Electron probe microanalysis and microscopy: Principles and applications in characterization of mineral inclusions in chromite from diamond deposit

Abstract

Electron probe microanalysis and microscopy is a widely used modern analytical technique primarily for quantifying chemical compositions of solid materials and for mapping or imaging elemental distributions or surface morphology of samples at micrometer or nanometer-scale. This technique uses an electromagnetic lens-focused electron beam, generated from an electron gun, to bombard a sample. When the electron beam interacts with the sample, signals such as secondary electron, backscattered electron and characteristic X-ray are generated from the interaction volume. These signals are then examined by detectors to acquire chemical and imaging information of the sample. A unique part of an electron probe is that it is equipped with multiple WDS spectrometers of X-ray and each spectrometer with multiple diffracting crystals in order to analyze multiple elements simultaneously. An electron probe is capable of analyzing almost all elements (from Be to U) with a spatial resolution at or below micrometer scale and a detection limit down to a few ppm.Mineral inclusions in chromite from the Wafangdian kimberlite, Liaoning Province, China were used to demonstrate the applications of electron probe microanalysis and microscopy technique in characterizing minerals associated with ore deposits, specifically, in this paper, minerals associated with diamond deposit. Chemical analysis and SE and BSE imaging show that mineral inclusions in chromite include anhydrous silicates, hydrous silicates, carbonates, and sulfides, occurring as discrete or single mineral inclusions or composite multiple mineral inclusions. The chromite–olivine pair poses a serious problem in analysis of Cr in olivine using electron probe. Secondary fluorescence of Cr in chromite by Fe in olivine drastically increases the apparent Cr2O3 content of an olivine inclusion in a chromite. From the chemical compositions obtained using electron probe, formation temperatures and pressures of chromite and its mineral inclusions calculated using applicable geothermobarometers are from 46kbar and 980°C to 53kbar and 1130°C, which are within the stability field of diamond, thus Cr-rich chromite is a useful indication mineral for exploration of kimberlite and diamond deposit. A composite inclusion in chromite composed of silicate and carbonate minerals has a bulk composition of 33.2wt.% SiO2, 2.5wt.% Al2O3, 22.0wt.% MgO, 7.5wt.% CaO, 2.5wt.% BaO, 0.8wt.% K2O, 25.5wt.% CO2, and 0.8wt.% H2O, similar to the chemical composition of the Wafangdian kimberlite, suggesting that it is trapped kimberlitic magma.