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    U-Pb age of rutile from the eclogite xenolith of the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe
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    Garnet, diopside and Mg-ilmenite have been analyzed from the Vargem diatreme, near Coromandel, State of Minas Gerais, and conlirmed to be comparable to similar minerals from kimberlites in South Africa, Siberia and the United States. Similar minerals occur downstream from the Vargem kimberlite in placer deposits in which diamond is found. The Redondão diatreme in southwest State of Piaul also contairs kimberlitic garnets as well as several xenoliths of crustal and mantle rocks. One xenolith, although extensively serpentinized, was originally a garnetJherzolite comparable in texture and garnet chemistry to those from kimberlites in Southern Africa.
    Diatreme
    Xenolith
    Ilmenite
    Diopside
    Country rock
    Cluster analysis of 458 pyroxenes from kimberlites, associated xenoliths and diamonds has allowed recognition of 5 chemically distinct orthopyroxene groups and 10 distinct clinopyroxene groups from the $$TiO_{2}, Al_{2}O_{3}, Cr_{2}O_{3}$$, FeO, MgO, CaO, and $$Na_{2}O$$ contents. Names assigned to these groups convey their distinctive chemical features. Because many groups contain cases from both kimberlite and xenoliths, some kimberlite pyroxenes may derive from fragmented xenoliths. However from size alone, large discrete orthopyroxene crystals, discrete sub-calcic diopside nodules and low-Cr diopsides intergrown with ilmenite are apparently not xenolithic; nor are the minute diopside crystals growing in the kimberlite matrix. Pyroxene inclusions in diamonds and pyroxenes coexisting with diamond in eclogite and peridotite xenoliths range widely in chemical composition.
    Xenolith
    Diopside
    Pyroxene
    Ilmenite
    Peridotite
    Pyrope
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    Mineralogy of diamondiferous eclogite xenolites showing metasomatosis evidence from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe is discussed. The paper also reviews features of diamonds they contain, compositions of primary garnets and omphacites as well as alteration of structural and species compositions of original garnets and clinopyroxenes during metasomatosis. Based on pyrope structure update, two-phase garnet composition is suggested, which is mostly represented by complex pyrope associated with Ca-pyrope. In all samples, primary omphacite is replaced by another clinopyroxene variety depleted in Na2O, which is typical of partial melting products. Geothermometry results suggested that the eclogites formed within a temperature range of 1,000–1,2000 °C. Based on diamond morphology, data on total N content in diamonds and its aggregation, multiple stages of diamond formation in eclogites and the most probable growth of later diamond generations impacted by metasomatizing mantle fluids containing carbon are postulated. It is suggested that certain diamond formation stages probably had a time gap of several hundred million years.
    Pyrope
    Omphacite
    Coesite