Abstract
An improved shear wave velocity \((V_{\mathrm{s}})\) structure of the lithosphere of peninsular India using the surface wave tomography from the ambient noise and earthquake waveforms suggests its bipolar character. While most of the geological domains of India are characterised by a uniform lithospheric mantle of \(V_{\mathrm{s}} \sim 4.5~\hbox {km/s}\), the three cratonic regions, eastern Dharwar, Bastar and Singhbhum, hosting most of the diamondiferous kimberlite fields, show significantly high \(V_{\mathrm{s}}\) of 4.7 km/s and above in their lower lithosphere beyond \({\sim } 90~\hbox {km}\) depth. The higher velocity could best be explained by the presence of diamond and/or eclogite along with peridotite in mantle. This unique relationship suggests the regional seismic image of lithosphere as a guide for exploration of diamonds.
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Acknowledgements
Indian seismological data were provided by CSIR-NGRI and CSIR-4PI Institute. We thank the two institutes for their support. The seismic waveform data from other stations were obtained from IRIS Data Management Center. This research was supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences grant MoES/PO (Geosci)/58/2016 titled ‘Multi-scale deep geology of India-Eurasia region and adjoining sea’ and the Department of Science and Technology (JC Bose National fellowship to SSR) of the Government of India. SSR thanks Dr Babu (NGRI) for providing unpublished geochemical data and research abstract for the Bastar kimberlite field.
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Saha, G., Rai, S.S. & Shalivahan Occurrence of diamond in peninsular India and its relationship with deep Earth seismic properties. J Earth Syst Sci 128, 43 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-019-1088-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-019-1088-7