Kimberlite Genesis

Two types of olivine occur in kimberlites from Greenland, Canada and southern Africa. The first, xenocrystic olivine, displays several different forms. Most distinctive are 'nodules', a term we use to describe the large (1–5 mm), rounded, single crystals or polycrystalline aggregates that are a common constituent of many kimberlites. Olivine compositions are uniform within single nodules but vary widely from nodule to nodule, from Fo81 to 93. Within many nodules, sub- to euhedral asymmetric tablets have grown within larger anhedral olivine grains. Dislocation structures, particularly in the anhedral grains, demonstrate that this olivine was deformed before being incorporated into the kimberlite magma. Olivine grains in the kimberlite matrix between the nodules have morphologies similar to those of the tablets, suggesting that most matrix olivine grains are parts of disaggregated nodules. We propose that a sub- to euhedral form is not sufficient to identify phenocrysts in kimberlites and provide some criteria, based on morphology, internal deformation and composition, that distinguish phenocrysts from xenocrysts. The second type of olivine is restricted to rims surrounding xenocrystic grains. Only this olivine crystallized from the kimberlite magma. Major and trace element data for the rim olivine are used to calculate the composition of the parental kimberlite liquid, which is found to contain between about 20 and 30% MgO. The bulk compositions of many kimberlites contain higher MgO contents as a result of the presence of xenocrystic olivine. The monomineralic, dunitic, character of the nodules, and the wide range from Fo-rich to Fo-poor olivine compositions, provide major constraints on the origin of the nodules. Dunite is a relatively rare rock in the mantle and where present its olivine is persistently Fo-rich. The dunitic source of the nodules in kimberlites lacked minerals such as pyroxene and an aluminous phase, which make up about half of most mantle-derived rocks. It appears that these minerals were removed from the mantle peridotite that was to become the source of the nodules, and the Fo content of the retained olivine was modified during interaction with CO2-rich fluids whose arrival at the base of the lithosphere immediately preceded the passage of the kimberlite magmas. Fragments of the resultant dunite were entrained into the kimberlite, where they were retained both as intact nodules and as disaggregated grains in the matrix.

Phenocryst

Melt inclusions

Nodule (geology)

Petrogenesis

10.1093/petrology/egp080

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Citations (175)

Tungsten-182 evidence for an ancient kimberlite source

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021)

Nao Nakanishi Andrea Giuliani Richard W. Carlson M. F. Horan Jon Woodhead

Significance Kimberlites are igneous rocks derived from deep mantle sources. Recent studies have suggested that certain kimberlites originated from a mantle source with relatively primitive chemical composition that was created by early Earth processes. We present W isotope data for a global suite of kimberlites with variable formation ages and find their mantle source(s) to be characterized by 182 W/ 184 W averaging ∼6 ppm lower than the upper mantle ratio. This result is consistent with derivation of some kimberlites from one or more early formed mantle reservoirs. The low 182 W/ 184 W of these kimberlites is indicative of an ancient mantle source modified by some form of core–mantle interaction, an early silicate fractionation event, an overabundance of late-accreted materials, or a combination of these.

10.1073/pnas.2020680118

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Citations (29)

Nd and Sr isotopes in kimberlites and lamproites from Western Australia: an enriched mantle origin

Nature (1983)

Malcolm T. McCulloch A. L. Jaques David R. Nelson Jamie Lewis

10.1038/302400a0

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Citations (186)

Kimberlite Genesis

Minerals and rocks (1980)

Jenny Dawson