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Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Volume 42, 2014

Diamond Formation: A Stable Isotope Perspective

Abstract

Primarily on the basis of C, N, S, and O stable isotope systematics, this article reviews recent achievements in understanding diamond formation and growth in Earth's mantle. Diamond is a metasomatic mineral that results from either the reduction or oxidation of mobile C-bearing liquids (fluids or melts) that intrude preexisting lithologies (eclogites, peridotites, and metamorphic rocks). This process seems ubiquitous, as it occurs over a large range of depths and extends through time. Diamond-forming carbon derives mainly from the convective asthenosphere. Most of its isotopic anomalies reflect fractionation processes in the lithospheric mantle, which are attributed to diamond precipitation itself and/or a mineralogical control occurring prior to diamond precipitation. Evidence for a mineralogical control would be the decoupling of the 15N/14N ratios in eclogitic diamond from other tracers of subduction in inclusions in the same diamond. C isotope anomalies related to subduction are rare and are probably best seen in diamonds from the transition zone.

Keyword(s): chemical geodynamics, diamond, metasomatism, stable isotopes, subduction
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2014-05-30
2024-04-23
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Diamond Formation: A Stable Isotope Perspective
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 42, 699 (2014); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-042711-105259
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