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Nyerereite and nahcolite inclusions in diamond: evidence for lower-mantle carbonatitic magmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

F. Kaminsky ,
R. Wirth ,
S. Matsyuk ,
A. Schreiber  and
R. Thomas
F. Kaminsky*
Affiliation:
KM Diamond Exploration Ltd., 2446 Shadoldt Lane, West Vancouver V7S3J1, British Columbia, Canada
R. Wirth
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Experimental Geochemistry and Mineral Physics, Telegrafenberg, D14473 Potsdam, Germany
S. Matsyuk
Affiliation:
Institute of Gechemistry, Mineralogy and Ore Formation, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Palladin Av., 03680 Kyiv-142, Ukraine
A. Schreiber
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Experimental Geochemistry and Mineral Physics, Telegrafenberg, D14473 Potsdam, Germany
R. Thomas
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Experimental Geochemistry and Mineral Physics, Telegrafenberg, D14473 Potsdam, Germany
*
* E-mail: felixvkaminsky@cs.com
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Abstract

Nyerereite and nahcolite have been identified as micro- and nano-inclusions in diamond from the Juina area, Brazil. Alongside them are Sr- and Ba-bearing calcite minerals from the periclase-wiistite series, wollastonite II (high), Ca-rich garnet, spinels, olivine, phlogopite and apatite. Minerals of the periclase- wustite series belong to two separate groups: wustite and Mg-wustite with Mg# = 1.9—15.3, and Fe- periclase and periclase with Mg# = 84.9—92.1. Wollastonite-II (high, with Ca:Si = 0.992) has a triclinic structure. Two types of spinel were distinguished among mineral inclusions in diamond: zoned magnesioferrite (with Mg# varying from 13.5—90.8, core to rim) and Fe spinel (magnetite). Olivine (Mg# = 93.6), intergrown with nyerereite, forms an elongate, lath-shaped crystal and most likely represents a retrograde transformation of ringwoodite or wadsleyite. All inclusions are composed of poly-mineralic solid mineral phases. Together with previously found halides, sulphates and other mineral inclusions in diamond from Juina, they form a carbonatitic-type mineral paragenesis in diamond which may have originated in the lower mantle and/or transition zone. Wustite inclusions with Mg# = 1.9—3.4, according to experimental data, may have formed in the lowermost mantle. The source for the observed carbonatitic-type mineral association in diamond is lower-mantle natrocarbonatitic magma. This magma may represent a juvenile mantle melt, or be the result of low-degree partial melting of deeply-subducted carbonated oceanic crust. This magma was rich in volatiles, such as Cl, F and H, which played an important role in the formation of diamond.

Keywords

diamondinclusionTEMcarbonateshalidesnyerereitenahcolitecarbonatitic magmalower mantle.
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 73 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 797 - 816
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2009

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