Chrome-rich garnets from the kimberlites of yakutia and their parageneses

The chrome-rich magnesian garnets (6.6–18.9% Cr₂O₃) of kimberlitic concentrates and some peridotite xenoliths contain variable admixtures of CaO: from 0.69 to 26.0% (1.7–72% Ca-component). All the garnets both in respect of Ca and Cr-contents make up a continuous series.The variability in the Ca-content is caused by differences in paragenesis. Most of the Ca-poor pyropes are related to a paragenesis without clinopyroxene (mostly dunitic). Garnets rich in calcium are related to a paragenesis without entstatite. All the parageneses listed are of an ultramafic type, i.e. contain magnesian olivine. The solubility of knorringite—Mg₃Cr₂(Si₃O₁₂)—in kimberlitic garnets is possibly limited by pressure and does not exceed 50–60% mol.     

Mineralogical studies of pyropes in kimberlites from China

Based on the measurements of refractive index,specific gravity,unit cell parameter,and mineral chemistry and infrared absorption spectrum analyses of pyropes in kimberlites from China,systematic studies of the Physical properties and compositional variations of pyropes of different colors and diverse paragenetic types,within and between kimberlite provinces have been undertaken,The origin of pyropes in the Kimberlites and the depth of their formation have been discussed.Pyropes of the purple series are different from those of the orange series in physical and chemical properties,for exaple,pyropes of the puple series are higher in α0,RI,SG,Cr2O3,MgO,Cr/(Cr Al),Mg/(Mg Fe),and Mg/(Mg Ca),and lower in Al2O3,Fe2O3 FeO than those of the orange series.The classification of garnets in kimberlites from china by the Dawson and Stephens‘ method(1975) has been undertaken and clearly demonstrates that pyropes of diamond-rich kimberlites contain much more groups than those of diamond-poor,especially diamond-free kimberlites.The higher in α0,RI,SG,Cr2O(3.Cr/(Cr Al),knorringite and Cr-component the pyropes are ,the richer in diamond the kimberlites will be.The infrared absorption spectrum patterns of pyropes change with their chemical composition regularly,as reflected in the shape and position of infrared absorption peaks.Two absortpion bands at 862-901 cm^-1 will grade into degeneration from splitting and the absorption band positions of pyropes shift toward lower frequency with increasing Cr2O3 content and Cr/(Cr Al) ratio of pyropes,LREE contents of orange pyrope megacrysts are similar to those of porple pyrope macrocrysts,but the former is higher in HREE than the latter,showing their different chondrite-normalized patterns.The formation pressures of pyropes calculated by Cr-component,Ca-component,knorringite molecules of pyropes show that some pyropes of the purple series in diamondiferous kimberlites fall into the diamond stability field.but all pyropes of diamond-free kimberlites lie outside the diamond stability field.The megacrysts were formed through early crystallization of kimberlites magma at high pressure condition,the majority of the purple pyrope macrocrysts have been derived from disaggregated xenoliths but the minoirty of them appear to be fragments of the discrete megacryst pyropes,or phenocrysts.     

Middle Paleozoic kimberlite magmatism in the northeastern Siberian craton

The mineral chemistry and crystal morphology of kimberlite pyropes from the Billyakh River placer in the northeastern Siberian craton are characterised in terms of the placer history. The pyropes bear signatures of chemical weathering (dissolution), presumably in a Middle Paleozoic laterite profile, and therefore were originally hosted by Middle Paleozoic kimberlites. The broad occurrence of placer pyropes with lateritic dissolution signatures points to the presence of Middle Paleozoic diamond-bearing kimberlites in the study area.     

Major element composition of concentrate garnets in Proterozoic kimberlites from the Eastern Dharwar Craton,India: Implications on sub-continental lithospheric mantle

This study examines the major element composition of mantle-derived garnets recovered from heavy mineral concentrates of several Proterozoic kimberlites of the diamondiferous Wajrakarur Kimberlite Field (WKF) and the almost barren Narayanpet Kimberlite Field (NKF) in the Eastern Dharwar Craton of southern India. Concentrate garnets are abundant in the WKF kimberlites, and notably rare in the NKF kimberlites. Chemical characteristics of the pyropes indicate that the lithology of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath both the kimberlite fields was mainly lherzolitic at the time of kimberlite eruption. A subset of green pyropes from the WKF is marked by high CaO and Cr₂O₃ contents, which imply contribution from a wehrlitic source. The lithological information on SCLM, when studied alongside geobarometry of lherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths, indicates that there are thin layers of harzburgite within a dominantly lherzolitic mantle in the depth interval of 115–190 km beneath the WKF. In addition, wehrlite and olivine clinopyroxenite occur locally in the depth range of 120–130 km. Mantle geotherm derived from xenoliths constrains the depth of graphite–diamond transition to 155 km beneath the kimberlite fields. Diamond in the WKF thus could have been derived from both lherzolitic and harzburgitic lithologies below this depth. The rarity of diamond and garnet xenocrysts in the NKF strongly suggest sampling of shallower (<155 km depth) mantle, and possibly a shallower source of kimberlite magma than at the WKF.     

A new body of highly diamondiferous kimberlites in the Nakyn field of the Yakutian kimberlite province

We report the first data on the contents of main oxides and REE in rocks and the compositions of pyropes and almandines from the Maiskoe kimberlite body recently discovered in the Nakyn field of the Yakutian kimberlite province.The kimberlites are characterized by low contents of Ti, a slight domination of Mg over Ca, and high contents of K₂O in some samples. The pyropes have high contents of Cr₂O₃ (up to 14.5 wt.%); many of them (～16%) are poor in Ca. In petrochemical and mineralogical features the kimberlites of the Maiskoe body are complementary to the highly diamondiferous kimberlites of the nearby Botuobinskaya and Nyurbinskaya pipes. At the same time, they are not the final link in the evolution of kimberlite magmatism in the Nakyn field, which makes the latter still more promising for diamonds.     

Kimberlites of the Manchary pipe: a new kimberlite field in Central Yakutia

This paper reports new petrographic and mineralogical data on the Manchary kimberlite pipe, which was discovered south of Yakutsk (Central Yakutia) in 2007–2008, 100 km. The pipe breaks through the Upper Cambrian carbonate deposits and is overlain by Jurassic terrigenous rock masses about 100 m thick. It is composed of greenish-gray kimberlite breccia with a serpentine-micaceous cement of massive structure. The porphyry texture of kimberlite is due to the presence of olivine, phlogopite, and picroilmenite phenocrysts. The SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ contents of the groundmass are indicative of typical noncontaminated kimberlites. The groundmass has a significant content of ore minerals: Fe- and Cr-spinels, perovskite, magnetite, and, less commonly, magnesian Cr-magnetite. Pyropes occur in kimberlites as sharp-edged fragments and show uneven distribution. Chemically, they belong to lherzolite, wehrlite, or nondiamondiferous dunite–harzburgite parageneses. Garnets corresponding to lherzolites of anomalous composition make up 8%; this is close to the garnet content of Middle Paleozoic kimberlites from the Yakutian kimberlite province. The pyropes from the new pipe are compositionally similar to those from diamond-poor Middle Paleozoic kimberlites in the north of the Yakutian diamondiferous province. Chemically, pyropes from the Manchary pipe and those from the modern alluvium of the Kengkeme and Chakyya Rivers differ substantially. Consequently, the rocks of the pipe could not be a source of pyropes for this alluvium. They probably occured from other sources. This fact along with numerous “pipelike” geophysical anomalies, suggest the existence of a new kimberlite field in Central Yakutia.     

Mineralogical criteria for the diamond potential of Upper Triassic placers on the northeastern margin of the Siberian Platform

Representative sampling of a diamond-bearing basal horizon in the Carnian Stage (Upper Triassic) on the northeastern margin of the Siberian Platform revealed a wide spectrum of indicator minerals, first of all, garnets, whose compositions are the same as in the inclusions in the regional diamonds. Of special interest are garnets of potential eclogite paragenesis with an abnormally high impurity of MnO (0.5–3.2 wt.%), which was earlier detected in more than 20% of garnets present as inclusions in diamonds of northern Quaternary placers and recommended as a new mineralogical criterion for diamond presence. Subcalcic Cr-pyropes of dunite–harzburgite paragenesis were also found in variable amounts, from 0.7 to 3.9 rel.%, in the sample of 973 grains of pyropes of lherzolite and websterite parageneses. Three grains contain 11.9, 12.6, and 16 wt.% Cr₂O₃, which corresponds to the presence of 30–34% of Mg–Cr-knorringite component. Such pyropes have been revealed for the first time in the study region. Cr-spinels are a mixture of compositions typical of kimberlites and the regional alkali-ultrabasic rocks. All studied samples contain picroilmenites with a variable content of Cr₂O₃ impurity. Since Mg–Fe–Ca-garnets with Mg# < 35 can be partly hosted in metamorphic rocks of the Anabar Shield, the elevated content of Na₂O impurity (> 0.09 wt.%) was also taken into account. The different contents of indicator minerals in the samples might be due to the variable composition of the diamond orebodies. The Carnian placers call for new systematic sampling. Special attention should be given to estimation of the composition of garnets of presumably eclogite paragenesis with elevated contents of TiO₂, MnO, CaO, and Na₂O and to search for perovskite and Nb-containing rutile. These minerals, together with zircons, are of interest for determining the U–Pb isotopic age of probable diamond orebodies—kimberlites.     

辽宁瓦房店金伯利岩中尖晶石族矿物种类划分及指示意义

晶体矿物学理论认为不同成岩环境金伯利岩中尖晶石族矿物由于形成物理化学条件不同,其晶体结构和化学成分会发生明显的变化,通过对无矿、贫矿、富矿金伯利岩岩管中的尖晶石族矿物晶胞参数和化学成分的测定,研究尖晶石族矿物化学成分和晶胞参数变化与无矿、贫矿、富矿金伯利岩的内在关系,可以提高金伯利岩型金刚石矿床找矿效率。为了确定辽宁瓦房店金伯利岩中的尖晶石族矿物种属,探讨辽宁瓦房店金伯利岩中尖晶石族矿物化学成分和晶胞参数与金伯利岩含矿性关系,本文运用电子探针波谱仪对50件尖晶石族矿物中的MgO、FeO、TiO2、Al2O3、MnO及Cr2O3进行微区化学成分分析,运用单晶X射线衍射仪对136个尖晶石族矿物晶胞参数进行测定。数据统计显示:瓦房店金伯利岩中尖晶石族矿物为铬铁矿和镁铬铁矿,以化学分子式中A、B组主要阳离子占位特征为基础,可把矿区的尖晶石族矿物划分为10个亚种;如果用尖晶石族矿物化学成分中Cr2O3与(Cr2O3+Al2O3)含量的比值Cr'来表示尖晶石族矿物与金伯利岩含矿性的关系,金伯利岩岩体含矿性由富矿→中等含矿→贫矿,相应岩体中尖晶石族矿物Cr'值分别为89.5%、83.4%~87.1%和70.2%,逐渐变低;从无矿金伯利岩岩体→贫矿和中等含矿金伯利岩岩体→富矿金伯利岩岩体,金伯利岩体中第一世代尖晶石族矿物晶胞参数分别为0.831~0.832 nm、0.834~0.836 nm、0.837 nm,有逐渐变大的趋势。本文认为,辽宁瓦房店金伯利岩中第一世代尖晶石族矿物晶胞参数大小和Cr'参数可以作为判断辽宁瓦房店金伯利岩含矿性的指示标型。     

Inclusions of crichtonite group minerals in pyropes from the Internatsionalnaya kimberlite pipe,Yakutia

The results of study of crichtonite group minerals in pyropes from the Internatsionalnaya kimberlite pipe are reported. Most of the studied samples are characterized by high concentrations of Sr, Ca, Na, and LREEs in comparison with minerals of the LIMA series from kimberlites of South Africa, whereas the average concentrations of Ba and K are significantly lower. Crichtonite group minerals in pyropes are characterized by predomination of Na over K in most samples and by a high concentration of Al₂O₃ (up to 4.5 wt %). Findings of inclusions of crichtonite group minerals with high concentrations of incompatible elements provide evidence for the metasomatic origin of host chromium-rich pyropes.     

Diamond precipitation and mantle metasomatism – evidence from the trace element chemistry of silicate inclusions in diamonds from Akwatia, Ghana

Trace element concentrations in the four principal peridotitic silicate phases (garnet, olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene) included in diamonds from Akwatia (Birim Field, Ghana) were determined using SIMS. Incompatible trace elements are hosted in garnet and clinopyroxene except for Sr which is equally distributed between orthopyroxene and garnet in harzburgitic paragenesis diamonds. The separation between lherzolitic and harzburgitic inclusion parageneses, which is commonly made using compositional fields for garnets in a CaO versus Cr₂O₃ diagram, is also apparent from the Ti and Sr contents in both olivine and garnet. Titanium is much higher in the lherzolitic and Sr in the harzburgitic inclusions. Chondrite normalised REE patterns of lherzolitic garnets are enriched (10–20 times chondrite) in HREE (La_N/Yb_N = 0.02–0.06) while harzburgitic garnets have sinusoidal REE_N patterns, with the highest concentrations for Ce and Nd (2–8 times chondritic) and a minimum at Ho (0.2–0.7 times chondritic). Clinopyroxene inclusions show negative slopes with La enrichment 10–100 times chondritic and low Lu (0.1–1 times chondritic). Both a lherzolitic and a harzburgitic garnet with very high knorringite contents (14 and 21 wt% Cr₂O₃ respectively) could be readily distinguished from other garnets of their parageneses by much higher levels of LREE enrichment. The REE patterns for calculated melt compositions from lherzolitic garnet inclusions fall into the compositional field for kimberlitic-lamproitic and carbonatitic melts. Much more strongly fractionated REE patterns calculated from harzburgitic garnets, and low concentrations in Ti, Y, Zr, and Hf, differ significantly from known alkaline and carbonatitic melts and require a different agent. Equilibration temperatures for harzburgitic inclusions are generally below the C-H-O solidus of their paragenesis, those of lherzolitic inclusions are above. Crystallisation of harzburgitic diamonds from CO₂-bearing melts or fluids may thus be excluded. Diamond inclusion chemistry and mineralogy also is inconsistent with known examples of metasomatism by H₂O-rich melts. We therefore favour diamond precipitation by oxidation of CH₄-rich fluids with highly fractionated trace element patterns which are possibly due to “chromatographic” fractionation processes. Received: 27 January 1996 / Accepted: 5 May 1997     

Mineralogy and petrography of a kimberlite-picrite dike in the northwestern Urik-Iya Graben,the eastern Sayan region

Mica kimberlite and alkali picrite were identified in the northwestern Urik-Iya Graben of the eastern Sayan region. Typomorphism of Cr-diopside and high-Cr (up to 55.22 wt % Cr₂O₃) spinel from kimberlite of the Bushkanai dike indicate that the melt was generated in the mantle, composed of spinel peridotite. The high content of Cr-spinel (45–55 wt % Cr₂O₃) microlites in the groundmass of kimberlite and small amounts of ulvospinel and titanomagnetite in the absence of perovskite testifies to the diamond potential of this kimberlite. Picroilmenite, manganoilmenite with an anomalously high MnO content (11.37–17.78 wt %), and barium titanate with (wt %) 62.21 TiO₂, 0.61 Cr₂O₃, 15.89 FeO, 4.05 MnO, 1.71 CaO, and 11.13 BaO close in composition to a new mineral species from the Murun pluton were identified in the groundmass for the first time. Kimberlite from the Bushkanai dike belongs to the Zolotitsa low-Ti geochemical type of kimberlites derived from the slightly enriched lithospheric mantle EM1. The distribution of trace elements, including REE, in picrite from the same dike corresponds to the slightly depleted asthenospheric mantle. Different mantle sources of kimberlite and picrite from the same dike indicate that these rocks are related to independent melts rather than to products of fractionation of a common parental alkaline ultramafic magma.     

Constraints on the origin of mantle-derived low Ca garnets

Current hypotheses for the source rock of low Ca garnets hosted in mantle-derived diamonds and xenoliths range from residues of komatiite generation, to subducted serpentinite, to subducted mid-ocean ridge (MORB) harzburgite. Experiments designed to test these hypotheses were undertaken. The stability and compositional variation of garnets at pressures above 4 GPa through the melting interval of hydrous peridotite, in the subsolidus of depleted harzburgite and peridotite compositions, and along the liquidus of aluminium-undepleted and aluminium-depleted komatiites were examined, and compared with petrological data for natural low Ca garnets. Partitioning of Cr between garnet and ultramafic liquid along the liquidus of komatiites and within the melting interval of peridotite, indicates that garnets in mantle residues after single stage Archean ultramafic liquid removal would contain 2 to 4 wt% Cr₂O₃. Thus, the more Cr-poor population of mantle-derived low Ca garnets, with Cr₂O₃ less than 4 wt%, could have originated by such a process. Experimental results for other compositions indicate that average cratonic peridotite or its hydrated equivalent is typically too Cr-poor to be the protolith from which low Ca garnets containing greater than 4 wt% Cr₂O₃ could have crystallized in the upper mantle. Experiments on a spinel harzburgite composition indicate that an extremely Cr-rich protolith (Cr/Cr+Al>0.3) is required to crystallize spinel and Cr-rich low Ca garnets, at pressures deduced for the ultramafic inclusion suite in diamonds (5 to 7 GPa). Natural examples of such Cr-rich protoliths are represented in some ophiolite harzburgites. All the experimental data taken together require that low Ca garnets with greater than 4 wt% Cr₂O₃ originated from residues that underwent multiple melt extraction. Whether such multi-stage events formed protoliths for low Ca garnets at shallow (i.e. MORB source region) or deep (i.e. komatiite source region) levels in the Precambrian mantle is not completely resolvable. The former environment can better account for the abundance of spinel in many diamonds hosting low Ca garnets, but the latter scenario best explains the presence of low Ca garnets in harzburgite xenoliths with cratonic bulk compositions well removed from typical MORB residues.     

Metasomatic origin of garnet xenocrysts from the V. Grib kimberlite pipe,Arkhangelsk region,NW Russia

This paper presents new major and trace element data from 150 garnet xenocrysts from the V. Grib kimberlite pipe located in the central part of the Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province (ADP). Based on the concentrations of Cr₂O₃, CaO, TiO₂ and rare earth elements (REE) the garnets were divided into seven groups: (1) lherzolitic “depleted” garnets (“Lz 1”), (2) lherzolitic garnets with normal REE patterns (“Lz 2”), (3) lherzolitic garnets with weakly sinusoidal REE patterns (“Lz 3”), (4) lherzolitic garnets with strongly sinusoidal REE patterns (“Lz 4”), (5) harzburgitic garnets with sinusoidal REE patterns (“Hz”), (6) wehrlitic garnets with weakly sinusoidal REE patterns (“W”), (7) garnets of megacryst paragenesis with normal REE patterns (“Meg”). Detailed mineralogical and geochemical garnet studies and modeling results suggest several stages of mantle metasomatism influenced by carbonatite and silicate melts. Carbonatitic metasomatism at the first stage resulted in refertilization of the lithospheric mantle, which is evidenced by a nearly vertical CaO-Cr₂O₃ trend from harzburgitic (“Hz”) to lherzolitic (“Lz 4”) garnet composition. Harzburgitic garnets (“Hz”) have probably been formed by interactions between carbonatite melts and exsolved garnets in high-degree melt extraction residues. At the second stage of metasomatism, garnets with weakly sinusoidal REE patterns (“Lz 3”, “W”) were affected by a silicate melt possessing a REE composition similar to that of ADP alkaline mica-poor picrites. At the last stage, the garnets interacted with basaltic melts, which resulted in the decrease CaO-Cr₂O₃ trend of “Lz 2” garnet composition. Cr-poor garnets of megacryst paragenesis (“Meg”) could crystallize directly from the silicate melt which has a REE composition close to that of ADP alkaline mica-poor picrites. P-T estimates of the garnet xenocrysts indicate that the interval of ～60–110 km of the lithospheric mantle beneath the V. Grib pipe was predominantly affected by the silicate melts, whereas the lithospheric mantle deeper than 150 km was influenced by the carbonatite melts.     

金伯利岩及有关岩类中的石榴石

镁铝榴石是金刚石的常见伴生矿物,由于经常在自然重砂中出现,因此利用重砂法来寻找金刚石原生矿是一种有效的方法。但是镁铝榴石不仅在金伯利岩中,而且往往在某些基性、超基性、以及某些高级变质岩中出现,使找矿工作复杂化。为此,探寻与金刚石有成因联系的镁铝榴石和其他镁铝榴石之区别是很必要的。     

Crystallization of high-Ca chromium garnet upon interaction of serpentine,chromite, and Ca-bearing hydrous fluid

The results of experimental modeling of the conditions of crystallization of high-Ca chromium garnets in the system serpentine–chromite–Ca-Cr-bearing hydrous fluid at a pressure of 5 GPa and temperature of 1300°С are reported. The mineral association including quantitatively predominant high-Mg olivine and diopside-rich clinopyroxene, bright-green garnet, and newly formed chrome spinel was formed. Garnet mostly crystallized around primary chromite grains and was characterized by a high concentration of CaO and Cr₂O₃. According to the chemical composition, garnets obtained are close to the uvarovite–pyrope varieties, which enter the composition of relatively rare natural paragenesis of garnet wehrlite. The experimental data obtained clearly show that high-Ca chromium garnets are formed in the reaction of chromite-bearing peridotite and Ca-rich fluid at high P–T parameters.

     

Inclusions of Cr- and Cr–Nb-Rutile in pyropes from the Internatsionalnaya kimberlite pipe,Yakutia

The results of study of rutile inclusions in pyrope from the Internatsionalnaya kimberlite pipe are presented. Rutile is characterized by unusually high contents of impurities (up to 25 wt %). The presence of Cr₂O₃ (up to 9.75 wt %) and Nb₂O₅ (up to 15.57 wt %) are most typical. Rutile inclusions often occur in assemblage with Ti-rich oxides: picroilmenite and crichtonite group minerals. The Cr-pyropes with inclusions of rutile, picroilmenite, and crichtonite group minerals were formed in the lithospheric mantle beneath the Mirnyi field during their joint crystallization from melts enriched in Fe, Ti, and other incompatible elements as a result of metasomatic enrichment of the depleted lithospheric mantle.     

Pyrope and Cr-diopside as indicators of mantle structure and diamond depth facies in the Kola region

PT parameters of crystallization have been determined for pyropes and Cr-diopsides from loose sediments of the Kola region, taking into account the chemical compositions of these minerals. Being either deep-seated xenocrysts or constituents of mantle xenoliths in kimberlites, pyropes and Cr-diopsides bear information on composition of the lithospheric mantle and its diamond resource potential. It was established that pyropes belong to the lherzolitic (45%), harzburgitic (30%), and eclogitic (25%) mineral assemblages. The Ni thermometry of pyropes yielded their formation temperature at 650–1250°C, which corresponds to a depth interval of 75–190 km. The distribution of different pyrope-bearing assemblages and their trace element composition allowed us to suggest a layered structure of the Kola lithospheric mantle. Its shallow unit (75–110 km) is mainly composed of depleted lherzolite; the medium-deep unit (110–170 km) consists of harzburgite, and the deep unit (170–190 km), of both lherzolite and harzburgite. About 16% of lherzolitic-harzburgitic pyropes were derived from the diamond mantle facies, i.e., from a depth of 140–190 km. Cr-diopsides are subdivided into two genetic groups: eclogitic (high Al₂O₃ and Na₂O, low MgO and CaO) and ultramafic (high MgO, CaO, and Cr₂O₃; low Al₂O₃ and Na₂O). The crystallization parameters of Cr-diopside from deep-seated ultramafic group were determined using the Cr-in-Cpx barometer and En-in-Cpx thermometer. Most samples fall into the graphite stability field (20–45 kbar and 700–1150°C). If these minerals were derived from kimberlites, this implies that the latter were constituents of carbonatite-ultramafic intrusions. Cr-diopsides may also be derived from diamond-free ultramafic xenoliths contained in alkaline ultramafic dikes. Nevertheless, 15% of Cr-diopside compositions fall in the field of diamond stability (55–60 kbar and 1000–1100°C). These conditions fit the geotherm characterizing a low heat flow. The results support the high resource potential of the Kola region for diamonds.     

Hydroxyl defects in garnets from mantle xenoliths in kimberlites of the Siberian platform

A suite of more than 200 garnet single crystals, extracted from 150 xenoliths, covering the whole range of types of garnet parageneses in mantle xenoliths so far known from kimberlites of the Siberian platform and collected from nearly all the kimberlite pipes known in that tectonic unit, as well as some garnets found as inclusions in diamonds and olivine megacrysts from such kimberlites, were studied by means of electron microprobe analysis and single-crystal IR absorption spectroscopy in the v _OH vibrational range in search of the occurrence, energy and intensity of the v _OH bands of hydroxyl defects in such garnets and its potential use in an elucidation of the nature of the fluid phase in the mantle beneath the Siberian platform. The v _OH single-crystal spectra show either one or a combination of two or more of the following major v _OH bands, I 3645–3662 cm⁻¹, II 3561–3583 cm⁻¹, III 3515–3527 cm⁻¹, and minor bands, Ia 3623–3631 cm⁻¹, IIa 3593–3607 cm⁻¹. The type of combination of such bands in the spectrum of a specific garnet depends on the type of the rock series of the host xenolith, Mg, Mg-Ca, Ca, Mg-Fe, or alkremite, on the xenolith type as well as on the chemical composition of the respective garnet. Nearly all garnets contain band systems I and II. Band system III occurs in Ti-rich garnets, with wt% TiO₂ > ca. 0.4, from xenoliths of the Mg-Ca and Mg-Fe series, only. The v _OH spectra do not correspond to those of OH⁻ defects in synthetic pyropes or natural ultra-high pressure garnets from diamondiferous metamorphics. There were no indications of v _OH from inclusions of other minerals within the selected 60 × 60 μm measuring areas in the garnets. The v _OH spectra of pyrope-knorringite- and pyrope-knorringite-uvarovite-rich garnets included in diamonds do not show band systems I to III. Instead, they exhibit one weak, broad band (Δv _OH 200–460 cm⁻¹) near 3570 cm⁻¹, a result that was also obtained on pyrope-knorringite-rich garnets extracted from two olivine megacrysts. The quantitative evaluation, on the basis of relevant existing calibrational data (Bell et al. 1995), of the sum of integral intensities of all v _OH bonds of the garnets studied yielded a wide range of “water” concentrations within the set of the different garnets, between values below the detection limit of our single-crystal IR method, near 2 × 10⁻⁴ wt%, up to 163 × 10⁻⁴ wt%. The “water” contents vary in a complex manner in garnets from different xenolith types, obviously depending on a large number of constraints, inherent in the crystal chemistry as well as the formation conditions of the garnets during the crystallization of their mantle host rocks. Secondary alteration effects during uplift of the kimberlite, play, if any, only a minor role. Despite the very complex pattern of the “water” contents of the garnets, preventing an evaluation of a straightforward correlation between “water” contents of the garnets and the composition of the mantle's fluid phase during garnet formation, at least two general conclusions could be drawn: (1) the wide variation of “water” contents in garnets is not indicative of regional or local differences in the composition of the mantle's fluid phase; (2) garnets formed in the high-pressure/high-temperature diamond-pyrope facies invariably contain significantly lower amounts of “water” than garnets formed under the conditions of the graphite-pyrope facies. This latter result (2) may point to significantly lower f _H2O and f _O2 in the former as compared to the latter facies. Received: 25 November 1997 / Accepted: 9 March 1998     

Metasomatic processes in the lithospheric mantle beneath the V. Grib kimberlite pipe (Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province,Russia)

New data on metasomatic processes in the lithospheric mantle in the central part of the Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province (ADP) are presented. We studied the major- and trace-element compositions of minerals of 26 garnet peridotite xenoliths from the V. Grib kimberlite pipe; 17 xenoliths contained phlogopite. Detailed mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical studies of peridotite minerals (garnet, clinopyroxene, and phlogopite) have revealed two types of modal metasomatic enrichment of the lithospheric-mantle rocks: high temperature (melt) and low-temperature (phlogopite). Both types of modal metasomatism significantly changed the chemical composition of the peridotites. Low-temperature modal metasomatism manifests itself as coarse tabular and shapeless phlogopite grains. Two textural varieties of phlogopite show significant differences in chemical composition, primarily in the contents of TiO₂, Cr₂O₃, FeO, Ba, Rb, and Cs. The rock-forming minerals of phlogopite-bearing peridotites differ in chemical composition from phlogopite-free peridotites, mainly in higher FeO content. Most garnets and clinopyroxenes in peridotites are the products of high-temperature mantle metasomatism, as indicated by the high contents of incompatible elements and REE pattern in these minerals. Fractional-crystallization modeling gives an insight into the nature of melts (metasomatic agents). They are close in composition to picrites of the Izhmozero field, basalts of the Tur’ino field, and carbonatites of the Mela field of the ADP. The REE patterns of the peridotite minerals make it possible to determine the sequence of metasomatic enrichment of the lithospheric mantle beneath the V. Grib kimberlite pipe.     

Pyrope–knorringite garnets: overview of experimental data and natural parageneses

This paper gives an analytical overview of the experimental data obtained by different authors at high P and T in the model system MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–Cr₂O₃ (MASCr). A set of four simple polynomial equations is proposed for the temperature and pressure dependence of chromium content in garnet and spinel in the assemblage Gar + Opx + Es and Gar + Fo + Opx + Sp.From the first equation, one can estimate the minimum pressure at a given temperature which is required for the formation of peridotite garnets of uncertain paragenesis with a known knorringite content. A combination of the second and third equations helps estimate P and T from the chromium content of garnet and spinel from assemblages containing both minerals. If the spinel composition is unknown, but there is reason to assign garnet to a spinel-bearing paragenesis, the fourth equation is applicable for estimating pressure at given temperature.Originally, the proposed garnet–spinel geothermobarometer was developed for a harzburgite paragenesis. However, it is applicable to garnets with CaO/Cr₂O₃ < 0.903 (including lherzolitic ones), that is, those within the Pyr–Kn–Uv triangle of the reciprocal quaternary diagram Pyr–Cros–Uv–Kn.Using the above equations and an empirical P_CG geobarometer (Grütter et al., 2006), comparative geothermobarometric estimates were obtained for a set of garnet and garnet–spinel inclusions in diamonds and intergrowths with diamond, as well as garnet inclusions in spinel. If garnet has CaO/Cr₂O₃ = 0.35–0.40, the results are in good accord. For Cr-richest and Ca-poorest garnets, the P_CG barometer shows pressures 10–15% higher compared with our estimates.