Incipient stages of transformation of round natural diamonds under dissolution in Fe-S melt at high pressure

Research subject. The article presents the results of a microscopic and photogoniometric study of natural rounded diamonds of tetraghexahedral habit from the kimberlite pipe “Internationalnaya” (Yakutia). The diamonds was partially dissolved in a sulphur-containing iron melt (sulphur content of 15–30 wt %) at 4.5 GPa and 1450ºС.

Methods. The experiments were carried out on a multi-puncheon apparatus of a “split-sphere” type in high-pressure solid-phase cells made of refractory oxides ZrO2, CaO, MgO using a cylindrical shape graphite heater. The crystals were studied using an MBS-10 optical microscope with a photo camera, and a Jeol JSM-6510LV scanning electron microscope. A goniometric study of diamond crystals was carried out by a photo method in a cylindrical chamber. It was found that when a sulphur content was 15 wt %, diamond crystals of tetrahexahedral habit were transformed into a curved shaped octahedroids with morphological features similar to natural diamonds found in kimberlites. When the sulphur content was 23–30 wt %, the rate of dissolution of diamonds in the Fe-S melt sharply reduced, while the diamond surface at the micro level became covered with numerous etching hillocks, whose sidewalls have surfaces similar to flat-faced {111} form. Dissolution of the rounded diamonds in the Fe-S melt at high pressure occurred by a “normal” mechanism, that is perpendicular to the surface of the dissolving crystal through trigonal dissolution layers, while a tangential-layered mechanism played a minor role.

Conclusion. The natural diamond crystals could underwent dissolution in the mantle before they were captured by kimberlite magma. Two fundamentally different types of homomorphic and typomorphic features of the dissolution forms observed on natural diamonds can be determined, namely: on one side, those associated with storage in mantle before the crystals were captured by the kimberlite magma, and on the other side, with the kimberlite process itself. The presence of octahedral diamonds with parallel (trigonal) striation in kimberlite deposits may indicate on a high degree of diamond preservation due to relatively insignificant effect of the kimberlite magma. This, undoubtedly, should help to decipher the diamond genesis and, possibly, improve the mineralogical criteria used in diamond exploration. 

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