Petrology and geochemistry of diamond mantle xenoliths

这项拟议中的研究涉及检查作为意外包裹体被带到地表的地球内部样本，这些样本是作为金伯利岩等火山岩中的意外包裹体被带到地表的。这些样本来自深达250公里的地球内部区域，这些区域如此之深，以至于无法用其他方法直接取样。此外，这项研究将包括调查包括钻石在内的各种此类材料的化学成分，包括稳定的同位素组成。尽管钻石是惰性和非活性的，但其中的矿物可以保留钻石形成过程中条件的证据。这可能发生在数十亿年前。这样的调查使研究人员能够重建这两个大陆及其难以接近的深层根源的地质演化。

The proposed research involves examination of samples of the interior of Earth that have been transported to the surface as accidental inclusions in volcanic rocks such as kimberlite.  These samples come from depths as great as 250 kilometers, regions of Earth's interior so deep that they cannot be directly sampled by other methods.  The research will include investigations into the chemical composition, including the stable isotope composition, of a variety of such materials including diamonds.  As diamonds are inert and unreactive, minerals included within them can retain evidence of the conditions during diamond formation, which may have occurred billions of years ago.  Such investigations allow researchers to reconstruct the geologic evolution of both the continents and their otherwise inaccessible deep roots.