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Science 6 September 2002:
Vol. 297. no. 5587, pp. 1683 - 1686
DOI: 10.1126/science.1072384
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Reports

Diamond Genesis, Seismic Structure, and Evolution of the Kaapvaal-Zimbabwe Craton

Steven B. Shirey,1* Jeffrey W. Harris,2 Stephen H. Richardson,3 Matthew J. Fouch,4 David E. James,1 Pierre Cartigny,5 Peter Deines,6 Fanus Viljoen7

The lithospheric mantle beneath the Kaapvaal-Zimbabwe craton of southern Africa shows variations in seismic P-wave velocity at depths within the diamond stability field that correlate with differences in the composition of diamonds and their syngenetic inclusions. Middle Archean mantle depletion events initiated craton keel formation and early harzburgitic diamond formation. Late Archean accretionary events involving an oceanic lithosphere component stabilized the craton and contributed a younger Archean generation of eclogitic diamonds. Subsequent Proterozoic tectonic and magmatic events altered the composition of the continental lithosphere and added new lherzolitic and eclogitic diamonds to the Archean diamond suite.

1 Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
2 Division of Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
3 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
4 Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Post Office Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287-1404, USA.
5 Laboratoire de Geochimie des Isotopes Stables, Universite de Paris VII, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), 4 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris Cedex 05, France.
6 Department of Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
7 De Beers GeoScience Centre, Post Office Box 82232, Southdale, 2135, South Africa.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: shirey{at}dtm.ciw.edu

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