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The evolution of calcite-bearing kimberlites by melt-rock reaction: evidence from polymineralic inclusions within clinopyroxene and garnet megacrysts from Lac de Gras kimberlites, Canada

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Abstract

Megacrystic (>1 cm) clinopyroxene (Cr-diopside) and garnet (Cr-pyrope) xenocrysts within kimberlites from Lac de Gras (Northwest Territories, Canada) contain fully crystallized melt inclusions. These ‘polymineralic inclusions’ have previously been interpreted to form by necking down of melts at mantle depths. We present a detailed petrographical and geochemical investigation of polymineralic inclusions and their host crystals to better understand how they form and what they reveal about the evolution of kimberlite melt. Genetically, the megacrysts are mantle xenocrysts with peridotitic chemical signatures indicating an origin within the lithospheric mantle (for the Cr-diopsides studied here ~4.6 GPa, 1015 °C). Textural evidence for disequilibrium between the host crystals and their polymineralic inclusions (spongy rims in Cr-diopside, kelyphite in Cr-pyrope) is consistent with measured Sr isotopic disequilibrium. The preservation of disequilibrium establishes a temporal link to kimberlite eruption. In Cr-diopsides, polymineralic inclusions contain phlogopite, olivine, chromite, serpentine, and calcite. Abundant fluid inclusion trails surround the inclusions. In Cr-pyropes, the inclusions additionally contain Al-spinel, clinopyroxene, and dolomite. The major and trace element compositions of the inclusion phases are generally consistent with the early stages of kimberlite differentiation trends. Extensive chemical exchange between the host phases and the inclusions is indicated by enrichment of the inclusions in major components of the host crystals, such as Cr2O3 and Al2O3. This chemical evidence, along with phase equilibria constraints, supports the proposal that the inclusions within Cr-diopside record the decarbonation reaction: dolomitic melt + diopside → forsterite + calcite + CO2, yielding the observed inclusion mineralogy and producing associated (CO2-rich) fluid inclusions. Our study of polymineralic inclusions in megacrysts provides clear mineralogical and chemical evidence for an origin of kimberlite that involves the reaction of high-pressure dolomitic melt with diopside-bearing mantle assemblages producing a lower-pressure melt that crystallizes a calcite-dominated assemblage in the crust.

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Acknowledgments

This study forms part of Y.B.’s Ph.D. research funded through D.G.P’s Canada Excellence Research Chair. Y.B. is grateful for a University of Alberta Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship. The staff at Diavik Diamond Mine, especially Yuri Kinakin and Gus Fomradas, are thanked for generously allowing access to drill core for sampling. Juanita Bellinger at Rio Tinto is thanked for providing additional concentrate samples. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of CISEM (Centro de Investigación y Servicios Mineralógicos), Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile, for providing QEMSCAN® analytical time. At the University of Alberta, Sarah Gleeson is thanked for access to the fluid inclusion microscopy stage, Andrew Locock for assistance with EPMA, Yan Luo for assistance with LA-ICP-MS, and Chiranjeeb Sarkar for assistance with Sr column chemistry and TIMS. We are grateful to Vadim Kamenetsky for his constructive and insightful review and for kindly allowing us to use Fig. 2d. We also thank Dante Danil for a very helpful review and Tim Grove for the editorial handling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 126 ESB, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada

    Y. Bussweiler, R. S. Stone, D. G. Pearson, R. W. Luth & T. Stachel

  2. Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0E8, Canada

    B. A. Kjarsgaard

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

    A. Menzies

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  1. Y. Bussweiler
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Correspondence to Y. Bussweiler.

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Communicated by Timothy L. Grove.

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Supplementary Fig. 1

QEMSCAN® maps of polymineralic inclusions in Cr-diopside (a = PL_CPX_03 In01; b = PL_CPX_03 In10) and Cr-pyrope (c = PL_GRT_04 In13; d = PL_GRT_04 In05). Inclusions a) and c) are of the ‘carbonate-rich’, and b) and d) of the ‘silicate-rich’ end-member type. Modal proportions of the inclusions as obtained with QEMSCAN® are as follows: a) 10.3 % ol; 11.4 % srp; 11.2 % phl; 65.8 % cc; 0.1 % ap. b) 4.0 % ol; 60.4 % srp; 16.5 % phl; 15.2 % cc; 0.1 % ap. c) 8.2 % ol; 0.2 % cpx; 15.0 % srp; 30.2 % phl; 3.7 % spl; 40.7 % cc; 0.9 % dol; 0.1 % py. d) 0.8 % ol; 2.0 % cpx; 45.7 % srp; 31.1 % phl; 6.2 % spl; 0.1 % cc; 6.0 % dol; 0.1 % ap; 0.1 % py. Mineral abbreviations are as follows: ol = olivine; cpx = clinopyroxene; srp = serpentine; phl = phlogopite; spl = spinel; cc = calcite; dol = dolomite; ap = apatite; py = pyrite (JPEG 1925 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Bivariate plots for major and minor elements in serpentine/chlorite in polymineralic inclusions resolved by megacryst host (Cr-diopside and Cr-pyrope) and in altered olivine mineral inclusions in Cr-pyrope. Reference data for kimberlitic serpentine are from Hayman et al. (2009) and Mitchell (1986) (JPEG 1150 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

ΔlogfO2 (FMQ) values for grt peridotites from different cratons (modified from Luth and Stachel 2014). Samples from the central Slave Craton (Creighton et al. 2010) are notably more oxidized than those from other cratons (JPEG 234 kb)

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Bussweiler, Y., Stone, R.S., Pearson, D.G. et al. The evolution of calcite-bearing kimberlites by melt-rock reaction: evidence from polymineralic inclusions within clinopyroxene and garnet megacrysts from Lac de Gras kimberlites, Canada. Contrib Mineral Petrol 171, 65 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-016-1275-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-016-1275-3

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