V11C-3077
H2O content of nominally anhydrous mineral inclusions in diamonds from the Udachnaya kimberlite

Monday, 14 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Davide Novella, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States, Nathalie Bolfan-Casanova, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France, Fabrizio Nestola, Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy and Jeffrey William Harris, University of Glasgow, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Abstract:
Nominally anhydrous minerals (such as olivine, pyroxene and garnet) present in mantle xenoliths have been found to contain up to hundreds of ppm wt H2O, bonded as H to their mineral structure. However, it is not well understood whether these H2O contents are representative for the hydrous state of the deep mantle where they formed, or if they are the result of interactions between the xenoliths and metasomatic fluids or magmas during their travel to the surface. Given the fact that trace amounts of H2O can alter the physical and chemical properties of mantle materials and therefore affect Earth’s dynamics, it is important to accurately determine the H2O content of deep mantle minerals.

Natural diamonds can contain mineral inclusions that formed at high depths (>5 GPa) and are representative for the deep and inaccessible portions of the mantle where they originated. This is because the strong and inert diamond prevents the inclusions to react with any fluid or melt that get in contact with it. Therefore, valuable information regarding the H2O content of the deep mantle can be obtained by studying these minerals trapped in diamonds.

In this study we measured the H2O contents of 10 olivine and garnet inclusions in diamonds from the Udachnaya kimberlite (Siberian craton) by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Olivine crystals contain 1-5 ppm wt H2O while garnets do not show absorption bands indicating the presence of detectable H in their structure and are therefore considered dry. The H2O contents of olivine and garnet inclusions in diamonds presented here are considerably lower than those found in xenoliths or xenocrists from the same locality. Based on these new results, we discuss the presence of H2O in the cratonic mantle and its importance in stabilizing these areas during geological time, as well as the volatile signature of diamond forming melts in the Siberian craton.