, and Zambezi basins, whereas the previously identified enriched and depleted (upper) mantle sources of Karoo picrite suites (Mwenezi, Antarctica) were subordinate sources for flood basalts. We propose that the Luenha picrites record melting of a hot, chemically primitive mantle plume source that may have been rooted in the sub-African large low shear velocity province boundary and that such a source might have been the most significant magma source in the Karoo LIP.
Mineralogy and Petrology, 10.1007/ s00710-018- 0589-4, 14p.
Africa, South Africa, Canada, Northwest Territories, Ontario
deposit - Venetia, Voorspoed, Gahcho Kue, Victor, Snap Lake
Abstract: De Beers kimberlite mine operations in South Africa (Venetia and Voorspoed) and Canada (Gahcho Kué, Victor, and Snap Lake) have the potential to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) through weathering of kimberlite mine tailings, which can store carbon in secondary carbonate minerals (mineral carbonation). Carbonation of ca. 4.7 to 24.0 wt% (average?=?13.8 wt%) of annual processed kimberlite production could offset 100% of each mine site’s carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions. Minerals of particular interest for reactivity with atmospheric or waste CO2 from energy production include serpentine minerals, olivine (forsterite), brucite, and smectite. The most abundant minerals, such as serpentine polymorphs, provide the bulk of the carbonation potential. However, the detection of minor amounts of highly reactive brucite in tailings from Victor, as well as the likely presence of brucite at Venetia, Gahcho Kué, and Snap Lake, is also important for the mineral carbonation potential of the mine sites.
Methods and Applications in Flouresence, Vol. 8, 1, 01404 htpp:dx.doi.org/10.1088/2050-6120/ab4eac
Global
luminescence
Abstract: We report a multidimensional luminescence microscope providing hyperspectral imaging and time-resolved (luminescence lifetime) imaging for the study of luminescent diamond defects. The instrument includes crossed-polariser white light transmission microscopy to reveal any birefringence that would indicate strain in the diamond lattice. We demonstrate the application of this new instrument to detect defects in natural and synthetic diamonds including N3, nitrogen and silicon vacancies. Hyperspectral imaging provides contrast that is not apparent in conventional intensity images and the luminescence lifetime provides further contrast.
Abstract: Engineering coherent systems is a central goal of quantum science. Color centers in diamond are a promising approach, with the potential to combine the coherence of atoms with the scalability of a solid-state platform. We report a color center that shows insensitivity to environmental decoherence caused by phonons and electric field noise: the neutral charge state of silicon vacancy (SiV0). Through careful materials engineering, we achieved >80% conversion of implanted silicon to SiV0. SiV0 exhibits spin-lattice relaxation times approaching 1 minute and coherence times approaching 1 second. Its optical properties are very favorable, with ~90% of its emission into the zero-phonon line and near -transform-limited optical linewidths. These combined properties make SiV0 a promising defect for quantum network applications.
Abstract: The results of the first study of the PGE distribution in deformed lherzolites of the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe (Yakutia) are presented here. The complex character of evolution of the PGE composition in the Deformed lherzolites is assumed to be the result of silicate metasomatism. At the first stage, growth in the amount of clinopyroxene and garnet in the rock is accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of the compatible PGE (Os, Ir). During the final stage, the rock is enriched with incompatible PGE (Pt, Pd) and Re possible due to precipitation of submicron-sized particles of sulfides in the interstitial space of these mantle rocks.
Abstract: Paragenetic analysis of pyropes from alluvial deposits of the Muna—Markha interfluve (Sakha-Yakutia Republic) made it possible to distinguish relatively uniform areas that are promising for the discovery of kimberlite bodies.
Abstract: Variations of the structure and composition of mantle terranes in the terminology of the Siberian craton were studied using database (>60000) EPMA of kimberlite xenocrysts from the pipes of Yakutian kimberlite province (YKP) by a team of investigators from IGM, IGH, IEC and IGBM SB RAS and ALROSA company. The monomineral thermobarometry (Ashchepkov et al., 2010, 2014, 2017) Geochemistry of minerals obtained LA ICP MS was used to determine the protolith, melting degree, Type of the metasomatism . The mantle stratification commonly was formed by 6-7 paleosubduction slabs, separated by pyroxenite, eclogite, and metasomatic horizons and dunite lenses beneath kemberltes . We built mantle sections across the kimberlite field and transects of craton. Within the established tectonic terrains strengthening to thousands km (Gladkochub et al, 2006), the collage of microplates was determined at the mantle level. Under the shields of Anabar and Aldan lower SCLM consist of 3 -4 dunites dunites with Gar-Px-Ilm- Phl nests. Terranes framing protocratons like suture Khapchanskyare are saturated in eclogites and pyroxenites, sometimes dominated probably represent the ascending bodies of igneous eclogites intruding mantle lithosphere (ML). The ubiquitous pyroxenite layer at the level of 3.5-4.5 GPa originated in the early Archaean when melted eclogites stoped stoped subdction. Beneath the Early Archaean granite-greenstone terranes - Tunguskaya, Markhinskaya, Birektinskaya, Shary-Zhalgaiskaya (age to~3.8-3.0 GA) (Gladkochub et al., 2018) the SCLM is less depleted and often metasomatized having flat structures in some subterrains. Daldyn and Magan granulite-orthogneisic terranes have a layered and folded ML seen in N-S sections from Udachnaya to Krasnopresnenskaya less pronounced in latitudinal direction. From Daldyn to Alakit field increases the degree of Phl metasomatism and Cpx alkalinity. The most productive Aykhal and Yubleynaya pipes confined to the dunite core. Within the Magan terrane, the thin-layered SCLM have depleted base horizon. Granite-greenstone Markha terrane contains pelitic eclogites. Central and Northern craton parts show slight inclination of paleoslabs to West. The formation of SCLM in Hadean accompanied by submelting (Perchuk et al., 2018, Gerya, 2014.) had no deep roots. Ultrafine craton nuclei like Anabar shield was framed by steeper slab. During 3.8-3.0 GA craton keel growth in superplume periods (Condie, 2004) when melted eclogites and peridotites acquiring buoyancy of the sinking plate melted. For peridotites, the melting lines calculated from the experimental data (Herzberg, 2004) mainly lie near 5-6 GPA (Ionov et al., 2010; 2015). In classical works all geotherms are conductive (Boyd, 1973), but this is quite rare. The garnet pyroxene geotherms for (Ashchepkov et al., 2017) calculated with most reliable methods (Nimis, Taylor, 2000; McGregor , 1974; Brey Kohler, Nickel Green, 1985; Ashchepkov et al., 2010; 2017) give are sub-adiabatic and are formed during the melt percolation superplume vent often in presence of volatiles (Wyllie, Ryabchikov, 2000) and therefore, after superplumes trends P-Fe# of garnet are smoothed and change the tilts.
Abstract: Sulfide-bearing polymineralic inclusions in mantle-derived chromium pyrope garnets of lherzolite paragenesis from lamprophyres of the Chompolo field (Aldan shield, southern Siberian craton) have been studied. The inclusions are composed of either only sulfides or sulfides in association with other minerals (carbonates, silicates, oxides, etc.). The sulfide part of the inclusions is represented by up to four minerals. Among the sulfides, minerals rich in Cu and Ni have been found, whereas Fe sulfides (pyrrhotite, troilite) are absent. This distinguishes the inclusions studied from the majority of sulfide inclusions in mantle minerals and diamonds, as well as in mantle xenoliths from kimberlites. The formation of polymineralic inclusions in chromium garnets of the Chompolo field is attributed to the effect of a carbonate-silicate metasomatic melt/fluid on mantle peridotites, as evidenced by the mineral suite associated with the sulfides. The research results indicate significant differences in the nature of metasomatic processes that occurred in the lithospheric mantle of the southern and central parts of the Siberian craton.
Abstract: Comprehensive studies of peridotitic xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite (Yakutian diamond province, Siberian craton) confirm that garnet shows inverse correlation of its volumetric percentage with its Cr2O3 contents in refertilizated peridotites, but no such correlation is observed in depleted peridotites. The correlation relationship plots as an isosceles hyperbola, which is consistent with the existing knowledge of origin of refertilized peridotite. The bulk content of aluminum is proportional to the garnet percentage both in depleted and refertilized peridotites, but Al2O3 in the rock correlates with Cr2O3 in garnet only in the refertilized varieties, while the two parameters are independent in depleted mantle rocks. According to the modeling of refertilization-related composition changes in the Udachnaya peridotites, garnet percentages are directly proportional to the amount of clinopyroxene (Gnt = 0.879*Cpx + 0.022, R2 = 0.78) and inversely proportional to that of olivine (Gnt = 0.026/Ol3.141, R2 = 0.79). As the shares of Gnt and Cpx increase from minimum values, orthopyroxene first increases (to 0.16) and then decreases since 0.65 Ol, 0.09 Cpx, and 0.10 Gnt. This model can constrain the place of the parent rock in the refertilization series knowing Cr2O3 contents in separate garnet grains. The average refertilization degree of lithospheric mantle in the region estimated from the compositions of more than 800 garnet xenocrysts in the Udachnaya kimberlite is expressed in the rock modal composition as: Ol = 0.72, Opx = 0.15, Gnt = 0.07, and Cpx = 0.06 (median values).
Society of Economic Geology Geoscience and Exploration of the Argyle, Bunder, Diavik, and Murowa Diamond Deposits, Special Publication no. 20, pp. 49-64.
Earth and planetary Science Letters, Vol. 579, 117343, 11p. Pdf
Australia
geophysics- seismics
Abstract: Plate tectonics, including rifting, subduction, and collision processes, was likely to have been different in the past due to the secular cooling of the Earth. The northeastern part of the West Australian Craton (WAC) has a complex Archean and Paleoproterozoic tectonic history; therefore, it provides an opportunity to study how subduction and collision processes evolved during the emergence of plate tectonics, particularly regarding the assembly of Earth's first supercontinent, Columbia. Because the northeastern boundary of the WAC and the southwestern boundary of the North Australian Craton (NAC) are covered by the Phanerozoic Canning Basin, the regional tectonic evolution has remained enigmatic, including how many tectonic elements were assembled and what may have driven rifting and subsequent collision events. Here, we use new passive-source seismic modeling to identify a seismically distinct segment of the lithosphere, the Percival Lakes Province, which lies east of the Pilbara Craton and is separated by two previously unknown southeast-trending lithosphere scale Paleoproterozoic sutures. We interpret that the northeastern suture, separates the Percival Lakes Province from the NAC, records the amalgamation of the WAC with the NAC. The southwestern suture separates the PLP from the reworked northeastern margin of the Pilbara Craton, including the East Pilbara Terrane and the Rudall Province. A significant upper mantle dipping structure was identified in the southwestern suture, and we interpret it to be a relic of subduction that records a previously unknown Paleoproterozoic collision that pre-dated the amalgamation of the WAC and NAC. By comparing our findings with previously documented dipping features, we show that the Paleoproterozoic collisions are seismically distinguishable from their Phanerozoic counterparts.
Abstract: During Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth glaciations, the oceans gained massive amounts of alkalinity, culminating in the deposition of massive cap carbonates on deglaciation. Changes in terrestrial runoff associated with both breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent and deglaciation can explain some, but not all of the requisite changes in ocean chemistry. Submarine volcanism along shallow ridges formed during supercontinent breakup results in the formation of large volumes of glassy hyaloclastite, which readily alters to palagonite. Here we estimate fluxes of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silica and bicarbonate associated with these shallow-ridge processes, and argue that extensive submarine volcanism during the breakup of Rodinia made an important contribution to changes in ocean chemistry during Snowball Earth glaciations. We use Monte Carlo simulations to show that widespread hyaloclastite alteration under near-global sea-ice cover could lead to Ca2+ and Mg2+ supersaturation over the course of the glaciation that is sufficient to explain the volume of cap carbonates deposited. Furthermore, our conservative estimates of phosphorus release are sufficient to explain the observed P:Fe ratios in sedimentary iron formations from this time. This large phosphorus release may have fuelled primary productivity, which in turn would have contributed to atmospheric O2 rises that followed Snowball Earth episodes.
Abstract: Engineering coherent systems is a central goal of quantum science. Color centers in diamond are a promising approach, with the potential to combine the coherence of atoms with the scalability of a solid-state platform. We report a color center that shows insensitivity to environmental decoherence caused by phonons and electric field noise: the neutral charge state of silicon vacancy (SiV0). Through careful materials engineering, we achieved >80% conversion of implanted silicon to SiV0. SiV0 exhibits spin-lattice relaxation times approaching 1 minute and coherence times approaching 1 second. Its optical properties are very favorable, with ~90% of its emission into the zero-phonon line and near -transform-limited optical linewidths. These combined properties make SiV0 a promising defect for quantum network applications.
