NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Primary differentiation in the early Earth: Nd and Sr isotopic evidence from diamondiferous eclogites for both old depleted and old enriched mantle, Yakutia, SiberiaAncient, stable, continental cratons possess thick, subcontinental-lithospheric mantle 'keels' which favor particularly the emplacement of diamondiferous kimberlites and included peridotites and eclogites. These refractory mantle samples of the roots provide hard constraints on the theories of formation, growth, and evolution of these cratons. Xenoliths containing only primary garnet and clinopyroxene (eclogites), although rare in most kimberlites, can retain the geochemical signatures of their parent protoliths (e.g., subducted oceanic crust, ancient mantle) thus offering the opportunity to address mantle processes which may have taken place at earlier times in the Earth's history. In fact, it has been postulated that some eclogites are residues from the accretion of the early Earth. Nd and Sr isotopic data are presented which may be interpreted as evidence of an early (greater than 4 Ga) mantle differentiation event. The kimberlites of Yakutia are located both marginal and central to the Siberian craton, and a wide variety of xenoliths are present within them. The Siberian mantle samples have received little attention in the western world, largely because suitable suites of Yakutian samples have not been readily available. Importantly, there is evidence that metasomatism of the Siberian lithosphere has been considerably less intense or extensive than for the Kaapvaal craton. Therefore, it should be considerably easier to elicit the igneous/metamorphic histories of Siberian kimberlitic xenoliths. One of the notable features of the Siberian eclogites is the common appearance of diamonds, especially in the Mir and Udachnaya pipes. In all, eight eclogite samples (eight garnet separates and eight clinopyroxene separates) have been analyzed to date on the Udachnaya pipe, seven from our group.
Document ID
19940016303
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Snyder, Gregory A.
(Tennessee Univ. Knoxville, TN, United States)
Jerde, Eric A.
(Tennessee Univ. Knoxville, TN, United States)
Taylor, Lawrence A.
(Tennessee Univ. Knoxville, TN, United States)
Halliday, Alex N.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor., United States)
Sobolev, Vladimir N.
(Academy of Sciences USSR, Novosibirsk., United States)
Sobolev, Nickolai V.
(Academy of Sciences USSR, Novosibirsk., United States)
Clayton, Robert N.
(Chicago Univ. IL., United States)
Mayeda, Toshiko K.
(Chicago Univ. IL., United States)
Deines, Peter
(Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park., United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
94N20776
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available