Thermal state of the Siberian craton marginal zone at the time of Mesozoic kimberlitic magmatism within the Kuoika field (Yakutian diamondiferous province)

Abstract

Research subject. Clinopyroxene xenocrysts from the heavy-mineral concentrates of 14 kimberlite bodies (western part of the field: Obnazhennaya, Rubin, Seraya, Vodorazdelnaya, Vtorogodnitsa, Antoshka; central part of the field: Sliudyanka, Skiff II; western part of the field: Irina, Noyabrskaya, Vechernyaya, Lyusya, Dianga and Zhila 79) of the Kuoika field (Yakutian diamondiferous province, Siberian craton). Aim. To reconstruct the mantle paleogeotherms Under the six kimberlite pipes (Vodorazdelnaya, Obnazhennaya, Vtorogodnitsa, Sliudyanka, Dianga, and Zhila 79) using two independent approaches. Materials and methods. The chemical composition of clinopyroxene xenocrysts was investigated and last equilibrium temperatures and pressures were estimated using single-crystal thermobarometry. The geothermal line fitting to the P-T data set was performed using two methods. The first method is based on the D. Hasterok and D.S. Champan model, and the second - on the D. McKenzie model. Results. The value of lithosphere thickness falls within the margin of error for the two methods, being also comparable with earlier reconstructions for the Vtorogodnitsa, Dyanga, and Obnazhennaya pipes. The obtained results indicate that, during the Mesozoic kimberlitic magmatism, the lithosphere thickness beneath the Kuoika field was about 200 km. Conclusion. The determined peculiarities of the chemical composition of clinopyroxene xenocrysts indicate heterogeneity of the lithospheric mantle composition. Different depths of transported mantle material for kimberlite pipes of the Kuoika field, which are coeval and are located a few km apart, may be related to peculiarities of kimberlite magma ascent to the surface and the presence of intermediate magma chambers. The eastern part of the Kuoika field contains more garnet and garnet-spinel peridotites compared to the central and western parts, which may indirectly indicate a greater diamondiferous potential of the eastern block, where the diamondiferous Dianga pipe is located. The absence of diamonds in other discovered pipes of the Kuoika field may be connected with the metasomatic enrichment of the lithospheric mantle in the area of the “diamond window”, which is confirmed by a large number of high-temperature clinopyroxenes at these depths.