Rare-element composition of pyropes and lamproites and ancient dispersion haloes of the southwestern Siberian platform

Abstract

The problem of heterogeneity of the mantle lithosphere of the southwestern portion of the Siberian Platform has been considered, and the diamond content in potential mother lodes within this area has been estimated based on original geochemical data on the rare-element composition of pyropes from diamondiferous lamproites of the Ingashin field within the Prisayan region and ancient dispersion haloes of minerals accompanying diamonds in the area between the Angara and Uda rivers. Pyropes from lamproites are characterized by low concentrations of Zr (0.18–9.05 ppm), Hf (0.03–0.37 ppm), and rare earth elements (Sm 0.04–0.49, Eu 0.02–0.16, and Dy 0.05–0.96 ppm). Pyropes from the Lower Carboniferous Baeron Formation within the Tangui-Chuksha area are significantly different from pyropes of the Ingashin lamproites in high contents of Zr (30.36–139.23 ppm) and Hf (0.4–2.22 ppm). These pyropes are characterized by elevated concentrations of rare earth elements (Sm 1.34–3.68, Eu 0.53–1.17, and Dy 1.0–2.05 ppm). The distribution patterns of rare incompatible elements in pyropes of the Lower Carboniferous Mura massif within the Mura area manifest even stronger differences with pyropes of the Ingashin lamproites and in many respects with pyropes from Lower Carboniferous sediments of the Baeron Formation within the Tangui-Chuksha area. The results obtained indicate that there is no large-scale regional spreading of pyropes from Mid-Riphean lamproite bodies in the course of washout of these bodies and that the mantle lithosphere in the southwestern portion of the Siberian Platform is laterally heterogeneous in mineralogical-geochemical terms. The chemical composition and the peculiar distribution pattern of rare elements in pyropes from lamproites of the Prisayan region indicate a depleted, primarily lherzolite composition of the upper mantle that was transformed through low-temperature potassium metasomatosis. In terms of the chemical and rare-element compositions, pyropes from Lower Carboniferous sediments of the Tangui-Chuksha and Mura areas belong to a wider range of mantle rocks: depleted peridotites, metasomatic peridotites under low (900–1000°C) and high (>1000°C) temperature conditions, and megacrysts. This suggests that the composition of the lithospheric mantle in this area of the southern portion of the Siberian Platform is characterized by a considerably differentiated stratification of mantle rocks, some of which were credibly formed in the diamond stability field.