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Detailed Protracted Crystallization History of Perovskite in Orapa Kimberlite

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Proceedings of 10th International Kimberlite Conference

Abstract

Detailed petrographic and geochemical studies of perovskites from different lithofacies of Orapa kimberlite, a typical crater facies kimberlite from Botswana, have been conducted to investigate the crystallization and paragenesis of this very important groundmass phase. We suggest that there is no universal paragenetic sequence of mineral crystallization in the groundmass of kimberlite as it depends on the magma composition, which is highly variable. Our study reveals that most of the perovskite grains in Orapa grew after the macrocrystal phases such as olivine and Cr-bearing spinel, and simultaneously with “reaction” Fe-rich and groundmass spinel from ulvöspinel-magnetite group, as suggested earlier in the literature. However, certain perovskite grains contain inclusions of phlogopite and apatite, which are generally very late-crystallizing phases in kimberlite. Some perovskite grains are also found to appear as late-crystallizing rims around partially resorbed spinel. These textural features suggest protracted perovskite crystallization over a range of P and T from an evolving kimberlite magma. Previous O isotope data have also been used to suggest that perovskite crystallization succeeded late-stage magmatic degassing. Minor and trace element concentrations of Orapa perovskites also support this longer crystallization history as the post-degassed phase perovskite contain less Nb and Zr, which have preferentially partitioned into rutile, an alteration product of early-crystallizing perovskite. Calculated oxygen fugacities from Orapa perovskites range from −5.5 NNO to −0.2 NNO, emphasizing perovskite crystallization in an evolving magmatic system. Sudden degassing, mainly CO2 release, prompted a change in the oxidation state of the magma, which was recorded by the late-crystallizing perovskites as this group shows an f(O)2 value much higher (−2.3 NNO to −0.2 NNO) than the rest of the perovskite grains. All different lithofacies contain perovskites of different paragenesis with varying quantities while the pyroclastic kimberlite has the maximum abundance of late-stage post-degassing phase perovskites.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the anonymous reviewer whose comments have made this manuscript stronger. We thank Steve Sparks, Horst Marschall, Mike Walter and A. P. Jones for their encouragement and important discussions during this project. Stuart Kearns is thanked for his help with the analytical work. We acknowledge De Beers Consolidated Mines and Debswana for giving access to the Orapa mines and samples. This work is part of the PhD research of Chiranjeeb Sarkar, who was funded by the Overseas Research Scholarship and University of Bristol Postgraduate Scholarship along with financial support from De Beers. Chiranjeeb Sarkar is also grateful to the financial assistance provided by the 10th International Kimberlite Conference. CD Storey acknowledges NERC fellowship NE/D008891/2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E3, Canada

    Chiranjeeb Sarkar

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    Chiranjeeb Sarkar

  3. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Burnaby Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, UK

    Craig D. Storey

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews, KY16 9AL, Scotland

    Chris J. Hawkesworth

Authors
  1. Chiranjeeb Sarkar
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  2. Craig D. Storey
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  3. Chris J. Hawkesworth
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chiranjeeb Sarkar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    D Graham Pearson

  2. Dept of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Herman S Grütter

  3. School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

    Jeff W Harris

  4. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Bruce A Kjarsgaard

  5. Finland Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), Espoo, Finland

    Hugh O’Brien

  6. Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    N V Chalapathi Rao

  7. School of Earth Sciences, Bristol University, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Steven Sparks

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© 2013 Geological Society of India

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Sarkar, C., Storey, C.D., Hawkesworth, C.J. (2013). Detailed Protracted Crystallization History of Perovskite in Orapa Kimberlite. In: Pearson, D., et al. Proceedings of 10th International Kimberlite Conference. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1170-9_13

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