Journal article
Controls on the explosive emplacement of diamondiferous kimberlites: New insights from hypabyssal and pyroclastic units in the Diavik mine, Canada
Madeline Tovey, Andrea Giuliani, David Phillips, Stephen Moss
LITHOS | ELSEVIER | Published : 2020
Abstract
Kimberlites are mantle-derived magmas that either crystallise as hypabyssal intrusions, erupt explosively after rapid ascent to the surface, or less commonly form lava lakes and flows, thereby creating texturally distinct kimberlite units. Efforts to fully understand the processes responsible for the explosive eruption of kimberlite magmas have been hindered by the widespread alteration and crustal contamination of most volcaniclastic kimberlites. To address this issue, we have undertaken a detailed petrographic and mineral chemical study of fresh (i.e. minimally altered) pyroclastic and hypabyssal kimberlites (HK) from the ca. 55-56 Ma A154 North and South kimberlite pipes in the Diavik Min..
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Funding Acknowledgements
MT acknowledges funding from the University of Melbourne through the George Sweet Trust and Baragwanath Scholarship, which enabled travel to Canada to collect the samples used in this paper. We thank Kari Pollock, Jon Carlson, Dominion Diamond Mines ULC, Diavik Diamond Mine Incorporated PLC and Rio Tinto PLC for provision of the Diavik samples, and permission to publish these results. We also thank Graham Hutchinson for the support he provided with the electron microprobe. We are grateful to Tom Nowicki, Ashton Soltys, Hayden Dalton and Angus Fitzpayne who provided insightful discussions during and preceding the writing of this manuscript; and Janine Kavanaugh and Yannick Bussweiler for thoughtful reviews. This research was funded by a Melbourne Research Scholarship awarded to MT by the University of Melbourne.