HR: 1205h
AN: V12A-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Growth of Diamond from a Carbonaceous Hydrous Silicate Melt: An Experimental Study
AU: * Fagan, A J
EM: andrew.fagan@ualberta.ca
AF: University of Alberta, Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences 1-26 Earth Sciences Building University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
AU: Luth, R W
EM: robert.luth@ualberta.ca
AF: University of Alberta, Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences 1-26 Earth Sciences Building University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
AB: Diamond was grown in a hydrous halide-bearing silicate system at pressures and temperatures near those at which natural peridotitic diamonds form (1000-1300° C, 5-7 GPa) in the Earth' s upper mantle. The mechanisms by which diamonds are made within the earth is still unresolved, and many authors have suggested possible media from which diamonds precipitate; examples include mantle carbonates, sulphides and silicates (1-3). To date, little work has been conducted on silicate melts and the effect of mantle catalysts on diamond formation. This study used a hydrous silicate melt (HSM) to attempt to precipitate diamond. The primary experimental system was MgO-SiO₂-C-H₂O, with subsystems to document the addition of alkali halides (KCl and NaCl). Previous studies have concluded that alkali halides have a catalytic effect on diamond formation reactions and observed halides in inclusions in natural diamonds. Diamond was successfully grown on seed crystals at temperatures of 1400-1500° C and pressures of 6-7 GPa, in 3-4 hours. No spontaneous nucleation of diamond was observed during these experiments. No diamond growth was observed in experiments at < 1400° C and 6 GPa to date. The addition of KCl to the HSM system allowed diamond to form 200° C lower than the previously published minimum temperature of over 1600° C (3). The effect of NaCl and other catalysts are still under investigation. The starting compositions contain ~ 20.6wt% structural H₂O. At run conditions, a hydrous melt coexisted with olivine and orthropyroxene, with the halides either dissolved in the melt or forming a separate brine. This study demonstrates that hydrous silicate melts, especially containing alkali halides, are a viable medium for diamond growth in the Earth' s upper mantle. 1) Arima et al, 2002; 2) Gunn & Luth, 2006; 3) Pal' yanov et al, 2007
DE: 1038 Mantle processes (3621)
DE: 3621 Mantle processes (1038)
DE: 3630 Experimental mineralogy and petrology
DE: 3640 Igneous petrology
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology [V]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting