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The Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation - Technical, Media and Corporate Articles based on Major Region - Germany
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 announcements called 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 Region Index
Sheahan Diamond Literature Reference Compilation - Scientific Articles by Author for all years
Each article reference in the SDLRC is tagged with one or more key words assigned by Pat Sheahan to highlight the main topics of the article. In addition most references have been tagged with one or more region words. In an effort to make it easier for users to track down articles related to a specific region, KRO has extracted these region words and developed a list of major region words presented in the Major Region Index to which individual region words used in the article reference have been assigned. Each individual Region Report contains in chronological order all the references with a region word associated with the Major Region word. Depending on the total for each reference type - technical, media and corporate - the references will be either in their own technical, media or corporate Region Report, or combined in a single report. Where there is a significant number of technical references there will be a technical report dedicated to the technical articles while the media and corporate references are combined in a separate region report. References that were added in the most recent monthly update are highlighted in yellow within the Region Report. The Major Region words have been defined by a scale system of "general", "continent", "country", "state or province" and "regional". Major Region words at the smaller scales have been created only when there are enough references to make isolating them worthwhile. References not tagged with a Region are excluded, and articles with a region word not matched with a Major Region show up in the "Unknown" report.
Kimberlite - diamondiferous
Lamproite - diamondiferous
Lamprophyre - diamondiferous
Other - diamondiferous
Kimberlite - non diamondiferous
Lamproite - non diamondiferous
Lamprophyre - non diamondiferous
Other - non diamondiferous
Kimberlite - unknown
Lamproite - unknown
Lamprophyre - unknown
Other - unknown
Future Mine
Current Mine
Former Mine
Click on icon for details about each occurrence. Works best with Google Chrome.
CITATION: Faure, S, 2010, World Kimberlites CONSOREM Database (Version 3), Consortium de Recherche en Exploration Minérale CONSOREM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Numerical Database on consorem.ca. NOTE: This publicly available database results of a compilation of other public databases, scientific and governmental publications and maps, and various data from exploration companies reports or Web sites, If you notice errors, have additional kimberlite localizations that should be included in this database, or have any comments and suggestions, please contact the author specifying the ID of the kimberlite: [email protected]
Distribution of fluorine between minerals and glass in lamproites, lamprophyres and kamafugites: implications for the role of F in deep mantle derived magmas
Proceedings of Fifth International Kimberlite Conference held Araxa June 1991, Servico Geologico do Brasil (CPRM) Special, pp. 79-81
Lithospheric detachment and slab breakoff under the Variscan collisional orogen: keys to the origin of diamond bearing crustal rocks in the Bohemmian Massif.
18th. International Mineralogical Association Sept. 1-6, Edinburgh, abstract p.218.
The upper continental crust, an aquifer and its fluid: hydraulic and chemical dat a from 4 km depth in fractured crystalline basement rocks at the KTB test.
Perraki, M., Korsakov, A.V., Smith, D.C., Mposkos, E.
Raman spectroscopic and microscopic criteria for the distinction of microdiamonds in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks from diamonds in sample preparation materials.
Abstract: Chemical and microscopic examination of the first gem-quality synthetic emeralds of facetable size proves that Prof. Richard Nacken grew two main types of emerald by flux methods in the mid-1920s. One of these two types, grown with colorless beryl seeds in molybdenum-bearing and vanadium-free fluxes, has not previously been mentioned in the literature and would appear to be unknown to gemologists. The other main type, which has already been described in gemological publications, was grown from molybdenum- and vanadium-bearing fluxes. In drawing these conclusions, rough and faceted synthetic emeralds produced by Nacken were available for study from two principal sources: the Deutsches Museum in Munich, to which Nacken had donated samples in 1961, and family members who had inherited such crystals. Chemical, morphological, and microscopic properties are given, and circumstances concerning the developmental history of the Nacken production, including the possibility of collaboration with IG Farben (a subject of past speculation), are discussed as well. The latter has recently been elucidated by the discovery of original documents from the IG Farben gemstone plant, preserved in the Archives of the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt.
Barium isotopic composition of the mantle constrained by carbonatites.
Goldschmidt Conference, 1p. Abstract
Africa, Tanzania, east Africa, Canada, Europe, Germany, Greenland
carbonatite
Abstract: Deep mantle origin and ultra-reducing conditions in podiform chromitite: diamonds, moissanite, and other unusual minerals in podiform chromitites from the Pozanti-Karsanti ophiolite, southern Turkey
Abstract: Cenozoic primitive basanites, nephelinites and melilitites from the Heldburg region, SE Germany, are high-MgO magmas (8•5-14•1?wt % MgO), with low SiO2 (34•2-47•1?wt %) and low to moderately high Al2O3 (9•0-15•5?wt %) and CaO (8•7-12•7?wt %). The Ni and Cr contents of most samples are up to 470?ppm and 640?ppm, respectively, and match those inferred for primary melts. In multi-element diagrams, all samples are highly enriched in incompatible trace elements with chondrite-normalised La/Yb?=?19-45, strongly depleted in Rb and K, with primitive mantle normalised K/La?=?0•15-0•72, and moderately depleted in Pb. The initial Sr-Nd-Hf isotope compositions (87Sr/86Sr?=?0•7033-0•7051, 143Nd/144Nd?=?0•51279-0•51288 and 176Hf/177Hf?=?0•28284-0•28294) fall within the range observed for other Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Central European Volcanic Province, whereas 208Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb (38•42-38•88 and 18•49-18•98) are distinctly lower at comparable 207Pb/204Pb (15•60-15•65). Trace element modelling and pressure-temperature estimates based on major element compositions and experimental data suggest that the nephelinites/melilitites formed within the lowermost lithospheric mantle, close to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, by ?3-5% partial melting of a highly enriched, metasomatised, carbonated phlogopite-bearing garnet-lherzolite at temperatures?<1250?°C and pressures of ?2•8?GPa. This corresponds to a melting depth of less than ?85?km. Formation and eruption of these magmas, based on 40Ar/39Ar dating, started in the late Eocene (38•0 Ma) and lasted until the late Oligocene (25•4 Ma). Basanite eruptions occurred in the same area in the middle Miocene, about 7•7 Myr after nephelinite/melilitite generation has ceased, and lasted from 17•7 to 13•1 Ma. The basanites were generated at lower pressures (2•2-1•7?GPa) at similar temperatures (?1220-1250?°C) within the spinel stability field in the lithospheric mantle by 2-6% partial melting. Isotope and trace element systematics indicate that the lithospheric mantle source of the Heldburg magmas was affected by metasomatism associated with long-lasting subduction of oceanic and continental crust during the Variscan orogeny. Aqueous or supercritical fluids that formed at temperatures?<1000?°C and pressures of likely?>4?GPa infiltrated the thermal boundary layer at the base of the lithospheric mantle and imprinted a crustal lead isotope, and to a minor extent crustal Sr, Nd and Hf isotope signatures. They also reduced Nb/U, Ce/Pb, Lu/Hf, Sm/Nd, U/Pb and Th/Pb, but increased Rb/Sr and Nb/Ta and amplified the enrichment of LILE and LREE relative to HREE. This lead to the highly-enriched trace element patterns observed in both sample suites, and to overall less radiogenic 206Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb compared to other continental basalts in Central Europe, and to less radiogenic 176Hf/177Hf and 143Nd/144Nd that plot distinctly below the terrestrial mantle array. Temporal evolution of magmatism in the Heldburg region coincides with the changing Tertiary intraplate stress field in Central Europe, which developed in response to the Alpine orogeny. Magmatism was most probably caused in response to lithosphere deformation and perturbation of the thermal boundary layer, and not by actively upwelling asthenosphere.
Abstract: Pyrochlore from the Kaiserstuhl volcanic complex (SW Germany) shows textural and compositional differences between various coarse-grained calcite-carbonatite bodies (Badberg, Degenmatt, Haselschacher Buck, Orberg) and extrusive carbonatites (Henkenberg, Kirchberg). Oscillatory-zoned F-rich pyrochlore with up to 69?wt% Nb2O5 is common in all coarse-grained calcite-carbonatite bodies and probably formed during magmatic conditions. However, only in some of the samples from the Badberg, partly resorbed U- and Ta-enriched pyrochlore cores with up to 22?wt% UO2 and 9?wt% Ta2O5 have been identified, which are interpreted as being inherited from underlying nosean syenites. Pyrochlore data from a drill core penetrating the Badberg indicate increasing contents of REE, U, and Ta with depth, while Nb, F and Na contents decrease. This may reflect the combined effects of fractional crystallization and assimilation (AFC) or indicates a multi-stage emplacement of the carbonatitic magma. Patchy-zoned ceriopyrochlore and REE- and Th-enriched pyrochlore with up to 19?wt% total REE2O3 and 6.5?wt% ThO2 is largely restricted to samples from the Orberg and probably formed during hydrothermal conditions. This can be related to the relatively evolved character of the Orberg carbonatites, based on their relatively high whole-rock Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf mass ratios. This study demonstrates that the textural and compositional variation of pyrochlore in carbonatites is a powerful tool to distinguish magmatic, hydrothermal and weathering processes in carbonatitic systems.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in press available doi.org/10.1016 / j.gca.2019.06.041 36p.
Africa, Tanzania, Canada, East Africa, Europe, Germany, Greenland
deposit - Oldoinyo Lengai
Abstract: To investigate the behaviour of Ba isotopes during carbonatite petrogenesis and to explore the possibility of using carbonatites to constrain the Ba isotopic composition of the mantle, we report high-precision Ba isotopic analyses of: (1) carbonatites and associated silicate rocks from the only active carbonatite volcano, Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania, and (2) Archean to Cenozoic carbonatites from Canada, East Africa, Germany and Greenland. Carbonatites and associated phonolites and nephelinites from Oldoinyo Lengai have similar ?137/134Ba values that range from +0.01 to +0.03‰, indicating that Ba isotope fractionation during carbonatite petrogenesis is negligible. The limited variation in ?137/134Ba values from ?0.03 to +0.09‰ for most carbonatite samples suggests that their mantle sources have a relatively homogeneous Ba isotopic composition. Based on the carbonatites investigated in this work, the average ?137/134Ba value of their mantle sources is estimated to be +0.04?±?0.06‰ (2SD, n?=?16), which is similar to the average value of +0.05?±?0.06‰ for mid-ocean ridge basalts. The lower ?137/134Ba value of ?0.08‰ in a Canadian sample and higher ?137/134Ba values of +0.14‰ and?+?0.23‰ in two Greenland samples suggest local mantle isotopic heterogeneity that may reflect the incorporation of recycled crustal materials in their sources.
Abstract: The mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the four major sövite bodies (Badberg, Degenmatt, Haselschacher Buck and Orberg), calcite foidolite/nosean syenite xenoliths (enclosed in the Badberg sövite only) and rare extrusive carbonatites of the Kaiserstuhl Volcanic Complex in Southern Germany provide evidence for contamination processes in the carbonatitic magma system of the Kaiserstuhl. Based on textures and composition, garnet and clinopyroxene in extrusive carbonatites represent xenocrysts entrained from the associated silicate rocks. In contrast, forsterite, monticellite and mica in sövites from Degenmatt, Haselschacher Buck and Orberg probably crystallized from the carbonatitic magma. Clinopyroxene and abundant mica crystallization in the Badberg sövite, however, was induced by the interaction between calcite foidolite xenoliths and the carbonatite melt. Apatite and micas in the various sövite bodies reveal clear compositional differences: apatite from Badberg is higher in REE, Si and Sr than apatite from the other sövite bodies. Mica from Badberg is biotite- and comparatively Fe2+-rich (Mg# = 72-88). Mica from the other sövites, however, is phlogopite (Mg# up to 97), as is typical of carbonatites in general. The typical enrichment of Ba due to the kinoshitalite substitution is observed in all sövites, although it is subordinate in the Badberg samples. Instead, Badberg biotites are strongly enriched in IVAl (eastonite substitution) which is less important in the other sövites. The compositional variations of apatite and mica within and between the different sövite bodies reflect the combined effects of fractional crystallization and carbonatite-wall rock interaction during emplacement. The latter process is especially important for the Badberg sövites, where metasomatic interaction released significant amounts of K, Fe, Ti, Al and Si from earlier crystallized nosean syenites. This resulted in a number of mineral reactions that transformed these rocks into calcite foidolites. Moreover, this triggered the crystallization of compositionally distinct mica and clinopyroxene crystals around the xenoliths and within the Badberg sövite itself. Thus, the presence and composition of clinopyroxene and mica in carbonatites may be useful indicators for contamination processes during their emplacement. Moreover, the local increase of silica activity during contamination enabled strong REE enrichment in apatite via a coupled substitution involving Si, which demonstrates the influence of contamination on REE mineralization in carbonatites.
Abstract: Contamination of carbonatites with crustal or cogenetic intrusive rocks is generally not considered to play an important role during carbonatite magmatism, because carbonatitic melts have low densities and viscosities, enabling them to rapidly ascend. Potential contamination by silicate rocks in carbonatites cannot easily be detected by means of radiogenic isotope data (such as Sr, Nd and Pb isotope data) as carbonatites often show high concentrations of these elements and their isotope systems are thereby “buffered” against contamination with silicate rocks. Textural, mineralogical and geochemical observations in carbonatites from the Kaiserstuhl (Germany) provide evidence for the interaction of carbonatitic magma with previously emplaced nosean syenites. This caused replacement of alkali feldspar by haüyne and recrystallization of garnet and clinopyroxene in the xenoliths, which released larger amounts of K, Al, Si and Fe. As a result, blackwall-like mica seams around the xenoliths formed and and compositionally distinct mica and clinopyroxene crystallized in the surrounding carbonatite. Moreover, the local increase of silica activity during contamination enabled strong REE enrichment in apatite via a coupled substitution involving Si, which demonstrates the potential influence of Si contamination on REE mineralization in carbonatites. We further suggest that the presence and composition of clinopyroxene and mica in carbonatites may be useful indicators for contamination processes during their emplacement. Mass-balance calculations based on experimental constraints for the solubility of Al and Si in carbonatitic magmas suggest that only minor amounts of mica can form from carbonatitic melt. Therefore, larger amounts of mica and mica-dominated lithologies (glimmerites) as observed in many carbonatite complexes suggest that some Si and Al in carbonatites may be sourced from surrounding host rocks. We hypothesize that assimilation and contamination processes in carbonatites may be the rule rather than an exception.
Abstract: Local occurrences of coesite- and diamond-bearing rocks in the central Erzgebirge (northwestern Bohemian Massif, Germany) reveal ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic conditions during the Variscan orogeny. Although UHP metamorphism supposedly affected a wider area, implying that rocks that equilibrated under UHP conditions occur dispersed in large volumes of high-pressure country-rock gneisses, mineralogical evidence is scarce. Here we have applied the new concept of capturing the distribution and characteristics of UHP rocks by analyzing inclusions in detrital garnet. Out of 700 inclusion-bearing garnets from seven modern sand samples from creeks draining the UHP area around the Saidenbach reservoir, we detected 26 garnets containing 46 mainly monomineralic coesite inclusions and 22 garnets containing 41 diamond inclusions. Combining these results with geochemical classification of the host garnets, we show (1) that coesite-bearing rocks are common and comprise eclogites as well as felsic gneisses, (2) that small inclusion size is a necessary precondition for the preservation of monomineralic coesite, and (3) for the first time, that diamond-bearing crustal rocks can be detected by analyzing the detrital record. Our results highlight the potential of this novel application of sedimentary provenance tools to UHP research, and the necessity of looking at the micrometer scale to find evidence in the form of preserved UHP minerals.
Abstract: Studies on fluid inclusions in carbonatitic rocks are essential to understand the physicochemical processes involved in carbonatite-related hydrothermal ore mineralization. Although little is known about the composition of carbonatite-derived fluids. We investigated fluid inclusions in the Kaiserstuhl carbonatites, SW Germany [1,2] and identified four different types typically known from carbonatitic systems worldwide [3]: (I): Vapor-poor H2O-NaCl fluids with <50 wt.% salinity. (II): Vapor-rich H2O-NaCl-CO2 fluids with <5 wt.% salinity. (III): Multi-component fluids with high salinity and CO2. (IV): Multi-component fluids with high salinity, no CO2. Homogenization temperatures (156 to 530°C) of all fluid types generally show a wide range [this study, 2]. Primary type I fluid inclusions occur in early magmatic olivine/monticellite, as well as paragenetically later apatites and calcites [2]. This indicates a ubiquitous existence of a saline brine, which does not reach saturation with respect to halite, during early to late crystallization stages. Liquidus surface modelling based quantifications for fluid type III suggest that carbonatite melts predomonantly exsolve Na-K-sulfate-carbonate/bicarbonate-chloride brines (type III or IV, respectively). Such fluid inclusions, with type III (CO2-free) on one side and type IV (and II, both CO2-rich) on the other side, may represent immiscible fluids that were trapped after segregation by boiling from a parental highly saline brine (type I). Fluid boiling, in turn, is probably triggered by a rapid pressure release during “pneumatic hammer-like,” discontinuous melt ascent.
Chemical Geology, doi: 10.1016/ j.chemgeo .2019.119290 46p. Pdf
Europe, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Austria
lamproites
Abstract: Orogenic lamproites represent a group of peralkaline, ultrapotassic and perpotassic mantle-derived igneous rocks that hold the potential to sample components with extreme compositions from highly heterogeneous orogenic mantle. In our pilot study, we present highly siderophile element (HSE) and ReOs isotope systematics of Variscan orogenic lamproites sampled in the territories of the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland, i.e., from the termination of the Moldanubian and Saxo-Thuringian zones of the Bohemian Massif. Orogenic lamproites of the Bohemian Massif are distinguished by variably high contents of SiO2, high Mg# and predominant mineral associations of K-rich amphibole and Fe-rich microcline. The HSE show (i) consistently very low contents in all investigated orogenic lamproites compared to the estimated concentrations in majority of mid-ocean ridge basalts, hotspot-related volcanic rocks (e.g., ocean island basalts, continental flood basalts, komatiites, some intraplate alkaline volcanic rocks such as kimberlites and anorogenic lamproites) and arc lavas, and (ii) marked differences in relative and absolute HSE abundances between the samples from the Moldanubian and Saxo-Thuringian Zone. Such a regional dependence in HSE from mantle-derived melts is exceptional. Orogenic lamproites have highly variable and high initial suprachondritic 187Os/188Os values (up to 0.631) compared with rather chondritic to subchondritic Os isotope values of the young lithospheric mantle below the Bohemian Massif. The highly radiogenic Os isotope component in orogenic lamproites may be derived from preferential melting of metasomatised vein assemblages sitting in depleted peridotite mantle. This process appears to be valid generally in the petrogenesis of orogenic lamproites both from the Bohemian Massif and from the Mediterranean area. As a specific feature of the orogenic lamproites from the Bohemian Massif, originally ultra-depleted mantle component correlative with remnants of the Rheic Ocean lithosphere in the Moldanubian Zone was metasomatised by a mixture of evolved and juvenile material, whereas the lithospheric mantle in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone was enriched through the subduction of evolved crustal material with highly radiogenic Sr isotope signature. As a result, this led to observed unique regionally dependent coupled HSE, RbSr and ReOs isotope systematics.
European Journal of Mineralogy, Vol. 31, pp. 715-730.
Europe, Germany
water
Abstract: Data on water in nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) of orogenic garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks (GBU) are extremely rare. In this study, garnet of peridotite and pyroxenite from Erzgebirge (EG), Germany, and two peridotite samples from Alpe Arami (AA), Switzerland, were analyzed by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Garnet from EG peridotite and pyroxenite yielded IR absorption bands at 3650 ± 10 cm?1 (type I) and in the wavenumber range of 3570-3630 cm?1 (type II) that are ascribed to structural hydroxyl (colloquially “water”). Additional broad band’s centered at <3460 cm?1, present in about half of the samples, are related to molecular water (MW). The content of structural H2O defined by band types I + II is low (3-68 ppm) in all EG samples. Structural water is negatively correlated to Mg and Ti and positively to Y and HREE in EG garnet. Including molecular water, a pronounced positive correlation between H2O and Li is observed. Because the intensity of the type II band is enhanced in domains with molecular water, the primary, peak metamorphic H2O content in EG garnet was probably as low as 0-11 ppm. Equally low contents of structural water are present in AA garnet (10-13 ppm) in which molecular water is negligible. Such concentrations are distinctly lower than the water storage capacity of garnet at the relevant pressure. Water loss upon decompression cannot serve as an explanation for the low contents because, on the contrary, post-peak-metamorphic influx of H2O led garnet to take up secondary structural water. Hence, the results are interpreted as an indication of severe water deficiency at peak metamorphism. Notably, the obtained data agree with the H2O content of 6 ppm reported in garnet from Cima di Gagnone peridotite, which originated as abyssal peridotite. It remains unknown if these low contents are typical for an abyssal, low-pressure protolith but, if the rocks were part of the lowermost, most hydrated portion of the mantle wedge, they are expected to contain much more water. Given that garnet in basaltic coesite eclogite from the Erzgebirge is equally water-deficient as the GBU samples from the same unit, it is at least a possibility that both rock types share a low-pressure origin in an oceanic setting.
Abstract: To investigate the behaviour of Ba isotopes during carbonatite petrogenesis and to explore the possibility of using carbonatites to constrain the Ba isotopic composition of the mantle, we report high-precision Ba isotopic analyses of: (1) carbonatites and associated silicate rocks from the only active carbonatite volcano, Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania, and (2) Archean to Cenozoic carbonatites from Canada, East Africa, Germany and Greenland. Carbonatites and associated phonolites and nephelinites from Oldoinyo Lengai have similar ?137/134Ba values that range from +0.01 to +0.03‰, indicating that Ba isotope fractionation during carbonatite petrogenesis is negligible. The limited variation in ?137/134Ba values from ?0.03 to +0.09‰ for most carbonatite samples suggests that their mantle sources have a relatively homogeneous Ba isotopic composition. Based on the carbonatites investigated in this work, the average ?137/134Ba value of their mantle sources is estimated to be +0.04?±?0.06‰ (2SD, n?=?16), which is similar to the average value of +0.05?±?0.06‰ for mid-ocean ridge basalts. The lower ?137/134Ba value of ?0.08‰ in a Canadian sample and higher ?137/134Ba values of +0.14‰ and?+?0.23‰ in two Greenland samples suggest local mantle isotopic heterogeneity that may reflect the incorporation of recycled crustal materials in their sources.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 277, pp. 224-242. pdf
Europe, Germany
carbonatite
Abstract: Studies of fluid inclusions in carbonatitic rocks are essential for understanding physicochemical processes involved in carbonatite-related hydrothermal ore mineralization and fenitization. However, the composition of many carbonatite-derived fluids is challenging to quantify, which hampers their detailed interpretation. Here, we present a systematic study of microthermometry of fluid inclusions found in carbonatites from the Kaiserstuhl (SW Germany), and a simple numerical model to estimate the compositions of such fluids, which are typical of numerous carbonatites worldwide. Four types of fluid inclusions have been identified in the Kaiserstuhl carbonatites: (I) vapor-poor H2O-NaCl fluids with <50?wt.% salinity; (II) vapor-rich H2O-NaCl-CO2 fluids with <5?wt.% salinity; (III) multi-component fluids with high salinity and high CO2 contents; and (IV) multi-component fluids with high salinity but little to no CO2. At present, it is only possible to quantify fluid compositions for types I and II. For the complex types III and IV, we conducted predictive modeling of the liquidus surface based on the Margules equations. The results suggest that carbonatite melts predominantly exsolve Na-K-sulfate-carbonate/bicarbonate-chloride brines (types III or IV). Such fluid inclusions may represent immiscible fluids that were trapped after segregation by boiling from a parental highly saline brine (type I). Fluid boiling, in turn, was probably triggered by a rapid pressure release during melt ascent. The present model enables quantification of fluid compositions associated with carbonatitic magmatism.
Abstract: The Storkwitz-Carbonatite is a Late Cretaceous intru-sive complex, which is well-explored by a relatively large number of exploration bore holes both from the 1970ies, 1980ies and from one more recent bore hole, SES-1/2012. The carbonatite complex hosts a (cur-rently) marginally economic mineralisation of rare earth elements (REE) and niobium, which is technical-ly still difficult to recover. The upper part of the car-bonatitic body is located some 100-120 m below the Pre-Cenozoic land surface, which in turn is overlain by approximately 100 m of glacial, fluvio-glacial, and fluviatile sediments. The aim of this study was to characterize the minerali-sation in the upper part of the intrusion geochemically and mineralogically and to try to identify indications of a supergene overprint on the late magmatic to hydro-thermal mineralisation. Fresh drill core samples from the exploration bore hole SES-1/2012 have revealed that the mineralisation is associated with a carbonatit-ic igneous breccia body and also with several alvikite veins. The breccia body is very heterogeneous, dis-plays a variety of matrix colours and also a range of matrix-to-clast ratios. Non-destructive analytical methods like p-XRF anal-yses, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and SWIR-reflectance spectroscopy were carried out di-rectly on the drill core. The samples were also investi-gated by optical microscopy, scanning electron mi-croscopy (SEM) and their geochemical composition was analysed by whole rock analyses at a certified laboratory. The geochemical results confirm the presence of a REE-enriched zone, which is closely associated with the carbonatitic intrusion, whereas the porphyritic clasts of the breccia and the porphyritic wall rocks do not contain any REE mineralisation. The mineral composition of the examined sections is very hetero-geneous and comprises magmatic phenocrysts as well as a large variety of secondary mineral phases, which were formed by either hypogene, ascending late magmatic carbothermal or subsequent hydro-thermal processes or alternatively by deeply descend-ing meteoric supergene processes. The secondary processes were strongly oxidising and formed abun-dant hydrated mineral phases. The REE ore minerals are predominantly secondary monazites and REE-fluorocarbonates, which both occur in igneous breccias as well as in alvikite veins. Other minerals such as apatite or pyrochlore are slightly enriched in REE. However, there is no significant correlation be-tween the proportion of REE-bearing minerals ob-served microscopically and the geochemical REE concentration. Several mineral phases display intensive alteration textures and parageneses and especially the crypto-crystalline matrix of the breccias indicate a supergene influence. The supergene overprint has thus caused the alteration and formation of supergene Fe-oxyhydroxides and of an alumo-siliceous matrix and the local redistribution of the REE within the REE-mineral phases. However, no signs were detected that indicate a dissolution, transport, and especially frac-tionation of the dissolved REE in the (deep) super-gene environment.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 277, pp. 224-242. pdf
Europe, Germany
deposit - Kaiserstuhl
Abstract: Studies of fluid inclusions in carbonatitic rocks are essential for understanding physicochemical processes involved in carbonatite-related hydrothermal ore mineralization and fenitization. However, the composition of many carbonatite-derived fluids is challenging to quantify, which hampers their detailed interpretation. Here, we present a systematic study of microthermometry of fluid inclusions found in carbonatites from the Kaiserstuhl (SW Germany), and a simple numerical model to estimate the compositions of such fluids, which are typical of numerous carbonatites worldwide. Four types of fluid inclusions have been identified in the Kaiserstuhl carbonatites: (I) vapor-poor H2O-NaCl fluids with <50?wt.% salinity; (II) vapor-rich H2O-NaCl-CO2 fluids with <5?wt.% salinity; (III) multi-component fluids with high salinity and high CO2 contents; and (IV) multi-component fluids with high salinity but little to no CO2. At present, it is only possible to quantify fluid compositions for types I and II. For the complex types III and IV, we conducted predictive modeling of the liquidus surface based on the Margules equations. The results suggest that carbonatite melts predominantly exsolve Na-K-sulfate-carbonate/bicarbonate-chloride brines (types III or IV). Such fluid inclusions may represent immiscible fluids that were trapped after segregation by boiling from a parental highly saline brine (type I). Fluid boiling, in turn, was probably triggered by a rapid pressure release during melt ascent. The present model enables quantification of fluid compositions associated with carbonatitic magmatism.
IN: Nemeth, K., Carrasco-Nunez, G., Aranda-Gomez, J.J., Smith, I.E.M. eds. Monogenetic volcanism GSL Special Volume, Vol 446, 31p. Pdf * note date
Europe, Germany , United States, Australia, Mexico
maars
Abstract: We report here a growth model for phreatomagmatic maar-diatreme volcanoes with respect to the number of eruptions documented in the tephra beds of maar tephra rings and the upper bedded diatreme facies. We show that the number of tephra beds in large diatremes is larger than that in maar tephra rings. Base surges that lack sufficient momentum to scale high maar crater walls deposit their tephra only inside the crater. Thus the total number of eruptions at large maar-diatreme volcanoes will be larger than the number recorded in maar tephra rings. As many maar-diatreme volcanoes erupt dominantly accidental clasts, an incremental mathematical model was applied to study the growth of diatremes. The model is based only on the ejection of distinct amounts of accidental clasts per unit eruption and the chosen number of eruptions is assumed to be identical. The incremental growth of cone-shaped diatremes follows cube-root functions with respect to diameter and depth and slows down with ongoing eruptions. In nature, small and large maar-diatreme volcanoes are formed and filled syn-eruptively, mostly by tephra, depending on the duration and quantity of magma involved in phreatomagmatic eruptions. In our opinion, this mathematical model is the only current method able to model the growth of diatremes.
International Journal of Earth Science, Vol. 111, 2, 16p.
Europe, Germany
carbonatite
Abstract: The accessories perovskite, pyrochlore, zirconolite, calzirtite and melanite from carbonatites and carbonate-rich foidites from the Kaiserstuhl are variously suited for the in situ determination of their U-Pb ages and Sr, Nd- and Hf-isotope ratios by LA-ICP-MS. The 143Nd/144Nd ratios may be determined precisely in all five phases, the 176Hf/177Hf ratios only in calzirtite and the 87Sr/86Sr ratios in perovskites and pyrochlores. The carbonatites and carbonate-rich foidites belong to one of the three magmatic groups that Schleicher et al. (1990) distinguished in the Kaiserstuhl on the basis of their Sr, Nd and Pb isotope ratios. Tephrites, phonolites and essexites (nepheline monzogabbros) form the second and limburgites (nepheline basanites) and olivine nephelinites the third. Our 87Sr/86Sr isotope data from the accessories overlap with the carbonatite and olivine nephelinite fields defined by Schleicher et al. (1990) but exhibit a much narrower range. These and the ?Nd and ?Hf values plot along the mantle array in the field of oceanic island basalts relatively close to mid-ocean ridge basalts. Previously reported K-Ar, Ar-Ar and fission track ages for the Kaiserstuhl lie between 16.2 and 17.8 Ma. They stem entirely from the geologically older tephrites, phonolites and essexites. No ages existed so far for the geologically younger carbonatites and carbonate-rich foidites except for one apatite fission track age (15.8 Ma). We obtained precise U-Pb ages for zirconolites and calzirtites of 15.66, respectively 15.5 Ma (±?0.1 2?) and for pyrochlores of 15.35?±?0.24 Ma. Only the perovskites from the Badberg soevite yielded a U-P concordia age of 14.56?±?0.86 Ma while the perovskites from bergalites (haüyne melilitites) only gave 206Pb/238U and 208Pb/232Th ages of 15.26?±?0.21, respectively, 15.28?±?0.48 Ma. The main Kaiserstuhl rock types were emplaced over a time span of 1.6 Ma almost 1 million years before the carbonatites and carbonate-rich foidites. These were emplaced within only 0.32 Ma.
