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Lower mantle diamonds from Rio Soriso (Juina area, Mato Grosso, Brazil)

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Abstract

The morphology, colour, fluorescence, cathodoluminescence, nitrogen content and aggregation state, internal structure and mineral inclusions have been studied for 69 alluvial diamonds from the Rio Soriso (Juina area, Mato Grosso State, Brazil). Nitrogen in most diamonds (53%) is fully aggregated as B centres, but there is also a large proportion of N-free stones (38%). A strong positive correlation between nitrogen and IR-active hydrogen concentrations is observed. The diamonds contain (in order of decreasing abundance) ferropericlase, CaSi-perovskite, magnetite, MgSi-perovskite, pyrrhotite, ‘olivine’, SiO2, perovskite, tetragonal almandine-pyrope phase and some other minerals represented by single grains. The Rio Soriso diamond suite is subdivided into several subpopulations that originated in upper and lower mantle of ultramafic and mafic compositions, with the largest subgroup forming in the ultramafic lower mantle. Analysed ferropericlase grains are enriched in Fe (Mg#=0.43–0.89), which is ascribed to their origin in the lowermost mantle. The Juina kimberlites may be unique in sampling the material from depths below 1,700 km that ascended in a plume formed at the core–mantle boundary.

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Notes

  1. Coefficients XFe2+ were estimated (eTable 2) taking into account content of Fe3+ in fPer and MgSi-Prv (McCammon et al. 2004a). Ferric iron estimates in fPer depend on oxygen fugacity (McCammon et al. 2004a) and vary from negligible at reduced conditions to 0.03–0.08 cations per formula units (cpfu) at oxidizing conditions (eTable 2). In contrast, Fe3+ estimates in MgSi-Prv depend only on Al2O3 content (McCammon et al. 2004a). Al-rich MgSi-perovskite of Rio Soriso contains 0.02–0.03 Fe3+ (cpfu) (eTable 2).

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Diagem International Resource Corporation and personally to David Cohen for permission to publish. Mati Raudsepp is thanked for his help with the electron microprobe and Andrea De Stefano is thanked for doing SEM-CL on several diamonds and for help in interpreting the data. Reviews by R. Davies and N. Tomioka improved the manuscript immensely. Funding for this project was provided by an NSERC research grant to MGK.

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  1. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

    Patrick C. Hayman & Maya G. Kopylova

  2. KM Diamond Exploration Ltd., 2446 Shadbolt Lane, West Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7S 3J1

    Felix V. Kaminsky

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  1. Patrick C. Hayman
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  2. Maya G. Kopylova
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  3. Felix V. Kaminsky
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Correspondence to Maya G. Kopylova.

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Hayman, P.C., Kopylova, M.G. & Kaminsky, F.V. Lower mantle diamonds from Rio Soriso (Juina area, Mato Grosso, Brazil). Contrib Mineral Petrol 149, 430–445 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-005-0657-8

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