Carbonate–Silicate–Sulfide Polyphase Inclusion in Diamond from the Komsomolskaya Kimberlite Pipe, Yakutia

Abstract

An aragonite inclusion in natural diamond was identified using techniques of transmission electron microscopy, electron microdiffraction, and microprobe analysis. The inclusion is hosted in a colorless octahedral diamond crystal from the Komslomolskaya pipe in Yakutia. The diamond crystal shows a zoned distribution of its admixtures and defects. The structure parameters of the inclusion (∠[001]/[201] = 66° and certain lattice spacings) correspond to the calculated parameters of the orthorhombic unit cell of a Ca carbonate polymorph. The aragonite inclusion contains admixtures of MgO (0.81), MnO (0.58), and FeO (0.13 wt %). The find of a syngenetic aragonite inclusion in diamond is unique and proves that diamond can be formed in carbonatized mantle peridotite at depths of at least 300 km. The inclusion hosts identifiable microphases of Ni-rich sulfides (37–41 wt % Ni), titanite, hydrous silicate, magnetite, and fluid. This association indicates that the diamond and aragonite crystallized from a carbonate–silicate–sulfide melt or highdensity fluid.