FLUID INCLUSIONS IN FIBROUS AND OCTAHEDRALLY-GROWN DIAMONDS

ii My thesis puts forth new models for diamond formation that explain the difference between octahedral and fibrous diamond growth, as well as the difference between octahedral diamond growth in the lithospheric and the sublithospheric mantle. Diamond growth in the mantle involves reactions between carbon-bearing fluid and the host rocks it infiltrates. This fluid is sometimes included in diamond. Fluids in dendritically-grown, fibrous diamonds from Wawa, Superior craton, were analysed in a novel way, using transmission X-ray diffraction. The technique allows bulk analysis of daughter minerals within fluid inclusions. The mineralogy, major and trace elements, Sr isotopes, volatiles, and nitrogen characteristics of the hydrous saline–high-Mg carbonatitic fluid in these Archean diamonds strongly resemble those of Phanerozoic fibrous diamonds. This implies that some mantle processes, including the formation of fibrous diamonds, can be extended unvaryingly back to 2.7 Ga. Fluid equilibrated with octahedrally-grown diamonds from the Siberian, Kaapvaal, an