Diamond crystallization in the Fe-Co-S-C and Fe-Ni-S-C systems and the role of sulfide-metal melts in the genesis of diamond

Diamond crystals 0.1–0.8 carats were synthesized in experiments conducted in a BARS split-sphere multianvil high-pressure apparatus in the systems Fe-Co-S-C and Fe-Ni-S-C at a pressure of 5.5 GPa and temperature of 1300°C. The microtextures of the samples and the phases accompanying diamond (carbides, graphite, monoslufide solid solution, pentlandite, and taenite) are examined in much detail, the properties of metal-sulfide-carbon alloys are discussed, and issues related to the genesis of sulfide inclusions in diamonds and graphite crystallization in the diamond stability field are considered. The experiments demonstrate that diamonds can be synthesized and grow in pre-eutectic metal-sulfide melts with up to 14 wt % sulfur at relatively low P-T parameters, which correspond to the probable temperatures and pressures of natural diamond-forming processes at depths of approximately 150 km in the Earth’s upper mantle.