Episodic diamond genesis and Kaapvaal craton evolution
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Abstract:
Two decades of work on the age and composition of diamonds and their syngenetic inclusions from major kimberlite localities on the Kaapvaal, Siberian and Slave cratons has firmly established that diamonds are xenocrysts in kimberlite magmas.More importantly, diamonds of different age from the same kimberlite, as well as diamonds of the same age from different kimberlites, are now providing key constraints on Archean craton evolution.Given the unique structure of diamond that can preserve inclusions as an isolated system, insights can be obtained into the age, structure, and composition of continental lithosphere as far back as the middle Archean.The Re-Os isotope system in sulfide inclusions and the Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr systems in silicate inclusions, coupled with nitrogen aggregation state in the host diamonds, give complementary information on the precursors of multiple generations of diamonds formed and stored in craton keels and sampled by subsequent kimberlite magmatism.