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Crustal signature of δ 13C and nitrogen content in microdiamonds from Erzgebirge, Germany: Ion microprobe studies

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Abstract

The study of δ 13CPDB (Pee Dee Belemnite) and nitrogen contents in 1 to 5-μm-diameter microdiamonds included in garnets from the quartz-feldspathic gneisses (Erzgebirge, Germany) was performed in situ with the Nano-scale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer. The results revealed that there were two stages of diamond crystallization from a C-O-H supecritical fluid rich in biogenic carbon and diverse minor elements of crustal origin. The δ 13CPDB of the Erzgebirge diamond of the first stage falls in the range −17‰ to 19‰, with an average value of −17.8‰; the average content of nitrogen is 820 ppm. Diamonds of the second stage are characterized by δ 13CPDB=−21.5‰ to −25.5‰, with an average value of −23.24‰; the average nitrogen content is non-homogeneously scattered from 740 ppm to 3 370 ppm among 6 diamonds situated in garnets within the same polished rock slide. Both diamond of the first stage and diamond of the second stage carbon reservoirs belong to biogenic matter, therefore confirming deep subduction of the continental crust sediments and their subsequent exhumation during the Variscan orogeny.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, 92521, USA

    Larissa F. Dobrzhinetskaya & Harry W. Green II

  2. Division of Ocean-Earth Systems, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan

    Naoto Takahata, Yuji Sano & Korato Shirai

Authors
  1. Larissa F. Dobrzhinetskaya
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  2. Harry W. Green II
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  3. Naoto Takahata
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  4. Yuji Sano
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  5. Korato Shirai
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Correspondence to Larissa F. Dobrzhinetskaya.

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This study was supported by Japanese Society for Promotion of Science.

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Dobrzhinetskaya, L.F., Green, H.W., Takahata, N. et al. Crustal signature of δ 13C and nitrogen content in microdiamonds from Erzgebirge, Germany: Ion microprobe studies. J. Earth Sci. 21, 623–634 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-010-0129-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-010-0129-6

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