What is the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite?
What is the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite?
study showed definitively that the diamonds had no genetic relationship to the kimberlite. This basic age relationship holds for all other diamondiferous kimberlites. Kimberlite eruptions, then, are just the way that diamonds make their way from depth in the mantle to Earth’s surface.
What are the properties of kimberlite?
kimberlite, also called blue ground, a dark-coloured, heavy, often altered and brecciated (fragmented), intrusive igneous rock that contains diamonds in its rock matrix. It has a porphyritic texture, with large, often rounded crystals (phenocrysts) surrounded by a fine-grained matrix (groundmass).
How kimberlite is formed?
Kimberlite pipes are created as magma flows through deep fractures in the Earth. The magma inside the kimberlite pipes acts like an elevator, pushing the diamonds and other rocks and minerals through the mantle and crust in just a few hours.
How kimberlites form and why diamonds are found in kimberlites?
Kimberlitic magmas form about 150 km below Earth’s surface, i.e. at much greater depths than any other volcanic rocks. The temperatures and pressures at such depths are so high that carbon can crystallize in the form of diamonds. This is why kimberlite pipes are the sites of most of the world’s diamond mines.
What causes kimberlite pipes?
Mined diamonds that originate in the mantle are created when heat and pressure transform carbon. The mantle is nearly 100 miles below the Earth’s surface, and gems that come from the mantle are brought to the surface by kimberlite pipes, which are formed by deep-source volcanic eruptions.
Why are diamonds found in kimberlite pipes?
Diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes are only found in ancient areas of the continents. But diamonds have also been found far from the pipes. This is because volcanic rock erodes and is washed away over time. Rivers, streams and glaciers can carry diamonds far from the original volcanoes.
How do you identify Lamproite?
Lamproite is an ultrapotassic mantle-derived volcanic or subvolcanic rock….Lamproites conform to the following chemical characteristics:
- molar K2O/Na2O > 3, i.e., ultrapotassic.
- molar K2O/Al2O3> 0.8 and commonly > 1.
- molar K2O + Na2O/ Al2O3 typically > 1 i.e., peralkaline.
What is the hardness of kimberlite?
Rocks are rated on the on the Moh’s Hardness Scale which rates the rocks on the scale from 1 to 10. Rocks with hardness 1-3 are soft rocks from 3-6 are medium hardness rocks and 6-10 are hard rocks. Kimberlite cleavage is conchoidal. The specific gravity of Kimberlite is 2.86-2.87.
What is kimberlite ore?
Kimberlite is an igneous rock, which sometimes contains diamonds. Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today. The consensus on kimberlites is that they are formed deep within the mantle.
What characteristics are found in granitic rock?
Strong, Durable, Unique and Hard. Granite characteristics include strength and durability. This unique and elegant natural stone is one of the oldest, hardest, and strongest stones available. A truly beautiful natural stone with hundreds of colors and patterns to choose from.
What is a kimberlite pipe?
Carrot-shaped volcanic pipes rising from the upper mantle 100-300km beneath the crust. They are formed through the high-pressure eruption of kimberlite magma, which expands and breaks rock as it reaches the crust. Kimberlites often contain diamonds, which require an extreme amount of pressure to form.
What type of volcano is kimberlite pipes?
Diamonds are brought to the surface from the mantle in a rare type of magma called kimberlite and erupted at a rare type of volcanic vent called a diatreme or pipe.