Journal of Petrology Advance Access originally published online on January 4, 2006
Journal of Petrology 2006 47(4):801-820; doi:10.1093/petrology/egi096
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Cr-Saturation Arrays in Concentrate Garnet Compositions from Kimberlite and their Use in Mantle Barometry

1 DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES LTD., P.O. BOX 82232, SOUTHDALE, 2135 SOUTH AFRICA
2 MINERAL SERVICES SOUTH AFRICA, P.O. BOX 38668, PINELANDS, 7430 SOUTH AFRICA
RECEIVED DECEMBER 6, 2004; ACCEPTED NOVEMBER 30, 2005
| ABSTRACT |
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The spinelgarnet transition in Cr/Al-enriched peridotitic bulk compositions is known from experimental investigations to occur at 2070 kbar, within the pressure range sampled by kimberlites. We show that the Cr2O3CaO compositions of concentrate garnets from kimberlite have maximum Cr/Ca arrays characterized by Cr2O3/CaO
0·960·81, and interpret the arrays as primary evidence of chromitegarnet coexistence in Cr-rich harzburgitic or lherzolitic bulk compositions derived from depth within the lithosphere. Under Cr-saturated conditions on a known geotherm, each Cr/Ca array implicitly delineates an isobar inside a garnet Cr2O3CaO diagram. This simplification invites a graphical approach to calibrate an empirical Cr/Ca-in-pyrope barometer. Carbonaceous chromitegarnet harzburgite xenoliths from the Roberts Victor kimberlite tightly bracket a graphitediamond constraint (GDC) located at Cr2O3 = 0·94CaO + 5·0 (wt %), representing a pivotal calibration corresponding to 43 kbar on a 38 mW/m2 conductive geotherm. Additional calibration points are established at 14, 17·4 and 59·1 kbar by judiciously projecting garnet compositions from simple-system experiments onto the same geotherm. The garnet Cr/Ca barometer is then simply formulated as follows (in wt %):
- if Cr2O3
0·94CaO + 5, then P38 (kbar) = 26·9 + 3·22Cr2O3 3·03CaO, or
- if Cr2O3 < 0·94CaO + 5, then P38 (kbar) = 9·2 + 36[(Cr2O3 + 1·6)/(CaO + 7·02)].
- if Cr2O3 < 0·94CaO + 5, then P38 (kbar) = 9·2 + 36[(Cr2O3 + 1·6)/(CaO + 7·02)].
A small correction to P38 values, applicable for 3548 mW/m2 conductive geotherms, is derived empirically by requiring conventional thermobarometry results and garnet concentrate compositions to be consistent with the presence of diamonds in the Kyle Lake kimberlite and their absence in the Zero kimberlite. We discuss application of the P38 barometer to estimate (1) real pressures in the special case where chromitegarnet coexistence is known, (2) minimum pressures in the general case where Cr saturation is unknown, and (3) the maximum depth of depleted lithospheres, particularly those underlying Archaean cratons. A comparison with the PCr barometer of Ryan et al. (1996, Journal of Geophysical Research 101, 56115625) shows agreement with P38 at 55 ± 2 kbar, and 612% higher PCr values at lower P38. Because the PCr formulation systematically overestimates the 43 kbar value of the GDC by 26 kbar, we conclude that the empirical Cr/Ca-in-garnet barometer is preferred for all situations where conductive geotherms intersect the graphitediamond equilibrium.
KEY WORDS: Cr-pyrope; chromite; P38 barometer; mantle petrology; lithosphere thickness
| INTRODUCTION |
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The aluminous phases in peridotitic rock types in the lithospheric upper mantle are well known from experimental evidence and xenolith studies to transform from plagioclase-facies to spinel-facies to garnet-facies with increasing pressure (Green & Ringwood, 1970
1620 kbar in Cr-free, Al-bearing peridotitic bulk compositions (MacGregor, 1965
70 kbar, primarily as a result of strong partition of Cr into spinel relative to garnet (MacGregor, 1970
Semi-empirical Cr-in-pyrope thermobarometer models have nevertheless been calibrated for application to garnet compositions in heavy mineral concentrates derived from alkaline magmas such as kimberlite (Griffin & Ryan, 1995
; Ryan et al., 1996
). The models are typically applied to a wide range of Cr-pyrope compositions and are commonly used in conjunction with Ni-in-garnet thermometry to constrain lithospheric geotherms at the time of kimberlite eruption (Ryan et al., 1996
; Tainton et al., 1999
; Griffin et al., 2004
). In these applications the coexistence of garnet with chromite is unknown and garnet compositions provide only an estimate of minimum pressure (Nickel, 1989
; Griffin & Ryan, 1995
). Similar semi-empirical Cr-based thermobarometers could, in principle, also be developed for orthopyroxene compositions (Nickel, 1989
; Klemme & O'Neill, 2000
), but the near-absence of orthopyroxene in kimberlitic heavy mineral concentrates would effectively curtail actual application. The Cr/(Cr + Al) ratio of clinopyroxene is a key ingredient of a recently developed thermobarometer applicable to garnet-facies lherzolitic clinopyroxene grains that commonly occur in kimberlitic heavy mineral concentrates (Nimis, 1998
; Nimis & Taylor, 2000
).
The objective of this study is documentation of chromite-saturation arrays defined by the Cr2O3CaO compositions of xenocrystic Cr-pyrope garnets that occur in heavy mineral concentrates derived from kimberlite. A consequence of the straightforward empirical approach adopted here is the formulation of a simple, graphically intuitive minimum-pressure geobarometer that is valid for common harzburgitic and lherzolitic Cr-pyrope compositions. The barometer is calibrated using robust constraints provided by simple-system experimental results and the graphitediamond equilibrium in natural chromite + garnet peridotite xenoliths, and requires only the garnet Cr2O3 and CaO content as input variables, plus an assumed geotherm. The work was inspired partly by 3060 kbar isobars projected on a garnet Cr2O3CaO diagram by Malinovsky & Doroshev (1977)
and was initially developed to an extent similar to that presented here for Anglo American Research Laboratories (Pty.) Ltd. (AARL) by the two senior authors [unpublished work of Grütter and Smit (1994), but see Grütter (1994)
and Grütter & Sweeney (2000)
]. The simplicity of our empirical barometer suggests that it will be applied to a number of lithosphere-scale problems, and we discuss its use in situations involving real-pressure barometry, minimum-pressure barometry and base-of-lithosphere estimates. A brief comparison with the PCr barometer of Ryan et al. (1996)
is also provided.
| ANALYTICAL METHODS AND DATA SOURCES |
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A large proportion of the mineral compositions utilized in this work represent electron microprobe analyses for concentrate garnets prepared from samples of kimberlite. Most analyses were performed at AARL in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the mid-1980 s to early-1990s. An ARL electron microprobe equipped with nine wavelength-dispersive spectrometers was used and operated at an acceleration potential of 20 kV and a beam current of 30 nA. Counts were collected for 10 s on the K-
peak of all elements and background count levels estimated from long-term empirical trends. Standards comprised pure oxides MgO (Mg), Cr2O3 (Cr), Al2O3 (Al), TiO2 (Ti) and Fe2O3 (Fe), as well as natural minerals rhodonite (Mn) and wollastonite (Ca,Si). Apparent concentrations were corrected for matrix effects with an online computer program (Bence & Albee, 1968
) for all elements. The calculated precision of CaO and Cr2O3 determinations is 2·5% relative (at 2
), and was confirmed to be of that order by reanalysing the same spot 10, 25 and 100 times on an appropriate variety of garnet grains. The AARL concentrate garnet compositions are augmented in certain instances with data provided by the Kimberlite Research Group (KRG) at the University of Cape Town. These, and ancillary compositional data for non-garnet species in peridotite xenoliths, were compiled from published literature and selected unpublished theses. Additional garnet Cr2O3CaO values were also digitized from published diagrams using the freeware utility DataThief II. Appropriate reference is made in figure captions to identify and acknowledge various data sources.
| USEFUL PRINCIPLES |
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PTXCr relations
The effect of pressure on Cr/(Cr + Al) in coexisting spinel and garnet in model lherzolite and Ca-free harzburgite lithologies is illustrated for fixed temperature in Fig. 1. Cr-spinel and garnet can coexist over a wide pressure interval for any given bulk peridotite Cr/(Cr + Al) ratio, and the mineral compositions show progressive Cr/Al enrichment to higher pressure. Garnet compositions in Ca-free harzburgites have
20% lower Cr/(Cr + Al) than in lherzolites at any given pressure, implying that an equal-pressure tieline (an isobar) in a garnet Cr2O3 vs CaO diagram must show clear positive dependence on CaO. The barometer developed in this work takes advantage of this relationship. The PXCr relations in Fig. 1 similarly predict that chromites in Ca-free chromitegarnet harzburgites have markedly lower Cr/(Cr + Al) than do chromites in chromitegarnet lherzolites, at any given pressure.
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Garnet compositions in lherzolite xenoliths from alkali basalts are constrained by P, T and bulk Cr/(Cr + Al) ratios to have Cr/(Cr + Al) <0·2 (Fig. 1), which calculates to Cr2O3 <7·0 wt % based on the stoichiometry of pyropic garnet. That garnets in these xenoliths always contain significantly lower Cr2O3 (typically <3·0 wt % Cr2O3, Stern et al., 1986
0·35 (
12 wt % Cr2O3) in chromite-saturated lherzolite, and to Cr/(Cr + Al)
0·45 (
16 wt % Cr2O3) in chromite-saturated Ca-free harzburgite (Fig. 1). Such Cr-rich pyropic garnet compositions are typically observed in concentrates from cratonic, diamond-bearing kimberlites (e.g. Gurney & Switzer, 1973
0·80·96 and use them as a cornerstone in the empirical calibration of our Cr/Ca-in-garnet barometer.
The compositions of coexisting Cr-pyrope garnet and chromite in model harzburgite systems (MASCr ± Fe) have been examined experimentally at 9001500°C at T/P conditions that fall above, or well above, the geothermal gradients characteristic of cratonic lithosphere (Fig. 2 and references therein). Attainment of CrAl equilibrium in garnet and pyroxene is an admitted problem, even at these high temperatures, and the experimental results currently permit considerable latitude in the PT location of garnet Cr/(Cr + Al) isopleths (e.g. Girnis & Brey, 1999
; Girnis et al., 2003
). Agreement does exist, however, that the Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt isopleths show weak to moderately negative dP/dT, such that the isopleths intersect common conductive lithospheric geotherms at a high angle and are predicted to show a regular increase of
0·01Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt per kbar along (i.e. down) any given geotherm (Fig. 2). We capitalize on this fortuitous situation by explicitly choosing a model 38 mW/m2 conductive geotherm (after Pollack & Chapman, 1977
) as a mixed PT standard state (Wood & Fraser, 1976
) for our barometer. This unconventional approach summarily simplifies the relationship of pressure with Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt in Cr-saturated systems and permits the use of a modest linear correction to reduce calculated pressures for hotter geotherms. As an illustration of the calibration procedure followed below, we note from Fig. 2 that the graphitediamond transition intersects a 38 mW/m2 geotherm at 43 kbar (Point I), corresponding to Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt
0·12 based on the isopleths of Malinosky & Doroshev (1975). Conversely, the point labelled J occurs at Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt
0·28 on a 38 mW/m2 geotherm, which, for the isopleths illustrated, corresponds to P
61 kbar. The same Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt would yield P
58 kbar along a hotter 44 mW/m2 geotherm.
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The garnet Cr2O3CaO diagram, Cr-saturated version
The garnet Cr2O3 vs CaO diagram (Fig. 3) is used globally by mantle petrologists and the diamond exploration community to represent the mineral compositions and assemblage of garnet-facies upper mantle peridotites, pyroxenites, eclogites and megacrysts (e.g. Gurney & Switzer, 1973
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Kopylova et al. (2000)
1·8, distinct from Cr2O3/CaO
4·0 for a lherzolite assemblage (Kopylova et al., 2000
The graphitediamond constraint (GDC)
Figure 4a portrays the Cr2O3CaO compositions of garnets in graphite- or diamond-bearing peridotite xenoliths that also contain primary Cr-spinel. Additional data are available for diamond-bearing xenoliths without Cr-spinel (Fig. 4b) and graphite-bearing xenoliths without Cr-spinel (Fig. 4c). The mineral assemblage and compositional data for these xenoliths have been compiled (and often re-verified) from a large number of published and a few unpublished sources and are included as a supplementary dataset (Electronic Appendix 1, available at http://www.petrology.oxfordjournals.org). With a few notable exceptions, the mineral compositions are described as unzoned and similar data are reported for the same xenolith analysed at different facilities. Assemblages are internally consistent, except for sample A-90a, which is intensely serpentinized and has a low Cr/Ca garnet in a garnet + spinel + diamond assemblage (Sobolev et al., 1984
). As may be expected from the presence of diamond, the xenoliths are derived predominantly from economic or near-economic kimberlites located on cratons with cool, conductive geotherms (ranging from 36 to 41 mW/m2; Finnerty & Boyd, 1987
; Bell et al., 2003
; Griffin et al., 2003
). The localities represented are Finsch, Jagersfontein, the mines at Kimberley, Newlands, Premier, Roberts Victor, Star (all in South Africa), Letlhakane (in Botswana), Kao, Liqhobong, Mothae, Thaba Putsoa (in Lesotho), Aikhal, Dalnaya, Mir, Udachnaya (in Yakutia) and Schaffer-03 (in the USA).
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With one exception in 148 available analyses the chromite-saturated garnet compositions show a remarkably consistent separation of graphite-bearing from diamond-bearing samples, indicating that minerals in these mantle samples attained CrAl and CaFeMg equilibrium at the PT conditions prevailing along common cratonic geotherms (Fig. 4a; Grütter, 1994
Cr2O3 = 0·94CaO + 5·0.
Significant variations in the position of the GDC as a function of Fe content are not expected because the Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios of olivine in natural chromitegarnet harzburgite xenoliths is typically restricted to the range 0·93 ± 0·01 (e.g. Electronic Appendix 1). Other minor components, such as Fe2O3, TiO2 and possibly MnO, could influence spinelgarnet relations in peridotites (MacGregor 1970
; Fursenko, 1981
; Woodland & O'Neill, 1995
), but their relative variation in natural harzburgitic garnet compositions is evidently too small to cause noticeable displacement of the GDC in a Cr2O3CaO diagram (Fig. 4a).
The PT conditions of the GDC are, by mantle standards, reasonably well known. Garnets in graphite-bearing sample RV160 have the same Ni content as those in diamond-bearing sample RV175 (37 ± 3 ppm Ni, Viljoen et al., 1994
), implying that the two samples bracket the graphitediamond transition at the same mantle temperature, within error. This observation independently verifies the tight CrCa constraints on the GDC (Fig. 4a) and pins the graphitediamond transition at Roberts Victor at T = 941 ± 50°C [TNi calibration of Ryan et al. (1996)
] and P = 42·9 ± 1·3 kbar [on the graphitediamond equilibrium of Kennedy & Kennedy (1976)
]. Conventional thermobarometers place xenoliths from Group-2 kimberlites in the central Kaapvaal craton on a 38 mW/m2 model conductive geotherm (Skinner, 1989
; Menzies et al., 1999
; Menzies, 2001
; Bell et al., 2003
), thereby corroborating an intersection with graphitediamond at P
43 kbar and T
940°C (Point I in Fig. 2). The unique PTX constraints provided by the GDC at Roberts Victor dictate calibration of our barometer at PT conditions along a 38 mW/m2 conductive geotherm, and a value of P = 43 kbar for graphitediamond.
| Cr-SATURATION ARRAYS IN CONCENTRATE GARNET COMPOSITIONS |
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Cr-pyrope garnets in heavy mineral concentrates derived from kimberlite occur as single, xenocrystic mineral grains disaggregated from their host rock and their paragenesis is formally unknown. Although derivation from wehrlitic, lherzolitic or harzburgitic assemblages can be inferred from garnet Ca-saturation characteristics (e.g. Schulze, 1995
Application of this concept to concentrate garnet compositions from the Venetia K1 kimberlite highlights the presence of six high-Cr garnets with variable Ca that occur on a linear array with Cr2O3/CaO slope near unity (Fig. 5). Although the compositional array is poorly constrained at Cr2O3 >13·5 wt % by the absence of high-Cr garnets with moderate Ca, it nevertheless defines a limiting Cr-content envelope for low-Ca garnet compositions. Garnets with higher Cr do not occur in a database of over 5000 analyses representing concentrate from all of the 11 known Venetia kimberlites (De Beers, unpublished data, 2004). The six grains highlighted in Fig. 5 are thus the most Cr-rich of all peridotitic garnets contained within the Venetia kimberlite province; their alignment along a linear array falling essentially parallel to the GDC is considered exceptionally strong evidence in support of chromite-saturated conditions at high garnet Cr content, and thus at pressures well in excess of the GDC.
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The upper Cr limit for peridotitic garnets from the Udachnaya kimberlite is essentially coincident with that at Venetia. A significant range of Ca is recorded in high-Cr garnets from Udachnaya and the upper Cr limit is constrained to be subparallel to the GDC and linear, or approximately so, over the full range of Ca possible in harzburgitic garnet compositions (Fig. 6). Concentrate garnets account for two of three high-Cr data points from Udachnayathe third represents harzburgite xenolith Uv-379/86 in which high-Cr primary chromite coexists with high-Cr garnet (Griffin et al., 1993
0·96 that delimit concentrate garnet compositions from Venetia and Udachnaya. The Cr-saturated arrays for both kimberlites intercept the Ca-free axis at
10·0 wt % Cr2O3 (Figs 5 and 6), which recalculates to Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt
0·28 and represents an extreme high-pressure calibration point for our barometer (labelled point J in Fig. 2).
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Concentrate from the Finsch kimberlite contains many low-Ca garnets with elevated Cr content. The compositions of six high-Cr grains fall within analytical error of a linear array formulated as Cr2O3 = 0·96CaO + 7·79 (in wt %) which parallels the GDC, but at 2·79 wt % higher Cr2O3 content (Fig. 7). We interpret the array as demarcating Cr-saturated conditions at a pressure higher than the GDC, but less than at Udachnaya. High-Cr lherzolitic garnets are exceptionally rare at Finsch when compared with Venetia and Udachnaya (see Figs 5, 6 and 7), implying that chromite-saturated garnet lherzolite xenoliths may be a rarity at Finsch. Low- to moderate-Cr garnet lherzolite xenoliths are common at Finsch and, although derived from high pressure on a 38 mW/m2 geotherm (5362 kbar at 11001250°C), none are reported to contain primary Cr-spinel (Gurney & Switzer, 1973
1200°C (see Fig. 1).
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Peridotitic garnets derived from concentrate or xenoliths from the Jagersfontein kimberlite commonly have moderate to low Cr contents, and only a small proportion have Cr contents higher than the GDC (
1·7%; see Fig. 8). Three such grains span the Ca content range of the entire harzburgite compositional field and align perfectly in an array parallel to the GDC that we interpret as resulting from chromite saturation. That the interpreted Cr-saturation array represents a limiting upper envelope is supported by three additional analyses, also spanning a large Ca range, which fall outside analytical error at marginally lower Cr content (Fig. 8).
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Lherzolitic compositions dominate the concentrate garnets derived from the Koffiefontein kimberlite, and all of these fall to lower Cr than a Cr-saturation array defined by three of the few harzburgitic garnets recovered at this locality (Fig. 9). The Koffiefontein Cr-saturation array is coincident with the GDC within analytical error. Peridotitic garnets included in Koffiefontein diamonds overlap to lower Ca the compositions of harzburgitic concentrate garnets, at Cr/Ca contents similar to or lower than the GDC (Fig. 9). This apparent contradiction of the GDC is explicable by the absence of chromite coexisting with garnet in the described diamond-inclusions (Rickard et al., 1986
0·9 wt % higher than the GDC (see Fig. 9). We discuss the significance of such compositionally isolated high-Cr/Ca analyses further below.
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Concentrate garnets from the Cleve-01 kimberlite show clear truncation of Cr-rich lherzolitic compositions at a Cr2O3/CaO slope similar to the GDC (Fig. 10). However, a line fitted to all the highest Cr data at given Ca produces a Cr-saturation array with a slope subtly shallower than the GDC (Fig. 10). The difference in slope is considered robust, as omission of any one, two or three randomly selected high-Cr data points fails to produce fitted lines with a Cr2O3/CaO slope higher than or equal to the GDC. Wyatt et al. (1994)
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The compositions of garnets overlying the Nzega kimberlite in Tanzania are shown in Fig. 11. Roughly 75% of the garnets record 750°C < TNi < 800°C, placing them in a narrow temperature interval some 165°C lower than the GDC and well inside the graphite stability field on the
37 mW/m2 model conductive geotherm established for the locality (see Tainton et al., 1999
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Garnet lherzolite and spinelgarnet lherzolite xenoliths are infrequently observed together with abundant spinel peridotite xenoliths in alkali basalt vents. The compositions of garnets from alkali basalts should logically also show Cr-saturation arrays, and two examples are given here (Figs 12 and 13). The Cr-saturation arrays in both instances slope at Cr2O3/CaO
0·27, whether interpreted for numerous concentrate garnet compositions from Tieling, China (Fig. 12), or for lesser amounts of data representing spinelgarnet lherzolite xenoliths from Pali-Aike, Chile (Fig. 13). The marked change in slope relative to the GDC is a consequence of the decreased separation between garnet-in curves for lherzolite and harzburgite at lower pressures (see Fig. 1). The effect is particularly noticeable in fertile, Cr/Al-poor bulk compositions and consequently affects formulation of our empirical Cr/Ca-in-garnet barometer for low-Cr garnet compositions.
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| CALIBRATION OF A SIMPLE BAROMETER |
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When collated as a family of lines, the Cr-saturation arrays outlined above form a simple graphical template that may be used to formulate an empirical barometer, valid for common harzburgitic and lherzolitic garnet compositions derived from kimberlite (Fig. 14). Arrays richer in Cr than the GDC may be visualized as falling parallel to the GDC and differing from one another only by the value of their ordinate within line segment IJ. Arrays poorer in Cr than the GDC are related to one another by differences in slope and in ordinate values. A rotation about a point located near 1·5 wt % Cr2O3 and 7·0 wt % CaO would serve to describe them. Calibration of the barometer requires a mathematical description of these highly intuitive graphical attributes, as well as established pressure values for garnet compositions near the extremities of the area of interest (points labelled L, H, I and J in Fig. 14). We hence proceed by finding pressures referenced to our chosen standard-state 38 mW/m2 model conductive geotherm for spinel-saturated garnet compositions corresponding to points L, H, I and J.
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Point L in Fig. 14 represents a garnet in a fertile, Cr-free lherzolite that would be in equilibrium with Fo90 olivine, two pyroxenes and Al-spinel at P = 14·0 kbar and T
390°C on a 38 mW/m2 geotherm [based on the CMAS model of Gasparik (2000)
470°C in a Cr-free harzburgite assemblage with Fo90 olivine, enstatite and Al-spinel (based on the same model as above). Point I occurs at Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt = 0·14 in a depleted Ca-free, Cr-enriched harzburgitedunite assemblage with Fo93 olivine and high-Cr spinel. Point I assumes PT values of the GDC (P = 43 kbar at T
940°C) on a 38 mW/m2 geotherm, as outlined above.
Point J occurs at Cr/(Cr + Al)Grt = 0·28, corresponding to the highest Cr concentrate garnet from kimberlite that would coexist with chromite in a Ca-free chromitegarnet harzburgitedunite assemblage with Fo93 or Fo94 olivine. Current experimental results at 1200°C yield pressures of
51 to
61 kbar for J (Table 1, Fig. 2), representing a range too large to use in our calibration. However, we note the isothermal pressure difference between J and I averages 19·0 ± 2·9 kbar across six separate experimental investigations (or 19·0 ± 0·4 kbar omitting two outliers; Table 1), implying that J occurs at roughly 19 kbar higher pressure than the GDC (from Fig. 14). By applying a small pressure reduction to account for the temperature difference between J and I along a 38 mW/m2 geotherm (Fig. 2), we estimate that point J occurs at P
59·1 kbar and T
1150°C.
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The barometer is then formulated (in wt % oxides and kbar) as follows:
- if Cr2O3
0·94CaO + 5, then P38 = 26·9 + 3·22Cr2O3 3·03CaO, or
- if Cr2O3 < 0·94CaO + 5, then P38 = 9·2 + 36[(Cr2O3 + 1·6)/(CaO + 7·02)]
- if Cr2O3 < 0·94CaO + 5, then P38 = 9·2 + 36[(Cr2O3 + 1·6)/(CaO + 7·02)]
where the subscript explicitly specifies the reference 38 mW/m2 model conductive geotherm (as shown in Fig. 2). Figure 15 shows a graphical representation of isobars defined by the formulation. The calibration is not valid for wehrlitic garnet compositions because their chromite-saturation arrays appear to fall along trends at high angles to those in harzburgites and lherzolites (see CCGE trend in Fig. 3).
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Pressures calculated with the P38 formulation have to be reduced for geotherms hotter than the 38 mW/m2 reference state because garnet Cr-content isopleths in chromite-saturated model harzburgite and lherzolite compositions have negative dP/dT (e.g. Fig. 2). Because the magnitude of the correction is poorly known (24 to 55 bar/°C, Table 1), we construct an empirical correction based on mantle materials from the Zero and Kyle Lake kimberlites, which have elevated geotherms. Ca-poor Cr-pyrope xenocrysts from the Zero kimberlite, South Africa, provide P38 pressures up to 49·8 kbar, but thermobarometry on peridotite xenoliths (Shee et al., 1989
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| APPLICATIONS AND DISCUSSION |
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Because of its inherent mathematical simplicity, formulation in terms of only two oxide-denominated variables and comparatively low temperature dependence, the barometer presented in this work may be applied in several situations where Cr-pyrope garnets occur. Here we discuss application to garnet compositions for (1) the special case where garnetchromite coexistence can be demonstrated, (2) the general case where chromite coexistence with garnet is indeterminate, and (3) base-of-lithosphere depth estimates. A brief comparison is also made with the PCr barometer of Ryan et al. (1996)
Chromite-present (real-pressure) barometry
The empirical approach taken to construct our barometer required special selections to be made of kimberlite-derived garnet concentrate data, which emphasize the presence of chromite-saturated compositional arrays (Figs 513 and summary in Fig. 14). The barometer yields a real-pressure estimate under such Cr-saturated conditions, and appropriate calculated values for selected garnet compositions are listed in Table 2.
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Given that the highest Cr/Ca garnets at Venetia and Udachnaya coexist with chromite (Figs 5 and 6), we estimate P38
60 kbar for them, and P35
61 kbar for the 35 mW/m2 conductive geotherms established by conventional thermobarometry at these localities (Griffin et al., 1996
The geotherm applicable to Group-1 kimberlites on the Kaapvaal craton is well known to follow a 40 mW/m2 conductive model, marginally hotter than the 38 mW/m2 geotherm of Group-2 kimberlites (Finnerty & Boyd, 1987
; Bell et al., 2003
). We accordingly calculate P40 pressures of 47·7 and 41·9 kbar for chromite-saturated harzburgitic garnets from the Jagersfontein and Koffiefontein kimberlites, respectively. Table 2 shows the difference between P40 and P38 estimates to be rather small, indicating that either model could be applied to garnet compositions from Kaapvaal kimberlites without incurring perceptible error. A 40 mW/m2 geotherm is also considered appropriate for concentrate from the Cleve-01 kimberlite (Wyatt et al., 1994
), implying that chromite-saturated garnet lherzolite occurs at P40 = 36·4 kbar (Table 2, Fig. 10). In the absence of concentrate garnets with materially higher Cr content, this real-pressure represents the deepest mantle material from Cleve-01, consistent with the absence of diamond at this locality.
Chromite-absent (minimum-pressure) barometry
The vast majority of garnet concentrates derived from kimberlite (or exploration samples) show little or no direct compositional evidence for Cr saturation. Our barometer can still be applied in this generalized circumstance because Cr-pyrope compositions provide minimum-pressure estimates when chromite coexistence cannot be demonstrated (Nickel, 1989
). Thus chromite-absent diamond-associated garnets with
5·0 wt % Cr2O3 plot at Cr contents below the GDC (open symbols in Fig. 4b) and return P38 values in the range 3335 kbar, which can be reconciled with the presence of diamond only if the calculated pressures represent minima.
Our barometer is likely to find extensive application to garnet concentrate compositions where the highest Cr/Ca grain occurs in compositional isolation, and not associated with a chromite-saturated compositional array. We assign a chromite-absent status to such grains from the Koffiefontein and Nzega kimberlites (see Figs 9 and 11) and, assuming appropriate geothermal models, respectively calculate minimum pressures of P40
45·1 kbar and P37
34·7 kbar for them (Table 2). In this application the highest Cr/Ca grains provide estimates of the minimum thickness of depleted lithospheric material entrained by the kimberlite. Applying this concept to Cr-pyrope xenocrysts from kimberlites in central Quebec, Canada, we calculate the depleted lithosphere underlying the Portage area to extend across the range P38
52·4 to 61·9 kbar, i.e. well into the diamond stability field on an assumed 38 mW/m2 geotherm (Fig. 17a, Table 2). The Beaver Lake kimberlite occurs some 90 km to the south of the Portage area and provides evidence of depleted peridotite extending beyond P38
42·0 kbar, based on the composition of a marginally lherzolitic Cr-pyrope xenocryst (Fig. 17b, Table 2); the actual lithosphere must extend deeper because trace diamond occurs at this locality (Girard, 2001
).
|
Maximum-value barometry to establish lithosphere depth
The examples outlined above demonstrate that the maximum value obtained during general application of the minimum-pressure barometer depends critically on the prevalence of high-Cr/Ca garnets in a concentrate, particularly those related to harzburgite (Figs 9, 11 and 17). The incidence of such garnet compositions in a dataset is in turn related to the colour representation and quantity of concentrate garnets analysed, the distribution of harzburgitic or Cr-rich lherzolitic bulk compositions at depth within the lithosphere, and the vagaries of how such mantle rock types are entrained by, and disaggregate within, kimberlite magmas. Real-pressure barometry is not possible in the absence of evidence of Cr saturation (e.g. Figs 411), and estimates of the depth extent of depleted lithosphere should rely on procurement of several hundred to thousands of garnet analyses that represent a cluster of spatially related kimberlites. Examples of maximum-value depth constraints provided by such densely populated mature datasets are listed in Table 3 and are briefly discussed below.
|
Our barometer shows Cr-rich peridotite to occur at depths of at least 6065 kbar in the central portions of the East China, Siberian, Slave and the West African Man cratons (Table 3). Although minimum pressures for extreme high-Cr/Ca garnets from Daldyn (Russia) and Gahcho Kue (southern Slave) approach 66 kbar, there is no evidence of Cr-rich, depleted lithosphere at depths of 70 kbar (Table 3), implying that it does not exist at such pressures, or that kimberlite magmas cannot entrain depleted peridotite from such depths. However, conventional thermobarometry results document derivation of garnet peridotite xenoliths from 6570 kbar in the Daldyn, Northern Slave and Southern Slave regions (Griffin et al., 1996
The western portion of the Kaapvaal craton is richly endowed with numerous and diverse kimberlite magma types that occur in an
450 km long traverse stretching from Kimberley across the craton margin to the off-craton, Proterozoic Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex (Skinner et al., 1994
; Grütter et al., 1999
). Cr-pyrope concentrates from these kimberlites show depleted peridotite to occur at
53 kbar in the Finsch area (Fig. 7, Table 2),
55 kbar in the Kimberley area (Table 3) and
53 kbar in the vicinity of Roberts Victor, located some 80 km ENE of Kimberley (Table 2). These maximum-value barometry results suggest that the depleted lithosphere underlying the diamond mines in the western Kaapvaal craton is significantly thinner than the mantle roots of many other Archaean cratons. The available data support thinning of the Kaapvaal lithosphere to depths equivalent to pressures of
49 kbar at the inboard edge of the craton, and only
46 kbar underlying the Marydale domain along the outboard edge of the craton (Table 3; Grütter et al., 1999
, fig. 4b). Peridotitic mantle material beneath the off-craton Namaqua and Gibeon kimberlite provinces is dominated by moderately depleted lherzolitic bulk compositions, which evidently do not extend beyond depths equivalent to pressures of
45 and
38 kbar, respectively (Table 3). The off-craton lithospheric sections thus fall within the graphite stability field assuming a 44 mW/m2 geotherm applies, consistent with the diamond-absent status of kimberlites in the Namaqua and Gibeon provinces.
Comparison with the PCr barometer of Ryan et al. (1996)
A comparison of typical results for the P38 (this work) and PCr (Ryan et al., 1996
) barometer formulations is presented in Figs 18 and 19. Garnet compositions falling at nominal P38 values of 27, 35, 43, 51 and 59 kbar were selected from (1) open-file data for diamond exploration till samples from the central Slave craton (n = 86, Armstrong, 2001
); (2) concentrate from Slave craton kimberlites (n = 20, mostly from Griffin et al., 2004
); (3) inclusions in diamonds (n = 11, several sources) and (4) chromite-saturated garnet peridotites with graphite or diamond (n = 16, a subset of data in Electronic Appendix 1). P38 and PCr values were calculated assuming equilibration of garnet with chromite, orthopyroxene and olivine at temperatures along a 38 mW/m2 conductive geotherm. The comparison is therefore made at nominal PT (kbar°C) of 27650, 35815, 43940, 511050 and 591140 for a range of garnet Cr2O3CaO compositions (Fig. 18a), thereby replicating the PTX conditions inherent in the P38 calibration of this work. All compositional data, data sources and thermobarometry results are provided as supplementary data (Electronic Appendix 2, available at http://www.petrology.oxfordjournals.org).
|
Our thermobarometry results show PCr > P38 in general, but PCr
P38 at very high Cr content (Fig. 18b). The PCr and P38 formulations generally agree to within 2 kbar for a limited pressure range at 55 ± 2 kbar, but PCr yields 5 to
7 kbar higher pressures than P38 for all very low-Ca compositions (those with CaO <1·2 wt %; Fig. 18a and b, and Electronic Appendix 2). Excluding these low-Ca data, we find that PCr typically yields 710% higher pressures than P38 at 27 kbar < P38 < 53 kbar, this being a mantle interval commonly sampled by diamondiferous kimberlites. The combination of PCr with TNi for pyrope garnet (Ryan et al., 1996
2 mW/m2 on average for cool, cratonic geotherms, though earlier modelling indicates a larger underestimate occurs for hot geotherms (see Grütter & Sweeney, 2000
The GDC provides an additional opportunity to compare results for the P38 and PCr barometers. On assuming Cr-saturated conditions in an orthopyroxeneolivine assemblage, both barometers should reproduce a pressure of
43 kbar at a temperature of 940°C when applied to GDC-like garnet compositions. Our calculations (Electronic Appendix 2) show that PCr systematically overestimates pressure by
612% at these conditions and illustrate an unresolved inverse dependence of PCr on garnet CaO content (Fig. 19b). We conclude that the barometer formulated in this work yields substantially different results from the PCr barometer of Ryan et al. (1996)
, for common cratonic geothermal gradients and the range of Cr-pyrope compositions that characteristically occur in heavy mineral concentrates from kimberlite.
|
| SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION |
|---|
Our empirical analysis of Cr-pyrope compositions in heavy mineral concentrates from kimberlite shows chromite saturation in natural harzburgite and lherzolite to be expressed as linear arrays with Cr2O3/CaO near unity in garnet Cr2O3 vs CaO diagrams (Figs 413). When conceptualized as pressure increments along a standard-state conductive mantle geotherm, a 38 mW/m2 model being chosen in this work, the arrays may be used as a graphical template (Fig. 14) to calibrate a simple, effective Cr/Ca-in-garnet barometer (Fig. 15) with low, negative temperature dependence (Fig. 16). Our P38 barometer formulation is internally consistent with Cr-saturated garnet compositions in cratonic harzburgite and lherzolite assemblages and is closely constrained at the graphitediamond transition (Fig. 4), which roughly bisects the calibrated compositional range (Fig. 15). We anticipate general application of the barometer to xenocrystic Cr-pyrope compositions derived from kimberlite, for which minimum entrainment depths can be estimated (e.g. Fig. 17). The maximum depth obtained approaches the base of the Cr/Al-enriched, depleted lithosphere with increased maturity in the number and diversity of xenocryst sources considered (Table 3). The PCr barometer of Ryan et al. (1996)
| SUPPLEMENTARY DATA |
|---|
Supplementary data for this paper are available at Journal of Petrology online.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
|---|
We thank Gerhard Brey and Andrei Girnis for informative discussions on spinelgarnet relations in peridotites and gratefully acknowledge the contribution made by numerous researchers who painstakingly documented assemblages and mineral compositions in carbon-bearing peridotite xenoliths. The De Beers Group of Companies and Mineral Services is acknowledged for support during various stages of this project and for facilitating access to critical concentrate datasets. H.S.G. publishes with permission of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited. Journal reviews by Gerhard Brey, Dante Canil and Bill Griffin markedly improved the presentation and overall clarity of the manuscript.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
Present address: Rio Tinto Research and Technology Development, 1 Research Avenue, Bundoora 3083, Australia.
* Corresponding author. Present address: BHP Billiton World Exploration Inc., Suite 800, Four Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, B.C., V7X 1L2, Canada. Fax: +1 (604) 683-4125. E-mail: herman.grutter{at}bhpbilliton.com
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