Abstract
The components and evolution of subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the North China Craton and the Yangtze Craton is a current topic in the geological study of China and the carbon isotopic composition of diamond is one of the most direct probes into cratonic lithospheric mantle processes. In this paper, in-situ SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) techniques were used to analyze the carbon isotope compositions at different internal growth zones of diamonds from Shandong and Liaoning in the North China Craton and Hunan in the Yangtze Craton. It was found that the carbon isotopic range of diamonds from the North China Craton are rather distinct from those of the Yangtze Craton; the former has a range of −6.0/‰ to −2.0‰ (relative to VPDB) with an average value of −3.0‰ in their core areas, which is consistent with global peridotitic diamonds; the diamonds from the Yangtze Craton, however, have a carbon isotopic range from −8.6‰ to −3.0‰ with an average value of −7.4‰ in their core areas, being more consistent with global eclogitic diamonds. The variations of carbon isotope ratios between different internal growth zones in individual diamonds were different in the three diamond localities studied. There was a clear correlation between changes in carbon isotopic composition and phases of diamond dissolution and new growth, while no correlation was observed between δ 13C and internal inclusions. The variations suggest that the carbon isotopic compositions of mantle fluids were changing during the process of diamond crystallization, and that the heterogeneity of the carbon isotopic composition in mantle carbon reservoirs was a more important factor than carbon isotope fractionation in controlling the carbon isotopic compositions and their variation in diamonds. In addition, the preliminary results of in-situ nitrogen analyses demonstrated that the variation of carbon isotopic compositions between the core and outer growth zones does not correlate with nitrogen abundances, implying either that diamonds crystallized in an open environment or that the carbon isotopic composition and nitrogen contents in mantle fluids were controlled by other, not yet understood factors. The experimental results provide hints that the isotopic composition of carbon and its original sources were different in metasomatic fluids controlling diamond formation in the mantle beneath the North China Craton and the Yangtze Craton.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Zheng J P, Yu C H, Lu F X, et al. Diamond with multistage growth and its significance for mantle fluid within accreted craton. Earth Sci Front, 2001, 8: 103–109
Stachel T, Harris J W, Muehlenbachs K. Sources of carbon in inclusion bearing diamonds. Lithos, 2009, 1125: 625–637
Zhang Z, Zhang H F. Diamond and deep carbon cycle. Earth Sci Front, 2011, 18: 268–283
Han Y K, An N. A stripping combustion method for the analysis of carbon isotopes in diamonds. Rock and Mineral Anal, 1986, 4: 296–303
Chi J S, Lu FX. Features of Paleozoic Lithosphere Mantle and Kimberlites in Huabei Craton. Beijing: Science Press, 1996. 301
Guo J G, Cai X C, Deng H X, et al. Ib diamonds of alluvial deposits in Hunan. Chin Sci Bull, 1985, 18: 1403–1405
Craig H. The geochemistry of the stable carbon isotopes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1953, 3: 53–92
Wickman E. The cycle of carbon and the stable carbon isotopes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1956, 9: 136–153
Galimov M. The relation between formation conditions and variations in isotope composition of diamonds. Geochem Inter, 1985, 22: 118–142
Deines P. The carbon isotopic composition of diamonds: Relationship to diamond shape, color, occurrence and vapor composition. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1980, 44: 943–961
Swart P K, Pillinger C T, Milledge H J, et al. Carbon isotopic variation within individual diamonds. Nature, 1983, 303: 793–795
Javoy M, Pineau F, Demaiffe D. Nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition in the diamonds of Mbuji Mayi (Zaire). Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1984, 68: 399–412
Boyd S R, Mattey D P, Pillinger C T, et al. Multiple growth events during diamond genesis: An integrated study of carbon and nitrogen isotopes and nitrogen aggregation state in coated stones. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1987, 86: 341–353
Galimov E M. Isotope fractionation related to kimberlite magmatism and diamond formation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1991, 55: 1697–1708
Boyd S R, Pillinger C T, Milledge H J, et al. C and N isotopic composition and the infrared absorption spectra of coated diamonds: Evidence for the regional uniformity of CO2-H2O rich fluids in the lithospheric mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1992, 109: 633–644
Pearson D G, Boyd S R, Haggerty S E, et al. The characterization and origin of graphite in cratonic lithospheric mantle: A petrological carbon isotope and Raman spectroscopic study. Contrib Mineral Petrol, 1994, 115: 449–466
Deines P, Harris J W, Gurney J J. Depth-related carbon isotope and nitrogen concentration variability in the mantle below the Orapa kimberlite, Botswana, Africa. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1993, 57: 2781–2796
Deines P, Harris J W, Gurney J J. Carbon isotope ratios, nitrogen content and aggregate state and inclusion chemistry of diamond from Jwaneng, Botswana. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1997, 61: 3993–4005
Harte B, Fitzsimons I, Harris J W, et al. Carbon isotope ratios and nitrogen abundances in relation to cathodoluminescence characteristics for some diamonds from Kaapvaal Province, S Africa. Mineral Mag, 1999, 63: 829
Zedgenizov D A, Harte B, Shatsky V S, et al. Directional chemical variations in diamonds showing octahedral following cuboid growth. Contrib Mineral Petrol, 2006, 151: 45–57
Bulanova G P, Pearson D G, Hauri E H, et al. Carbon and nitrogen isotope systematic within a sector-growth diamond from the Mir kimberlite, Yakutia. Chem Geol, 2002, 188: 105–123
Smith C B, Bulanova G P, Kohn S C, et al. Nature and genesis of Kalimantan diamonds. Lithos, 2009, 112: 822–832
Liu G L, Wang H W. Discussion on the geological forming condition of tape II diamond. Bull Yichang Inst Geol Mineral Resources, CAGS, 1989: 41–81
Zhang H F, Lu F X, Zhao L, et al. Carbon isotopes in China natural diamonds. J China Univ Geosci, 2009, 34: 37–42
Liu G L, Han Y K, Zhai L N, et al. Carbon isotopic composition and genesis of diamond. Bull Yichang Inst Geol Mineral Resour, CAGS, 1994, 20: 1–16
Welbourn C M, Cooper M, Spear P M. De Beers natural versus synthetic diamond verification instruments. G & G, 1996, 32: 156–169
Kitawaki H, Abduriyim A, Okano M. Identification of melee-size synthetic yellow diamonds in jewelry. G & G, 2008, 44: 202–213
Hall H T. Ultra-high pressure apparatus. Rev Sci Instrum, 1960, 31: 125
Bovenkerk H P, Bundy F P, Hall H T, et al. Preparation of diamond. Nature, 1959, 184: 1094
Hazen R M. The Diamond Makers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999
Sunagawa I. Morphology of natural and synthetic diamond crystals. In: Sunagawa I, ed. Materials Science of the Earth’s Interior. Tokyo: Terra scientific Publishing Co, 1984. 303–330
Orlov Y. The Mineralogy of Diamond. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1973. 264
Xiao H Y, Liu C Q, Huang Z L. Information of old mantle from inclusions in diamonds. Adv Earth Sci, 2001, 16: 244–250
Lu T J, Chen H, Qiu Z L, et al. Multiple core growth structure and nitrogen abundances of diamond crystals from Shandong and Liaoning kimberlite pipes, China. Eur J Mineral, 2012, 24: 651–656
Chen M H, Lu F X, Zheng J P. Cathodoluminescence features of diamond in Fuxian, Liaoning province and their implications. J Chin Univ Geosci, 1999, 24: 179–182
Chen M H, Lu F X, Di J R, et al. Cathodoluminesence and FTIR analysis in the diamonds of Wafangdian, Liaoning Province of China. Chin Sci Bull, 2000, 45: 1424–1428
Cartigny P. Stable isotopes and the origin of diamond. Elements, 2005, 1: 79–84
Stepanov A S, Shatsky V S, Zedgenizov D A, et al. Causes of variations in morphology and impurities of diamonds from the Udachnaya Pipe eclogite. Russ Geol Geophys, 2007, 48: 758–769
Liu Y, Taylor L A, Sarbadhikari A B, et al. Metasomatic origin of diamonds in the world’s largest diamondiferous ecologite. Lithos, 2009, 112: 1014–1024
Chen M H, Li Y, Di J R, et al. Agate-like structure and heterogeneities of nitrogen and hydrogen impurities of diamond in Mengyin, China. Acta Geol Sin, 2006, 80: 1197–1201
Chu C L. Carbon isotopes in mantle. Adv Earth Sci, 1996, 11: 446–452
Zheng Y F. Mantle stable isotope geochemistry (in Chinese). In: Zheng Y F, ed. Chemical Geodynamics. Beijing: Science Press, 1999. 62–118
Chen H, Qiu Z L, Lu T J, et al. The Research on “fingerprint” Characteristics and the Geographic Origin of Diamonds Under the United Nations’ Kimberley Process Framework. Beijing: Geological Publishing House, 2012 (in press)
Li X H, Zhao J X, MeCulloeh M T, et al. Geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic of Neoproterozoic ophiolites from southeastern China: Petrogenesis and tectonic implications. Precambriam Res, 1997, 81: 129–144
Ding B H, Shi R D, Zhi X C, et al. Neoproterozoic (∼850 Ma) subduction in the Jiangnan orogen: Evidence from the SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the SSZ-type ophiolite in southern Anhui Province. Acta Petrol Mineral, 2008, 27: 375–388
Zheng Y F, Wu F Y. Growth and reworking of cratonic lithosphere. Chin Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 1945–1949
Liu C Z, Liu Z C, Wu F Y, et al. Mesozoic accretion of juvenile sub-continental lithospheric mantle beneath South China and its implications: Geochemical and Re-Os isotopic results from Ningyuan mantle xenoliths. Chem Geol, 2012, 292: 186–198
Harte B, Otter M L. Carbon isotope measurements on diamonds. Chem Geol, 1992, 101: 177–183
Fitzsimons I C W, Harte B, Chinn J J, et al. Extreme chemical variation in complex diamonds from George Creek, Colorado: A SIMS study of carbon isotope composition and nitrogen abundance. Min Mag, 1999, 63: 857–878
Ukhanov A V, Khachatryan G K. Carbon isotope and Ir evidence in favor of fluid origin of natural diamonds from kimberlite pipes in Yakutian Province. In: 9th International Kimberlite Conference Extended Abstract, 2008. 1–2
Deines P, Harris J W, Spear P M, et al. Nitrogen and 13C content of Finch and Premier diamonds and their implications. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1989, 53: 1367–1378
Sun Y, Qiu Z L, Lu T J, et al. Micro-FTIR mapping tracer for the heterogeneity growth of nitrogen impurities in natural diamond from three localities in China. Spectrosc Spect Anal, 2012, 32: 2070–2074
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, H., Qiu, Z., Lu, T. et al. Variations in carbon isotopic composition in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the Yangtze and North China Cratons: Evidence from in-situ analysis of diamonds using SIMS. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 99–107 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5509-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5509-0