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

Authors: Kaminsky, F.; Wirth, R.; Matsyuk, S.; Schreiber, A.; Thomas, R.

Source: Mineralogical Magazine, Volume 73, Number 5, October 2009 , pp. 797-816(20)

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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-wüstite series, wollastonite II (high), Ca-rich garnet, spinels, olivine, phlogopite and apatite. Minerals of the periclase-wüstite series belong to two separate groups: wüstite and Mg-wüstite with Mg# = 1.9-15.3, and Fepericlase 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. Wüstite 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: DIAMOND; INCLUSION; TEM; CARBONATES; HALIDES; NYEREREITE; NAHCOLITE; CARBONATITIC MAGMA; LOWER MANTLE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1180/minmag.2009.073.5.797

Publication date: 2009-10-01

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