Effect of oil and gas deposits on dynamic characteristics of reflected waves

ABSTRACT

The preservation of metastable diamond in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) complexes challenges our understanding of the processes taking place during exhumation of these subduction zone complexes. The presence of diamonds in UHPM rocks implies that diamonds remained metastable during exhumation, and within thermodynamic stability of graphite for an extended period. This work studies the influence of pressure on the surface graphitization rate of diamond monocrystals in carbonate systems to understand the preservation of microdiamond during exhumation of UHP subduction complexes. Experiments were performed with 2–3 mm synthetic diamond monocrystals at 2–4 GPa in СаСО₃ (1550°С) and К₂СО₃ (1450°С) melts using a high-pressure multi-anvil apparatus. The highest rate of surface graphitization took place at 2 GPa; diamond crystals were almost completely enveloped by a graphite coating. At 4 GPa, only octahedron-shaped pits formed on flat {111} diamond crystal faces. Our results demonstrate that the surface graphitization rate of diamonds in the presence of carbonate melts at 1450–1550°C increases with decreasing pressure. Decreased pressure alone can graphitize diamond regardless of exhumation rate. Metastable diamond inclusions survive exhumation with little or no graphitization because of excess pressure up to 2 GPa acting on them, and because inclusions are protected from interaction with C-O-H fluid.     

The impact of diamond extraction on natural denudation rates in the Diamantina Plateau (Minas Gerais,Brazil)

The ¹⁰Be method was used to investigate the effect of mining activities on the natural denudation rates in alluvial sediments from catchments of the Southern Espinhaço Range (SER) in Minas Gerais State (Brazil). In this region, which is predominantly composed of quartzites, the ¹⁰Be concentrations were measured in alluvial sediments from catchments in a preserved natural area of the Serra do Cipó National Park and on the Diamantina Plateau, which was subjected to diamond extraction from beginnings of XVIII century until the end of the XX. Two types of drainage were identified in the Diamantina Plateau area: (i) reworked drainage (alluvial sediments reworked by panning) and (ii) overloaded drainage (alluvial sediments originating from panning processes on saprolites located upstream). The mean denudation value for the natural drainages (∼4.4 m.My-1) is similar to that of the reworked drainages (∼4.3 m.My-1) However, the denudation rates obtained for eleven samples from three sites in overloaded basins range from ∼6.4 m My-1 to ∼22.8 m My-1 and are thus higher than those determined for the reworked and natural basins. These results show that despite the alluvium deposits have been intensely reworked by panning, the values of denudation rates were not changed, they are similar to denudation rates from the natural drainages. However, the natural rates are lower than those affected by panning processes on saprolites.     

山东金刚石原生矿找矿前景探讨

金刚石形成于地幔深处 ,含金刚石的岩石只是一种运载和保存“工具” ,凡是来自上地幔的岩石均有可能携带早已形成的金刚石而形成金刚石原生矿床。世界上已知金刚石原生矿除金伯利岩、钾镁煌斑岩型外 ,尚在橄榄岩、橄榄玄武岩、千枚岩、科马提岩、榴辉岩等岩石中发现了金刚石 ,可能存在金刚石原生矿新的岩石类型。山东位于华北地台的南东部 ,鲁西、鲁东基底属A型克拉通 ,幔源岩浆活动强烈 ,具备良好的金刚石原生矿成矿地质条件 ,已获得的大量的成矿信息和找矿线索表明 ,除已发现的蒙阴金伯利岩型金刚石原生矿外 ,应该存在着尚未发现的金刚石原生矿 ,找矿前景广阔 ,应进一步加强金刚石原生矿勘查工作。     

山东省蒙阴地区金刚石原生矿形成时代的讨论

到哪些地方去找未发现的金刚石原生矿,这就涉及到金刚石原生矿的形成时代问题。正确认识蒙阴地区金刚石原生矿的形成时代,不仅有重要的理论意义,而且具有重要的现实找矿指导作用。地质证据表明,蒙阴地区金刚石原生矿形成时代为白垩纪,同位素测年表明,蒙阴地区金伯利岩形成时代远早于白垩纪,通过对以往地质资料的研究,认为同位素测试年龄是多解性的,应结合相关地质证据确定其形成时代。     

Petrology and geochemistry of diamondiferous Mesoproterozoic kimberlites from Wajrakarur kimberlite field,Eastern Dharwar craton,southern India: genesis and constraints on mantle source regions

The petrology and geochemistry of some new occurrences of Mesoproterozoic diamondiferous hypabyssal-facies kimberlites from the Chigicherla, Wajrakarur-Lattavaram and Kalyandurg clusters of the Wajrakarur kimberlite field (WKF), Eastern Dharwar craton (EDC), southern India, are reported. The kimberlites contain two generations of olivine, and multiple groundmass phases including phlogopite, spinel, calcite, dolomite, apatite, perovskite, apatite and rare titanite, and xenocrysts of eclogitic garnet and picro-ilmenite. Since many of the silicate minerals in these kimberlites have been subjected to carbonisation and alteration, the compositions of the groundmass oxide minerals play a crucial role in their characterisation and in understanding melt compositions. While there is no evidence for significant crustal contamination in these kimberlites, some limited effects of ilmenite entrainment are evident in samples from the Kalyandurg cluster. Geochemical studies reveal that the WKF kimberlites are less differentiated and more primitive than those from the Narayanpet kimberlite field (NKF), Eastern Dharwar craton. Highly fractionated (La/Yb = 108–145) chondrite-normalised distribution patterns with La abundances of 500–1,000 × chondrite and low heavy rare earth elements (HREE) abundances of 5–10 × chondrite are characteristic of these rocks. Metasomatism by percolating melts from the convecting mantle, rather than by subduction-related processes, is inferred to have occurred in their source regions based on incompatible element signatures. While the majority of the Eastern Dharwar craton kimberlites are similar to the Group I kimberlites of southern Africa in terms of petrology, geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotope systematics, others show the geochemical traits of Group II kimberlites or an overlap between Group I and II kimberlites. Rare earth element (REE)-based semi-quantitative forward modelling of batch melting of southern African Group I and II kimberlite source compositions involving a metasomatised garnet lherzolite and very low degrees of partial melting demonstrate that (1) WKF and NKF kimberlites display a relatively far greater range in the degree of melting than those from the on-craton occurrences from southern Africa and are similar to that of world-wide melilitites, (2) different degrees of partial melting of a common source cannot account for the genesis of all the EDC kimberlites, (3) multiple and highly heterogeneous kimberlite sources involve in the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) in the Eastern Dharwar craton and (4) WKF and NKF kimberlites generation is a resultant of complex interplay between the heterogeneous sources and their different degrees of partial melting. These observations are consistent with the recent results obtained from inversion modelling of REE concentrations from EDC kimberlites in that both the forward as wells as inverse melting models necessitate a dominantly lithospheric, and not asthenospheric, mantle source regions. The invading metasomatic (enriching) melts percolating from the convecting (asthenosphere) mantle impart an OIB-like isotopic signature to the final melt products.     

Diamonds and eclogites of the Jericho kimberlite (Northern Canada)

We studied diamonds and barren and diamondiferous eclogite xenoliths from the Jericho kimberlite (Northern Slave craton). The majority of the diamonds are non-resorbed octahedral crystals, with moderately aggregated N (IaB < 50%, N < 300 ppm) and δ¹³C = −5 to −41‰. The diamonds belong to “eclogitic” (90% of the studied samples), “websteritic” (7%) and “peridotitic” (3%) assemblages. The Jericho diamonds differ from the majority of “eclogitic” diamonds worldwide in magnesian compositions of associated minerals and extremely light C isotopic compositions (δ¹³C = −24 to −41‰). We propose that metasomatism triggered by H₂O fluids may have been involved in the diamond formation. Multiple episodes of the metasomatism and associated melt extraction of various ages are evident in Jericho eclogite xenoliths where primary garnet and clinopyroxene have been recrystallized to more magnesian minerals with higher contents of some incompatible trace elements and to hydrous secondary phases. The model is supported by the general similarity of mineral compositions in diamondiferous eclogites to those in diamond inclusions and to secondary magnesian garnet and clinopyroxene in recrystallized barren eclogites. The ultimate products of the metasomatism could be “websteritic” diamond assemblages sourced from magnesian eclogites. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The stability and compressibility of MgAl2O4 high-pressure polymorphs

High-pressure and high-temperature experiments using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell (LHDAC) and synchrotron X-ray diffraction have revealed a phase transition in MgAl₂O₄. CaTi₂O₄-type MgAl₂O₄ was found to be stable at pressures between 45 and at least 117 GPa. The transition pressure of CaTi₂O₄-type phase in MgAl₂O₄ is much lower than that in the natural N-type mid-oceanic ridge basalt composition. The Birch–Murnaghan equation of state for CaTi₂O₄-type MgAl₂O₄ was determined from the experimental unit cell parameters with K ₀=219(±6) GPa, K ₀′=4(constrained value), and V ₀=238.9(±9) ų. The observed compressibility was in agreement with the theoretical compressibility calculated in a previous study. ε-MgAl₂O₄ was observed at pressures between 40 and 45 GPa, which has not been reported in natural rock compositions. The gradient (dP/dT slope) of the transition from the ε-type to CaTi₂O₄-type MgAl₂O₄ had a positive value. These results should resolve the dispute regarding the stable high-pressure phase of MgAl₂O₄, which has been reported in earlier studies using both the multi-anvil press and the diamond anvil cell.     

浅议成矿预测的有关问题：—以湖南原生金刚石矿预测为例

本文简要的介绍了成矿预测的概念、理论、准则及信息系统,以金刚石矿为例,详述了湖南原生金刚石矿小比例尺成矿预测信息系统,并用累积计分法对湘西北原生金刚石矿进行了预测,划分出长沙—安化Ⅲ级成矿带一个,石门、古丈、怀化—会同成矿区三个。     

A technique for identifying structural domain boundaries at the EKATI Diamond Mine

Over 10,000 discontinuity orientations from various sources at the EKATI Diamond Mine in northern Canada were collected and amalgamated into a common database. A new technique in which structural domains were determined in the area of three closely spaced active pits by quantitatively comparing stereonets from different regions was developed. The frequencies of discontinuity poles plotting in orientation windows on stereonets were determined and compared using a correlation coefficient to quantify the degree of similarity between different stereonets. Structural boundaries between regions were established wherever their associated stereonets display low correlation coefficients. The technique was able to determine boundaries in the vertical direction as well as radially in a number of pie-shaped zones extending around the kimberlite pipes.     

Peridotitic diamonds from Namibia: constraints on the composition and evolution of their mantle source

About half the diamonds studied from the Cenozoic placer deposits along the Namibian coast belong to the peridotitic suite. The peridotitic mantle source is heterogeneous ranging from lherzolitic to strongly Ca depleted (down to 0.24 wt.% CaO in garnet) and shows large variations in Cr/Al ratio, illustrated by very low to very high Cr₂O₃ contents in garnet (2.6–17.3 wt.%). The Cr-rich end of this range includes exceptionally high Cr₂O₃ contents in Mg-chromite (70.7 wt.%) and clinopyroxene (3.6 wt.%). Garnet-olivine thermometry appears to indicate two groups, one that equilibrated at temperatures between 1200 and 1220°C and a second between 960 and 1100°C. Combined estimates of pressure and temperature based on garnet-orthopyroxene pairs indicate a large variance in geothermal gradients, corresponding to 38–42 mW/m² surface heat flow.

The trace-element composition of peridotitic garnet inclusions (determined by SIMS) also indicates large diversity. Two principal groups, corresponding to different styles of metasomatic source enrichment, are recognized. The first group ranges from extremely LREE_N-depleted patterns, through trough-shaped REE_N to sinusoidal patterns with the position of the first peak gradually moving from the LREE_N to the MREE_N. This series of REE patterns is interpreted to reflect a range of metasomatic agents with decreasing LREE/HREE. Only in the case of the two garnets with REE_N peaking at Sm–Eu is this process connected with enrichment in Zr, without significant introduction of Y and Ti. The metasomatism responsible is interpreted as reflecting percolation of CHO-fluids through harzburgite under sub-solidus conditions. A second group of garnets shows an increase from LREE_N–MREE_N and almost flat (lherzolitic garnet) to moderately declining MREE_N–HREE_N at super-chondritic levels. This second style of metasomatism is caused by an agent carrying HFSE and showing only moderate enrichment in LREE over HREE, which points towards silicate melts.