Hello Guest User, You are visiting this website from a computer with an IP address of 162.158.63.136 with the name of '?' since Sun Jan 17, 2021 at 4:07:52 PM PT for approx. 0 minutes now.
SDLRC - Scientific Articles all years by Author - G-Gh
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.
Abstract: Estimates of the volume of the earliest crust based on zircon ages and radiogenic isotopes remain equivocal. Stable isotope systems, such as molybdenum, have the potential to provide further constraints but remain underused due to the lack of complementarity between mantle and crustal reservoirs. Here we present molybdenum isotope data for Archaean komatiites and Phanerozoic komatiites and picrites and demonstrate that their mantle sources all possess subchondritic signatures complementary to the superchondritic continental crust. These results confirm that the present-day degree of mantle depletion was achieved by 3.5 billion years ago and that Earth has been in a steady state with respect to molybdenum recycling. Mass balance modelling shows that this early mantle depletion requires the extraction of a far greater volume of mafic-dominated protocrust than previously thought, more than twice the volume of the continental crust today, implying rapid crustal growth and destruction in the first billion years of Earth’s history.
Journal of Metamorphic Geology, in press available
China
UHP
Abstract: Dating ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks provides important timing constraints on deep subduction zone processes. Eclogites, deeply subducted rocks now exposed at the surface, undergo a wide range of metamorphic conditions (i.e., deep subduction and exhumation) and their mineralogy can preserve a detailed record of chronologic information of these dynamic processes. Here we present an approach that integrates multiple radiogenic isotope systems in the same sample to provide a more complete timeline for the subduction-collision-exhumation processes, based on eclogites from the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt in eastern China, one of the largest ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terranes on Earth. In this study, we integrate garnet Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd ages with zircon and titanite U-Pb ages for three eclogite samples from the Sulu UHP terrane. We combine this age information with Zr-in-rutile temperature estimates, and relate these multiple chronometers to different P-T conditions. Two types of rutile, one present as inclusions in garnet and the other in the matrix, record the temperatures of UHP conditions and a hotter stage, subsequent to the peak pressure (“hot exhumation”), respectively. Garnet Lu-Hf ages (c. 238 to 235 Ma) record the initial prograde growth of garnet, while coupled Sm-Nd ages (c. 219 to 213 Ma) reflect cooling following hot exhumation. The maximum duration of UHP conditions is constrained by the age difference of these two systems in garnet (c. 235 to 220 Ma). Complementary zircon and titanite U-Pb ages of c. 235 - 230 Ma and c. 216 - 206 Ma provide further constraints on the timing of prograde metamorphism and the "cold exhumation", respectively. We demonstrate that timing of various metamorphic stages can thus be determined by employing complementary chronometers from the same samples. These age results, combined with published data from adjacent areas, show lateral diachroneity in the Dabie-Sulu orogeny. Three sub-blocks are thus defined by progressively younger garnet ages: western Dabie (243 - 238 Ma), eastern Dabie-northern Sulu (238 - 235 Ma,) and southern Sulu terranes (225 - 220 Ma), which possibly correlate to different crustal slices in the recently proposed subduction channel model. These observed lateral chronologic variations in a large UHP terrane can possibly be extended to other suture zones.
Slope stability challenges and solutions for mining kimberlite resources hosted in structurally complex country rock: dip slope mining at Jwaneng mine, Botswana.
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 137, pp. 9-21.
Africa, Botswana
deposit - Jwaneng
Abstract: Country rock at Jwaneng Diamond Mine provides a rare insight into the deformational history of the Transvaal Supergroup in southern Botswana. The ca. 235 Ma kimberlite diatremes intruded into late Archaean to Early Proterozoic, mixed, siliciclastic-carbonate sediments, that were subjected to at least three deformational events. The first deformational event (D1), caused by NW-SE directed compression, is responsible for NE-trending, open folds (F1) with associated diverging, fanning, axial planar cleavage. The second deformational event (D2) is probably progressive, involving a clockwise rotation of the principal stress to NE-SW trends. Early D2, which was N-S directed, involved left-lateral, oblique shearing along cleavage planes that developed around F1 folds, along with the development of antithetic structures. Progressive clockwise rotation of far-field forces saw the development of NW-trending folds (F2) and its associated, weak, axial planar cleavage. D3 is an extensional event in which normal faulting, along pre-existing cleavage planes, created a series of rhomboid-shaped, fault-bounded blocks. Normal faults, which bound these blocks, are the dominant structures at Jwaneng Mine. Combined with block rotation and NW-dipping bedding, a horst-like structure on the northwestern limb of a broad, gentle, NE-trending anticline is indicated. The early compressional and subsequent extensional events are consistent throughout the Jwaneng-Ramotswa-Lobatse-Thabazimbi area, suggesting that a large area records the same fault geometry and, consequently, deformational history. It is proposed that Jwaneng Mine is at or near the northernmost limit of the initial, northwards-directed compressional event.
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 137, pp. 9-21.
Africa, Botswana
deposit - Jwaneng
Abstract: Country rock at Jwaneng Diamond Mine provides a rare insight into the deformational history of the Transvaal Supergroup in southern Botswana. The ca. 235 Ma kimberlite diatremes intruded into late Archaean to Early Proterozoic, mixed, siliciclastic-carbonate sediments, that were subjected to at least three deformational events. The first deformational event (D1), caused by NW-SE directed compression, is responsible for NE-trending, open folds (F1) with associated diverging, fanning, axial planar cleavage. The second deformational event (D2) is probably progressive, involving a clockwise rotation of the principal stress to NE-SW trends. Early D2, which was N-S directed, involved left-lateral, oblique shearing along cleavage planes that developed around F1 folds, along with the development of antithetic structures. Progressive clockwise rotation of far-field forces saw the development of NW-trending folds (F2) and its associated, weak, axial planar cleavage. D3 is an extensional event in which normal faulting, along pre-existing cleavage planes, created a series of rhomboid-shaped, fault-bounded blocks. Normal faults, which bound these blocks, are the dominant structures at Jwaneng Mine. Combined with block rotation and NW-dipping bedding, a horst-like structure on the northwestern limb of a broad, gentle, NE-trending anticline is indicated. The early compressional and subsequent extensional events are consistent throughout the Jwaneng-Ramotswa-Lobatse-Thabazimbi area, suggesting that a large area records the same fault geometry and, consequently, deformational history. It is proposed that Jwaneng Mine is at or near the northernmost limit of the initial, northwards-directed compressional event.
Abstract: Mantle-derived carbonatites are igneous rocks dominated by carbonate minerals. Intrusive carbonatites typically contain calcite and, less commonly, dolomite and siderite as the only carbonate minerals. In contrast, lavas erupted by the only active carbonatite volcano on Earth, Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania, are enriched in Na-rich carbonate phenocrysts (nyerereite and gregoryite) and Na-K halides in the groundmass. The apparent paradox between the compositions of intrusive and extrusive carbonatites has not been satisfactorily resolved. This study records the fortuitous preservation of halite in the intrusive dolomitic carbonatite of the St.-Honoré carbonatite complex (Québec, Canada), more than 490 m below the present surface. Halite occurs intergrown with, and included in, magmatic minerals typical of intrusive carbonatites; i.e., dolomite, calcite, apatite, rare earth element fluorocarbonates, pyrochlore, fluorite, and phlogopite. Halite is also a major daughter phase of melt inclusions hosted in early magmatic minerals, apatite and pyrochlore. The carbon isotope composition of dolomite (d13C = –5.2‰) and Sr-Nd isotope compositions of individual minerals (87Sr/86Sri = 0.70287 in apatite, to 0.70443 in halite; eNd = +3.2 to +4.0) indicate a mantle origin for the St.-Honoré carbonatite parental melt. More radiogenic Sr compositions of dolomite and dolomite-hosted halite and heavy oxygen isotope composition of dolomite (d18O = +23‰) suggest their formation at some time after magma emplacement by recrystallization of original magmatic components in the presence of ambient fluids. Our observations indicate that water-soluble chloride minerals, common in the modern natrocarbonatite lavas, can be significant but ephemeral components of intrusive carbonatite complexes. We therefore infer that the parental magmas that produce primary carbonatite melts might be enriched in Na and Cl. This conclusion affects existing models for mantle source compositions, melting scenarios, temperature, rheological properties, and crystallization path of carbonatite melts.
Abstract: On the basis of quantum-chemical calculations of the linear to isomeric bent transition of the SiO2 molecule, it is suggested that the bent to linear transition of SiO2 forms can occur in melted mantle minerals of the lower mantle. This may be important for the formation of the peculiarities of mantle convection and origination of plumes.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 244, pp. 56-85.
Mantle
convection
Abstract: Atmospheric xenon is strongly mass fractionated, the result of a process that apparently continued through the Archean and perhaps beyond. Previous models that explain Xe fractionation by hydrodynamic hydrogen escape cannot gracefully explain how Xe escaped when Ar and Kr did not, nor allow Xe to escape in the Archean. Here we show that Xe is the only noble gas that can escape as an ion in a photo-ionized hydrogen wind, possible in the absence of a geomagnetic field or along polar magnetic field lines that open into interplanetary space. To quantify the hypothesis we construct new 1-D models of hydrodynamic diffusion-limited hydrogen escape from highly-irradiated CO2-H2-H atmospheres. The models reveal three minimum requirements for Xe escape: solar EUV irradiation needs to exceed that of the modern Sun; the total hydrogen mixing ratio in the atmosphere needs to exceed 1% (equiv. to CH4); and transport amongst the ions in the lower ionosphere needs to lift the Xe ions to the base of the outflowing hydrogen corona. The long duration of Xe escape implies that, if a constant process, Earth lost the hydrogen from at least one ocean of water, roughly evenly split between the Hadean and the Archean. However, to account for both Xe’s fractionation and also its depletion with respect to Kr and primordial 244Pu, Xe escape must have been limited to small apertures or short episodes, which suggests that Xe escape was restricted to polar windows by a geomagnetic field, or dominated by outbursts of high solar activity, or limited to transient episodes of abundant hydrogen, or a combination of these. Xenon escape stopped when the hydrogen (or methane) mixing ratio became too small, or EUV radiation from the aging Sun became too weak, or charge exchange between Xe+ and O2 rendered Xe neutral. In our model, Xe fractionation attests to an extended history of hydrogen escape and Earth oxidation preceding and ending with the Great Oxidation Event (GOE).
Abstract: Variscan orogenic lamproites in the Bohemian Massif predominantly occur as 1 to 2?m wide and petrographically uniform dykes along the eastern borders of the Moldanubian and Saxo-Thuringian zones. Variscan orogenic lamproites were derived by preferential melting of subduction-related olivine-free metasomatic vein assemblages stabilised in the lithospheric mantle. These lamproitic melts may subsequently undergo extensive differentiation. In this study, we present the first combined petrographic and Sr-Nd-Pb-Li isotope characteristics of a complex lamproite exposed at ca 100?m long profile near Horní Rokytnice (Czech Republic) in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone. This lamproite is characterised by the primary mineral assemblage of K-amphibole + K-feldspar ± aegirine and quartz that petrographically varies from relatively primitive (fine-grained, mafic) to more differentiated (medium- to coarse-grained, felsic) pegmatitic lamproite domains. These domains may represent the product of crystallisation of immiscible liquids that had separated from the mafic melt. The primitive lamproite zone is characterised by the typomorphic minerals - baotite, benitoite, and henrymeyerite. The more differentiated pegmatitic domains are free of aegirine and show replacement of primary red-luminescent (Fe3+-rich) K-feldspar by blue-luminescent (Fe-poor) K-feldspar. Residual fluids rich in Ca, Ti, and HFSE in combination with the decreasing peralkalinity of the lamproite system resulted in the local formation of secondary zircon, titanite and quartz at the expense of the primary Ti-Ba-Zr-K lamproitic mineral assemblages. Lamproites from the Moldanubian and Saxo-Thuringian zones fall on separate mixing trends in the 87Sr/86Sr(t) - eNd(t) diagram, which indicates that the mantle beneath these two zones had been metasomatised by different crustal material. The scatter in the peralkalinity index vs. d7Li diagram indicates that the Li isotope composition is not controlled by mixing of two end members metasome and ambient depleted mantle alone, but may also be affected by late-stage magmatic and hydrothermal processes. The compositionally zoned Horní Rokytnice dyke is special as the petrographically different types show a variation of about 4 d-units in d7Li due to dyke-internal processes, such as fractionation, which increases d7Li in late-stage lamproitic melts, and post-emplacement interaction with fluids that reduced d7Li in samples that have lost Li. Post-emplacement alteration also led to the disturbance in the Pb isotope systematics of the differentiated orogenic lamproite as indicated by variable over-correction of in situ radiogenic Pb ingrowth.
Current Science, Vol. 114, 6, Mar. 25, pp. 1299-1303.
India
legal
Abstract: Scholarly journals play an important role in maintaining the quality and integrity of research by what they publish. Unethical practices in publishing are leading to an increased number of predatory, dubious and low-quality journals worldwide. It has been reported that the percentage of research articles published in predatory journals is high in India. The University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi has published an 'approved list of journals', which has been criticized due to inclusion of many substandard journals. We have developed a protocol with objective criteria for identifying journals that do not follow good publication practices. We studied 1336 journals randomly selected from 5699 in the university source component of the 'UGC-approved list'. We analysed 1009 journals after excluding 327 indexed in Scopus/Web of Science. About 34.5% of the 1009 journals were disqualified under the basic criteria because of incorrect or non-availability of essential information such as address, website details and names of editors; another 52.3% of them provided false information such as incorrect ISSN, false claims about impact factor, claimed indexing in dubious indexing databases or had poor credentials of editors. Our results suggest that over 88% of the non-indexed journals in the university source component of the UGC-approved list, included on the basis of suggestions from different universities, could be of low quality. In view of these results, the current UGC-approved list of journals needs serious reconsideration. New regulations to curtail unethical practices in scientific publishing along with organization of awareness programmes about publication ethics at Indian universities and research institutes are urgently needed.
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 137, pp. 9-21.
Africa, Botswana
deposit - Jwaneng
Abstract: Country rock at Jwaneng Diamond Mine provides a rare insight into the deformational history of the Transvaal Supergroup in southern Botswana. The ca. 235 Ma kimberlite diatremes intruded into late Archaean to Early Proterozoic, mixed, siliciclastic-carbonate sediments, that were subjected to at least three deformational events. The first deformational event (D1), caused by NW-SE directed compression, is responsible for NE-trending, open folds (F1) with associated diverging, fanning, axial planar cleavage. The second deformational event (D2) is probably progressive, involving a clockwise rotation of the principal stress to NE-SW trends. Early D2, which was N-S directed, involved left-lateral, oblique shearing along cleavage planes that developed around F1 folds, along with the development of antithetic structures. Progressive clockwise rotation of far-field forces saw the development of NW-trending folds (F2) and its associated, weak, axial planar cleavage. D3 is an extensional event in which normal faulting, along pre-existing cleavage planes, created a series of rhomboid-shaped, fault-bounded blocks. Normal faults, which bound these blocks, are the dominant structures at Jwaneng Mine. Combined with block rotation and NW-dipping bedding, a horst-like structure on the northwestern limb of a broad, gentle, NE-trending anticline is indicated. The early compressional and subsequent extensional events are consistent throughout the Jwaneng-Ramotswa-Lobatse-Thabazimbi area, suggesting that a large area records the same fault geometry and, consequently, deformational history. It is proposed that Jwaneng Mine is at or near the northernmost limit of the initial, northwards-directed compressional event.
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 137, pp. 9-21.
Africa, Botswana
deposit - Jwaneng
Abstract: Country rock at Jwaneng Diamond Mine provides a rare insight into the deformational history of the Transvaal Supergroup in southern Botswana. The ca. 235 Ma kimberlite diatremes intruded into late Archaean to Early Proterozoic, mixed, siliciclastic-carbonate sediments, that were subjected to at least three deformational events. The first deformational event (D1), caused by NW-SE directed compression, is responsible for NE-trending, open folds (F1) with associated diverging, fanning, axial planar cleavage. The second deformational event (D2) is probably progressive, involving a clockwise rotation of the principal stress to NE-SW trends. Early D2, which was N-S directed, involved left-lateral, oblique shearing along cleavage planes that developed around F1 folds, along with the development of antithetic structures. Progressive clockwise rotation of far-field forces saw the development of NW-trending folds (F2) and its associated, weak, axial planar cleavage. D3 is an extensional event in which normal faulting, along pre-existing cleavage planes, created a series of rhomboid-shaped, fault-bounded blocks. Normal faults, which bound these blocks, are the dominant structures at Jwaneng Mine. Combined with block rotation and NW-dipping bedding, a horst-like structure on the northwestern limb of a broad, gentle, NE-trending anticline is indicated. The early compressional and subsequent extensional events are consistent throughout the Jwaneng-Ramotswa-Lobatse-Thabazimbi area, suggesting that a large area records the same fault geometry and, consequently, deformational history. It is proposed that Jwaneng Mine is at or near the northernmost limit of the initial, northwards-directed compressional event.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press available
Geothermometry
Abstract: The use of wet chemistry and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to determine the oxidation state of Fe in submarine glasses and olivine-hosted melt inclusions has provided important new insights into the global systematics of Fe3+/?Fe in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) [1, 2]. Because MORB are aggregates of near-fractional partial melts formed by decompression melting of variably depleted peridotite, it is difficult to judge the extent to which they directly reflect the oxidation state of the oceanic upper mantle. To provide a theoretical framework within which to interpret Fe3+/?Fe in MORB, I have developed a model that describes the behavior of Fe3+/?Fe during spinel lherzolite partial melting in a system closed to oxygen. Modeling is carried out by calculating the Fe3+/?Fe of olivine using the point defect model of [3], and determining Fe3+/?Fe of the bulk peridotite from mineral-mineral partitioning. The inter-mineral Fe3+/Fe2+ exchange coefficients are derived from Mössbauer data on natural spinel peridotites, and are parameterized in terms of oxygen fugacity, temperature, and the Fe content of the olivine. The Fe3+/?Fe of the melt is determined by combining mass-balance with an equation relating the Fe3+/?Fe of the melt to the fugacity of oxygen [4]. Spinel lherzolite partial melting is modeled after [5]. Modeling results indicate that oxygen fugacity does not follow the fayalite-magnetite-quartz (FMQ) buffer during partial melting. For isobaric partial melting, the system becomes reduced relative to FMQ with increasing extent of melting. This results from an increase in the FMQ buffer with increasing temperature, whereas oxygen fugacity in the peridotite remains nearly constant. Conversely, during polybaric partial melting the oxidation state of the residual peridotite increases relative to FMQ. The effective partition coefficient for Fe3+is larger than previously thought, so that a redox couple with S is not required to explain its compatibility during partial melting.
Abstract: Decompression of hot mantle rock upwelling beneath oceanic spreading centers causes it to exceed the melting point (solidus), producing magmas that ascend to form basaltic crust ~6 to 7 kilometers thick. The oceanic upper mantle contains ~50 to 200 micrograms per gram of water (H2O) dissolved in nominally anhydrous minerals, which -relative to its low concentration-has a disproportionate effect on the solidus that has not been quantified experimentally. Here, we present results from an experimental determination of the peridotite solidus containing known amounts of dissolved hydrogen. Our data reveal that the H2O-undersaturated peridotite solidus is hotter than previously thought. Reconciling geophysical observations of the melting regime beneath the East Pacific Rise with our experimental results requires that existing estimates for the oceanic upper mantle potential temperature be adjusted upward by about 60°C.
Abstract: Alkaline lavas occur globally in subduction-related volcanic arcs. Conventional models for the origin of these lavas typically invoke a multi-stage process in which mantle wedge peridotite, enriched in phlogopite and/or amphibole due to prior metasomatism, partially melts during infiltration by fluids and melts derived from subducted oceanic lithosphere. However, geochemical systematics in the majority of subduction-related alkaline lavas require physical mixing of subducted components and peridotite prior to partial melting. This can be explained by the mélange diapir model, which predicts the generation of arc magmas during advection of buoyant material from the slab-wedge interface into the mantle wedge below arcs. Here we report results from experiments in which natural mélange materials were partially melted at upper mantle conditions to produce alkaline magmas. Partial melts produced in our experiments have trace-element abundance patterns that are typical of alkaline arc lavas, such as enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and depletion in Nb and Ta. These results favor generation of alkaline magmas in the arc and backarc regions of subduction zones by partial melting of mélange materials rather than previously metasomatized peridotite.
Abstract: Eocene paleoclimate reconstructions are rarely accompanied by parallel estimates of CO2 from the same locality, complicating assessment of the equilibrium climate response to elevated CO2. We reconstruct temperature, precipitation, and CO2 from latest middle Eocene (ca. 38 Ma) terrestrial sediments in the posteruptive sediment fill of the Giraffe kimberlite in subarctic Canada. Mutual climatic range and oxygen isotope analyses of botanical fossils reveal a humid-temperate forest ecosystem with mean annual temperatures (MATs) more than 17 °C warmer than present and mean annual precipitation ~4× present. Metasequoia stomatal indices and gas-exchange modeling produce median CO2 concentrations of ~630 and ~430 ppm, respectively, with a combined median estimate of ~490 ppm. Reconstructed MATs are more than 6 °C warmer than those produced by Eocene climate models forced at 560 ppm CO2. Estimates of regional climate sensitivity, expressed as ?MAT per CO2 doubling above preindustrial levels, converge on a value of ~13 °C, underscoring the capacity for exceptional polar amplification of warming and hydrological intensification under modest CO2 concentrations once both fast and slow feedbacks become expressed.
Eiler, J.M., Berquist, B., Bourg, I., Cartigny, P., Farquhar, J., Gagnon, A., Guo, W., Halevy, I., Hofman, A., larson, T.E., Levin, N., Schauble, E.A., Stolper, D.
Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 123, 7, pp. 5644-5660.
Africa, east Africa
geophysics - seismic
Abstract: Although the East African rift system formed in cratonic lithosphere above a large-scale mantle upwelling, some sectors have voluminous magmatism, while others have isolated, small-volume eruptive centers. We conduct teleseismic shear wave splitting analyses on data from 5 lake-bottom seismometers and 67 land stations in the Tanganyika-Rukwa-Malawi rift zone, including the Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP), and from 5 seismometers in the Kivu rift and Virunga Volcanic Province, to evaluate rift-perpendicular strain, rift-parallel melt intrusion, and regional flow models for seismic anisotropy patterns beneath the largely amagmatic Western rift. Observations from 684 SKS and 305 SKKS phases reveal consistent patterns. Within the Malawi rift south of the RVP, fast splitting directions are oriented northeast with average delays of ~1 s. Directions rotate to N-S and NNW north of the volcanic province within the reactivated Mesozoic Rukwa and southern Tanganyika rifts. Delay times are largest (~1.25 s) within the Virunga Volcanic Province. Our work combined with earlier studies shows that SKS-splitting is rift parallel within Western rift magmatic provinces, with a larger percentage of null measurements than in amagmatic areas. The spatial variations in direction and amount of splitting from our results and those of earlier Western rift studies suggest that mantle flow is deflected by the deeply rooted cratons. The resulting flow complexity, and likely stagnation beneath the Rungwe province, may explain the ca. 17 Myr of localized magmatism in the weakly stretched RVP, and it argues against interpretations of a uniform anisotropic layer caused by large-scale asthenospheric flow or passive rifting.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 503, pp. 108-117.
Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe
geophysics - seismic
Abstract: The depths of the 410 km (d410) and 660 km (d660) discontinuities beneath southern Africa, which is presumably underlain by the lower-mantle African Superswell, are imaged in 1° radius consecutive circular bins using over 6400 P-to-S receiver functions (RFs) recorded by 130 seismic stations over a 27 yr period. When the IASP91 standard Earth model is utilized for moveout correction and time-depth conversion, a normal mantle transition zone (MTZ) thickness of 246 ± 7 km is observed, suggesting that the Superswell has no discernible effect on mantle transition zone temperature. Based on the negligible disparity of the mean MTZ thicknesses between on (246 ± 6 km) and off (246 ± 8 km) cratonic regions, we conclude that the deep Archean cratonic keels possess limited influence on MTZ thermal structure. The apparently shallower-than-normal MTZ discontinuities and the parallelism between the d410 and d660 are mostly the results of upper mantle high wave speed anomalies probably corresponding to a thick lithosphere with a mean thickness of about 245 km beneath the Kaapvaal and 215 km beneath the Zimbabwe cratons. In contradiction to conclusions from some of the previous studies, the resulting spatial distribution of the stacking amplitudes of the P-to-S converted phases at the discontinuities is inconsistent with the presence of an excessive amount of water in the MTZ and atop the d410.
Geochemistry International, Vol. 55, 4, pp. 360-366.
Russia, Siberia
diamondoid
Abstract: A broad suite of geological materials were studied a using a handheld laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument. Because LIBS is simultaneously sensitive to all elements, the full broadband emission spectrum recorded from a single laser shot provides a ‘chemical fingerprint’ of any material - solid, liquid or gas. The distinguishing chemical characteristics of the samples analysed were identified through principal component analysis (PCA), which demonstrates how this technique for statistical analysis can be used to identify spectral differences between similar sample types based on minor and trace constituents. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) was used to distinguish and classify the materials, with excellent discrimination achieved for all sample types. This study illustrates through four selected examples involving carbonate minerals and rocks, the oxide mineral pair columbite-tantalite, the silicate mineral garnet and native gold how portable, handheld LIBS analysers can be used as a tool for real-time chemical analysis under simulated field conditions for element or mineral identification plus such applications as stratigraphic correlation, provenance determination and natural resources exploration.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 510, pp. 161-172.
Mantle
Magmatism
Abstract: Tabular intrusions are common features in the Earth's brittle crust. They exhibit a broad variety of shapes, ranging from thin sheet intrusions (sills, saucer-shaped sills, cone sheets), to more massive intrusions (domed and punched laccoliths, stocks). Such a diversity of intrusion shapes reflects different emplacement mechanisms caused by contrasting host rock and magma rheologies. Most current models of tabular intrusion emplacement assume that the host rock behaves purely elastically, whereas numerous observations show that shear failure plays a major role. In this study, we investigate the effects of the host rock's Coulomb properties on magma emplacement by integrating (1) laboratory models using dry Coulomb granular model hosts of variable strength (cohesion) and (2) limit analysis numerical models. Our results show that both sheet and massive tabular intrusions initiate as a sill, which triggers shear failure of its overburden along an inclined shear damage zone at a critical sill radius, which depends on the emplacement depth and the overburden's cohesion. Two scenarios are then possible: (1) if the cohesion of the overburden is significant, opening of a planar fracture along the precursory weakened shear damage zones to accommodate magma flow, leads to the formation of inclined sheets, or (2) if the cohesion of the overburden is negligible, the sill inflates and lifts up the overburden, which is dissected by several faults that control the growth of a massive intrusion. Finally, we derive a theoretical scaling that predicts the thickness-to-radius aspect ratios of the laboratory sheet intrusions. This theoretical prediction shows how sheet intrusion morphologies are controlled by a mechanical equilibrium between the flowing viscous magma and Coulomb shear failure of the overburden. Our study suggests that the emplacement of sheet and massive tabular intrusions are parts of the same mechanical regime, in which the Coulomb behavior of the Earth's brittle crust plays an essential role.
Abstract: Hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) have probably been delivered to the Earth mainly during accretion processes at High Temperature (HT) and High Pressure (HP) and at variable redox conditions. We performed HP (1-15?GPa) and HT (1600-2300°C) experiments, combined with state-of-the-art analytical techniques to better understand the behavior of H and C during planetary differentiation processes. We show that increasing pressure makes H slightly siderophile and slightly decreases the highly siderophile nature of C. This implies that the capacity of a growing core to retain significant amounts of H or C is mainly controlled by the size of the planet: small planetary bodies may retain C in their cores while H may have rather been lost in space; larger bodies may store both H and C in their cores. During the Earth's differentiation, both C and H might be sequestrated in the core. However, the H content of the core would remain one or two orders of magnitude lower than that of C since the (H/C)core ratio might range between 0.04 and 0.27.
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.
Carbonatite melts and electrical conductivity in the athenosphere: the electrical conductivity of molten carbonates is higher than that of silicate minerals;
Science, Vol. 322, no. 5906, Nov. 28, pp. 1363-1364.
Abstract: Carbon dioxide and water, being present in the Earth's mantle at concentration levels of tens to hundreds of ppm, greatly lower the peridotite solidus temperature and drastically modify the composition of produced melts. The presence of CO2 produces silica-poor, carbonate-rich liquids at the onset of melting, and these liquids shift toward silica rich compositions as the degree of melting increases. Numerous geochemical observations and experimental studies have revealed the complexity of the transition between carbonate-rich and silicate-rich melts. It is characterized by a strongly non-linear evolution and, under specific conditions, by immiscibility. To better constrain this transition, we have used the thermodynamic activity of silica as a probe of the mixing properties between molten carbonate and molten silicate. The activity of silica (aSiO2(l))aSiO2l was calculated for a large number of experimental liquids from two equilibria: olivine-orthopyroxene-melt and immiscible silicate-rich melt-carbonate-rich melt (491 data points ranging from 1 to 14 GPa and 1090 to 1800 °C). We modelled aSiO2(l)aSiO2l during incipient melting of the peridotite in presence of CO2 with a generalized Margules function. Our model reproduces well the silica activity-composition relationships of the experimental database, and can be used to predict the silica content of the melts coexisting with olivine and orthopyroxene. We show that water content and Ca/Mg ratio in the melts have an important influence on the aSiO2(l)aSiO2l. In contrast to a recent empirical model (Dasgupta et al., 2013), the analysis of the experimental database reveals that the transition from carbonate to silicate melt with decreasing depth should occur abruptly in oceanic mantle. Our model predicts that carbonatitic melts with ~ 5 wt.% SiO2 can be stabilized from ~ 150 km depth, at the onset of incipient melting by "redox melting", up to ~ 75 km, above which the liquid evolves abruptly to a carbonated silicate composition (> ~ 25 wt.% SiO2). In the cratonic mantle lithosphere, our model predicts that carbonatitic melts are prevailing up to shallow depth, and conflicts the recent model (Russell et al., 2012) of CO2-saturation triggered by orthopyroxene assimilation during kimberlite ascent.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 434, pp. 129-140.
Technology
Petrology - experimental
Abstract: Transitional melts, intermediate in composition between silicate and carbonate melts, form by low degree partial melting of mantle peridotite and might be the most abundant type of melt in the asthenosphere. Their role in the transport of volatile elements and in metasomatic processes at the planetary scale might be significant yet they have remained largely unstudied. Their molecular structure has remained elusive in part because these melts are difficult to quench to glass. Here we use FTIR, Raman, 13C and 29Si NMR spectroscopy together with First Principle Molecular Dynamic (FPMD) simulations to investigate the molecular structure of transitional melts and in particular to assess the effect of CO2 on their structure. We found that carbon in these glasses forms free ionic carbonate groups attracting cations away from their usual ‘depolymerising’ role in breaking up the covalent silicate network. Solution of CO2 in these melts strongly modifies their structure resulting in a significant polymerisation of the aluminosilicate network with a decrease in NBO/Si of about 0.2 for every 5 mol% CO2 dissolved. This polymerisation effect is expected to influence the physical and transport properties of transitional melts. An increase in viscosity is expected with increasing CO2 content, potentially leading to melt ponding at certain levels in the mantle such as at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Conversely an ascending and degassing transitional melt such as a kimberlite would become increasingly fluid during ascent hence potentially accelerate. Carbon-rich transitional melts are effectively composed of two sub-networks: a carbonate and a silicate one leading to peculiar physical and transport properties.
Abstract: Carbon dioxide is the most abundant volatile in kimberlite melts and its solubility exerts a prime influence on the melt structure, buoyancy, transport rate and hence eruption dynamics. The actual primary composition of kimberlite magma is the matter of some debate but the solubility of CO2 in kimberlitic melts is also poorly constrained due to difficulties in quenching these compositions to a glass that retains the equilibrium CO2 content. In this study we used a range of synthetic, melt compositions with broadly kimberlitic to carbonatitic characteristics which can, under certain conditions, be quenched fast enough to produce a glass. These materials are used to determine the CO2 solubility as a function of chemical composition and pressure (0.05-1.5 GPa). Our results suggest that the solubility of CO2 decreases steadily with increasing amount of network forming cations from ~ 30 wt.% CO2 at 12 wt.% SiO2 down to ~ 3 wt.% CO2 at 40 wt.% SiO2. For low silica melts, CO2 solubility correlates non-linearly with pressure showing a sudden increase from 0.1 to 100 MPa and a smooth increase for pressure > 100 MPa. This peculiar pressure-solubility relationship in low silica melts implies that CO2 degassing must mostly occur within the last 3 km of ascent to the surface having potential links with the highly explosive nature of kimberlite magmas and some of the geo-morphological features of their root zone. We present an empirical CO2 solubility model covering a large range of melt composition from 11 to 55 wt.% SiO2 spanning the transition from carbonatitic to kimberlitic at pressures from 1500 to 50 MPa.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 447, pp. 151-160.
Mantle, Europe, Italy
Kimberlite formation, volcanism, melting
Abstract: Kimberlites are the most deep-seated magmas in the mantle and ascend to the surface at an impressive speed, travelling hundreds of kilometres in just hours while carrying a substantial load of xenolithic material, including diamonds. The ascent dynamics of these melts are buoyancy-controlled and certainly driven by outgassing of volatile species, presumably H2O and CO2, summing to concentration level of ca 15 -30 wt.% in kimberlite melts. We provide H2O -CO2 solubility data obtained on quenched glasses that are synthetic analogues of kimberlite melts (SiO2 content ranging from 18 to 28 wt.%). The experiments were conducted in the pressure range 100 to 350 MPa. While the CO2 solubility can reach 20 wt.%, we show that the H2O solubility in these low silica melts is indistinguishable from that found for basalts. Moreover, whereas in typical basalts most of the water exsolves at shallower pressure than the CO2, the opposite relationship is true for the low-SiO2 composition investigated. These data show that kimberlites can rise to depths of the upper crust without suffering significant degassing and must release large quantities of volatiles (>15 wt.%) within the very last few kilometres of ascent. This unconventional degassing path may explain the characteristic pipe, widening-upward from a =2.5 km deep root zone, where kimberlites are mined for diamonds. Furthermore, we show that small changes in melt chemistry and original volatile composition (H2O vs. CO2) provide a single mechanism to explain the variety of morphologies of kimberlite pipes found over the world. The cooling associated to such massive degassing must freeze a large quantity of melt explaining the occurrence of hypabyssal kimberlite. Finally, we provide strong constraints on the primary volatile content of kimberlite, showing that the water content reported for kimberlite magma is mostly reflective of secondary alteration.
Abstract: Geophysically detectible mid-lithospheric discontinuities (MLD) and lithosphere-asthenosphere boundaries (LAB) beneath cratons have received much attention over recent years, but a consensus on their origin has not yet emerged. Cratonic lithosphere composition and origin is peculiar due to its ultra-depletion during plume or accretionary tectonics, cool present-day geothermal gradients, compositional and rheological stratification and multiple metasomatic overprints. Bearing this in mind, we integrate current knowledge on the physical properties, chemical composition, mineralogy and fabric of cratonic mantle with experimental and thermodynamic constraints on the formation and migration of melts, both below and within cratonic lithosphere, in order to find petrologically viable explanations for cratonic mantle discontinuities. LABs characterised by strong seismic velocity gradients and increased conductivity require the presence of melts, which can form beneath intact cratonic roots reaching to ~ 200-250 km depth only in exceptionally warm and/or volatile-rich mantle, thus explaining the paucity of seismical LAB observations beneath cratons. When present, pervasive interaction of these - typically carbonated - melts with the deep lithosphere leads to densification and thermochemical erosion, which generates topography at the LAB and results in intermittent seismic LAB signals or conflicting seismic, petrologic and thermal LAB depths. In rare cases (e.g. Tanzanian craton), the tops of live melt percolation fronts may appear as MLDs and, after complete lithosphere rejuvenation, may be sites of future, shallower LABs (e.g. North China craton). Since intact cratons are presently tectonomagmatically quiescent, and since MLDs produce both positive and negative velocity gradients, in some cases with anisotropy, most MLDs may be best explained by accumulations (metasomes) of seismically slow minerals (pyroxenes, phlogopite, amphibole, carbonates) deposited during past magmatic-metasomatic activity, or fabric inherited from cratonisation. They may accumulate as layers at, or as subvertical veins above, the depth at which melt flow transitions from pervasive to focussed flow at the mechanical boundary layer, causing azimuthal and radial anisotropy. Thermodynamic calculations investigating the depth range in which small-volume melts can be produced relative to the field of phlogopite stability and the presence of MLDs show that phlogopite precipitates at various pressures as a function of age-dependent thermal state of the cratonic mantle, thus explaining variable MLD depths. Even if not directly observed, such metasomes have been shown to be important ingredients in small-volume volatile-rich melts typically penetrating cratonic lithospheres. The apparent sparseness of evidence for phlogopite-rich assemblages in the mantle xenolith record at geophysically imaged MLD depths, if not due to preferential disaggregation in the kimberlite or alteration, may relate to vagaries of both kimberlite and human sampling.
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 (SREE > 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.
Mineralogy and Petrology, Vol. 114, pp. 363-373. pdf
Mantle
melting
Abstract: Sulfur is an important element present in natural kimberlites and along with CO2, S can play a role in the kimberlite degassing. We have investigated experimentally the change in S content and CO2 solubility in synthetic kimberlitic melts in response to a range of pressure (0.5 to 2.0 GPa) and temperature (1500 to 1525 °C). Several initial S concentrations were investigated ranging from 0 to 24000 ppm. The dissolved CO2 and S were determined by Raman spectroscopy and Electron Probe Micro-Analyses. Under the investigated oxidizing conditions (?FMQ?+?1), S is dissolved in the glass only as S6+ forming sulfate molecular groups (SO42-). The measured S concentration in the glasses increases from 2900 to 22000 ppm. These results suggest that the experimental conditions were below saturation with respect to S and that the S solubility is higher than 22000 ppm for kimberlitic melts; regardless of the experimental conditions considered here. CO2 is dissolved as CO32- molecular groups. The CO2 solubility ranges from 3.0 to 11.3 wt% between 0.5 and 2.0 GPa. CO2 solubility is not affected by the presence of S; which suggests that SO42- and CO32- clusters have two distinct molecular environments not interacting together. This result implies that both CO2 and S are efficiently transported by kimberlitic melt from the upper mantle towards the atmosphere.
Abstract: The Blue Moon diamond, discovered in January 2014 at the historic Cullinan mine in South Africa, is of significance from both trade and scientific perspectives. The 29.62 ct rough yielded a 12.03 ct Fancy Vivid blue, Internally Flawless gem. The authors were provided the opportunity to study this rare diamond at the Smithsonian Institution before it went on exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Infrared spectroscopy revealed that the amount of uncompensated boron in the diamond was 0.26 ± 0.04 ppm, consistent with measurements of several large type IIb blue diamonds previously studied. After exposure to short-wave ultraviolet light, the Blue Moon displayed orange-red phosphorescence that remained visible for up to 20 seconds. This observation was surprising, as orange-red phosphorescence is typically associated with diamonds of Indian origin, such as the Hope and the Wittelsbach-Graff. Time-resolved phosphorescence spectra exhibited peaks at 660 and 500 nm, typical for natural type II blue diamonds. As with most natural diamonds, the Blue Moon showed strain-induced birefringence.
Abstract: The Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection includes the Hope Diamond and an assortment of other significant fancy-colored diamonds, providing a unique opportunity to conduct detailed and sustained studies on an unprecedented selection of these rare and valuable stones. We present an overview and recent results from our work on pink, blue and chameleon diamonds. Boron causes the blue color of the Hope Diamond and other type IIb diamonds, but scarcity, high value, and the low concentration of B has inhibited B analyses of natural IIb diamonds. We used FTIR and ToF-SIMS to measure concentrations and distributions of B in the Hope and other blue diamonds. ToF-SIMS analyses gave spot B concentrations as high as 8.4 ± 1.1 ppm for the Hope Diamond to less than 0.08 ppm in other blue diamonds and revealed strong zoning of B in some diamonds, which was confirmed by mapping using synchrotron FTIR. Boron is also responsible for the phosphorescence emissions of IIb diamonds, at 660 nm and 500 nm; the emissions are likely caused by donor-acceptor pair recombination processes involving B and other defects. Approximately 50 type I natural pink diamonds were compared using UV-Vis, FTIR, and CL spectroscopies. All stones exhibit pink color zoning, ~1µm thick [111] lamellae, in otherwise colorless diamond. The pink diamonds fall into two groups: 1) those from Argyle in Australia and Santa Elena in Venezuela, and 2) those from other localities. TEM imaging from FIB sections revealed that twinning is the likely mechanism by which plastic deformation is accommodated for the pink diamonds. The deformation creates new centers, including the one responsible for the pink color, which remains unidentified. The differences in the plastic deformation features for the two groups might correlate to the particular geologic conditions under which the diamonds formed. Fluorescence and thermoluminescence experiments on natural chameleon diamonds reveal that an emission band, peaking near 556nm, may be stimulated via a number of different mechanisms. We discuss the implications of our observations for the electronic structure of the 556nm-fluorescing defect center, and the connections to the unidentified color center responsible for chameleon color changes.
Abstract: The Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection includes the Hope Diamond and an assortment of other significant fancy-colored diamonds, providing a unique opportunity to conduct detailed and sustained studies on an unprecedented selection of these rare and valuable stones. We present an overview and recent results from our work on pink, blue and chameleon diamonds. Boron causes the blue color of the Hope Diamond and other type IIb diamonds, but scarcity, high value, and the low concentration of B has inhibited B analyses of natural IIb diamonds. We used FTIR and ToF-SIMS to measure concentrations and distributions of B in the Hope and other blue diamonds. ToF-SIMS analyses gave spot B concentrations as high as 8.4 ± 1.1 ppm for the Hope Diamond to less than 0.08 ppm in other blue diamonds and revealed strong zoning of B in some diamonds, which was confirmed by mapping using synchrotron FTIR. Boron is also responsible for the phosphorescence emissions of IIb diamonds, at 660 nm and 500 nm; the emissions are likely caused by donor-acceptor pair recombination processes involving B and other defects. Approximately 50 type I natural pink diamonds were compared using UV-Vis, FTIR, and CL spectroscopies. All stones exhibit pink color zoning, ~1µm thick [111] lamellae, in otherwise colorless diamond. The pink diamonds fall into two groups: 1) those from Argyle in Australia and Santa Elena in Venezuela, and 2) those from other localities. TEM imaging from FIB sections revealed that twinning is the likely mechanism by which plastic deformation is accommodated for the pink diamonds. The deformation creates new centers, including the one responsible for the pink color, which remains unidentified. The differences in the plastic deformation features for the two groups might correlate to the particular geologic conditions under which the diamonds formed. Fluorescence and thermoluminescence experiments on natural chameleon diamonds reveal that an emission band, peaking near 556nm, may be stimulated via a number of different mechanisms. We discuss the implications of our observations for the electronic structure of the 556nm-fluorescing defect center, and the connections to the unidentified color center responsible for chameleon color changes.
Diamond and Related Materials, Vol. 72, pp. 87-93.
Technology
Diamonds - type 11b
Abstract: Precision admittance spectroscopy measurements were carried out over wide temperature and frequency ranges for a set of natural single crystal type IIb diamond samples. Peaks of conductance spectra vs. temperature and frequency were used to compute the Arrhenius plots, and activation energies were derived from these plots. The capacitance-voltage profiling was used to estimate the majority charge carrier concentration and its distribution into depth of the samples. Apparent activation energies between 315 and 325 meV and the capture cross section of about 10- 13 cm2 were found for samples with uncompensated boron concentrations in the range of 1 to 5 × 1016 cm- 3 (0.06-0.3 ppm). The obtained boron concentrations are in good coincidence with FTIR results for the samples. Also, a reason for the difference between the observed admittance activation energy and the previously reported ionization energy for the acceptor boron in diamond (0.37 eV) is proposed.
Abstract: Extensive study has shown that these inclusions contain mantle-derived fluids (e.g. Navon et al., 1988, Izraeli et al., 2001, 2004 Tomlinson et al., 2009; Logvinova et al., 2011; Zedgenizov et al., 2011; Smith et al., 2012, Smith et al., 2015 Howell et al., 2012b Howell et al., , 2013 Weiss et al., 2013 Weiss et al., , 2015 Rakovan et al., 2014; Smit et al., in press), Here we use the term 'milky' to describe diamonds that contain zones of opalescent to brown or grey opaque appearance (Gaillou and Rossman, 2014). The exact cause of this opacity is yet to be defined, and forms the purpose of this paper.
Abstract: Diamonds represent one of the few witnesses of our planet interior. They are mainly formed in the first 200 km of the lithospheric mantle, and, more rarely from the transition zone to 700 km deep. Diamonds contain a lot of information about global evolution, however their mode of formation remains poorly understood. Recent studies in high-pressure mineralogy suggest that diamonds precipitate from oxidized metasomatic fluids. The study of inclusions trapped in diamonds may provide precise information on composition, pressure, temperature and redox conditions. The aim of this study is to use the inclusions trapped in diamond as probes of the deep cycling of volatiles (C, H, halogens). Therefore, we investigate inclusions in diamonds with a systematic study of diamonds from collections. We selected 73 diamonds from three museums: National Museum of Natural History, School of Mines and Sorbonne University. The selected diamonds are studied with the help of a large range of in situ methods: RAMAN and FTIR spectrometry and X-Ray Diffraction. These analyses allow us to identify the nature of the different inclusions without damaging the gems. First results indicate silicate minerals inclusions as pyrope garnet, olivine and enstatite pyroxene. This assemblage is typical of peridotitic-type diamonds in the lithosphere.
Society of Economic Geology Geoscience and Exploration of the Argyle, Bunder, Diavik, and Murowa Diamond Deposits, Special Publication no. 20, pp. 169-190.
Abstract: In its pure form, diamond is colorless. However, in nature (or even when made in laboratories), diamonds are never composed of 100 percent carbon atoms. Even colorless diamonds will contain some defects: missing carbon atoms or containing trace amounts of nitrogen or hydrogen, for example. When present in certain atomic arrangements and concentrations, most minor components cause absorption of specific wavelengths of light, giving rise to color. The color in diamond is not source specific, even if some mines are known to produce more of certain colors, such as blue diamonds from the Premiere mine in South Africa, or brown and pink diamonds from the Argyle mine in Australia. Virtually every single diamond mine could produce any kind of colored diamond. At auction, record prices for gems are currently held by pink and blue diamonds: for example, $2,155,332 per carat for a 24.78-carat Fancy vivid pink diamond (sold at Sotheby's in 2010) and $1.8 million per carat for a 5.3-carat Fancy deep blue diamond (sold at Bonhams in London in April 2013).
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 430, pp. 284-295.
Asia, Tibet
Luobusa Massif Type Iib
Abstract: For more than 20 years, the reported occurrence of diamonds in the chromites and peridotites of the Luobusa massif in Tibet (a complex described as an ophiolite) has been widely ignored by the diamond research community. This skepticism has persisted because the diamonds are similar in many respects to high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) synthetic/industrial diamonds (grown from metal solvents), and the finding previously has not been independently replicated. We present a detailed examination of the Luobusa diamonds (recovered from both peridotites and chromitites), including morphology, size, color, impurity characteristics (by infrared spectroscopy), internal growth structures, trace-element patterns, and C and N isotopes. A detailed comparison with synthetic industrial diamonds shows many similarities. Cubo-octahedral morphology, yellow color due to unaggregated nitrogen (C centres only, Type Ib), metal-alloy inclusions and highly negative View the MathML sourcedC13 values are present in both sets of diamonds. The Tibetan diamonds (n=3n=3) show an exceptionally large range in View the MathML sourcedN15 (-5.6 to +28.7‰+28.7‰) within individual crystals, and inconsistent fractionation between {111} and {100} growth sectors. This in contrast to large synthetic HPHT diamonds grown by the temperature gradient method, which have with View the MathML sourcedN15=0‰ in {111} sectors and +30‰+30‰ in {100} sectors, as reported in the literature. This comparison is limited by the small sample set combined with the fact the diamonds probably grew by different processes. However, the Tibetan diamonds do have generally higher concentrations and different ratios of trace elements; most inclusions are a NiMnCo alloy, but there are also some small REE-rich phases never seen in HPHT synthetics. These characteristics indicate that the Tibetan diamonds grew in contact with a C-saturated Ni-Mn-Co-rich melt in a highly reduced environment. The stable isotopes indicate a major subduction-related contribution to the chemical environment. The unaggregated nitrogen, combined with the lack of evidence for resorption or plastic deformation, suggests a short (geologically speaking) residence in the mantle. Previously published models to explain the occurrence of the diamonds, and other phases indicative of highly reduced conditions and very high pressures, have failed to take into account the characteristics of the diamonds and the implications for their formation. For these diamonds to be seriously considered as the result of a natural growth environment requires a new understanding of mantle conditions that could produce them.
Abstract: Large peridotite massifs are scattered along the 1500?km length of the Yarlung-Zangbo Suture Zone (southern Tibet, China), the major suture between Asia and Greater India. Diamonds occur in the peridotites and chromitites of several massifs, together with an extensive suite of trace phases that indicate extremely low fO2 (SiC, nitrides, carbides, native elements) and/or ultrahigh pressures (UHP) (diamond, TiO2 II, coesite, possible stishovite). New physical and isotopic (C, N) studies of the diamonds indicate that they are natural, crystallized in a disequilibrium, high-T environment, and spent only a short time at mantle temperatures before exhumation and cooling. These constraints are difficult to reconcile with previous models for the history of the diamond-bearing rocks. Possible evidence for metamorphism in or near the upper part of the Transition Zone includes the following: (1) chromite (in disseminated, nodular and massive chromitites) containing exsolved pyroxenes and coesite, suggesting inversion from a high-P polymorph of chromite; (2) microstructural studies suggesting that the chromitites recrystallized from fine-grained, highly deformed mixtures of wadsleyite and an octahedral polymorph of chromite; (3) a new cubic Mg-silicate, with the space group of ringwoodite but an inverse-spinel structure (all Si in octahedral coordination); (4) harzburgites with coarsely vermicular symplectites of opx + Cr-Al spinel ± cpx; reconstructions suggest that these are the breakdown products of majoritic garnets, with estimated minimum pressures to?>?13?GPa. Evidence for a shallow pre-metamorphic origin for the chromitites and peridotites includes the following: (1) trace-element data showing that the chromitites are typical of suprasubduction-zone (SSZ) chromitites formed by magma mixing or mingling, consistent with Hf-isotope data from magmatic (375?Ma) zircons in the chromitites; (2) the composition of the new cubic Mg-silicate, which suggests a low-P origin as antigorite, subsequently dehydrated; (3) the peridotites themselves, which carry the trace element signature of metasomatism in an SSZ environment, a signature that must have been imposed before the incorporation of the UHP and low-fO2 phases. A proposed P-T-t path involves the original formation of chromitites in mantle-wedge harzburgites, subduction of these harzburgites at c. 375?Ma, residence in the upper Transition Zone for >200 Myr, and rapid exhumation at c. 170-150?Ma or 130-120?Ma. Os-isotope data suggest that the subducted mantle consisted of previously depleted subcontinental lithosphere, dragged down by a subducting oceanic slab. Thermomechanical modeling shows that roll-back of a (much later) subducting slab would produce a high-velocity channelized upwelling that could exhume the buoyant harzburgites (and their chromitites) from the Transition Zone in?
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.
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: 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.
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 d13C 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 d18O (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.
Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, http://orchid.org/0000-0002-2701-4635 80p.
Asia, Sri Lanka
geochronology
Abstract: Here we document a detailed characterization of two zircon gemstones, GZ7 and GZ8. Both stones had the same mass at 19.2 carats (3.84 g) each; both came from placer deposits in the Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka. The U-Pb data are in both cases concordant within the uncertainties of decay constants and yield weighted mean ²°6Pb/²³8U ages (95% confidence uncertainty) of 530.26 Ma ± 0.05 Ma (GZ7) and 543.92 Ma ± 0.06 Ma (GZ8). Neither GZ7 nor GZ8 have been subjected to any gem enhancement by heating. Structure-related parameters correspond well with the calculated alpha doses of 1.48 × 10¹8 g?¹ (GZ7) and 2.53 × 10¹8 g?¹ (GZ8), respectively, and the (U-Th)/He ages of 438 Ma ± 3 Ma (2s) for GZ7 and 426 Ma ± 9 Ma (2s) for GZ8 are typical of unheated zircon from Sri Lanka. The mean U concentrations are 680 µg g?¹ (GZ7) and 1305 µg g?¹ (GZ8). The two zircon samples are proposed as reference materials for SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) U-Pb geochronology. In addition, GZ7 (Ti concentration 25.08 µg g?¹ ± 0.18 µg g?¹; 95% confidence uncertainty) may prove useful as reference material for Ti-in-zircon temperature estimates.
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)S=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 > 4s(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.
Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, in press available, 16p.
Australia
deposit - Mud Tank
Abstract: Zircon megacrysts from the Mud Tank carbonatite, Australia, are being used in many laboratories as a reference material for LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating and trace element measurement, and LA-MC-ICP-MS determination of Hf isotopes. We summarise a database of > 10000 analyses of Mud Tank zircon (MTZ), collected from 2000 to 2018 during its use as a secondary reference material for simultaneous U-Pb and trace element analysis, and for Hf-isotope analysis. Trace element mass fractions are highest in dark red-brown stones and lowest in colourless and gem-quality ones. Individual unzoned grains can be chemically homogeneous, while significant variations in trace element mass fraction are associated with oscillatory zoning. Chondrite-normalised trace element patterns are essentially parallel over large mass fraction ranges. A Concordia age of 731.0 ± 0.2 Ma (2s, n = 2272) is taken as the age of crystallisation. Some grains show lower concordant to mildly discordant ages, probably reflecting minor Pb loss associated with cooling and the Alice Springs Orogeny (450-300 Ma). Our weighted mean 176Hf/177Hf is 0.282523 ± 10 (2s, n = 9350); the uncertainties on this ratio reflect some heterogeneity, mainly between grains. A few analyses suggest that colourless grains have generally lower 176Hf/177Hf. MTZ is a useful secondary reference material for U-Pb and Hf-isotope analysis, but individual grains need to be carefully selected using CL imaging and tested for homogeneity, and ideally should be standardised by solution analysis.
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.
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.
Abstract: An excess or deficit of mass is reflected in the gravity anomaly data. Gravity anomalies measured by satellite and airborne and shipborne instruments show variations in topography and bathymetry, sedimentary thickness, basement rock density contrast, crustal thickness, and even mantle convection. Using new geophysical data and an improved 3-D gravity inversion method, we calculate the crustal thickness of oceanic domains in the High Arctic and northern North Atlantic. This model helps to better understand the tectonic structure of poorly surveyed and difficult to access Arctic regions. ArcCRUST can be used to better constrain the deeper Arctic region structure.
Tectonics, in press available, e2020TC006063 39p. Pdf
Global
subduction
Abstract: Microcontinents and continental fragments are small pieces of continental crust that are surrounded by oceanic lithosphere. Although classically associated with passive margin formation, here we present several preserved microcontinents and continental fragments associated with subduction systems. They are located in the Coral Sea, South China Sea, central Mediterranean and Scotia Sea regions and a ‘proto-microcontinent’, in the Gulf of California. Reviewing the tectonic history of each region and interpreting a variety of geophysical data allows us to identify parameters controlling the formation of microcontinents and continental fragments in subduction settings. All these tectonic blocks experienced long, complex tectonic histories with an important role for developing inherited structures. They tend to form in back-arc locations and separate from their parent continent by oblique or rotational kinematics. The separated continental pieces and associated marginal basins are generally small and formation is quick (<50 Myr). Microcontinents and continental fragments formed close to large continental masses tend to form faster than those created in systems bordered by large oceanic plates. A common triggering mechanism for formation is difficult to identify, but seems to be linked with rapid changes of complex subduction dynamics. The young ages of all contemporary pieces found in situ suggest that microcontinents and continental fragments in these settings are short lived. Although presently the amount of in-situ subduction-related microcontinents is meagre (an area of 0.56% and 0.28% of global, non-cratonic, continental crustal area and crustal volume respectively), through time microcontinents contributed to terrane amalgamation and larger continent formation.
Abstract: Microcontinents and continental fragments are small pieces of continental crust that are surrounded by oceanic lithosphere. Although classically associated with passive margin formation, here we present several preserved microcontinents and continental fragments associated with subduction systems. They are located in the Coral Sea, South China Sea, central Mediterranean and Scotia Sea regions, and a “proto-microcontinent,” in the Gulf of California. Reviewing the tectonic history of each region and interpreting a variety of geophysical data allows us to identify parameters controlling the formation of microcontinents and continental fragments in subduction settings. All these tectonic blocks experienced long, complex tectonic histories with an important role for developing inherited structures. They tend to form in back-arc locations and separate from their parent continent by oblique or rotational kinematics. The separated continental pieces and associated marginal basins are generally small and their formation is quick (<50 Myr). Microcontinents and continental fragments formed close to large continental masses tend to form faster than those created in systems bordered by large oceanic plates. A common triggering mechanism for their formation is difficult to identify, but seems to be linked with rapid changes of complex subduction dynamics. The young ages of all contemporary pieces found in situ suggest that microcontinents and continental fragments in these settings are short lived. Although presently the amount of in-situ subduction-related microcontinents is meager (an area of 0.56% and 0.28% of global, non-cratonic, continental crustal area and crustal volume, respectively), through time microcontinents contributed to terrane amalgamation and larger continent formation.
Bulbuc, K.M., Galarneau, M., Stachel, T., Stern, R.A., Kong, J., Chinn, I.
Contrasting growth conditions for sulphide-and garnet-included diamonds from the Victor mine ( Ontario).
2018 Yellowknife Geoscience Forum , p. 97-98. abstract
Canada, Ontario, Attawapiskat
deposit - Victor
Abstract: The Victor Diamond Mine, located in the Attawapiskat kimberlite field (Superior Craton), is known for its exceptional diamond quality. Here we study the chemical environment of formation of Victor diamonds. We imaged eight sulphide-included diamond plates from Victor using cathodoluminescence (CL). Then, along core-rim transects, we measured nitrogen content and aggregation state utilizing Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and the stable isotope compositions of carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N), using a multi-collector ion microprobe (MC-SIMS). We compare the internal growth features and chemical characteristics of these sulphide inclusion-bearing diamonds with similar data on garnet inclusion-bearing diamonds from Victor (BSc thesis Galarneau). Using this information, possible fractionation processes during diamond precipitation are considered and inferences on the speciation of the diamond forming fluid(s) are explored. Sulphide inclusion-bearing diamonds show much greater overall complexity in their internal growth features than garnet inclusion-bearing diamonds. Two of the sulphide-included samples have cores that represent an older generation of diamond growth. Compared to garnet inclusion-bearing diamonds, the sulphide-included diamonds show very little intra-sample variation in both carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition; the inter-sample variations in carbon isotopic composition, however, are higher than in garnet included diamonds. For sulphide-included diamonds, d13C ranges from -3.4 to -17.5 and d15N ranges from -0.2 to -9.2. Garnet inclusion-bearing diamonds showed d13C values ranging from -4.6 to -6.0 and d15N ranging from -2.8 to -10.8. The observation of some 13C depleted samples indicates that, unlike the lherzolitic garnet inclusion-bearing diamonds, the sulphide inclusion-bearing diamonds are likely both peridotitic and eclogitic in origin. The total range in N content across sulphide inclusion-bearing diamonds was 2 to 981 at ppm, similar to the garnet-included samples with a range of 5 to 944 at ppm. The very limited variations in carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures across growth layers indicate that sulphide-included Victor diamonds grew at comparatively high fluid:rock ratios. This is contrasted by the garnet inclusion-bearing diamonds that commonly show the effects of Rayleigh fractionation and hence grew under fluid-limited conditions.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 535, 116076 11p. Pdf
Russia, Siberia
carbonatite
Abstract: Large igneous province (LIP) eruptions have been linked in some cases to major perturbations of Earth's carbon cycle. However, few observations directly constrain the isotopic composition of carbon released by LIP magmas because carbon isotopes fractionate during degassing, which hampers understanding of the relative roles of mantle versus crustal carbon reservoirs. Carbonatite magmatism associated with LIPs provides a unique window into the isotopic systematics of LIP carbon because the majority of carbon in carbonatites crystalizes rather than degassing. Although the volume of such carbonatites is small, they offer one of the few available constraints on the mantle carbon originally hosted in other more voluminous magma types. Here, we present new data for the Guli carbonatites in the Siberian Traps. In addition, we compile ~260 published measurements of from carbonatites related to the Deccan Traps and the Paraná-Etendeka. We find no evidence for magmas with carbon isotope ratios lighter than depleted mantle values of ‰ from any of these LIPs, though some carbonatites range to heavier . We attribute relatively heavy in some carbonatites to either slightly 13C-enriched domains in the mantle lithosphere or carbon isotope fractionation in deep, carbon-saturated LIP magma reservoirs. The absence of a light component in LIP magmas supports the view that lithospheric carbon reservoirs must be tapped during cases of LIP magmatism linked with sharp negative carbon isotope excursions and mass extinctions.
Abstract: Perovskite (CaTiO3) has become a very useful mineral for dating kimberlite eruptions, as well as for constraining the compositional evolution of a kimberlitic magma and its source. Despite the undeniable potential of such an approach, no similar study had been done in Angola, the fourth largest diamond producer in Africa. Here we present the first work of in situ U-Pb geochronology and Sr-Nd isotope analyses of perovskite in six Angolan kimberlites, supported by a detailed petrographic and geochemical study of their perovskite populations. Four types of perovskite were identified, differing in texture, major- and trace-element composition, zoning patterns, type of alteration and the presence or absence of inclusions. Primary groundmass perovskite is classified either as anhedral, Na-, Nb- and LREE-poor perovskite (Ia); or euhedral, strongly zoned, Na-, Nb- and LREE-rich perovskite (Ib). Secondary perovskite occurs as reaction rims on ilmenite (IIa) or as high Nb (up to 10.6 wt% Nb2O5) perovskite rims on primary perovskite (IIb). The occurrence of these four types within the Mulepe kimberlites is interpreted as an evidence of a complex, multi-stage process that involved mingling of compositionally different melts. U-Pb dating of these perovskites yielded Lower Cretaceous ages for four of the studied kimberlites: Mulepe 1 (116.2 ± 6.5 Ma), Mulepe 2 (123.0 ± 3.6 Ma), Calonda (119.5 ± 4.3 Ma) and Cat115 (133 ± 10 Ma). Kimberlite magmatism occurred in NE Angola likely due to reactivation of deep-seated translithospheric faults (> 300 km) during the break-up of Gondwana. Sr-Nd isotope analyses of four of these kimberlites indicate that they are Group I kimberlites, which is consistent with the petrological observations.
Abstract: Perovskite (CaTiO3) has become a very usefulmineral for dating kimberlite eruptions, aswell as for constraining the compositional evolution of a kimberlitic magma and its source. Despite the undeniable potential of such an approach, no similar study had been done in Angola, the fourth largest diamond producer in Africa. Here we present the firstwork of in situ U-Pb geochronology and Sr-Ndisotope analyses of perovskite in six Angolan kimberlites, supported by a detailed petrographic and geochemical study of their perovskite populations. Four types of perovskitewere identified, differing in texture,major- and trace-element composition, zoning patterns, type of alteration and the presence or absence of inclusions. Primary groundmass perovskite is classified either as anhedral, Na-, Nb- and LREE-poor perovskite (Ia); or euhedral, strongly zoned, Na-, Nb- and LREE-rich perovskite (Ib). Secondary perovskite occurs as reaction rims on ilmenite (IIa) or as high Nb (up to 10.6 wt% Nb2O5) perovskite rims on primary perovskite (IIb). The occurrence of these four types within the Mulepe kimberlites is interpreted as an evidence of a complex, multi-stage process that involved mingling of compositionally different melts. U-Pb dating of these perovskites yielded Lower Cretaceous ages for four of the studied kimberlites: Mulepe 1 (116.2±6.5Ma),Mulepe 2 (123.0±3.6Ma), Calonda (119.5±4.3 Ma) and Cat115 (133±10Ma). Kimberlite magmatism occurred in NE Angola likely due to reactivation of deep-seated translithospheric faults (N300 km) during the break-up of Gondwana. Sr-Nd isotope analyses of four of these kimberlites indicate that they are Group I kimberlites, which is consistent with the petrological observations.
deposits - Tchiuzo, Anomaly 116, Catoca, Alt Cuilo-4, Cuilo-63, Cucumbi-79.
Abstract: In this study, we compare the major- and trace-element compositions of olivine, garnet, and clinopyroxene that occur as single crystals (142 grains), with those derived from xenoliths (51 samples) from six kimberlites in the Lucapa area, northeastern Angola: Tchiuzo, Anomaly 116, Catoca, Alto Cuilo-4, Alto Cuilo-63 and Cucumbi-79. The samples were analyzed using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results suggest different paragenetic associations for these kimberlites in the Lucapa area. Compositional overlap in some of the macrocryst and mantle xenolith samples indicates a xenocrystic origin for some of those macrocrysts. The presence of mantle xenocrysts suggests the possibility of finding diamond. Geothermobarometric calculations were carried out using EPMA data from xenoliths by applying the program PTEXL.XLT. Additional well calibrated single-clinopyroxene thermobarometric calculations were also applied. Results indicate the underlying mantle experienced different equilibration conditions. Subsequent metasomatic enrichment events also support a hypothesis of different sources for the kimberlites. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the petrogenetic evolution of the kimberlites in northeastern Angola and have important implications for diamond exploration.
Abstract: Magnesian ilmenite is a common kimberlite indicator mineral, although its use in diamond exploration is still controversial. Complex crystallisation and replacement processes have been invoked to explain the wide compositional and textural ranges of ilmenite found in kimberlites. This work aims to shed light on these processes, as well as their implications for diamond exploration. Petrographic studies were combined for the first time with both major- and trace-element analyses to characterise the ilmenite populations found in xenoliths and xenocrysts in two Angolan kimberlites (Congo-Kasai craton). A multi-stage model describes the evolution of ilmenite in these pipes involving: i) crystallisation of ferric and Mg-rich ilmenite either as metasomatic phases or as megacrysts, both in crustal and in metasomatised mantle domains; ii) kimberlite entrainment and xenolith disaggregation producing at least two populations of ilmenite nodules differing in composition; iii) interaction of both types with the kimberlitic magma during eruption, leading to widespread replacement by Mg-rich ilmenite along grain boundaries and fractures. This process produced similar major-element compositions in ilmenites regardless of their primary (i.e., pre-kimberlitic) origin, although the original enrichment in HFSE (Zr, Hf, Ta, Nb) observed in Fe3 +-rich xenocrysts is preserved. Finally (iv) formation of secondary Mn-ilmenite by interaction with a fluid of carbonatitic affinity or by infiltration of a late hydrothermal fluid, followed in some cases by subsolidus alteration in an oxidising environment. The complexities of ilmenite genesis may lead to misinterpretation of the diamond potential of a kimberlite during the exploration stage if textural and trace-element information is disregarded. Secondary Mg-enrichment of ilmenite xenocrysts is common and is unrelated to reducing conditions that could favour diamond formation/preservation in the mantle. Similarly, Mn-rich ilmenite should be disregarded as a diamond indicator mineral, unless textural studies can prove its primary origin.
Abstract: The tectonic setting of northeastern Angola was influenced by the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, which reactivated deep NE-SW-trending faults during the early Cretaceous. The new interpretation of a kimberlitic pulse during the middle of the Aptian and the Albian, which provides precise data on the age of a significant diamond-bearing kimberlite pulse in Angola, will be an important guide in future diamond exploration. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the petrogenetic evolution of the kimberlites in northeastern Angola and have important implications for diamond exploration. Six kimberlite pipes within the Lucapa structure in northeastern Angola have been investigated using major and trace element geochemistry of mantle xenoliths, macro- and megacrysts. Geothermobarometric calculations were carried out using xenoliths and well-calibrated single crystals of clinopyroxene. Geochronological and isotopic studies were also performed where there were samples available of sufficient quality. Results indicate that the underlying mantle experienced variable conditions of equilibration among the six sites. Subsequent metasomatic enrichment events also support a hypothesis of different sources for these kimberlites. The U/Th values suggest at least two different sources of zircon crystals from the Catoca suite. These different populations may reflect different sources of kimberlitic magma, with some of the grains produced in U- and Th-enriched metasomatized mantle units, an idea consistent with the two populations of zircon identified on the basis of their trace element compositions. This research shows the absence of fresh Mg-rich ilmenite in the Catoca kimberlite (one of the largest bodies of kimberlite in the world), as well as the occurrence of Fe3+-rich ilmenite, do not exclude the presence of diamond in the kimberlite. This is a new insight into the concept of ilmenite and diamond exploration and leads to the conclusion that compositional attributes must be evaluated in light of textural attributes.
Galimov, E., Kudin, A., Skorobogatskii, V., Plotnichenko, V., Bondarev, O., Zarubin, B., Strazdovskii, V., Aronin, A., Fisenko, A., Bykov, I., Barinov, A.
Experimental corrobation of the synthesis of diamond in the cavitation process.
Doklady Physical Chemistry, Vol. 49, 3, pp. 150-153.
Abstract: The carbon isotope composition of microdiamonds found in products of the Tolbachik Volcano eruption, Kamchatka (porous lavas and ash), was studied. The isotope composition of microdiamonds (with an average value of d13C =-25.05‰) is close to that of microsized carbon particles in lavas (from-28.9 to-25.3‰). The general peculiarities of the diamond-forming environment include (1) no evidence for high pressure in the medium; (2) a reduced environment; and (3) mineralogical evidence for the presence of a fluid. The geochemical data characterizing the type of diamonds studied allow us to suggest that they were formed in accordance with the mechanism of diamond synthesis during cavitation in a rapidly migrating fluid, which was suggested by E.M. Galimov.
Abstract: Approximately 700 diamond crystals were identified in volcanic (mainly pyroclastic) rocks of the Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. They were studied with the use of SIMS, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and utilization of electron energy loss spectroscopy and electron diffraction. Diamonds have cube-octahedral shape and extremely homogeneous internal structure. Two groups of impurity elements are distinguished by their distribution within the diamond. First group, N and H, the most common structural impurities in diamond, are distributed homogeneously. All other elements observed (Cl, F, O, S, Si, Al, Ca, and K) form local concentrations, implying the existence of inclusions, causing high concentrations of these elements. Most elements have concentrations 3-4 orders of magnitude less than chondritic values. Besides N and H, Si, F, Cl, and Na are relatively enriched because they are concentrated in micro- and nanoinclusions in diamond. Mineral inclusions in the studied diamonds are 70-450 nm in size, round- or oval-shaped. They are represented by two mineral groups: Mn-Ni alloys and silicides, with a wide range of concentrations for each group. Alloys vary in stoichiometry from MnNi to Mn2Ni, with a minor admixture of Si from 0 to 5.20-5.60 at%. Silicides, usually coexisting with alloys, vary in composition from (Mn,Ni)4Si to (Mn,Ni)5Si2 and Mn5Si2, and further to MnSi, forming pure Mn-silicides. Mineral inclusions have nanometer-sized bubbles that contain a fluid or a gas phase (F and O). Carbon isotopic compositions in diamonds vary from -21 to -29‰ d13CVPDB (avg. = -25.4). Nitrogen isotopic compositions in diamond from Tolbachik volcano are from -2.32 to -2.58‰ d15NAir. Geological, geochemical, and mineralogical data confirm the natural origin of studied Tolbachik diamonds from volcanic gases during the explosive stage of the eruption.
Abstract: The contents of radioactive elements and the uranium isotopic composition of kimberlite in the Arkhangelskaya pipe at the M.V. Lomonosov deposit and of nearby country rocks have been studied. A surplus of 234U isotope has been established in rocks from the near-pipe space. The high ? = 234U/238U ratio is controlled by the geological structure of the near-pipe space. A nonequilibrium uranium halo reaches two pipe diameters in size and can be regarded as a local ore guide for kimberlite discovery. The rocks in the nearpipe space are also characterized by elevated or anomalous U, Th, and K contents with respect to the background.
Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 123, 7, pp. 5644-5660.
Africa, east Africa
geophysics - seismic
Abstract: Although the East African rift system formed in cratonic lithosphere above a large-scale mantle upwelling, some sectors have voluminous magmatism, while others have isolated, small-volume eruptive centers. We conduct teleseismic shear wave splitting analyses on data from 5 lake-bottom seismometers and 67 land stations in the Tanganyika-Rukwa-Malawi rift zone, including the Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP), and from 5 seismometers in the Kivu rift and Virunga Volcanic Province, to evaluate rift-perpendicular strain, rift-parallel melt intrusion, and regional flow models for seismic anisotropy patterns beneath the largely amagmatic Western rift. Observations from 684 SKS and 305 SKKS phases reveal consistent patterns. Within the Malawi rift south of the RVP, fast splitting directions are oriented northeast with average delays of ~1 s. Directions rotate to N-S and NNW north of the volcanic province within the reactivated Mesozoic Rukwa and southern Tanganyika rifts. Delay times are largest (~1.25 s) within the Virunga Volcanic Province. Our work combined with earlier studies shows that SKS-splitting is rift parallel within Western rift magmatic provinces, with a larger percentage of null measurements than in amagmatic areas. The spatial variations in direction and amount of splitting from our results and those of earlier Western rift studies suggest that mantle flow is deflected by the deeply rooted cratons. The resulting flow complexity, and likely stagnation beneath the Rungwe province, may explain the ca. 17 Myr of localized magmatism in the weakly stretched RVP, and it argues against interpretations of a uniform anisotropic layer caused by large-scale asthenospheric flow or passive rifting.
Abstract: Unusually deep earthquakes occur beneath rift segments with and without surface expressions of magmatism in the East African Rift system. The Tanganyika rift is part of the Western rift and has no surface evidence of magmatism. The TANG14 array was deployed in the southern Tanganyika rift, where earthquakes of magnitude up to 7.4 have occurred, to probe crust and upper mantle structure and evaluate fault kinematics. Four hundred seventy-four earthquakes detected between June 2014 and September 2015 are located using a new regional velocity model. The precise locations, magnitudes, and source mechanisms of local and teleseismic earthquakes are used to determine seismogenic layer thickness, delineate active faults, evaluate regional extension direction, and evaluate kinematics of border faults. The active faults span more than 350 km with deep normal faults transecting the thick Bangweulu craton, indicating a wide plate boundary zone. The seismogenic layer thickness is 42 km, spanning the entire crust beneath the rift basins and their uplifted flanks. Earthquakes in the upper mantle are also detected. Deep earthquakes with steep nodal planes occur along subsurface projections of Tanganyika and Rukwa border faults, indicating that large offset (=5 km) faults penetrate to the base of the crust, and are the current locus of strain. The focal mechanisms, continuous depth distribution, and correlation with mapped structures indicate that steep, deep border faults maintain a half-graben morphology over at least 12 Myr of basin evolution. Fault scaling based on our results suggests that M > 7 earthquakes along Tanganyika border faults are possible.
Cobden, L., Goes, S., Ravenna, M., Styles, E., Cammarano, F., Gallagher, K., Connolly, J.
Thermochemical interpretation of 1-D seismic dat a for the lower mantle: the significance of nonadiabiatic thermal gradients and compositional heterogeneity.
Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, B 11, B11309
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 100, pp. 20-41.
Africa, Namibia
Geothermometry
Abstract: Intracontinental deformation accommodated along major lithospheric scale shear zone systems and within associated extensional basins has been well documented within West, Central and East Africa during the Late Cretaceous. The nature of this deformation has been established by studies of the tectonic architecture of sedimentary basins preserved in this part of Africa. In southern Africa, where the post break-up history has been dominated by major erosion, little evidence for post-break-up tectonics has been preserved in the onshore geology. Here we present the results of 38 new apatite fission track analyses from the Damara region of northern Namibia and integrate these new data with our previous results that were focused on specific regions or sections only to comprehensively document the thermo-tectonic history of this region since continental break-up in the Early Cretaceous. The apatite fission track ages range from 449 ± 20 Ma to 59 ± 3 Ma, with mean confined track lengths between 14.61 ± 0.1 µm (SD 0.95 µm) to 10.83 ± 0.33 µm (SD 2.84 µm). The youngest ages (c. 80–60 Ma) yield the longest mean track lengths, and combined with their spatial distribution, indicate major cooling during the latest Cretaceous. A simple numerical thermal model is used to demonstrate that this cooling is consistent with the combined effects of heating caused by magmatic underplating, related to the Paraná-Etendeka continental flood volcanism associated with rifting and the opening of the South Atlantic, and enhanced erosion caused by major reactivation of major lithospheric structures within southern Africa during a key period of plate kinematic change that occurred in the South Atlantic and SW Indian ocean basins between 87 and 56 Ma. This phase of intraplate tectonism in northern Namibia, focused in discrete structurally defined zones, is coeval with similar phases elsewhere in Africa and suggests some form of trans-continental linkage between these lithospheric zones.
Where have all the miners gone? Aboriginals are now masters of Canada's resource agenda says new book…. Bill Gallagher Resource rules: fortune and folly on Canada's road to resources.
Canadian Mining Journal, Feb/March pp. 50-53. Gallagher's book is self published.
Abstract: We report on pipe-like bodies and dikes of carbonate rocks related to sodic alkaline intrusions and amphibole mantle peridotites in the Ivrea zone (European Southern Alps). The carbonate rocks have bulk trace-element concentrations typical of low-rare earth element carbonatites interpreted as cumulates of carbonatite melts. Faintly zoned zircons from these carbonate rocks contain calcite inclusions and have trace-element compositions akin to those of carbonatite zircons. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry U-Pb zircon dating yields concordant ages of 187 ± 2.4 and 192 ± 2.5 Ma, coeval with sodic alkaline magmatism in the Ivrea zone. Cross-cutting relations, ages, as well as bulk and zircon geochemistry indicate that the carbonate rocks are carbonatites, the first ones reported from the Alps. Carbonatites and alkaline intrusions are comagmatic and were emplaced in the nascent passive margin of Adria during the Early Jurassic breakup of Pangea. Extension caused partial melting of amphibole-rich mantle domains, yielding sodic alkaline magmas whose fractionation led to carbonatite-silicate melt immiscibility. Similar occurrences in other rifts suggest that small-scale, sodic and CO2-rich alkaline magmatism is a typical result of extension and decompression-driven reactivation of amphibole-bearing lithospheric mantle during passive continental breakup and the evolution of magma-poor rifts.
Galloway, M., Nowicki, T., Van Coller, B., Mukodzani, B., Siemens, K., Hetman, C., Webb, K., Gurney, J.
Constraining kimberlite geology through integration of geophysical, geological and geochemical methods: a case study of the Mothae kimberlite, northern Lesotho.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 474, pp. 283-295.
Africa, South Africa
deposit - Lace
Abstract: Reconstructing the redox state of the mantle is critical in discussing the evolution of atmospheric composition through time. Kimberlite-borne mantle eclogite xenoliths, commonly interpreted as representing former oceanic crust, may record the chemical and physical state of Archaean and Proterozoic convecting mantle sources that generated their magmatic protoliths. However, their message is generally obscured by a range of primary (igneous differentiation) and secondary processes (seawater alteration, metamorphism, metasomatism). Here, we report the Fe3+/SFe ratio and d18 O in garnet from in a suite of well-characterised mantle eclogite and pyroxenite xenoliths hosted in the Lace kimberlite (Kaapvaal craton), which originated as ca. 3 Ga-old ocean floor. Fe3+/SFe in garnet (0.01 to 0.063, median 0.02; n = 16) shows a negative correlation with jadeite content in clinopyroxene, suggesting increased partitioning of Fe3+ into clinopyroxene in the presence of monovalent cations with which it can form coupled substitutions. Jadeite-corrected Fe3+/SFe in garnet shows a broad negative trend with Eu*, consistent with incompatible behaviour of Fe3+ during olivine-plagioclase accumulation in the protoliths. This trend is partially obscured by increasing Fe3+ partitioning into garnet along a conductive cratonic geotherm. In contrast, NMORB-normalised Nd/Yb - a proxy of partial melt loss from subducting oceanic crust (<1) and metasomatism by LREE-enriched liquids (>1) - shows no obvious correlation with Fe3+/SFe, nor does garnet d18OVSMOW (5.14 to 6.21‰) point to significant seawater alteration. Median bulk-rock Fe3+/SFe is roughly estimated at 0.025. This observation agrees with V/Sc systematics, which collectively point to a reduced Archaean convecting mantle source to the igneous protoliths of these eclogites compared to the modern MORB source. Oxygen fugacites (fO2) relative to the fayalite-magnetite-quartz buffer (FMQ) range from ?log ? fO2 = FMQ-1.3 to FMQ-4.6. At those reducing conditions, the solubility of carbon in the fluids released by dehydration is higher than in fluids closer to FMQ. The implication is that Archean processes of C transport and deposition would have differed from those known in modern-style subduction zones, and diamond would have formed from methane-rich fluids. In addition, such reducing material could drive redox melting or freezing upon deep recycling and migration of CH4-bearing fluids into the ambient mantle.
Abstract: Kimberlites of the Udachnaya-East pipe (Siberia) include a uniquely dry and serpentine-free rock type with anomalously high contents of chlorine (Cl = 6.1 wt%), alkalies (Na2O + K2O = 10 wt%) and sulfur (S = 0.50 wt%), referred to as a “salty” kimberlite. The straightforward interpretation is that the Na-, K-, Cl- and S-rich components originate directly from a carbonate-chloride kimberlitic magma that is anhydrous and alkali-rich. However, because brines and evaporites are present on the Siberian craton, previous studies proposed that the kimberlitic magma was contaminated by the assimilation of salt-rich crustal rocks. To clarify the origin of high Cl, alkalies and S in this unusual kimberlite, here we determine its sulfur speciation and isotopic composition and compare it to that of non-salty kimberlites and kimberlitic breccia from the same pipe, as well as potential contamination sources (hydrothermal sulfides and sulfates, country-rock sediment and brine collected in the area). The average d34S of sulfides is - 1.4 ± 2.2‰ in the salty kimberlite, 2.1 ± 2.7‰ in the non-salty kimberlites and 14.2 ± 5.8‰ in the breccia. The average d34S of sulfates in the salty kimberlites is 11.1 ± 1.8‰ and 27.3 ± 1.6‰ in the breccia. In contrast, the d34S of potential contaminants range from 20 to 42‰ for hydrothermal sulfides, from 16 to 34‰ for hydrothermal sulfates, 34‰ for a country-rock sediment (Chukuck suite) and the regional brine aquifer. Our isotope analyses show that (1) in the salty kimberlites, neither sulfates nor sulfides can be simply explained by brine infiltration, hydrothermal alteration or the assimilation of known salt-rich country rocks and instead, we propose that they are late magmatic phases; (2) in the non-salty kimberlite and breccia, brine infiltration lead to sulfate reduction and the formation of secondary sulfides – this explains the removal of salts, alkali-carbonates and sulfates, as well as the minor olivine serpentinization; (3) hydrothermal sulfur was added to the kimberlitic breccia, but not to the massive kimberlites. In situ measurements of sulfides confirm this scenario, clearly showing the addition of two sulfide populations in the breccia (pyrite-pyrrhotites with average d34S of 7.9 ± 3.4‰ and chalcopyrites with average d34S of 38.0 ± 0.4‰) whereas the salty and non-salty kimberlites preserve a unique population of djerfisherites (Cl- and K-rich sulfides) with d34S values within the mantle range. This study provides the first direct evidence of alkaline igneous rocks in which magmatic sulfate is more abundant than sulfide. Although sulfates have been rarely reported in mantle materials, sulfate-rich melts may be more common in the mantle than previously thought and could balance the sulfur isotope budget of Earth's mantle.
Abstract: Carbonatites are unusual, carbon-rich magmas thought to form either by the melting of a carbon-rich mantle source or by low-degree partial melting of a carbon-poor (<80 ppm C) mantle followed by protracted differentiation and/or immiscibility. Carbonate-bearing mantle xenoliths from Oldoinyo Lengai (East African Rift), the only active volcano erupting carbonatites, have provided key support for a C-rich mantle source. Here, we report unique microscale O and C isotopic analyses of those carbonates, which are present as interstitial grains in the silicate host lava, veins in the xenoliths, and pseudo-inclusions in olivine xenoliths. The d18O values vary little, from 19‰ to 29‰, whereas d13C values are more variable, ranging from -23‰ to +0.5‰. We show that such carbonate d18O values result from the low-temperature precipitation of carbonate in equilibrium with meteoric water, rather than under mantle conditions. In this framework, the observed d13C values can be reproduced by Rayleigh distillation driven by carbonate precipitation and associated degassing. Together with petrological evidence of a physical connection between the three types of carbonates, our isotopic data support the pedogenic formation of carbonates in the studied xenoliths by soil-water percolation and protracted crystallization along xenolith cracks. Our results refute a mechanism of C enrichment in the form of mantle carbonates in the mantle beneath the Natron Lake magmatic province and instead support carbonatite formation by low-degree partial melting of a C-poor mantle and subsequent protracted differentiation of alkaline magmas.
Abstract: Carbonatites are unusual, carbon-rich magmas thought to form either by the melting of a carbon-rich mantle source or by low-degree partial melting of a carbon-poor (<80 ppm C) mantle followed by protracted differentiation and/or immiscibility. Carbonate-bearing mantle xenoliths from Oldoinyo Lengai (East African Rift), the only active volcano erupting carbonatites, have provided key support for a C-rich mantle source. Here, we report unique microscale O and C isotopic analyses of those carbonates, which are present as interstitial grains in the silicate host lava, veins in the xenoliths, and pseudo-inclusions in olivine xenoliths. The d18O values vary little, from 19‰ to 29, whereas d13C values are more variable, ranging from -23‰ to +0.5‰. We show that such carbonate d18O values result from the low-temperature precipitation of carbonate in equilibrium with meteoric water, rather than under mantle conditions. In this framework, the observed d13C values can be reproduced by Rayleigh distillation driven by carbonate precipitation and associated degassing. Together with petrological evidence of a physical connection between the three types of carbonates, our isotopic data support the pedogenic formation of carbonates in the studied xenoliths by soil-water percolation and protracted crystallization along xenolith cracks. Our results refute a mechanism of C enrichment in the form of mantle carbonates in the mantle beneath the Natron Lake magmatic province and instead support carbonatite formation by low-degree partial melting of a C-poor mantle and subsequent protracted differentiation of alkaline magmas.
Abstract: The most dominant features in the present-day lower mantle are the two antipodal African and Pacific large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs). How and when these two structures formed, and whether they are fixed and long lived through Earth history or dynamic and linked to the supercontinent cycles, remain first-order geodynamic questions. Hotspots and large igneous provinces (LIPs) are mostly generated above LLSVPs, and it is widely accepted that the African LLSVP existed by at least ca. 200 Ma beneath the supercontinent Pangea. Whereas the continental LIP record has been used to decipher the spatial and temporal variations of plume activity under the continents, plume records of the oceanic realm before ca. 170 Ma are mostly missing due to oceanic subduction. Here, we present the first compilation of an Oceanic Large Igneous Provinces database (O-LIPdb), which represents the preserved oceanic LIP and oceanic island basalt occurrences preserved in ophiolites. Using this database, we are able to reconstruct and compare the record of mantle plume activity in both the continental and oceanic realms for the past 2 b.y., spanning three supercontinent cycles. Time-series analysis reveals hints of similar cyclicity of the plume activity in the continent and oceanic realms, both exhibiting a periodicity of ~500 m.y. that is comparable to the supercontinent cycle, albeit with a slight phase delay. Our results argue for dynamic LLSVPs where the supercontinent cycle and global subduction geometry control the formation and locations of the plumes.
Abstract: The Earth’s mantle is currently divided into the African and Pacific domains, separated by the circum-Pacific subduction girdle, and each domain features a large low shear-wave velocity province (LLSVP) in the lower mantle. However, it remains controversial as to whether the LLSVPs have been stationary through time or dynamic, changing in response to changes in global subduction geometry. Here we compile radiogenic isotope data on plume-induced basalts from ocean islands and oceanic plateaus above the two LLSVPs that show distinct lead, neodymium and strontium isotopic compositions for the two mantle domains. The African domain shows enrichment by subducted continental material during the assembly and breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, whereas no such feature is found in the Pacific domain. This deep-mantle geochemical dichotomy reflects the different evolutionary histories of the two domains during the Rodinia and Pangaea supercontinent cycles and thus supports a dynamic relationship between plate tectonics and deep-mantle structures.
Abstract: The Earth’s mantle is currently divided into the African and Pacific domains, separated by the circum-Pacific subduction girdle, and each domain features a large low shear-wave velocity province (LLSVP) in the lower mantle. However, it remains controversial as to whether the LLSVPs have been stationary through time or dynamic, changing in response to changes in global subduction geometry. Here we compile radiogenic isotope data on plume-induced basalts from ocean islands and oceanic plateaus above the two LLSVPs that show distinct lead, neodymium and strontium isotopic compositions for the two mantle domains. The African domain shows enrichment by subducted continental material during the assembly and breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, whereas no such feature is found in the Pacific domain. This deep-mantle geochemical dichotomy reflects the different evolutionary histories of the two domains during the Rodinia and Pangaea supercontinent cycles and thus supports a dynamic relationship between plate tectonics and deep-mantle structures.
Earth-Science Reviews, in press available, 70p. Pdf
China
tectonics
Abstract: Contrasting models for internal and external locations of South China within the Nuna and Rodinia supercontinents can be resolved when the current lithotectonic associations of Mesoproterozoic and older rocks units that constitute the craton are redefined into four lithotectonic domains: Kongling, Kunming-Hainan, Wuyi, and Coastal. The Kongling and Kunming-Hainan domains are characterized by isolated Archean to early Paleoproterozoic rock units and events and crop out in northern and southern South China, respectively. The Kunming-Hainan Domain is preserved in three spatially separated regions at Kunming (southwestern South China), along the Ailaoshan shear zone, and within Hainan Island. Both domains were affected by late Paleoproterozoic tectonothermal events, indicating their likely juxtaposition by this time to form the proto-Yangtze Block. Late Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic sedimentary and igneous rock units developed on the proto-Yangtze Block, especially in its southern portions, and help link the rock units that formed along the shear zone at Ailaoshan and on Hainan Island into a single, spatially unified unit prior to Paleozoic to Cenozoic structural disaggregation and translation. The Wuyi Domain consists of late Paleoproterozoic rock units within a NE-SW trending, fault-bounded block in eastern South China. The Coastal Domain lies east of the Wuyi domain and is inferred to constitute a structurally separate block. Basement to the domain is not exposed, but zircon Hf model ages from Mesozoic granites suggest Mesoproterozoic basement at depth. The Archean to Paleoproterozoic tectonothermal record of the Kongling and Kunming-Hainan domains corresponds closely with that of NW Laurentia, suggesting all were linked, probably in association with assembly and subsequent partial fragmentation of the Nuna supercontinent. Furthermore, the age and character of Mesoproterozoic magmatism and detrital zircon signature of sedimentary rocks in the proto-Yangtze Block matches well with western Laurentia and eastern Australia-Antarctica. In particular, the detrital zircon signature of late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic sedimentary units in the block (e.g. Dongchuan Group) share a similar age spectrum with the Wernecke Supergroup of northwest Laurentia. This, together with similarities in the type and age of Fe-Cu mineralization in the domain with that in eastern Australia-Antarctica, especially northeast Australia, suggests a location adjacent to northwest Laurentia, southern Siberia, and northeast Australia within the Nuna supercontinent. The timing and character of late Paleoproterozoic magmatic activity in the Wuyi domain along with age of detrital zircons in associated sedimentary rocks matches the record of northern India. During rifting between Australia-Antarctica and Laurentia in the late Mesoproterozoic, the proto-Yangtze Block remained linked to northeast Australia. During accretionary orogenesis in the early Neoproterozoic, the proto-Yangtze Block assembled with the Wuyi Domain along the northern margin of India. The Coastal domain likely accreted at this time forming the South China Craton. Displacement of the Hainan and Ailaoshan assemblages from southwest of the Kunming assemblage likely occurred in the Cenozoic with the activation of the Ailaoshan-Red River fault system but could have begun in the early to mid-Paleozoic based on evidence for tectonothermal events in the Hainan assemblage.
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.
SHRIMP U Pb geochronology of detrital zircons from the Treasure Lake Group - new evidence for Paleoproterozoic collisional tectonics in the southern Hottah terrane.
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 42, 5, pp. 833-845.
Newman, J.A., Teixeira Carvallo de Newman, D.,Gandini, A.L.
Classificacao tipologica do diamante da regiao de Santa Elena de Uairen, estado Bolivar, Venezuela, baseada na espectroscopia de absorcao no infravermelho.
5th Brasilian Symposium on Diamond Geology, Nov. 6-12, abstract p. 41-42.
Diamond & Related Materials, Vol. 109, 108049, 6p. Pdf
Mantle
nitrogen
Abstract: Single crystal diamond (<5?ppm nitrogen) containing native NV centers with coherence time of 150?µs was irradiated with 2?MeV alpha particles, with doses ranging from 1012 ion/cm2 to 1015 ion/cm2. The effect of ion damage on the coherence time of NV centers was studied using optically detected magnetic resonance and supplemented by fluorescence and Raman microscopy. A cross-sectional geometry was employed so that the NV coherence time could be measured as a function of increasing defect concentration along the ion track. Surprisingly, although the ODMR contrast was found to decrease with increasing ion induced vacancy concentration, the measured decoherence time remained undiminished at 150us despite the estimated vacancy concentration reaching a value of 40?ppm at the end of range. These results suggest that ion induced damage in the form of an increase in vacancy concentration does not necessarily result in a significant increase in the density of the background spin bath.
Abstract: A lack of liquid water limits life on glaciers worldwide but specialized microbes still colonize these environments. These microbes reduce surface albedo, which, in turn, could lead to warming and enhanced glacier melt. Here we present results from a replicated, controlled field experiment to quantify the impact of microbes on snowmelt in red-snow communities. Addition of nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium fertilizer increased alga cell counts nearly fourfold, to levels similar to nitrogen-phosphorus-enriched lakes; water alone increased counts by half. The manipulated alga abundance explained a third of the observed variability in snowmelt. Using a normalized-difference spectral index we estimated alga abundance from satellite imagery and calculated microbial contribution to snowmelt on an icefield of 1,900?km2. The red-snow area extended over about 700?km2, and in this area we determined that microbial communities were responsible for 17% of the total snowmelt there. Our results support hypotheses that snow-dwelling microbes increase glacier melt directly in a bio-geophysical feedback by lowering albedo and indirectly by exposing low-albedo glacier ice. Radiative forcing due to perennial populations of microbes may match that of non-living particulates at high latitudes. Their contribution to climate warming is likely to grow with increased melt and nutrient input.
Density profiles of oceanic slabs and surrounding mantle: integrated thermodynamic and thermal modeling, and implications for the fate of slabs at the 660 km
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 172, 3-4, pp. 257-267.
Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, Vol. 105, pp. 300-319.
India
Boninites
Abstract: High MgO volcanic rocks having elevated concentrations of Ni and Cr are potential hosts for platinum group elements (PGE) owing to their primitive mantle origin and eruption at high temperatures. Though their higher PGE abundance is economically significant in mineral exploration studies, their lower concentrations are also valuable geochemical tools to evaluate petrogenetic processes. In this paper an attempt has been made to evaluate the PGE geochemistry of high MgO volcanic rocks from two greenstone belts of western and eastern Dharwar Craton and to discuss different mantle processes operative at diverse geodynamic settings during the Neoarchean time. The Bababudan greenstone belt of western and Gadwal greenstone belt of eastern Dharwar Cratons are dominantly composed of high MgO volcanic rocks which, based on distinct geochemical characteristics, have been identified as komatiites and boninites respectively. The Bababudan komatiites are essentially composed of olivine and clinopyroxene with rare plagioclase tending towards komatiitic basalts. The Gadwal boninites contain clinopyroxene, recrystallized hornblende with minor orthopyroxene, plagioclase and sulphide minerals. The Bababudan komatiites are Al-undepleted type (Al2O3/TiO2 = 23-59) with distinctly high MgO (27.4-35.8 wt.%), Ni (509-1066 ppm) and Cr (136-3036 ppm) contents. These rocks have low SPGE (9-42 ppb) contents with 0.2-2.4 ppb Iridium (Ir), 0.2-1.4 ppb Osmium (Os) and 0.4-4.4 ppb Ruthenium (Ru) among Iridium group PGE (IPGE); and 1.4-16.2 ppb Platinum (Pt), 2.8-19 ppb Palladium (Pd) and 0.2-9.8 ppb Rhodium (Rh) among Platinum group PGE (PPGE). The Gadwal boninites are high-Ca boninites with CaO/Al2O3 ratios varying between 0.8 and 1.0, with 12-24 wt.% MgO, 821-1168 ppm Ni and 2307-2765 ppm Cr. They show higher concentration of total PGE (82-207 ppb) with Pt concentration ranging from 13 to 19 ppb, Pd between 65 and 180 ppb and Rh in the range of 1.4-3 ppb compared to the Bababudan komatiites. Ir, Os and Ru concentrations range from 0.6 to 2.2 ppb, 0.2 to 0.6 ppb and 1.4 to 2.6 ppb respectively in IPGE. The PGE abundances in Bababudan komatiites were controlled by olivine fractionation whereas that in Gadwal boninites were influenced by fractionation of chromite and sulphides. The Al-undepleted Bababudan komatiites are characterized by low CaO/Al2O3, (Gd/Yb)N, (La/Yb)N, with positive Zr, Hf, Ti anomalies and high Cu/Pd, Pd/Ir ratios at low Pd concentrations suggesting the derivation of parent magma by high degrees (>30%) partial melting of mantle under anhydrous conditions at shallow depth with garnet as a residual phase in the mantle restite. The komatiites are geochemically analogous to Al-undepleted Munro type komatiites and their PGE compositions are consistent with Alexo and Gorgona komatiites. The S-undersaturated character of Bababudan komatiites is attributed to decompression and assimilation of lower crustal materials during magma ascent and emplacement. In contrast, the higher Al2O3/TiO2, lower (Gd/Yb)N, for Gadwal boninites in combination with negative Nb, Zr, Hf, Ti anomalies and lower Cu/Pd at relatively higher Pd/Ir and Pd concentrations reflect high degree melting of refractory mantle wedge under hydrous conditions in an intraoceanic subduction zone setting. Higher Pd/Ir ratios and S-undersaturation of these boninites conform to influx of fluids derived by dehydration of subducted slab resulting into high fluid pressure and metasomatism of mantle wedge.
Abstract: The Samchampi (26° 13'N: 93° 18'E)-Samteran (26° 11'N: 93° 25'E) alkaline complex (SSAC) occurs as an intrusion within Precambrian basement gneisses in the Karbi-Anglong district of Assam, Northeastern India. This intrusive complex comprises a wide spectrum of lithologies including syenite, ijolite-melteigite, alkali pyroxenite, alkali gabbro, nepheline syenite and carbonatite (nepheline syenites and carbonatites are later intrusives). In this paper, we present new major, trace, REE and Sr-Nd isotope data for different lithologies of SSAC and discuss integrated petrological and whole rock geochemical observations with Sr-Nd isotope systematics to understand the petrogenetic evolution of the complex. Pronounced LILE and LREE enrichment of the alkaline-carbonatite rocks together with steep LREE/HREE profile and flat HREE-chondrite normalized patterns provide evidence for parent magma generation from low degree partial melting of a metasomatized garnet peridotite mantle source. LILE, HFSE and LREE enrichments of the alkaline-silicate rocks and carbonatites are in agreement with the involvement of a mantle plume in their genesis. Nb-Th-La systematics with incompatible trace element abundance patterns marked by positive Nb-Ta anomalies and negative K, Th and Sr anomalies suggest contribution from plume-derived OIB-type mantle with recycled subduction component and a rift-controlled, intraplate tectonic setting for alkaline-carbonatite magmatism giving rise to the SSAC. This observation is corroborated by enriched 87Sr/86Srinitial (0.705562 to 0.709416) and 143Nd/144Ndinitial (0.512187 to 0.512449) ratios for the alkaline-carbonatite rocks that attest to a plume-related enriched mantle (~ EM II) source in relation to the origin of Samchampi-Samteran alkaline complex. Trace element chemistry and variations in isotopic data invoke periodic melting of an isotopically heterogeneous, metasomatized mantle and generation of isotopically distinct melt batches that were parental to the different rocks of SSAC. Various extents of plume-lithosphere interaction also accounts for the trace element and isotopic variations of SSAC. The Srinitial and Ndinitial (105 Ma) isotopic compositions (corresponding to eNd values of - 6.37 to - 1.27) of SSAC are consistent with those of Sung Valley, Jasra, Rajmahal tholeiites (Group II), Sylhet Traps and Kerguelen plateau basalts.
Abstract: Petrological, geochemical, and zircon U-Pb geochronological features of Archean ultramafic-mafic complexes formed in subduction-related settings provide significant insights into mantle source and geodynamic processes associated with subduction-accretion-collision events in the early Earth. Here, we investigate a suite of serpentinized dunite, dunite, pyroxenite, and clinopyroxenite from an ultramafic complex along the collisional suture between the Western Dharwar Craton (WDC) and the Central Dharwar Craton (CDC) in southern India. We present petrology, mineral chemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology, rare earth element (REE), Lu-Hf isotopes, and whole-rock geochemistry including major, trace element, and platinum-group element (PGE) data with a view to investigate the magmatic and metasomatic processes in the subduction zone. Mineral chemistry data from chromite associated with the serpentinised ultramafic rocks show distinct characteristics of arc-related melt. Zircon U-Pb data from the ultramafic suite define different age populations, with the oldest ages at 2.9 Ga, and the dominant age population showing a range of 2.8-2.6 Ga. The early Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.4 Ga) metamorphic age is considered to mark the timing of collision of the two WDC and CDC. Zircon REE patterns suggest the involvement continental crust components in the magma source. Zircon Lu-Hf analysis yields both positive and negative eHf(t) values from -3.9 to 1.5 with Hf-depleted model ages (TDM) of 3,041-3,366 Ma for serpentinised dunite and -0.2-2.0 and 2,833-2,995 Ma for pyroxenite, suggesting that the magma was sourced from depleted mantle and was contaminated with the ancient continental crust. Geochemical data show low MgO/SiO2 values and elevated Al2O3/TiO2 ratios, implying subduction-related setting. The serpentinized dunites and dunites show mild LREE enrichment over HREE, with relatively higher abundance of LILE (Ba, Sr) and depletion in HFSE (Nb, Zr), suggesting fluid-rock interaction, melt impregnation, and refertilization processes. The PGE data suggest olivine, chromite, and sulphide fractionations associated with subduction processes. Our study on the Mesoarchean to Neoarchean ultramafic complex provides important insights to reconstruct the history of the crust-mantle interaction in an Archean suprasubduction zone mantle wedge.
Abstract: This study reports major, trace, rare earth and platinum group element compositions of lava flows from the Vempalle Formation of Cuddapah Basin through an integrated petrological and geochemical approach to address mantle conditions, magma generation processes and tectonic regimes involved in their formation. Six flows have been identified on the basis of morphological features and systematic three-tier arrangement of vesicular-entablature-colonnade zones. Petrographically, the studied flows are porphyritic basalts with plagioclase and clinopyroxene representing dominant phenocrystal phases. Major and trace element characteristics reflect moderate magmatic differentiation and fractional crystallization of tholeiitic magmas. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns corroborate pronounced LREE/HREE fractionation with LREE enrichment over MREE and HREE. Primitive mantle normalized trace element abundances are marked by LILE-LREE enrichment with relative HFSE depletion collectively conforming to intraplate magmatism with contributions from sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) and extensive melt-crust interaction. PGE compositions of Vempalle lavas attest to early sulphur-saturated nature of magmas with pronounced sulphide fractionation, while PPGE enrichment over IPGE and higher Pd/Ir ratios accord to the role of a metasomatized lithospheric mantle in the genesis of the lava flows. HFSE-REE-PGE systematics invoke heterogeneous mantle sources comprising depleted asthenospheric MORB type components combined with plume type melts. HFSE-REE variations account for polybaric melting at variable depths ranging from garnet to spinel lherzolite compositional domains of mantle. Intraplate tectonic setting for the Vempalle flows with P-MORB affinity is further substantiated by (i) their origin from a rising mantle plume trapping depleted asthenospheric MORB mantle during ascent, (ii) interaction between plume-derived melts and SCLM, (iii) their rift-controlled intrabasinal emplacement through Archean-Proterozoic cratonic blocks in a subduction-unrelated ocean-continent transition zone (OCTZ). The present study is significant in light of the evolution of Cuddapah basin in the global tectonic framework in terms of its association with Antarctica, plume incubation, lithospheric melting and thinning, asthenospheric infiltration collectively affecting the rifted margin of eastern Dharwar Craton and serving as precursors to supercontinent disintegration.
Journal of Metamorphic Geology, Vol. 33, 5, pp. 463-494.
Africa, Ghana
Geochronology
Abstract: New petrological and geochronological data are presented on high-grade ortho- and paragneisses from northwestern Ghana, forming part of the Paleoproterozoic (2.25-2.00 Ga) West African Craton. The study area is located in the interference zone between N-S and NE--SW-trending craton-scale shear zones, formed during the Eburnean orogeny (2.15-2.00 Ga). High-grade metamorphic domains are separated from low-grade greenstone belts by high-strain zones, including early thrusts, extensional detachments and late-stage strike-slip shear zones. Paragneisses sporadically preserve high-pressure, low-temperature (HP-LT) relicts, formed at the transition between the blueschist facies and the epidote-amphibolite sub-facies (10.0-14.0 kbar, 520-600 °C), and represent a low (~15 °C km-1) apparent geothermal gradient. Migmatites record metamorphic conditions at the amphibolite-granulite facies transition. They reveal a clockwise pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) path characterized by melting at pressures over 10.0 kbar, followed by decompression and heating to peak temperatures of 750 °C at 5.0-8.0 kbar, which fit a 30 °C km-1 apparent geotherm. A regional amphibolite facies metamorphic overprint is recorded by rocks that followed a clockwise P-T-t path, characterized by peak metamorphic conditions of 7.0-10.0 kbar at 550-680 °C, which match a 20-25 °C km-1 apparent geotherm. These P-T conditions were reached after prograde burial and heating for some rock units, and after decompression and heating for others. The timing of anatexis and of the amphibolite facies metamorphic overprint is constrained by in-situ U-Pb dating of monazite crystallization at 2138 ± 7 and 2130 ± 7 Ma respectively. The new data set challenges the interpretation that metamorphic breaks in the West African Craton are due to diachronous Birimian ‘basins’ overlying a gneissic basement. It suggests that the lower crust was exhumed along reverse, normal and transcurrent shear zones and juxtaposed against shallow crustal slices during the Eburnean orogeny. The craton in NW Ghana is made of distinct fragments with contrasting tectono-metamorphic histories. The range of metamorphic conditions and the sharp lateral metamorphic gradients are inconsistent with ‘hot orogeny’ models proposed for many Precambrian provinces. These findings shed new light on the geodynamic setting of craton assembly and stabilization in the Paleoproterozoic. It is suggested that the metamorphic record of the West African Craton is characteristic of Paleoproterozoic plate tectonics and illustrates a transition between Archean and Phanerozoic orogens.
Abstract: The breakup of supercontinents is accompanied by the emplacement of continental flood basalts and dike swarms, the origin of which is often attributed to mantle plumes. However, convection modeling has showed that the formation of supercontinents result in the warming of the sub-continental asthenospheric mantle (SCAM), which could also explain syn-breakup volcanism. Temperature variations during the formation then breakup of supercontinents are therefore fundamental to understand volcanism related to supercontinent cycles. Magmatic minerals record the thermal state of their magmatic sources. Here we present a data mining analysis on the first global compilation of chemical information on magmatic rocks and minerals formed over the past 600 million years: a time period spanning the aggregation and breakup of Pangea, the last supercontinent. We show that following a period of increasingly hotter Mg-rich magmatism with dominant tholeiitic affinity during the aggregation of Pangea, lower-temperature minerals crystallized within Mg-poorer magma with a dominant calc-alkaline affinity during Pangea disassembly. These trends reflect temporal changes in global mantle climate and global plate tectonics in response to continental masses assembly and dispersal. We also show that the final amalgamation of Pangea at ~300 Myr led to a long period of lithospheric collapse and cooling until the major step of Pangea disassembly started at ~125 Myr. The geological control on the geosphere magma budget has implications on the oxidation state and temperature of the Earth’s outer envelopes in the Phanerozoic and may have exerted indirect influence on the evolution of climate and life on Earth.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: G3, Vol. 18, pp. 872-888.
Mantle
geothermometry
Abstract: Chemical composition of mafic magmas is a critical indicator of physicochemical conditions, such as pressure, temperature, and fluid availability, accompanying melt production in the mantle and its evolution in the continental or oceanic lithosphere. Recovering this information has fundamental implications in constraining the thermal state of the mantle and the physics of mantle convection throughout the Earth's history. Here a statistical approach is applied to a geochemical database of about 22,000 samples from the mafic magma record. Potential temperatures (Tps) of the mantle derived from this database, assuming melting by adiabatic decompression and a Ti-dependent (Fe2O3/TiO2?=?0.5) or constant redox condition (Fe2+/?Fe?=?0.9 or 0.8) in the magmatic source, are thought to be representative of different thermal “horizons” (or thermal heterogeneities) in the ambient mantle, ranging in depth from a shallow sublithospheric mantle (Tp minima) to a lower thermal boundary layer (Tp maxima). The difference of temperature (?Tp) observed between Tp maxima and minima did not change significantly with time (~170°C). Conversely, a progressive but limited cooling of ~150°C is proposed since ~2.5 Gyr for the Earth's ambient mantle, which falls in the lower limit proposed by Herzberg et al. [2010] (~150-250°C hotter than today). Cooling of the ambient mantle after 2.5 Ga is preceded by a high-temperature plateau evolution and a transition from dominant plumes to a plate tectonics geodynamic regime, suggesting that subductions stabilized temperatures in the Archaean mantle that was in warming mode at that time.
Journal of Structual Geology, Vol. 11, pp. 329-335.
Mantle
magmatism
Abstract: The Earth's continental crust constitutes a major interface between the inner and outer envelops of the planet, controlling the differentiation of magmas produced in the mantle and their transfer to the surface. This close link facilitates the use of different chemical proxies to qualitatively unravel the crustal thickness related to fossil magmatic systems based on the message carried by magmas. This paper aims to bridge different results of statistical petrology, recently obtained at different scales of observation, in a global geodynamic model. Statistical analyses applied to a large multidimensional database of magmatic rocks show that crustal thickness could actually exert a first-order control on the composition of magmas, which become more calc-alkaline and comparatively less tholeiitic with increasing crustal thickness. Using this correlation, we document the progressive build-up of a thick (>40?km) Jurassic to Cretaceous accretionary belt along the Circum-Pacific Orogenic Belts (CPOB) that bounded the Panthalassa Ocean. The destruction of this thick belt started at ca. 125 Ma and was initially recorded by the thinnest magmatic systems hosting amphibole-bearing magma. Thinning of the CPOB became widespread in the northern regions of western America and in the western Pacific after ca. 75 Ma, possibly in response to oceanic plate segmentation, which triggered slab rollback and overriding plate extension. This chemical evolution is superimposed on a more global evolution of magma controlled by the temperature of the mantle that has gradually decreased since 200 Ma. Although the relative contribution of crust vs mantle cooling in the chemical signature of magmatic rocks should be further explored in the future, our results offer a new global perspective of the magmatic history of Pangea, the last supercontinent.
Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 146, pp. 28-47.
Africa, Cameroon
craton
Abstract: Field, microstructural, and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS, magnetic fabrics) studies assessed the Pan-African deformational history and strain geometry at the southern margin of the Central African Fold Belt (CAFB) against the older, cratonic basement of the Congo Shield (CS). Reflected light microscopy and thermomagnetic studies supported the identification of magnetic minerals. Data cover a low angle thrust margin (Mbengis-Sangmelima area) in the east and high angle shear zones cutting the margin (Kribi area) in the west, at the Atlantic coast. In the CS basement units, magnetic anisotropy is generally higher than in the low grade Pan-African units. In the latter, early D1/D2 shortening produced a flat-lying magnetic foliation parallel with the regional trend of the belt, a shallow magnetic lineation, and mostly oblate fabrics. Subsequent D3 deformation is only of local importance in the Mbengis-Sangmelima area. The magnetic lineation shows distinct maxima in NNE-SSW direction, parallel with the low angle tectonic transport direction. In the Kribi area, the NNE-SSW trending Kribi-Campo shear zone (KCSZ) affected both older rocks and Pan-African high grade metapelites of the Yaoundé unit together with their basal thrust. The early planar fabric (S1) was overprinted during D2 folding under relatively high T conditions, and subsequent D3 wrenching. Magnetic fabrics document a progressive change from oblate towards prolate ellipsoids towards the KCSZ. Magnetic foliations with medium to steep dips curve into the N-S to NE-SW orientation of the KCSZ, lineations follow the same trend with shallow to medium plunges. This fabric implies that the KCSZ is a Pan-African strike-slip shear zone with a subordinate component of compression. Strike-slip tectonics in the west (KCSZ) and thrusting in the east imply N-S to NE-SW convergence during Pan-African terrane assembly against the present northern margin of the CS. In addition, the KCSZ may separate the CS from the São Francisco Craton in Brazil and thus be the northern part of a link connecting the CAFB to the West Congo Belt in the south. This putative Pan-African link separated the São Francisco Craton from the Congo Shield prior to Mesozoic Gondwana break-up.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 458, 1, pp. 149-159.
Russia
deposit - Udachnaya
Abstract: Cratons represent the oldest preserved lithospheric domains. Their lithosphere (lithospheric mantle welded to overlying Precambrian crystalline basement) is considered to be particularly robust and long-lived due to the protecting presence of buoyant and rigid “keels” made up of residual harzburgites. Although the cratons are mostly assumed to form in the Archaean, the timing of their formation remains poorly constrained. In particular, there are very few datasets describing concurrently the age of both the crustal and mantle portions of the lithosphere. In this study, we report new U-Pb ages and Hf isotope compositions for zircons in crustal xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite in the central Siberian craton; this dataset includes samples from both the upper and lower portions of the crust. The zircon ages agree well with model melt-extraction Re-Os ages on refractory peridotite xenoliths from the same pipe; taken together they allow an integrated view of lithosphere formation. Our data reveal that the present day upper crust is Archaean, whereas both the lower crust and the lithospheric mantle yield Paleoproterozoic ages. We infer that the deep lithosphere beneath the Siberian craton was not formed in a single Archaean event, but grew in at least two distinct events, one in the late Archaean and the other in the Paleoproterozoic. Importantly, a complete or large-scale delamination and rejuvenation of the Archaean lower lithosphere (lower crust and lithospheric mantle) took place in the Paleoproterozoic. This further demonstrates that craton formation can be a protracted, multi-stage process, and that the present day crust and mantle may not represent complementary reservoirs formed through the same tectono-magmatic event. Further, deep cratonic lithosphere may be less robust and long living than often assumed, with rejuvenation and replacement events throughout its history.
Abstract: The Anabar shield in northern Siberia is one of the world’s least studied Precambrian areas, and provides a ‘window’ into the crustal basement of the central and northern Siberian craton. We report U-Pb and Hf isotope data for detrital zircons sampled in a profile across its major structural units. They define a U-Pb age range from 1.8 to 3.4 Ga with three main periods: 1.8-2.0 Ga, 2.4-2.8 Ga and 3.0-3.4 Ga. The oldest zircons yield super-chondritic eHf(t) implying that the parental magmas of their source rocks were juvenile, i.e. formed from depleted mantle (DM). Thus, the crustal basement of the Anabar shield, and probably the whole central and northern Siberian craton, started to form in the mid-Paleoarchean, and included no recycled crust. Zircons with 2.5-2.7 Ga ages define two eHf(t) intervals. One is super-chondritic (+2 to +7) implying juvenile sources, the other is sub-chondritic (-3 to -12) indicative of recycled crust, probably formed at 3.2-3.4 Ga, in magma sources. Nearly all 1.8-2.0 Ga zircons have sub-chondritic eHf(t) (-2 to -29) implying derivation from sources dominated by recycled crust formed at ~2.6 Ga and ~3.4 Ga and little or no juvenile addition. These events accompanied amalgamation of the entire craton by welding of Archean domains. The Bekelekh unit of the Daldyn series has the highest proportion of ~2.6 Ga zircons and may be the oldest ‘nucleus’ of the Anabar shield, whereas the Kilegur unit of the same series is essentially Proterozoic (1.95 Ga). The largest amount of 3.1-3.4 Ga zircons, as well as common 2.6-2.7 Ga zircons, occur in the Ambardakh unit of the Upper Anabar series. Our data suggest alternation of areas with dominant ages of 1.95 Ga and ~2.6 Ga, with the younger zircons coming from granites and granulites, and the older ones from gneisses. They show no evidence for significant ages differences for the Anabar and Olenek provinces. The final amalgamation of the entire Siberian craton by welding of Archean blocks, may have taken place at around 1954 ± 6 Ma.
Abstract: Deciphering erosion rates over geologic time is fundamental for understanding the interplay between climate, tectonic, and erosional processes. Existing techniques integrate erosion over different time scales, and direct comparison of such rates is routinely done in earth science. On the basis of a global compilation, we show that erosion rate estimates in glaciated landscapes may be affected by a systematic averaging bias that produces higher estimated erosion rates toward the present, which do not reflect straightforward changes in erosion rates through time. This trend can result from a heavy-tailed distribution of erosional hiatuses (that is, time periods where no or relatively slow erosion occurs). We argue that such a distribution can result from the intermittency of erosional processes in glaciated landscapes that are tightly coupled to climate variability from decadal to millennial time scales. In contrast, we find no evidence for a time scale bias in spatially averaged erosion rates of landscapes dominated by river incision. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of the proposed coupling between climate and tectonics, and interpreting erosion rate estimates with different averaging time scales through geologic time.
Indicator mineral and geochemistry dat a for a till and alluvium sampling survey in the McFaulds Lake ( Ring of Fire) area, northern Ontario. Mentions KIMS.
Ontario Geological Survey Report and Data, Report 6309, Data release 322.
Abstract: SiC and associated ultra-reduced minerals were reported in various geological settings, however, their genesis and preservation mechanism are poorly understood. Here, we reported a SiC-dominated ultra-reduced mineral assemblage, including SiC, TiC, native metals (Si, Fe, and Ni) and iron silicide, from carbonatitic xenoliths in Dalihu, Inner Mongolia. All minerals were identified in situ in polished/thin sections. SiC is 20-50 µm in size, blue to colorless in color, and usually identified in the micro-cavities within the carbonatitic xenolith. Four types of SiC polytypes were identified, which are dominated by ß-SiC (3C polytype) and 4H polytype followed by 15R and 6H. These SiC are featured by 13C-depleted isotopic compositions (d13C = -13.2 to -22.8‰, average = -17.7‰) with obvious spatial variation. We provided a numerical modeling method to prove that the C isotopic composition of the Dalihu SiC can be well-yielded by degassing. Our modeling results showed that degassing reaction between graphite and silicate can readily produce the low d13C value of SiC, and the spatial variations in C isotopic composition could have been formed in the progressive growth process of SiC. The detailed in situ occurring information is beneficial for our understanding of the preservation mechanism of the Dalihu ultra-reduced phase. The predominant occurrence of SiC in micro-cavities implies that exsolution and filling of CO2 and/or CO in the micro-cavities during the diapir rising process of carbonatitic melt could have buffered the reducing environment and separated SiC from the surrounding oxidizing phases. The fast cooling of host rock, which would leave insufficient time for the complete elimination of SiC, could have also contributed to the preservation of SiC.
Abstract: The newly-discovered supergiant Huayangchuan uranium (U)-polymetallic deposit is situated in the Qinling Orogen, Central China. The deposit contains economic endowments of U, Nb, Pb, Se, Sr, Ba and REEs, some of which (e.g., U, Se, and Sr) reaching super-large scale. Pyrochlore, allanite, monazite, barite-celestite and galena are the major ore minerals at Huayangchuan. Uranium is mainly hosted in the primary mineral of pyrochlore, and the mineralization is mainly hosted in or associated with carbonatite dikes. According to the mineral assemblages and crosscutting relationships, the alteration/mineralization at Huayangchuan comprises four stages, i.e., pegmatite REE mineralization (I), main mineralization (II), skarn mineralization (III) and post-ore alteration (IV). Coarse-grained euhedral allanite is the main Stage I REE mineral, and the pegmatite-hosted REE mineralization (ca. 1.8 Ga) occurs mostly in the shallow-level of northwestern Huayangchuan, corresponding to the Paleoproterozoic Xiong'er Group volcanic rocks (1.80-1.75 Ga) in the southern margin of North China Block. Carbonatite-hosted Stage II mineralization contributes to the majority of U-Nb-REE-Ba-Sr resources, and is controlled by the Huayangchuan Fault. Stage II mineralization can be further divided into the sulfate mineralization (barite-celestite) (II-A), alkali-rich U mineralization (aegirine-augite + pyrochlore + uraninite + uranothorite) (II-B) and REE (allanite + monazite + chevkinite)-U (pyrochlore + uraninite) mineralization (II-C) substages. Stage II mineralization may have occurred during the Late Triassic Mianlue Ocean closure. Skarn mineralization contributed to the majority of Pb and minor U-REE (uraninite-allanite) resources at Huayangchuan, and is spatially associated with the Late Cretaceous-Early Jurassic (Yanshanian) Huashan and Laoniushan granites. We suggested that hydrothermal fluids derived from the Laoniushan and Huashan granites may have reacted with the Triassic carbonatites, and formed the Huayangchuan Pb skarn mineralization. The mantle-derived Triassic carbonatites may have been fertilized by the U-rich subducting oceanic sediments, and were further enriched through reacting with the Proterozoic U-REE-rich pegmatite wallrocks at Huayangchuan. Ore-forming elements were likely transported in metal complexes (F-, and ), and deposited with the dilution of the complex concentration. This may have formed the distinct vertical mineralization zoning, i.e., sodic fenite-related alkali-U mineralization at depths and potassic fenite-related REE-U mineralization at shallow level.
Abstract: The newly-discovered supergiant Huayangchuan uranium (U)-polymetallic deposit is situated in the Qinling Orogen, Central China. The deposit contains economic endowments of U, Nb, Pb, Se, Sr, Ba and REEs, some of which (e.g., U, Se, and Sr) reaching super-large scale. Pyrochlore, allanite, monazite, barite-celestite and galena are the major ore minerals at Huayangchuan. Uranium is mainly hosted in the primary mineral of pyrochlore, and the mineralization is mainly hosted in or associated with carbonatite dikes. According to the mineral assemblages and crosscutting relationships, the alteration/mineralization at Huayangchuan comprises four stages, i.e., pegmatite REE mineralization (I), main mineralization (II), skarn mineralization (III) and post-ore alteration (IV). Coarse-grained euhedral allanite is the main Stage I REE mineral, and the pegmatite-hosted REE mineralization (ca. 1.8 Ga) occurs mostly in the shallow-level of northwestern Huayangchuan, corresponding to the Paleoproterozoic Xiong'er Group volcanic rocks (1.80-1.75 Ga) in the southern margin of North China Block. Carbonatite-hosted Stage II mineralization contributes to the majority of U-Nb-REE-Ba-Sr resources, and is controlled by the Huayangchuan Fault. Stage II mineralization can be further divided into the sulfate mineralization (barite-celestite) (II-A), alkali-rich U mineralization (aegirine-augite + pyrochlore + uraninite + uranothorite) (II-B) and REE (allanite + monazite + chevkinite)-U (pyrochlore + uraninite) mineralization (II-C) substages. Stage II mineralization may have occurred during the Late Triassic Mianlue Ocean closure. Skarn mineralization contributed to the majority of Pb and minor U-REE (uraninite-allanite) resources at Huayangchuan, and is spatially associated with the Late Cretaceous-Early Jurassic (Yanshanian) Huashan and Laoniushan granites. We suggested that hydrothermal fluids derived from the Laoniushan and Huashan granites may have reacted with the Triassic carbonatites, and formed the Huayangchuan Pb skarn mineralization. The mantle-derived Triassic carbonatites may have been fertilized by the U-rich subducting oceanic sediments, and were further enriched through reacting with the Proterozoic U-REE-rich pegmatite wallrocks at Huayangchuan. Ore-forming elements were likely transported in metal complexes (F-, and ), and deposited with the dilution of the complex concentration. This may have formed the distinct vertical mineralization zoning, i.e., sodic fenite-related alkali-U mineralization at depths and potassic fenite-related REE-U mineralization at shallow level.
Science China Earth Sciences, Vol. 60, 2, pp. 207-217.
Technology
Subduction
Abstract: Diamonds are renowned as the record of Earth’s evolution history. Natural diamonds on the Earth can be distinguished in light of genetic types as kimberlitic diamonds (including peridotitic diamonds and eclogitic diamonds), ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic diamonds and ophiolitic diamonds. According to the inclusion mineralogy, most diamonds originated from continental lithospheric mantle at depths of 140-250 km. Several localities, however, yield ultradeep diamonds with inclusion compositions that require a sublithospheric origin (>~250 km). Ultradeep diamonds exhibit distinctions in terms of carbon isotope composition, N-concentration, mineral inclusions and so on. The present study provides a systematic compilation concerning the features of ultradeep diamonds, based on which to expound their genesis affinity with mantle-carbonate melts. The diamond-parental carbonate melts are proposed to be stemmed from the Earth’s crust through subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Ultradeep diamonds are classified into a subgroup attaching to kimberlitic diamonds grounded by formation mechanism, and present connections in respect of carbon origin to eclogitic diamonds, ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic diamonds and ophiolitic diamonds.
Abstract: Diamonds are renowned as the record of Earth’s evolution history. Natural diamonds on the Earth can be distinguished in light of genetic types as kimberlitic diamonds (including peridotitic diamonds and eclogitic diamonds), ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic diamonds and ophiolitic diamonds. According to the inclusion mineralogy, most diamonds originated from continental lithospheric mantle at depths of 140-250 km. Several localities, however, yield ultradeep diamonds with inclusion compositions that require a sublithospheric origin (>~250 km). Ultradeep diamonds exhibit distinctions in terms of carbon isotope composition, N-concentration, mineral inclusions and so on. The present study provides a systematic compilation concerning the features of ultradeep diamonds, based on which to expound their genesis affinity with mantle-carbonate melts. The diamond-parental carbonate melts are proposed to be stemmed from the Earth’s crust through subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Ultradeep diamonds are classified into a subgroup attaching to kimberlitic diamonds grounded by formation mechanism, and present connections in respect of carbon origin to eclogitic diamonds, ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic diamonds and ophiolitic diamonds.
Abstract: Diamonds are renowned as the record of Earth’s evolution history. Natural diamonds on the Earth can be distinguished in light of genetic types as kimberlitic diamonds (including peridotitic diamonds and eclogitic diamonds), ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic diamonds and ophiolitic diamonds. According to the inclusion mineralogy, most diamonds originated from continental lithospheric mantle at depths of 140–250 km. Several localities, however, yield ultradeep diamonds with inclusion compositions that require a sublithospheric origin (>~250 km). Ultradeep diamonds exhibit distinctions in terms of carbon isotope composition, N-concentration, mineral inclusions and so on. The present study provides a systematic compilation concerning the features of ultradeep diamonds, based on which to expound their genesis affinity with mantle-carbonate melts. The diamond-parental carbonate melts are proposed to be stemmed from the Earth’s crust through subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Ultradeep diamonds are classified into a subgroup attaching to kimberlitic diamonds grounded by formation mechanism, and present connections in respect of carbon origin to eclogitic diamonds, ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic diamonds and ophiolitic diamonds.
Abstract: Magnesite is proposed to be a major oxidized carbon storage phase in the mantle due to its wide P-T range of stability [1-2]. The presence of magnesite in the Earth's interior will depend on the redox state of the Earth's interior. Large part of the deep mantel is considered to be significantly reduced with considerable amount of FeO dispersed in rocks [3]. During slab-mantle interaction, subducted carbonates in the slab will undergo redox reactions with metallic Fe. However, the mechanism of this interaction is not well understood. In order to understand diamond genesis during the slabmantle interactions, we have conducted high-pressure and high-temperature experiments in a 2000-ton multi-anvil highpressure press on samples containing MgCO3 and iron foils (50 µm thick) in BN capsules. The samples under pressures from 10 to 16 GPa were heated to 1200-1700 K. The samples were quenched under pressure and the quenched samples were polished and then analyzed with multi-wavelength micro-Raman spectrometers using 785, 514.5 and 532 nm laser excitations. Micro-Raman investigations show that the iron foils reduce MgCO3 to various sp2 carbon phases, mainly graphite, followed by the transformation to diamond upon long-duration heating. The transformation to diamond is driven by the temperature. For example, in the Run number PL066 with staring material containing magnesite and two Fe foils heated to 1400 K at 10 GPa for 24 hrs, and quenched, the run products were [Mg,Fe]O, and diamond and graphite. The sample PL044 with staring material containing magnesite and three Fe foils heated to 1600 K at 14 GPa for 12 hrs, the run products were larger size (~10 µm) diamonds, iron carbide and small amount of graphite. Our results indicate that in slow subduction (T~1500 K) all carbonates will be converted in diamond and iron carbide. Under rapid subduction of the slab, the carbonate will survive and be carried to greater depth. The inclusions of [Mg,Fe]O in diamonds, however, do not necessarily indicate that this phase is of lower mantle origin.
Abstract: Natural emeralds from 11 mining areas were studied using an infrared spectrometer. The results showed different spectroscopic characteristics for emerald from different mine regions. Infrared absorption is mainly attributed to the vibration of Si-O lattice, channel water, alkaline cations, and molecules such as CO2, [Fe2(OH)4]2+, etc. Both near-infrared and mid-infrared spectra showed that the differences in band positions, intensities, and shapes are related to the mixed ratio of the two types of channel water. Accordingly, emerald and its mining regions can be divided into 3 types: H2O I, H2O II, and transition I-II. Furthermore, the study indicates that the relative amounts of the two different orientations of channel water molecules are mainly affected by the presence of (Mg + Fe)2+ in the host rock or in the mineralizing fluid. Therefore, the mineralization environment type (alkali-poor, alkali-rich, and transitional types) of emerald can be preliminarily identified from IR spectroscopy. This can be useful for determining the origin of emeralds.
Destructive of the North Chin a craton: delamin ation or thermal/chemical erosion? Mineral chemistry and oxygen isotope insights from websterite xenoliths.
Deep subduction of continental crust in accretionary orogen: evidence from U-Pb dating on diamond-bearing zircons from the Qinling orogen, central China.
Abstract: The compound [CH3 CH2 NH3 ][Cu(HCOO)3 ] undergoes a phase transition at 357 K, from a perovskite to a diamond structure, by heating. The backward transition can be driven by pressure at room temperature but not cooling under ambient or lower pressure. The rearrangement of one long copper-formate bond, the switch of bridging-chelating mode of the formate, the alternation of N-H···O H-bonds, and the flipping of ethylammonium are involved in the transition. The strong N-H···O H-bonding probably locks the metastable diamond phase. The two phases display magnetic and electric orderings of different characters.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press available 78p.
Mantle
Bulk chemistry
Abstract: The composition of the fine-grained matrix of glacial diamictites from the Mesoarchean, Paleoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic, and Paleozoic, collected from four modern continents, reflect the secular evolution of the average composition of the upper continental crust (UCC). The effects of localized provenance are present in some cases, but distinctive geochemical signatures exist in diamictites of the same age from different localities, suggesting that these are global signatures. Archean UCC, dominated by greenstone basalts and less so komatiites, was more mafic, based on major elements and transition metal trace elements. Temporal changes in oxygen isotope ratios, rare earth elements, and high field strength elements indicate that the UCC became more differentiated and that tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite suites became less important with time, findings consistent with previous studies. We also document the concentrations of siderophile and chalcophile elements (Ga, Ge, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, W, Tl, Bi) and lithophile Be in the UCC through time, and use the data for the younger diamictites to construct a new estimate of average UCC along with associated uncertainties.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 197, pp. 356-377.
China
Picrite
Abstract: Iron-rich silicate melts in the Earth’s deep mantle have been seismologically and geochemically inferred in recent years. The origin of local enrichments in iron and low-velocity seismic anomalies that have been detected in dense mantle domains are critical to understanding the mantle’s evolution, which has been canonically explained by long-term chemical reactions between the Earth’s silicate mantle and its liquid iron outer core. However, the Pleistocene alkaline ferropicrites (~0.73 Ma) from Wudi, North China, show chemical and Sr-Nd-Os isotopic features that suggest derivation from the preferential melting of silica-deficient eclogite, a lithology of delaminated mafic lower continental crust that had stagnated at mid-upper mantle depths during the Mesozoic decratonization of the North China block. These rocks are characterized by substantial enrichment in iron (14.9-15.2 wt% Fe2O3), relative depletion in silica (40-41 wt% SiO2) and decoupled Y and heavy rare earth element (HREE) compositions. These ferropicrites have particularly higher Y/Yb ratios than the other Cenozoic basalts from North China. The pressure-dependent compatibility of Fe, Y and Yb in eclogitic garnet can adequately explain the Fe-enrichment and Y-HREE decoupling of the Wudi ferropicrites and indicates that the eclogites were melted at pressures of 5-8 GPa, as also constrained by previous high-P-T experiments. This melting depth ties together a seismically imaged high-velocity anomaly that extends from 150 km to 350 km in depth under the study area, which has been commonly interpreted as evidence for the stagnation of the missing, delaminated continental lithosphere. Our findings provide an alternative mechanism to produce an extremely iron-rich mantle reservoir in addition to core-mantle interaction. Iron-rich silicate melts that form by this process are likely to be denser than the ambient mantle peridotite (and therefore drive flow downward) and may play a more significant role in the deep-mantle geophysical and geochemical diversities than previously considered.
Abstract: SiC and associated ultra-reduced minerals were reported in various geological settings, however, their genesis and preservation mechanism are poorly understood. Here, we reported a SiC-dominated ultra-reduced mineral assemblage, including SiC, TiC, native metals (Si, Fe, and Ni) and iron silicide, from carbonatitic xenoliths in Dalihu, Inner Mongolia. All minerals were identified in situ in polished/thin sections. SiC is 20-50 µm in size, blue to colorless in color, and usually identified in the micro-cavities within the carbonatitic xenolith. Four types of SiC polytypes were identified, which are dominated by ß-SiC (3C polytype) and 4H polytype followed by 15R and 6H. These SiC are featured by 13C-depleted isotopic compositions (d13C = -13.2 to -22.8‰, average = -17.7‰) with obvious spatial variation. We provided a numerical modeling method to prove that the C isotopic composition of the Dalihu SiC can be well-yielded by degassing. Our modeling results showed that degassing reaction between graphite and silicate can readily produce the low d13C value of SiC, and the spatial variations in C isotopic composition could have been formed in the progressive growth process of SiC. The detailed in situ occurring information is beneficial for our understanding of the preservation mechanism of the Dalihu ultra-reduced phase. The predominant occurrence of SiC in micro-cavities implies that exsolution and filling of CO2 and/or CO in the micro-cavities during the diapir rising process of carbonatitic melt could have buffered the reducing environment and separated SiC from the surrounding oxidizing phases. The fast cooling of host rock, which would leave insufficient time for the complete elimination of SiC, could have also contributed to the preservation of SiC.
Mantle flow and lithosphere asthenosphere coupling beneath the southwestern edge of the North American craton: constraints from shear wave splitting measurements.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 402, pp. 209-220.
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, 20, pp. 8398-8405.
Africa, Botswana
Geophysics - gravity
Abstract: Rifting incorporates the fundamental processes concerning the breakup of continental lithosphere and plays a significant role in the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins. In order to decipher the characteristics of rifting at its earliest stage, we conduct the first teleseismic crustal study of one of the world's youngest continental rifts, the Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ), where the magma has not yet breached the surface. Results from receiver function stacking and gravity modeling indicate that the crust/mantle boundary beneath the ORZ is uplifted by 4-5 km, and the initiation of the ORZ is closely related to lithospheric stretching. Possible decompression melting of the subcrustal lithosphere occurs beneath the ORZ, as evidenced by a relatively low upper mantle density based on the gravity modeling.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 20, 7, pp. 3311-3327.
Africa, South Africa
geophysics
Abstract: We conduct a joint inversion of teleseismic receiver functions and Rayleigh wave phase velocity dispersion from both ambient noise and earthquakes using data from 79 seismic stations in southern Africa, which is home to some of the world's oldest cratons and orogenic belts. The area has experienced two of the largest igneous activities in the world (the Okavango dyke swarm and Bushveld mafic intrusion) and thus is an ideal locale for investigating continental formation and evolution. The resulting 3-D shear wave velocities for the depth range of 0-100 km and crustal thickness measurements show a clear spatial correspondence with known geological features observed on the surface. Higher than normal mantle velocities found beneath the southern part of the Kaapvaal craton are consistent with the basalt removal model for the formation of cratonic lithosphere. In contrast, the Bushveld complex situated within the northern part of the craton is characterized by a thicker crust and higher crustal Vp/Vs but lower mantle velocities, which are indicative of crustal underplating of mafic materials and lithospheric refertilization by the world's largest layered mafic igneous intrusion. The thickened crust and relatively low elevation observed in the Limpopo belt, which is a late Archean collisional zone between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons, can be explained by eclogitization of the basaltic lower crust. The study also finds evidence for the presence of a stalled segment of oceanic lithosphere beneath the southern margin of the Proterozoic Namaqua-Natal mobile belt.
Isotopic constraints on age and duration of fluid assisted high pressure eclogite facies recrystallization during exhumation of deeply subducted continental crurs
Journal of Metamorphic Geology, Vol. 24, 8, pp. 687-702.
Trace element composition of continentally subducted slab-derived melt: insight from multiphase solid inclusions in ultrahigh pressure eclogite in the Dabie Orogen.
Journal of Metamorphic Geology, Vol. 31, 4, pp. 453-468.
Multiphase solid inclusions in zoisite bearing eclogite: evidence for partial melting of ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks during continental collision.
Multiphase solid inclusions in zoisite bearing eclogite: evidence for partial melting of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks during continental collision.
Abstract: Although the phonon confinement model (PCM) was claimed to be successfully used to accurately calculate the size of larger Si nanocrystals, quantitative size characterization by Raman spectra still remains a challenge in the case of nanodiamonds due to its complexity. Here, we find that a local-mode model of Raman spectra developed recently can be employed to determine the bond number of the ordered diamond core in nanodiamonds, and then furtherly determine the size of nanodiamonds. The Raman lines of nanodiamonds of 3.0?nm, 2.0?nm, 2.2?nm, 3.3?nm, 3.7?nm 4.42?nm and 6.3?nm are calculated. Results are in good agreement with the measured Raman spectra. It not only provides a new approach to predict the size of nanodiamonds accurately by Raman spectra, but also helps to clarify issues in Raman spectra of nanodiamond and other carbon nanomaterials.
Abstract: Among orogenic peridotites, dunites suffer the weakest crustal metasomatism at the slab-mantle interface and are the best lithology to trace the origins of orogenic peridotites and their initial geodynamic processes. Petrological and geochemical investigations of the Lijiatun dunites from the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane indicate a complex petrogenetic history involving melt extraction and multistage metasomatism (carbonatitic melt and slab-derived fluid). The Lijiatun dunites consist mainly of olivine (Fo = 92.0-92.6, Ca = 42-115 ppm), porphyroblastic orthopyroxene (En = 91.8-92.8), Cr-spinel (Cr# = 50.4-73.0, TiO2 < 0.2 wt.%) and serpentine. They are characterized by refractory bulk-rock compositions with high MgO (45.31-47.07 wt.%) and Mg# (91.5-91.9), and low Al2O3 (0.48-0.70 wt.%), CaO (0.25-0.44 wt.%) and TiO2 (< 0.03 wt.%) contents. Whole-rock platinum group elements (PGE) are similar to those of cratonic mantle peridotites and Re-Os isotopic data suggest that dunites formed in the early Proterozoic (~ 2.2 Ga). These data indicate that the Lijiatun dunites were the residues of ~ 30% partial melting and were derived from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath the North China craton (NCC). Subsequent carbonatitic metasomatism is characterized by the formation of olivine-rich (Fo = 91.6-92.6, Ca = 233-311 ppm), clinopyroxene-bearing (Mg# = 95.9-96.7, Ti/Eu = 104-838) veins cutting orthopyroxene porphyroblasts. Based on the occurrence of dolomite, mass-balance calculation and thermodynamic modeling, carbonatitic metasomatism had occurred within the shallow SCLM (low-P and high-T conditions) before dunites were incorporated into the continental subduction channel. These dunites then suffered weak metasomatism by slab-derived fluids, forming pargasitic amphibole after pyroxene. This work indicates that modification of the SCLM beneath the eastern margin of the NCC had already taken place before the Triassic continental subduction. Orogenic peridotites derived from such a lithospheric mantle wedge may be heterogeneously modified prior to their incorporation into the subduction channel, which would set up a barrier for investigation of the mass transfer from the subducted crust to the mantle wedge through orogenic peridotites.
Abstract: Among orogenic peridotites, dunites suffer the weakest crustal metasomatism at the slab-mantle interface and are the best lithology to trace the origins of orogenic peridotites and their initial geodynamic processes. Petrological and geochemical investigations of the Lijiatun dunites from the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane indicate a complex petrogenetic history involving melt extraction and multistage metasomatism (carbonatitic melt and slab-derived fluid). The Lijiatun dunites consist mainly of olivine (Fo = 92.0-92.6, Ca = 42-115 ppm), porphyroblastic orthopyroxene (En = 91.8-92.8), Cr-spinel (Cr# = 50.4-73.0, TiO2 < 0.2 wt.%) and serpentine. They are characterized by refractory bulk-rock compositions with high MgO (45.31-47.07 wt.%) and Mg# (91.5-91.9), and low Al2O3 (0.48-0.70 wt.%), CaO (0.25-0.44 wt.%) and TiO2 (< 0.03 wt.%) contents. Whole-rock platinum group elements (PGE) are similar to those of cratonic mantle peridotites and Re-Os isotopic data suggest that dunites formed in the early Proterozoic (~ 2.2 Ga). These data indicate that the Lijiatun dunites were the residues of ~ 30% partial melting and were derived from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath the North China craton (NCC). Subsequent carbonatitic metasomatism is characterized by the formation of olivine-rich (Fo = 91.6-92.6, Ca = 233-311 ppm), clinopyroxene-bearing (Mg# = 95.9-96.7, Ti/Eu = 104-838) veins cutting orthopyroxene porphyroblasts. Based on the occurrence of dolomite, mass-balance calculation and thermodynamic modeling, carbonatitic metasomatism had occurred within the shallow SCLM (low-P and high-T conditions) before dunites were incorporated into the continental subduction channel. These dunites then suffered weak metasomatism by slab-derived fluids, forming pargasitic amphibole after pyroxene. This work indicates that modification of the SCLM beneath the eastern margin of the NCC had already taken place before the Triassic continental subduction. Orogenic peridotites derived from such a lithospheric mantle wedge may be heterogeneously modified prior to their incorporation into the subduction channel, which would set up a barrier for investigation of the mas
Geochemical evidence for Proterozoic continental arc and continental margin rift magmatism along the northern margin of the Yangtze craton, South China
International Journal of Luminescence and Applications, Vol. 5, 3, pp. 293-297.
Technology
Luminescence
Abstract: Some of the minerals like Corundum, chryso beryl, beryllium alumino silicate (emerald) and also Diamond exhibit exceptional optical properties[1] and in some cases attractive colours; in India these were recognized quite early since the days of Indus valley civilization. In more recent times there has been a lot of scientific interest in colours and colour modifications in Gem minerals and in Diamonds. Science of gem stones deals with their identification by non destructive means and understanding of origin of colour and excellent optical properties[1]. Optical methods have long been used to obtain properties like ‘Refractive Index’ which still remains an important parameter as a preliminary test to identify the gemstone/mineral. The spectroscopic studies of gem grade minerals are essentially directed towards some of these features in identifying and understanding the spectral properties of chromophores, either chemical impurities and/or radiation induced point defects, in solids. In this context a variety of spectroscopic methods are used to address the problems of the Gem stone identification and identification of origin of colours and colour modification treatments. The methods frequently used in Gem testing labs are the following: (i)Electronic absorption in UV-Visible-NIR range.(ii)UV-Vis excited luminescence, (iii) Vibrational spectra – Absorption in the Infra red range (iv) Vibrational spectra using Light Scattering (Raman spectroscopy) (v)Surface Fluorescence mapping Under deep UV excitation. The present paper deals with the luminescence studies in rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. Special mention may be made of fluorescence mapping using deep UV excitation (around 205 nm) corresponding to the band gap of diamond. Under such an excitation inter band excitation takes place creating a e-h pair and most of the absorption and subsequent emission being restricted to the surface. This makes surface mapping possible and thereby elucidating the growth patterns. This is invaluable in the diagnostics for the detection of synthetic diamonds. In this introductory presentation on the Luminescence methods in Gemmology, we give a brief account of optical spectroscopic methods which mainly deal with identification of corundum based gem stones (rubies, sapphire) and diamonds including the electronic absorption and luminescence of chromophore centres. In gem testing infrared absorption and Raman scattering methods are main work horses and they will be brought in as and when necessary to give a complete picture.
2019 Twelth International Conference Oct 1-3. Moscow, IEEE DOI 11.09/MLSD .2019.8911014
Africa, Angola, Russia, Yakutia
geophysics
Abstract: We show how to increase the effectiveness of the prognoses of kimberlite bodies by using airborne geophysical technologies. We show the advantages of electromagnetic and magnetic methods for predicting kimberlite pipes. You will see examples of a regional diamond survey in Angola and Siberia.
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
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.
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
