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Juina Diamonds from Kimberlites and Alluvials: A Comparison of Morphology, Spectral Characteristics and Carbon Isotope Composition

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Proceedings of 10th International Kimberlite Conference

Abstract

Diamonds from the Juina-5 and Collier-4 kimberlites and alluvials in the Juina area, Brazil (which are important occurrences of ultra-deep diamonds) were characterised and studied using cathodoluminescence, FTIR and SIMS. Resorbed forms are most frequent, followed in abundance by octahedral diamonds. Cathodoluminescence revealed a high abundance of non-luminescent stones with minor occurrence of diamonds with blue luminescence, which is consistent with the high abundance of Type II diamonds (> 69 %). Type I diamonds are IaB or highly aggregated IaAB and most lack platelets, implying degradation of such features due to high temperature annealing after growth. The δ13C distribution of Juina samples forms two groups: -26.3 to -3 % without any significant mode for Juina-5 and Collier-4 diamonds, and -13.8 to -3.4 % with -5 % mode for alluvial stones, suggesting that these two kimberlites are not the main source of the local alluvial diamonds. Intracrystalline δ13C and N SIMS measurements showed consistent co-variation in only one of five diamonds, providing possible evidence of carbon isotope fractionation. Resorption horizons and erratic C-N co variation for the other samples suggest episodic growth. The internal growth features and N characteristics of Type I diamonds indicate that some of them were probably formed in the lithospheric mantle, while most Type II diamonds are tentatively related to a sublithospheric “ultradeep” paragenesis, which is yet to be confirmed by mineral inclusions. Previous studies suggest that sublithospheric diamonds were transported from the deep mantle and deposited at the base of the lithosphere prior to exhumation by kimberlite, possibly by a mantle plume. The characteristic carbon isotopic compositions of Juina-5 and Collier-4 diamonds compared with alluvial diamonds suggest that distinct diamond populations exist in the kimberlite source region.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Rio Tinto Brasil (RTDM) for providing samples for this study. We thank the analytical support of G. Szabó for CL images at University of São Paulo, Arnaldo Alcover Neto for assistance with SEM images, J. Rougvie for CL images and FTIR work at the Smithsonian Institution and Y. Fei and R. Hemley for the support during the work at Carnegie Institution. D. Fisher (DTC Research Centre) is thanked for providing the CAXBD97.XLS spreadsheet for FTIR data deconvolution. We are greatly thankful to P. Cartigny, W.L. Griffin, O. Navon and T. Stachel, and to the Guest Editor, J. Harris, for constructive reviews made during different periods of building this manuscript. We thank Sami Mikhail for the helpful input in diamond growth modelling discussion. This research was funded by CNPQ (National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development), FINATEC (Fundação de Empreendimentos Científicos e Tecnológicos) and CAPES (Centro de Aperfeiçoamento de Ensino Superior).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    D. P. Araujo & J. C. Gaspar

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

    G. P. Bulanova, C. B. Smith, S. C. Kohn & M. J. Walter

  3. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    E. H. Hauri

Authors
  1. D. P. Araujo
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  2. J. C. Gaspar
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  3. G. P. Bulanova
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  4. C. B. Smith
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  5. S. C. Kohn
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  6. M. J. Walter
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  7. E. H. Hauri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. P. Araujo .

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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Araujo, D.P. et al. (2013). Juina Diamonds from Kimberlites and Alluvials: A Comparison of Morphology, Spectral Characteristics and Carbon Isotope Composition. In: Pearson, D., et al. Proceedings of 10th International Kimberlite Conference. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1170-9_16

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