Geochemical constraints on the bimodal origin of High Himalayan leucogranites

Major and trace element and Rb-Sr isotope systematics of the Manaslu leucogranite, Central Nepal, have been examined to constrain the role of mineral fractionation and fluids in peraluminous granite petrogenesis. Biotite and tourmaline are, for the most part, mutually exclusive, with a predominance of two-mica leucogranites over tourmaline leucogranites. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial isotopic ratios (Sr_i) indicate that leucogranitic melts were derived from two different sources, the two-mica leucogranites having a metagreywacke origin (with Sr_i < 0.752 and εNd < −15) and the tourmaline leucogranites a metapelitic one (Sr_i> 0.752; εNd > − 15). Such a bimodal nature of the source zone does not directly influence the magmatic evolution, except that probably the higher initial boron content in the metapelitic rocks may increase the Na₂O/K₂O ratio. In contrast, the amount of water present during melting principally controls in part anatectic processes and element behaviour. Water-saturated conditions probably occured during melting of metagreywackeous rocks and favoured crystallization of two-mica leucogranites whereas water-absent conditions prevailed during melting of metapelitic layers and favoured biotite, plagioclase and monazite fractionation in the source zone and tourmaline crystallization in the leucogranite.     

贵州东部镇远地区钾镁煌斑岩的矿物学和岩石学研究

摘要：通过对贵州东部镇远地区的一套偏碱性的基性超基性煌斑岩的矿物学及岩石学研究,发现该套岩石具有多种钾镁煌斑岩的特征矿物和结构：含钛的钾碱镁闪石、钛金云母、低铝透辉石、含铁透长石,以及金云母的嵌晶状结构、橄榄石的＂犬牙＂结构。在岩石地球化学方面,它们与世界典型地区的钾镁煌斑岩相似。根据对比鉴定,将这套岩石定名为：（１）金云母钾镁煌斑岩;（２）含橄榄石嵌晶状钾镁煌斑岩。     

Petrology of Lamproites from Smoky Butte, Montana

Hyalo-armalcolite-phlogopite lamproites and sanidine-phlogopitelamproites occurring at Smoky Butte, Montana are rocks formedfrom rapidly quenched, high temperature, uncontaminated lamproiticmagma. Petrographic variations are attributable to differentcooling histories of several batches of compositionally identicalmagma. Compared with other occurrences of lamproite, the rocksare unusually rich in TiO₂ and are characterized by the presenceof abundant armalcolite and the most TiO₂-rich phlogopites yetfound in this paragenesis. Compositional data are given fortitanian phlogopite, olivine, diopside, titanian potassian richterite,armalcolite, sanidine, analcite, and glass. The mafic mineralsare Al-deficient and exhibit very little compositional variation.Original leucite has been pseudomorphed by sanidine or analcite.The latter mineral was probably formed at the same time thatthe glass lost K, and gained Na, during alteration by groundwater.All of the lamproites are strongly enriched in Ta, Hf, and thelight REE (La /Yb = 162–280), and have high MgO and Crcontents. Mineralogical, geochemical, and previously publishedisotopic data are combined in developing a petrogenetic modelwhich suggests that these lamproites were derived from an ancient(2.5 Ga) doubly metasomatized harzburgitic source, and thatthey represent relatively primitive lamproites which were intrudedat near-liquidus temperatures.     

Boundary lines within petrologic diagrams which use oxides of major and minor elements

Use of some petrologic diagrams applied to analyses of volcanic rocks is unnecessarily difficult due to lack of data for construction of discriminant lines between rock series. Coordinates are provided for sufficient points to enable accurate plotting of the boundary lines within seven diagrams, viz.: (1) TAS - total alkalies (Na₂O+K₂O) vs. SiO₂; (2) K₂O vs. SiO₂; (3) AFM; (4) Jensen; (5) KTP - K₂O---TiO₂---P₂O₅; (6) FMS - (FeO^*/MgO) vs. SiO₂; and (7) TAKTIP - K₂O/(Na₂O+K₂O) vs. TiO₂/P₂O₅. Different versions of these boundaries are collated to indicate their variable position, and it is demonstrated that inter-laboratory analytical precision suffices to account for almost all of their spread on the TAS and K₂O vs. SiO₂ diagrams.     

松辽盆地北部上二叠统林西组古生物年代学、地球化学特征及地质意义

对松辽盆地北部地区黑富地l井钻遇的上二叠统林西组碎屑岩样品进行微体化石以及主量元素、微量元素和稀土元素测试分析,进而探讨该区林西组时代、地球化学特征、沉积环境及构造背景.获得的Protohaploxypinus fertilis-Piceaepollenites opimus-Alisporites communis孢...     

黔东南钾镁煌斑岩岩石学特征

黔东南地区位于扬子地台东南缘与江南褶皱系西缘的过渡带。本文以黔东南马坪、麻江地区发现的钾镁煌斑岩体为主要研究对象,通过地质特征、岩石学、矿物学、地球化学等研究,认为马坪地区金云钾镁煌斑岩具基性-超基性岩的标型元素Cr、Ni、Co含量较高,不相容元素总体富集,稀土元素配分模式为右倾型且分异程度较高,与典型钾镁煌斑岩(西澳含金刚石矿钾镁煌斑岩)在岩浆来源、地球化学特征上具有较大的相似性;麻江地区钾镁煌斑岩Al_2O_3、K_2O含量低,轻稀土富集、重稀土亏损,轻稀土特高,其岩浆形成温度、地球化学成分上与典型钾镁煌斑岩有较大差异。     

Mineral phase compositions in silica-undersaturated ‘leucite’ lamproites from the Bucak area, Isparta, SW Turkey

Ultrapotassic rocks in the Bucak area of Isparta Angle, SW Turkey, show unusually low SiO₂ (46.8–49.2 wt.%) and high MgO (10.4–11.6 wt.%) contents, and lamproitic affinity (K/Na, > 2.5; Mg#, 73–75; Al₂O₃, 9.2–11 wt.%, CaO 7.4–10.6 wt.%, Cr, 525–675 ppm; Ni, 442–615 ppm). They are made up by phlogopite (30–40 vol.%), leucite (25–30 vol.%), olivine (5–20 vol.%), which rarely contain Cr-spinel, clinopyroxene (5–10 vol.%), sanidine (5 vol.%) and richterite, with accessory apatite, magnetite and ilmenite. One sample also include negligible sodalite in groundmass, which is unusual mineral in lamproites. Mineral phase variation and textures record discrete phases of pre-eruptive crystallization: (1) early appearance of (Cr-spinel-bearing) olivine, Ti poor phlogopite ± apatite at pressures of ca. 1.0–2.0 GPa, at or close to the lithospheric Mechanical Boundary Layer (MBL), and (2) later appearance of Ti rich phlogopite, clinopyroxene, richterite, leucite, sanidine, and other minor phases, at pressures of ca. 0.1–1.0 GPa, indicating discrete, pressure-specific fractionation events. The Bucak silica poor ‘leucite’ lamproites were probably generated by partial melting of phlogopite-bearing, refractory peridotite at pressures of ca. 1.5–2 GPa, higher than those proposed for SiO₂-saturated ‘phlogopite’ lamproites (ca. 1–1.5 GPa) from Afyon, to the North. The depth (total pressure) of melt segregation probably dominates over volatile partial pressures (e.g. of CO₂, F, H₂O) in determining the SiO₂-undersaturated character of Bucak magmas.     

The Bjerkreim-Sokndal Layered Intrusion, Rogaland, SW Norway: Evidence from marginal rocks for a jotunite parent magma

The Late-Proterozoic Bjerkreim-Sokndal Layered Intrusion (BKSK) consists of andesine anorthosite, leuconorite, troctolite, norite, gabbronorite, jotunite, mangerite, quartz mangerite and charnockite. The sequence of appearance of cumulus minerals and their compositions suggest a parent magma that was evolved, had plagioclase (±olivine) on the liquidus, was sufficiently TiO₂-rich for hemo-ilmenite to crystallise early, and low in CaO and CaO/Al₂O₃compared to basalts as reflected by the sodic plagioclases and the delayed appearance of cumulus augite. Fine- to medium-grained jotunites found along the northern contact of the BKSK consist of plagioclase (An_45–53), inverted pigeonite (Mg# = 55-50), sparse augite (Mg# = 69-59), Fe-Ti oxides, K-feldspar, quartz and apatite. They are basic to intermediate rocks with relatively high FeO^total, high TiO₂, low MgO/MgO + FeO, moderate Al₂O₃ and low CaO and normative diopside. The jotunites have compositions that are consistent with the parental magma for the lower part of the BKSK Layered Series, and are interpreted as being marginal chills. Similar, but slightly more differentiated, jotunite magmas were subsequently emplaced into the BKSK and the surrounding region as broad dykes and small plutons. Jotunite is a minor rock type in most massif-type anorthosite provinces but may have an important petrological significance.     

Barium- and LREE-rich, olivine-mica-lamprophyres with affinities to lamproites, Mt. Bundey, Northern Territory, Australia

Primitive olivine-mica-K-feldspar lamprophyre dykes, dated at 1831 ± 6 Ma, intrude lower greenschist facies rocks of the Early Proterozoic Pine Creek Inlier, of northern Australia. They are spatially, temporally and probably genetically associated with a post-tectonic composite granite-syenite pluton (Mt. Bundey pluton). The dykes have unusually high contents of large-ion-lithophile (LILE) and LREE elements (e.g. Ba up to 10,000 ppm, Ce up to 550 ppm, K₂O up to 7.5 wt. %) that resemble the concentrations found in the West Kimberley olivine and leucite lamproites. However, mineralogically the Mt. Bundey lamprophyres resemble shoshonitic lamprophyres and lack any minerals diagnostic of lamproites; leucite or leucite-pseudomorphs are absent. Mineral compositions are also unlike those in lamproites: micas contain higher Al₂O₃ than lamproitic mica; amphiboles are secondary actinolites after diopside; and oxides consist of zincian-chromian magnetite and groundmass magnetite. Heavy mineral concentrates contain mantle-derived xenocrysts of magnesiochromite, pyrope, Cr-diopside and rutile indicating a depth of sampling > 70 km. The Mt. Bundey lamprophyres are non-peralkaline to borderline peralkaline (molar (K + Na)/Al = 0.8 − 1.0) and potassic rather than ultrapotassic (molar K/Na < 2.5). They have distinctive major element compositions (≈46−49 wt. % SiO₂, ≈1.5−2 wt. % MgO, ≈7 wt. % CaO), and element ratios (e.g. molar Al/Ti ≈10, K/Na ≈2) that indicate they are best classified amongst transitional lamproites, i.e. potassic rocks such as cocites, jumillites and Navajominettes, that have geochemical characteristics transitional between Groups I and III. (Foley et al., 1987). The Mt. Bundey lamprophyres have LILE enrichment patterns that resemble the W. Kimberley pamproites but have moderate negative Ta---Nb---Ti anomalies and HREE abundances that are closely similar to the jumillites of southeastern Spain and Mediterranean-type lamproites. Single-stage modelling of Rb---Sr data is consistent with enrichment of the source-region of the Mt. Bundey lamprophyres ≈ 120–170 Ma before partial melting; i.e. at 1.95–2.10 Ga. Source enrichment does not appear to be associated with subduction processes, but may instead relate to incipient rifting of the Archaean basement. Negative Ta---Nb---Ti anomalies in the Mt. Bundey dykes may, therefore, relate to stability of residual titanate minerals in an oxidized subcontinental mantle source. This view is supported by high Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratios of mantle-derived magnesiochromite xenocrysts which indicate oxidized mantle conditions (ƒ_o2 ≈ FMQ + 1 long units), and by the presence of xenocrystic Cr-bearing rutile. Although the Mt. Bundey dykes have sampled upper mantle material, the oxidized nature of the magma source-region, and of the magma itself, suggests that conditions may not be favourable for diamond survival at depth nor for diamond transport in transitional lamproite magmas of this kind.     

Contrasting tonalite genesis in the Lyngen magmatic complex, north Norwegian Caledonides

The Lyngen gabbro (LG), defining the major part of the Lyngen magmatic complex, is characterised by layered gabbros of N-MORB affinity (western suite) and layered gabbronorites, quartz-bearing gabbros and diorites/quartz-diorites of IAT (island-arc tholeiite) to boninitic affinity (eastern suite). The boundary between the eastern and western suites is generally defined by a large-scale ductile shear zone of suboceanic origin, the Rypdalen shear zone (RSZ). Tonalites occur within the RSZ and in the eastern suite of the LG. Variations in field occurrence and chemical composition of the tonalites suggest that they represent two petrologically different groups. Tonalite intrusion (the Vakkas pluton) up to 5 km² large occur in the eastern suite of the LG, and are characterised by high Y contents (average 26 ppm) and high K₂O/Rb ratios (average 0.062) compared to tonalites on the RSZ. The Vakkas pluton has lightly concave REE (rare earth element) patterns with negative Eu-anomalies, and positive _ND-values (+3.7 to +3.9). Geochemical modelling based on the REE and field evidence suggests that these tonalites may have formed by fractional crystallization from a boninitic parental magma. Tonalites related to the RSZ form irregular veins and dikes that net vein the shear zone. They are characterised by low Y contents (average 6 ppm), low K₂O/Rb ratios (average 0.025), and highly variable contents of Na₂O, K₂O, Sr and Ba, compared to the Vakkas pluton. Tonalites related to the RSZ show substantial variation in the content of the LREEs. They possess low abundances of the HREEs, and absence of, or slightly positive Eu-anomalies. The tonalites have highly variable _ND-values (−0.6 to −9.4), probably resulting from enrichment of Nd from an external source. Geochemical modelling suggests that the LREE-rich tonalites formed by H₂O-rich partial melting of differentiated products from the eastern suite of the LG. The presence of B in the fluid phase is suggested by the presence of tourmaline-bearing tonalite pegmatites. Thus, the anatectic tonalites of this group could have been formed by water-excess melting of a variety of gabbroic cumulates of the LG. In the LG, LREE-depleted tonalites (_ND-values +5.1) also occur, and these are best explained in terms of partial melting of gabbroic cumulates from the transition zone between the eastern and the western suites of the LG.     

Effect of Fe on garnet–melt trace element partitioning: experiments in FCMAS and quantification of crystal-chemical controls in natural systems

Garnet–melt trace element partitioning experiments were performed in the system FeO–CaO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (FCMAS) at 3 GPa and 1540°C, aimed specifically at studying the effect of garnet Fe²⁺ content on partition coefficients (D^Grt/Melt). D^Grt/Melt, measured by SIMS, for trivalent elements entering the garnet X-site show a small but significant dependence on garnet almandine content. This dependence is rationalised using the lattice strain model of Blundy and Wood [Blundy, J.D., Wood, B.J., 1994. Prediction of crystal–melt partition coefficients from elastic moduli. Nature 372, 452–454], which describes partitioning of an element i with radius r_i and valency Z in terms of three parameters: the effective radius of the site r₀(Z), the strain-free partition coefficient D₀(Z) for a cation with radius r₀(Z), and the apparent compressibility of the garnet X-site given by its Young's modulus E_X(Z). Combination of these results with data in Fe-free systems [Van Westrenen, W., Blundy, J.D., Wood, B.J., 1999. Crystal-chemical controls on trace element partitioning between garnet and anhydrous silicate melt. Am. Mineral. 84, 838–847] and crystal structure data for spessartine, andradite, and uvarovite, leads to the following equations for r₀(3+) and E_X(3+) as a function of garnet composition (X) and pressure (P):

r₀(3+) [Å]=0.930X_Py+0.993X_Gr+0.916X_Alm+0.946X_Spes+1.05(X_And+X_Uv)−0.005(P [GPa]−3.0)(±0.005 Å)

E_X(3+) [GPa]=3.5×10¹²(1.38+r₀(3+) [Å])^−26.7(±30 GPa)

Accuracy of these equations is shown by application to the existing garnet–melt partitioning database, covering a wide range of P and T conditions (1.8 GPa<P<5.0 GPa; 975°C<T<1640°C). D^Grt/Melt for all 3+ elements entering the X-site (REE, Sc and Y) are predicted to within 10–40% at given P, T, and X, when D^Grt/Melt for just one of these elements is known. In the absence of such knowledge, relative element fractionation (e.g. D_Sm^Grt/Melt/D_Nd^Grt/Melt) can be predicted. As an example, we predict that during partial melting of garnet peridotite, group A eclogite, and garnet pyroxenite, r₀(3+) for garnets ranges from 0.939±0.005 to 0.953±0.009 Å. These values are consistently smaller than the ionic radius of the heaviest REE, Lu. The above equations quantify the crystal-chemical controls on garnet–melt partitioning for the REE, Y and Sc. As such, they represent a major advance en route to predicting D^Grt/Melt for these elements as a function of P, T and X.     

贵州省镇远地区钾镁煌斑岩岩石特征

贵州省镇远地区的钾镁煌斑岩(Lamproite)的分布在大地构造上受地台和地台内隆起与坳陷间的深断裂控制,为浅成侵入脉岩,呈岩墙或岩床产出,规模不大,厚几厘米至数米,长数十米至千米,已见于深冲、白坟、思南塘等岩群。岩石具煌斑结构,块状构造,斑晶为钛金云母、透辉石、假像橄榄石,基质除上述矿物外,还有透长石、白榴石、角闪石、磷灰石、锆石、金红石等,还见到微量镁铝榴石和铬铁矿。其中钛金云母、铬铁矿、镁铝榴石的矿物化学成分与西澳同类岩石十分接近,投入米切尔,J·格尼有关图件中,均落入钾镁煌斑岩趋势区。岩石化学成分属钾质超基性岩,K_2O>Na_2O,K_2O/Na_2O为20.85～66.51,富含TiO_2,但MgO较西澳同类岩石略低。富含Sr、Ba、Zr、Nb、P等痕量元素。稀土总量高,富集轻稀土。稀土分配模式与西澳同类岩石一致。D_5岩体中经1987年再次选矿证实含微量金刚石。     

Discovery of lamproites near Vattikod Area, NW margin of the Cuddapah basin, Eastern Dharwar craton, southern India

A cluster of lamproite dykes are located 1 km west of Vattikod village at the NW margin of the Cuddapah basin, Eastern Dharwar craton, southern India, during the pursuit for locating primary diamond source rocks by adapting multifarious applications. These exotic rocks are emplaced along WNW-ESE to NW-SE trending fractures in the granitic rocks belonging to the Peninsular Gneissic Complex. Ten out of twelve lamproites occur near Vattikod village and one each is located in the vicinity of Marepalli and Gundrapalli villages respectively. These lamproites, though highly altered, contain microphenocrysts of altered olivine, clinopyroxene, phlogopite, leucite and sanidine and translucent to opaque, amoeboid shaped patches of glass set in a groundmass rich in carbonate, phlogopite, serpentine, and chlorite. This new cluster of lamproites constitutes a part of the recently discovered Ramadugu lamproite field. The Vattikod and Ramadugu lamproites, together with those from Krishna lamproite field and the Cuddapah basin, constitute, a wide spectrum of ultrapotassic magmatism emplaced in and around the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic Cuddapah basin in southern India.     

塔里木地台南缘发现钾镁煌斑岩

首次在塔里木地台南缘皮山县境内找到钾镁煌斑岩,它们呈脉状产出,围岩为白云母石英片岩。该钾镁煌斑岩的岩石化学成分与亚洲钾镁煌斑岩的平均岩石化学成分接近,与澳大利亚西金伯利地区钾镁煌斑岩一致,稀土元素及其配分模式位于世界钾镁煌斑岩的范围之内,其中大多数标本具有已知世界钾镁煌斑岩的共同微量元素特征：具Ｂａ、Ｋ、Ｌａ和Ｃｅ的正异常及Ｔａ、Ｎｂ、Ｓｒ和Ｔｉ的负异常。该钾镁煌斑岩的发现对研究区金刚石找矿和深部地质过程研究均具深远意义。     

基于主成分分析法与Bayes判别法组合应用的火山岩岩性定量识别:以渤海海域中生界为例

渤海海域中生界火山岩岩石类型复杂多样,且同一岩性受岩石成分、结构差异的影响,因此岩石物理响应特征存在较大差异,为岩性识别增加了难度。本文通过对研究区大量取心资料、壁心资料以及薄片资料的岩电分析,优选出对岩性响应敏感的自然伽马(GR)、补偿中子(CNL)、密度(DEN)、声波时差(AC)以及原状地层电阻率(Rd)等5条曲线。基于主成分分析法,构建了F_1—F_5共5个综合变量,其中F_1和F_2方差贡献率占总贡献率的81.4%,可作为两个主成分有效地反映5个变量的信息。针对主成分信息,利用Bayes判别法,构建了不同岩性的定量解释模型,对研究区9种火山岩进行了岩性识别。对取心井段的回判结果显示,基于主成分分析与Bayes判别的联合识别方法较常规交会图法在岩石成分及结构的识别精度方面均有较大程度的提高。该方法的提出对研究区成像测井、元素测井资料缺少井段的火山岩岩性识别具有重要借鉴作用。     

青藏高原拉萨地块新生代超钾质岩与南北向地堑成因关系

青藏高原拉萨地块广泛分布有新生代超钾质岩,岩石地球化学和Sr-Nd-Pb同位素特征表明这些超钾质岩来源于与古俯冲环境有着密切联系的含金云母的富集地幔源区,它们主要喷发于25~10 Ma。同时在拉萨地块分布有多条南北向地堑(裂谷),且它们的切割深度可能到达下地壳的深部甚至岩石圈地幔,它们主要形成于23~8 Ma。拉萨地块大多数超钾质岩沿着新生代的南北向地堑(裂谷)分布,并且它们在形成时代和空间分布上存在着明显的耦合性,结合沿着印度-雅鲁藏布江缝合带分布的中新世埃达克质岩,笔者认为这些超钾质岩很可能与中新世早期北向俯冲的印度岩石圈沿着印度-雅鲁藏布江缝合带附近发生断离,以及由此而引起拉萨地块东西向伸展构造活动产生的南北向地堑(裂谷)系统有关。     

珠江口盆地陆丰凹陷文昌组沉积地球化学特征及古环境意义

陆源营养物质输入是湖泊成油母质(细菌和藻类、浮游植物等)生长的主要外部营养源.古气候条件影响了陆源输入,湖盆水体沉积环境控制了有机质保存,因此沉积期古气候古水体条件对湖相烃源岩有机质丰度预测至关重要.针对珠江口盆地陆丰凹陷文昌组烃源岩进行环境地球化学研究,运用CIA、V/Cr、Mn/Al、Sr/Cu、Ti/Al等多种元...     

Isotopic characteristics and petrogenesis of the lamproites and kimberlites of central west Greenland

Kimberlites which intruded the Sisimiut (formerly Holsteinsborg) region of central west Greenland during the Early Palaeozoic have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr between 0.7028 and 0.7033 and ε_Nd between + 1.3 and + 3.9. Mid-Proterozoic potassic lamproites from the same region have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr between 0.7045 and 0.7060, ε_Nd between −13 and −10 and unradiogenic initial Pb isotopic compositions. The isotopic data favour an asthenospheric mantle source for the kimberlite magmas, in common with “basaltic” kimberlites from other localities, whereas the lamproite magma sources evolved in isolation from the convecting mantle for > 1000 Ma, probably within the subcontinental lithospheric mantle of the Greenland craton, prior to emplacement of the lamproites.     

Geochemistry, mineralogy and petrology of a new find of ultramafic lamprophyres from Bulljah Pool, Nabberu Basin, Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia

Four variously pipe or sill-like, Carboniferous ( ≈ 305 Ma) bodies have been located near the NE edge of the Archaean Yilgarn craton. The rocks comprise Ba---Ti-bearing tetraferriphlogopite-tetraferriannite, low Al---Ti-diopside, calcite, perovskite and groundmass titanomagnetite-chromite (up to 41.3% Cr₂O₃), with minor apatite, Mg---Mn ilmenite, rare-earth phosphate, K---Ba-feldspar (up to 17% BaO), baryte and an unidentified Ba---Zr silicate. The last three reflect very high whole-rock Ba (up to 5,652 ppm). Aegirine-rich pyroxenes occur in fenitic alteration assemblages. Together with high Si/Al and low Mg/Ca whole-rock geochemistry, these features are diagnostic of ultramafic lamprophyres (damkjernites and aillikites), although the rocks also show some affinities with classical kimberlites. Mineral concentrates from loam samples yield an array of minerals of mantle origin, including garnets (Dawson and Stephens' groups G1, 3, 5, 9 and 10), chromian diopsides (up to 6.2% Cr₂O₃), magnesiochromites (up to 20% MgO, 70% Cr₂O₃) and four compositional groups of ilmenites (low-Mn picroilmenites, Mn-rich, Mg-poor and two moderate Mn---Mg compositions). Actual spinel-lherzolite nodules are common in one body and the presence of spinel-and/or garnet-lherzolites can be inferred in the others from the concentrates. The Bulljah bodies are therefore of deep mantle origin, as confirmed by the recovery of a single microdiamond. They thus extend the field of potentially (if not necessarily economically) diamondiferous rocks beyond kimberlites and lamproites. When added to other recent lamprophyre finds, the Bulljah discoveries suggest that the Yilgarn craton could, like many other ancient cratons, be ringed and/or dotted by a diverse array of alkaline and lamprophyric rocks of varying ages which remain to be discovered.     

Status report on stability of K-rich phases at mantle conditions

Experimental research on K-rich phases and observations from diamond inclusions, UHP metamorphic rocks, and xenoliths provide insights about the hosts for potassium at mantle conditions. K-rich clinopyroxene (Kcpx–KM³⁺Si₂O₆) can be an important component in clinopyroxenes at P>4 GPa, dependent upon coexisting K-bearing phases (solid or liquid) but not, apparently, upon temperature. Maximum Kcpx content can reach 25 mol%, with 17 mol% the highest reported in nature. Partitioning ^(K)D_(cpx/liquid) above 7 GPa=0.1–0.2 require ultrapotassic liquids to form highly potassic cpx or critical solid reactions, e.g., between Kspar and Di. Phlogopite can be stable to about 8 GPa at 1250 °C where either amphibole or liquid forms. When fluorine is present, it generally increases in Phl upon increasing P (and probably T) to about 6 GPa, but reactions forming amphibole and/or KMgF₃ limit F content between 6 and 8 GPa. The perovskite KMgF₃ is stable up to 10 GPa and 1400 °C as subsolidus breakdown products of phlogopite upon increasing P. ^(M4)K-substituted potassic richterite (ideally K(KCa)Mg₅Si₈O₂₂(OH,F)₂) is produced in K-rich peridotites above 6 GPa and in Di+Phl from 6 to 13 GPa. K content of amphibole is positively correlated with P; Al and F content decrease with P. In the system 1Kspar+1H₂O K-cymrite (hydrous hexasanidine–KAlSi₃O₈·nH₂O–Kcym) is stable from 2.5 GPa at 400 to 1200 °C and 9 GPa; Kcym can be a supersolidus phase. Formation of Kcym is sensitive to water content, not forming within experiments with H₂O2O>Kspar. Phase X, a potassium di-magnesium acid disilicate ((K_1−x−n)₂(Mg_1−nM_n³⁺)₂Si₂O₇H_2x), forms in mafic compositions at T=1150–1400 °C and P=9–17 GPa and is a potential host for K and H₂O at mantle conditions with a low-T geotherm or in subducting slabs. The composition of phase-X is not fixed but actually represents a solid solution in the stoichiometries □₂Mg₂Si₂O₇H₂–(K□)Mg₂Si₂O₇H–K₂Mg₂Si₂O₇ (□=vacancy), apparently stable only near the central composition. K-hollandite, KAlSi₃O₈, is possibly the most important K-rich phase at very high pressure, as it appears to be stable to conditions near the core–mantle boundary, 95 GPa and 2300 °C. Other K-rich phases are considered.