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.     

Paleoproterozoic accretion in the Northeast Siberian craton: Isotopic dating of the Anabar collision system

Geochronological database considered in the work and characterizing the Anabar collision system in the Northeast Siberian craton includes coordinated results of Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr dating of samples from crustal xenoliths in kimberlites, deep drill holes, and bedrock outcrops. As is inferred, collision developed in three stages dated at 2200–2100, 1940–1760, and 1710–1630 Ma. The age of 2000–1960 Ma is established for substratum of mafic rocks, which probably originated during the lower crust interaction with asthenosphere due to the local collapse of the collision prism. Comparison of Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isochron dates shows that the system cooling from ≈700 to ≈300°C lasted approximately 300 m.y. with a substantial lag relative to collision metamorphism and granite formation. It is assumed that accretion of the Siberian craton resulted in formation of a giant collision mountainous structure of the Himalayan type that was eroded by 1.65 Ga ago, when accumulation of gently dipping Meso-to Neoproterozoic (Riphean) platform cover commenced.     

玄武岩深源岩石包体及金伯利岩中的尖晶石

我国东部新生代玄武岩中深源岩石包体内的尖晶石类矿物属铬尖晶石和铁尖晶石，金伯利岩及其地幔岩包体和金刚石中的尖晶石类矿物主要为铝铬铁矿。玄武岩中橄榄岩类包体内的尖晶石比其辉石岩类包体中的尖晶石含Ｃｒ高，含Ａｌ低，这与Ｃｒ为相容元素、Ａｌ为不相容元素、玄武岩中橄榄岩类包体是上地幔部分熔融出玄武岩浆后的残留物及其上地幔岩石的捕虏体、而辉石岩类是玄武岩浆结晶的产物有关。玄武岩中深源岩石包体中的尖晶石明显地比金伯利岩中的粗晶、地幔岩石包体及金刚石中的尖晶石含Ｃｒ低，含Ａｌ高，其主要原因是前者比后者形成的压力低     

Mineral inclusions in diamonds from the Sputnik kimberlite pipe, Yakutia

The Sputnik kimberlite pipe is a small “satellite” of the larger Mir pipe in central Yakutia (Sakha), Russia. Study of 38 large diamonds (0.7-4.9 carats) showed that nine contain inclusions of the eclogitic paragenesis, while the remainder contain inclusions of the peridotitic paragenesis, or of uncertain paragenesis. The peridotitic inclusion suite comprises olivine, enstatite, Cr-diopside, chromite, Cr-pyrope garnet (both lherzolitic and harzburgitic), ilmenite, Ni-rich sulfide and a Ti-Cr-Fe-Mg-Sr-K phase of the lindsleyite-mathiasite (LIMA) series. The eclogitic inclusion suite comprises omphacite, garnet, Ni-poor sulfide, phlogopite and rutile. Peridotitic ilmenite inclusions have high Mg, Cr and Ni contents and high Nb/Zr ratios; they may be related to metasomatic ilmenites known from peridotite xenoliths in kimberlite. Eclogitic phlogopite is intergrown with omphacite, coexists with garnet, and has an unusually high TiO₂ content. Comparison with inclusions in diamonds from Mir shows general similarities, but differences in details of trace-element patterns. Large compositional variations among inclusions of one phase (olivine, garnet, chromite) within single diamonds indicate that the chemical environment of diamond crystallisation changed rapidly relative to diamond growth rates in many cases. P-T conditions of formation were calculated from multiphase inclusions and from trace element geothermobarometry of single inclusions. The geotherm at the time of diamond formation was near a 35 mW/m² conductive model; that is indistinguishable from the Paleozoic geotherm derived by studies of xenoliths and concentrate minerals from Mir. A range of Ni temperatures between garnet inclusions in single diamonds from both Mir and Sputnik suggests that many of the diamonds grew during thermal events affecting a relatively narrow depth range of the lithosphere, within the diamond stability field. The minor differences between inclusions in Mir and Sputnik may reflect lateral heterogeneity in the upper mantle.     

Mantle Xenoliths from the Southeastern Slave Craton: Evidence for Chemical Zonation in a Thick, Cold Lithosphere

We present the first data on the petrology of the mantle lithosphereof the Southeastern (SE) Slave craton, Canada. These are basedon petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical studies of mantlexenoliths in Pipe 5034 of the Cambrian Gahcho Kué kimberlitecluster. Major types of mantle xenoliths include altered eclogite,coarse garnet or spinel peridotite, and deformed garnet peridotite.The peridotites belong to the low-temperature suite and formedat T=600–1300°C and P= 25–80 kbar in a thick(at least 220–250 km), cool lithosphere. The SE Slavemantle is cooler than the mantle of other Archaean cratons andthat below other terranes of the Slave craton. The thick lithosphereand the relatively cool thermal regime provide favourable conditionsfor formation and preservation of diamonds beneath the SE Slaveterrane. Similar to average Archaean mantle worldwide, the SESlave peridotite is depleted in magmaphile major elements andcontains olivine with forsterite content of 91–93·5.With respect to olivine composition and mode, all terranes ofthe Slave mantle show broadly similar compositions and are relativelyorthopyroxene-poor compared with those of the Kaapvaal and Siberiancratons. The SE Slave spinel peridotite is poorer in Al, Caand Fe, and richer in Mg than deeper garnet peridotite. Thegreater chemical depletion of the shallow upper mantle is typicalof all terranes of the Slave craton and may be common for thesubcontinental lithospheric peridotitic mantle in general. Peridotiticxenoliths of the SE Slave craton were impregnated by kimberliticfluids that caused late-stage recrystallization of primary clinopyroxene,spinel, olivine and spinel-facies orthopyroxene, and formationof interstitial clinopyroxene. This kimberlite-related recrystallizationdepleted primary pyroxenes and spinel in Al. The kimberliticfluid was oxidizing, Ti-, Fe- and K-rich, and Na-poor, and introducedserpentine, chlorite, phlogopite and spinel into peridotitesat P < 35 kbar. KEY WORDS: kimberlite xenolith; lithosphere; mantle terrane; chemical zoning; thermobarometry; Slave craton     

The crater-facies kimberlite system of Tokapal, Bastar District, Chhattisgarh, India

Discovery of diamondiferous kimberlites in the Mainpur Kimberlite Field, Raipur District, Chhattisgarh in central India, encouraged investigation of similar bodies in other parts of the Bastar craton. The earlier known Tokapal ultramafic intrusive body, located beyond the 19-km milestone in Tokapal village along the Jagdalpur–Geedam road, was reinterpreted as crater-facies kimberlite. Its stratigraphic position in the Meso-Neoproterozoic intracratonic sedimentary Indravati basin makes it one of the oldest preserved crater-facies kimberlite systems. Ground and limited subsurface data (dug-, tube-wells and exploratory boreholes) have outlined an extensive surface area (>550 ha) of the kimberlite. The morphological and surface color features of this body on enhanced satellite images suggest that there is a central feeder surrounded by a collar and wide pyroclastic apron. Exploration drilling indicates that the central zone probably corresponds to a vent overlain by resedimented volcaniclastic (epiclastic) rocks that are surrounded by a 2-km-wide spread of pyroclastic rocks (lapilli tuff, tuff/ash beds and volcaniclastic breccia). Drill-holes also reveal that kimberlitic lapilli tuffs and tuffs are sandwiched between the Kanger and Jagdalpur Formations and also form sills within the sedimentary sequence of the Indravati basin. The lapilli tuffs are commonly well stratified and display slumping. Base surges and lava flows occur in the southern part of the Tokapal system. The geochemistry and petrology of the rock correspond to average Group I kimberlite with a moderate degree of contamination. However, the exposed rock is intensely weathered and altered with strong leaching of mobile elements (Ba, Rb, Sr). Layers of vesicular fine-grained glassy material represent kimberlitic lava flows. Tuffs containing juvenile lapilli with pseudomorphed olivine macrocrysts are set in a talc–serpentine–carbonate matrix with locally abundant spinel and sphene. Garnet has not been observed, and phlogopite is very rare. Very limited microdiamond testing (two 18-kg samples) proved negative; however, the composition of chromite grains indicate crystallization in the diamond stability field.     

Découverte d'un diatrème de kimberlite diamantifère à Séguéla en Côte-d'Ivoire

The Séguéla area in Ivory Coast is known for its diamond-bearing field related to dykes of kimberlite and lamproite. These dykes, devoid of any deformation and metamorphism, crosscut the Birimian formations. Their N 170° orientation is controlled by the tectonized contact between the Archean and the Paleoproterozoic shields of the West-African craton. Discovery of a diatreme, with its pipe breccias and well-preserved maar sediments, below the present-day colluvia, attests for the probable recent geological age (Cretaceous?) of the kimberlitic activity. To cite this article: A. Pouclet et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Continuous Gradations among Primary Carbonatitic, Kimberlitic, Melilititic, Basaltic, Picritic, and Komatiitic Melts in Equilibrium with Garnet Lherzolite at 3-8 GPa

Multianvil melting experiments in the system CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–CO₂(CMAS–CO₂) at 3–8 GPa, 1340–1800°C, involvingthe garnet lherzolite phase assemblage in equilibrium with CO₂-bearingmelts, yield continuous gradations in melt composition betweencarbonatite, kimberlite, melilitite, komatiite, picrite, andbasalt melts. The phase relations encompass a divariant surfacein P–T space. Comparison of the carbonatitic melts producedat the low-temperature side of this surface with naturally occurringcarbonatites indicates that natural magnesiocarbonatites couldbe generated over a wide range of pressures >2·5 GPa.Melts analogous to kimberlites form at higher temperatures alongthe divariant surface, which suggests that kimberlite genesisrequires more elevated geotherms. However, the amount of waterfound in some kimberlites has the potential to lower temperaturesfor the generation of kimberlitic melts by up to 150°C,provided no hydrous phases are present. Compositions resemblinggroup IB and IA kimberlites are produced at pressures around5–6 GPa and 10 GPa, respectively, whereas the compositionsof some other kimberlites suggest generation at higher pressuresstill. At pressures <4 GPa, an elevated geotherm producesmelilitite-like melt in the CMAS–CO₂ system rather thankimberlite. Even when a relatively CO₂-rich mantle compositioncontaining 0·15 wt % CO₂ is assumed, kimberlites andmelilitites are produced by <1% melting and carbonatitesare generated by even smaller degrees of melting of <0·5%. KEY WORDS: carbonatite; CO₂; kimberlite; melilitite; melt generation     

中国金伯利岩中的钛铁矿

本文研究了金伯利岩中,作为巨晶和粗晶,基质相矿物,与金云母、镁铝榴石、铬尖晶石等矿物的连生体,金刚石中包裹体矿物及金伯利岩地幔岩包裹体矿物产出的钛铁矿的大小,形态、皮壳及化学成分、端元组分、环带及成分变异趋势。并与其他岩类中的钛铁矿作了对比。探讨了不同产状、共生组合类型的钛铁矿的成因。指出了与金刚石紧密伴生的钛铁矿的标型特征及找矿意义。     

新疆巴楚瓦吉里塔格金伯利岩矿物中岩浆包裹体研究

笔者在代表金伯利质熔浆结晶演化产物的橄榄石巨斑、金云母斑晶和磷灰石精晶中首次发现了岩浆包裹体。捕晶角闪石、单斜辉石及橄榄石中岩浆包裹体研宄证实,其源于基性-超基性杂岩。依据充填物相态和成分,将本区岩浆包裹体划分为两类:A,硅酸盐熔融包裹体;B,流体熔融包裹体,前者又细分出一个亚炎(A′),即晶体-玻璃包裹体。经岩浆包裹体均一化温度值的测定和压力估算,原始金伯利质熔浆晶出巨斑橄榄石的温度略高于1116℃,压力约4.5GPa。