Normative quartz as an indicator of the mass transfer intensity during the postmagmatic alteration of the Botuobinskaya pipe kimberlites (Yakutia)

The intensity of postmagmatic processes in the Botuobinskaya pipe kimberlites was estimated from the calculated content of normative secondary quartz (Q). Several simple algorithms are proposed to calculate the Q content from chemical analyses of kimberlites. Ten groups of altered kimberlites have been recognized from the Q contents. The contents of MgO, some trace elements, and LREE in the groups, the contents of Cr and Ca of crimson garnets, the diamond contents of kimberlites, and the average weight of diamonds decrease as the Q content increases. It is shown that the negative SiO₂–MgO correlation is the most effective indicator of the postmagmatic alteration of kimberlites. As the degree of their secondary alteration increases, the kimberlites transform into an assemblage of quartz and clay minerals enriched in some trace elements and almost completely lacking REE and diamonds.     

The upper mantle structure of the yakutian kimberlite province,eastern Russia

Deep seismic sounding in the region of the Mirnyi kimberlite field indicates that the boundary velocity of the uppermost mantle is elevated (v _b=8.6–8.8 km/sec) and extremely variable near the Mir kimberlite pipe. These velocity heterogeneities are probably associated with the kimberlite magmatism and may be useful in the identification of other kimberlite fields.     

Mantle Mush Compaction: a Key to Understand the Mechanisms of Concentration of Kimberlite Melts and Initiation of Swarms of Kimberlite Dykes

Kimberlite pipes or dykes tend to occur in clusters (a few kilometresin diameter) within fields 30–50 km in diameter. Theyare generally considered to originate from low degrees of partialmelting of carbonated peridotite within zones of ascending mantle.Numerical modelling shows that at the depth of formation ofkimberlite melts (>>200 km), mantle compaction processescan result in the formation of melt pockets a few tens of kilometresacross, with melt concentrations up to 7%. The initiation ofswarms of kimberlite dykes at the top of these melt pocketsis inevitable because of the large excess pressure between themelt and the surrounding solid, which exceeds the hydraulicfracturing limit of the overlying rocks. After their initiationat mantle depth the swarm of dykes may reach the surface ofthe Earth when the entire cratonic lithosphere column is inextension. We propose that kimberlite fields represent the surfaceenvelope of dyke swarms generated inside a melt pocket and thatkimberlite clusters represent the discharge of melt via dykesoriginating from sub-regions of the pocket. This model reproducesthe worldwide average diameter of kimberlite fields and is consistentwith the observation that some of the main kimberlite fieldsdisplay age ranges of c. 10 Myr. It is deduced that, at thescale of the Kaapvaal craton, different fields such as Kimberley,N. Lesotho and Orapa, dated at 80–90 Ma, probably resultfrom synchronous melt pockets forming inside an ascending mantleflow. The same model could apply to the fields of the Rietfontein,Central Cape and Gibeon districts dated at 60–70 Ma. Itis suggested that the same mantle flow that produced the Kimberley,N. Lesotho and Orapa fields migrated over 20–30 Myr afew hundred kilometres westward to form the Rietfontein, CentralCape and Gibeon fields. KEY WORDS: kimberlites; mantle; compaction; convection; volcanism     

Diamonds from placers in western and central Africa: A problem of primary sources

This paper discusses diamonds and their accessory minerals from the Koidu kimberlites, placers on the Bafit River in Sierra Leone, and Chikapa placers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Minerals from the placers are characterized by fine preservation and bear no evidence of long-term transportation. In placers, garnet, ilmenite and zircon have been found, but the specific features of their chemical composition do not coincide with those of minerals from kimberlites. Diamonds from the placers are of a mantle origin, but they have no direct analogs in the known kimberlite and lamproite pipes.     

辽宁瓦房店金伯利岩中石榴石特征及种类鉴定

辽宁瓦房店金刚石矿区金伯利岩中的石榴石一直被当作镁铝榴石。为了确定矿区颜色复杂的石榴石种类,本文对矿区的石榴石进行了系统的采样分析,测定了112件石榴石样品的晶胞参数、50件样品的微区化学成分和40件样品的红外光谱。利用石榴石晶胞参数、红外光谱、化学成分和化学分子式方法对矿区石榴石进行分类,结果显示:晶胞参数分类法误差大,容易得出错误结论;红外图谱分类法准确度不高,只能作为参考方法;化学成分分类法太过笼统,达不到详细划分石榴石种类的目的;化学分子式分类法可把矿区的石榴石详细划分6个矿种:镁钙铁-铝铬铁榴石、镁铁钙-铝铬铁榴石、镁钙铁-铝铬榴石、镁钙-铝铬铁镁榴石、镁铁钙-铝铬榴石、镁铁钙-铝铁铬榴石,每种石榴石都充分反映了A、B离子的种类及占位特征,是4种分类方法中最为科学的方法。研究认为瓦房店金刚石矿区金伯利岩中石榴石A端元成分以Mg²⁺离子占位为主;B端元成分以Al³⁺离子占位为主。由于阳离子替代普遍,A、B端元成分复杂,瓦房店金伯利岩中不存在单纯意义上的镁铝榴石。     

中国金伯利岩中的单斜辉石

本文对我国金伯利岩中,作为巨晶、粗晶、基质相矿物、与镁铝榴石和钛铁矿的连生体、深源岩石包体矿物及金刚石中包体矿物产出的单斜辉石的粒度、形态、颜色及蚀变壳、矿物种属、化学成分特征、端员组分、红外光谱等进行了研究。并与玄武岩中的巨晶及其深源岩石包体矿物、钾镁煌斑岩和云煌岩中的单斜辉石作了对比。研究了单斜辉石和镁铝榴石共生对。探讨了金伯利岩中单斜辉石的成因,形成的温、压条件及所反映出的金伯利岩体形成的构造环境,指出了该矿物在找寻金刚石矿工作中的指示标志。     

Petrogenesis of Proterozoic Lamproites and Kimberlites from the Cuddapah Basin and Dharwar Craton, Southern India

Proterozoic mafic potassic and ultrapotassic igneous rocks emplacedin the Cuddapah Basin and Dharwar Craton of the southern Indianshield are among the earliest recorded on Earth. Lamproitesintrude the basin and its NE margin, whereas kimberlites intrudethe craton to the west of the basin. Kimberlites occur in twospatially separate groups: the non-diamondiferous Mahbubnagarcluster that was emplaced at 1400 Ma and is of a similar ageto the Cuddapah lamproites, and the predominantly diamondiferousAnantapur cluster, emplaced at     

Till geochemical and indicator mineral methods in mineral exploration

This paper summarizes advances since 1987 in the application of glacial sediment sampling to mineral exploration (drift prospecting) in areas affected by continental or alpine glaciation. In these exploration programs, clastic glacial sediments are tested by geochemical or mineralogical methods to detect dispersal trains of mineral deposit indicators that have been glacially transported from source by mechanical processes. In glaciated terrain the key sampling medium, till, is produced by abrasion, crushing and blending of rock debris and recycled sediment followed by down-ice dispersal ranging from a few metres to many kilometres. As a consequence of the mid-1980s boom in gold exploration, the majority of case studies and regional till geochemical surveys published in the past decade deal with this commodity. Approximately 30% of Canada and virtually all of Fennoscandia have been covered by regional till geochemical surveys that aid mineral exploration and provide baseline data for environmental, agricultural, and landuse planning. The most profound event in drift prospecting in the last decade, however, has been the early-1990s explosion in diamond exploration which has dramatically increased the profile of glacial geology and glacial sediment sampling and stimulated changes in sampling and analytical methods.     

Ferric Iron in CaTiO3 Perovskite as an Oxygen Barometer for Kimberlitic Magmas I: Experimental Calibration

A method to estimate the oxygen fugacity (fO₂) during the crystallizationof kimberlites is developed using the Fe content of CaTiO₃ perovskite(Pv), a common groundmass phase in these rocks. With increasingfO₂, more Fe exists in the kimberlitic liquid as Fe³⁺, and thuspartitions into Pv. Experiments to study the partitioning ofFe between Pv and kimberlite liquid were conducted at 100 kPaon simple and complex anhydrous kimberlite bulk compositionsfrom 1130 to 1300°C over a range of fO₂ from NNO –5 to NNO + 4 (where NNO is the nickel–nickel oxide buffer),and at Nb and rare earth element (REE) contents in the startingmaterials of 0–5 wt % and 1500 ppm, respectively. Thepartitioning of Fe between Pv and kimberlite liquid is influencedmostly by fO₂, although the presence of Nb increases the partitionof Fe³⁺ into perovskite at a given T and fO₂. Multiple linearregression (MLR) of all the experimental data produces a relationshipthat describes the variation of Fe and Nb in Pv with fO₂ relativeto the NNO buffer:

(uncertaintiesat 2, and Nb and Fe as cations per three oxygens). Over therange of conditions of our experiments, this relationship showsno temperature (T) dependence, is not affected by the bulk Fecontent of the kimberlite starting material and reproduces experimentaldata to within 1 log fO₂ unit. KEY WORDS: kimberlites; oxygen fugacity; perovskite; ferric iron; magma