The Archean lithospheric mantle beneath the Kaapvaal–Zimbabwe craton of Southern Africa shows ±1% variations in seismic P-wave velocity at depths within the diamond stability field (150–250 km) that correlate regionally with differences in the composition of diamonds and their syngenetic inclusions. Seismically slower mantle trends from the mantle below Swaziland to that below southeastern Botswana, roughly following the surface outcrop pattern of the Bushveld-Molopo Farms Complex. Seismically slower mantle also is evident under the southwestern side of the Zimbabwe craton below crust metamorphosed around 2 Ga. Individual eclogitic sulfide inclusions in diamonds from the Kimberley area kimberlites, Koffiefontein, Orapa, and Jwaneng have Re–Os isotopic ages that range from circa 2.9 Ga to the Proterozoic and show little correspondence with these lithospheric variations. However, silicate inclusions in diamonds and their host diamond compositions for the above kimberlites, Finsch, Jagersfontein, Roberts Victor, Premier, Venetia, and Letlhakane do show some regional relationship to the seismic velocity of the lithosphere. Mantle lithosphere with slower P-wave velocity correlates with a greater proportion of eclogitic versus peridotitic silicate inclusions in diamond, a greater incidence of younger Sm–Nd ages of silicate inclusions, a greater proportion of diamonds with lighter C isotopic composition, and a lower percentage of low-N diamonds whereas the converse is true for diamonds from higher velocity mantle. The oldest formation ages of diamonds indicate that the mantle keels which became continental nuclei were created by middle Archean (3.2–3.3 Ga) mantle depletion events with high degrees of melting and early harzburgite formation. The predominance of sulfide inclusions that are eclogitic in the 2.9 Ga age population links late Archean (2.9 Ga) subduction-accretion events involving an oceanic lithosphere component to craton stabilization. These events resulted in a widely distributed younger Archean generation of eclogitic diamonds in the lithospheric mantle. Subsequent Proterozoic tectonic and magmatic events altered the composition of the continental lithosphere and added new lherzolitic and eclogitic diamonds to the already extensive Archean diamond suite. 相似文献
The world's oldest diamond deposits occur in 2.67 Ga dikes and heterolithic breccias emplaced into greenstone belts of the Wawa and Abitibi Subprovinces, southern Superior Province, Canada. Thousands of white to yellow microdiamonds and macrodiamonds to 5 mm in width have been recovered by non-contaminating fusion techniques. The host rocks exhibit petrographic and compositional features that are characteristic of post-Archean minettes and spessartites of the calc-alkaline or shoshonitic lamprophyre clan. Based on chemical trends and petrographic evidence, host rocks that contain more than 16 wt.% MgO represent lamprophyre magmas that entrained cumulate olivine, probably at the base of the crust. Breccia bodies that are tens of metres wide at the two localities are somewhat atypical of late Archean lamprophyre occurrences in the Superior Province and owe their size to optimum conditions for magma ascent that were required to preserve the diamonds. Abundant altered ultramafic xenoliths occur in the host rocks. The majority of xenoliths studied (10 of 14) display uniform major element compositions similar to websterite cumulate suites derived from crystal fractionation processes at the base of post-Archean volcanic arcs. The xenoliths display highly variable trace element abundances that are characteristic of cryptic metasomatism associated with the flux of an oxidised fluid above a subduction zone.
The tectonic setting of the deposits and the nature of the host rocks indicate that the diamonds may be derived from the asthenospheric wedge and subducted slab at shallow depths (100 to 160 km) rather than the deep keels of Archean cratons associated with traditional diamond deposit types. Models of low-temperature Phanerozoic diamond formation in active subduction zones, or rapid uplift and emplacement of peridotite massif occurrences, can be adapted to the Archean deposits. The stability field of diamonds in most Phanerozoic subduction scenarios, however, may be too deep to be accessed by the lamprophyric magmas. In contrast, shallow subduction, as invoked for the distinctive occurrence of adakitic (slab-melt) type rocks in the southern Superior Province, could generate two different diamond stability windows at sufficiently shallow depths to account for their presence in lamprophyric magmas.
The multiple requirements imposed on Archean tectonic models by occurrences of diamonds in hydrous shoshonitic rock types (spessartite and minette lamprophyres), along with distinctively metasomatised xenoliths, strongly favour plate tectonic subduction models of orogeny. Evidence of slightly earlier mantle plumes, such as 2.7 Ga komatiites, only strengthens the need for a subduction-driven low-temperature thermal anomaly in the Archean mantle prior to lamprophyric magmatism. 相似文献
Elastic wave velocities for dense (99.8% of theoretical density) isotropic polycrystalline specimens of synthetic pyrope (Mg3Al2Si3O12) were measured to 1,000 K at 300 MPa by the phase comparison method of ultrasonic interferometry in an internally heated
gas-medium apparatus. The temperature derivatives of the elastic moduli [(∂Ks/∂T)P = −19.3(4); (∂G/∂T)P = −10.4(2) MPa K−1] measured in this study are consistent with previous acoustic measurements on both synthetic polycrystalline pyrope in a
DIA-type cubic anvil apparatus (Gwanmesia et al. in Phys Earth Planet Inter 155:179–190, 2006) and on a natural single crystal by the rectangular parallelepiped resonance (RPR; Suzuki and Anderson in J Phys Earth 31:125–138,
1983) method but |(∂Ks/∂T)P| is significantly larger than from a Brillouin spectroscopy study of single-crystal pyrope (Sinogeikin and Bass in Phys Earth
Planet Inter 203:549–555, 2002). Alternative approaches to the retrieval of mixed derivatives of the elastic moduli from joint analysis of data from this
study and from the solid-medium data of Gwanmesia et al. in Phys Earth Planet Inter 155:179–190 (2006) yield ∂2G/∂P∂T = [0.07(12), 0.20(14)] × 10−3 K−1 and ∂2KS/∂P∂T = [−0.20(24), 0.22(26)] × 10−3 K−1, both of order 10−4 K−1 and not significantly different from zero. More robust inference of the mixed derivatives will require solid-medium acoustic
measurements of precision significantly better than 1%. 相似文献
The Renard igneous bodies were discovered in late 2001 as part of a regional diamond exploration program launched by Ashton Mining of Canada and SOQUEM. Nine bodies have been discovered within a 2-km-diameter area, and are comprised of root zone to lower diatreme facies rocks including kimberlitic breccia, olivine macrocrystic hypabyssal material, and brecciated country rock with minor amounts of kimberlitic material. Many mineralogical and petrographic features are common to both kimberlite and melnoite, and strict assignment of the rocks as kimberlite is not possible with these criteria alone. Whole rock trace element compositions suggest a closer affinity to Group I kimberlite, with derivation from a garnet-bearing mantle. Exceptions to conventional classification of the rocks along petrographic or mineralogical lines may be due in part to assimilation of felsic country rock into the Renard magmas at the time of emplacement. The Renard magmas were emplaced into northeastern Laurentia at 630 Ma, when the supercontinent was undergoing a change from convergent margin magmatism to rifting, the latter being associated ultimately with the opening of the Iapetus ocean. 相似文献
Impact diamond is one of perspective natural type of superhard carbon materials,forming huge resources sometimes,such as Popigai impact structure counting the largest diamond storage on the Earth.By present,there are two known types of impact diamonds-after-graphitic and after-coal varieties formed from different carbon precursors.Here we present for the first time a new impact diamond type-diamond fossils,named by "karite",formed about 70 Ma from unmetamorphosed organics in the giant Kara impact crater(Pay-Khoy,Russia).A full complex of the diamond fossil characteristics is described proving its nature and phase state.Karite is presented with supernanocrystalline diamond aggregates,nicely preserves tiny cell morphology and relict features of lignin and cellulose.The diamond fossils are spread widely through the Kara impactites,point to possible wider distribution of impact diamonds within large impact occurrences around the world,can be used for impact modeling,astrobiological and material studies. 相似文献