Upper mantle material in the Brazilian shield

Abstract

Information on the nature of the upper mantle can be obtained from nodules in kimberlites and basalt and from mantle-derived magmas, mineral inclusions in diamonds, as well as from the fields of geodesy, seismology, geothermy, geomagnetism and petrological models for the upper mantle. In Brazil studies of these kinds are still in the stage of data gathering. This article intends to present some of this data related to the alpine peridotites, nodules in basalts, mineral inclusions in diamonds, and kimberlites, without any pretension of deeper-going interpretation. Alpine peridotites are found all over Brazil and are grouped in three main classes: the serpentinized dunites-peridotites of small and medium size; the gabbro-pyroxenite-peridotite association in large complexes, the latter described only in the central part of Brazil; and the pyroxenite-gabbroic gneisses of the Goianira-Trindade type. Kimberlites have been described in Minas Gerais and Piaui states, but they also exist in Mato Grosso and possibly in Rondoˆnia, Goiás, Roraima and Bahia. Inclusions in diamonds studied from Minas Gerais, Piauí, Mato Grosso, Paraná, Sa˜o Paulo and Goiás include olivine, pyroxene, garnet, chromite, sulphides, ilmenite, zircon and rutile. Ultramafic nodules in basalts and basanites from Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba states and Fernando de Noronha Island are essentially Iherzolites, like the ones described from Paraguay.