Diamond, fluids and mantle metasomatism

对于科学家来说，钻石不仅仅是一种矿物，它的科学价值源于钻石提供了地球内部最深的地球化学探针。钻石特殊的化学和物理性质使其能够存储和保存有关其起源地的深层地幔的信息。钻石也是独一无二的，因为它只出现在最古老的，20 - 30亿年的大陆部分（即，（图）。金刚石及其流体包裹体和矿物包裹体记录了岩石圈地幔的矿物学、成分和流体包裹体等信息。全世界只有10个具有这种稳定性的区块的历史超过25亿年，每个区块的数据都为了解古代地质过程和大陆的形成提供了宝贵的见解。拟议的研究调查了钻石和含钻石的熔体是如何形成的，并利用这些信息来限制原大陆的演化及其深层根源。交代作用是岩石在热液作用下发生的物理化学变化，地幔交代作用可能是金刚石形成的一个因素。地幔流体和气体对于产生携带钻石的熔体也至关重要。我的目标是限制交代流体的性质和作用，在钻石形成过程和岩浆作用影响这些原大陆。该计划将研究来自加拿大和世界各地钻石矿床的几套钻石，地幔捕虏体和含钻石岩石。传统的分析方法包括光谱技术、电子显微分析、显微镜和质谱法。此外，我们将开发一种创新技术，该技术将使用X射线衍射来识别金刚石基质中包含的微米级矿物。这项研究还将为参与钻石勘探的加拿大公司提供重要的实用地质资料。

For scientists, diamond is not just another mineral. Its scientific value stems from the fact that diamond offers the deepest geochemical probe of the earth's interior. The exceptional chemical and physical properties of diamond allow it to store and preserve information about the deep mantle from where it originates. Diamond is also unique in that it occurs only in the most ancient, 2-3 billion year old segments of continents (i.e., cratons). Diamonds and their fluid and mineral inclusions record information about the mineralogy, composition and fluids percolating through the ancient lithospheric mantle. There are only 10 blocks of such stabilization older than 2.5 billion years in the world, and data on each of them provide invaluable insights into ancient geological processes and the formation of continents. The proposed research investigates how diamonds and diamondiferous melts are formed, and uses this information for constraints on the evolution of the proto-continents and their deep roots. Metasomatism is the physicochemical transformation of rocks driven by percolating fluid; metasomatism of the mantle may be a factor in diamond formation. Mantle fluids and gases are also crucial for generation of melts that entrain diamonds. I aim to constrain the nature and role of the metasomatic fluids in, both, diamond-forming processes and in magmatism affecting these proto-continents. The program will study several suites of diamonds, mantle xenoliths and diamondiferous rocks from Canadian and worldwide diamond deposits. Traditional analytical methods will include spectroscopic techniques, electron microanalysis, microscopy and mass-spectrometry. In addition, we will develop an innovative technique that will use X-ray diffraction for identification of micron-size minerals included in diamond hosts. This research will also provide important practical geological information to Canadian companies involved in diamond exploration.