Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 17 October 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5337, pp. 434 - 436
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5337.434
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Ferric Iron Content of Mineral Inclusions in Diamonds from São Luiz: A View into the Lower Mantle

Catherine McCammon, * Mark Hutchison, Jeff Harris

Mössbauer spectroscopy on inclusions in diamonds from São Luiz, Brazil, show that (Mg,Fe)O inclusions contain little Fe3+ (Fe3+/Sigma Fe <= 7%), whereas inclusions with pyroxene composition (believed to have been originally in the perovskite structure) and tetragonal almandine-pyrope phase (TAPP) inclusions contain high relative amounts of Fe3+ (Fe3+/Sigma Fe = 20 to 75%). These observations are consistent with high-pressure experiments on synthetic samples and support the idea that the inclusions originated in the lower mantle. Fe-Mg partitioning data for co-existing (Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al)O3 - (Mg,Fe)O pairs also indicate that the phases were in equilibrium at the time of diamond formation in the lower mantle.

C. McCammon, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
M. Hutchison, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK.
J. Harris, Department of Geology and Applied Geology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A synchrotron Mossbauer spectroscopy study of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite up to 120 GPa.
J. M. Jackson, W. Sturhahn, G. Shen, J. Zhao, M. Y. Hu, D. Errandonea, J. D. Bass, and Y. Fei (2005)
American Mineralogist 90, 199-205
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Electronic spin state of iron in lower mantle perovskite.
J. Li, V. V. Struzhkin, H.-k. Mao, J. Shu, R. J. Hemley, Y. Fei, B. Mysen, P. Dera, V. Prakapenka, and G. Shen (2004)
PNAS 101, 14027-14030
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Lamproites from Gaussberg, Antarctica: Possible Transition Zone Melts of Archaean Subducted Sediments.
D. T. MURPHY, K. D. COLLERSON, and B. S. KAMBER (2002)
J. Petrology 43, 981-1001
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fossilized high pressure from the Earth's deep interior: The coesite-in-diamond barometer.
N. V. Sobolev, B. A. Fursenko, S. V. Goryainov, J. Shu, R. J. Hemley, H.-k. Mao, and F. R. Boyd (2000)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Rocks from the Mantle Transition Zone: Majorite-Bearing Xenoliths from Malaita, Southwest Pacific.
K. D. Collerson, S. Hapugoda, B. S. Kamber, and Q. Williams (2000)
Science 288, 1215-1223
   Abstract »    Full Text »
The Effect of Alumina on the Electrical Conductivity of Silicate Perovskite.
Y. Xu, C. McCammon, and B. T. Poe (1998)
Science 282, 922-924
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Fossilized high pressure from the Earth's deep interior: The coesite-in-diamond barometer.
N. V. Sobolev, B. A. Fursenko, S. V. Goryainov, J. Shu, R. J. Hemley, H.-k. Mao, and F. R. Boyd (2000)
PNAS 97, 11875-11879
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)