In-situ moissanite in dunite: Deep mantle origin of mantle peridotite in Luobusa Ophiolite, Tibet

Abstract

We report the discovery of an in-situ natural moissanite as an inclusion in the Cr-spinel from the dunite envelope of a chromitite deposit in Luobusa ophiolite, Tibet. The moissanite occurs as a twin crystal interpenetrated by two quadrilateral signal crystals with sizes of 17 μm × 10 μm and 20 μm × 7 μm, respectively. The moissanite is green with parallel extinction. The absorption peaks in its Raman spectra are at 967-971 cm -1, 787-788 cm-1, and 766 cm-1. The absorption peaks in the infrared spectra are at 696 cm-1, 767 cm-1, 1450 cm-1, and 1551 cm-1, which are distinctly different from the peaks for synthetic silicon carbide. Moissanites have been documented to form in ultra-high pressure, high temperature, and extremely low fO 2 environments and their 13C-depleted compositions indicate a lower mantle origin. Combined with previous studies about other ultra-high pressure and highly reduced minerals in Luobusa ophiolite, the in-situ natural moissanite we found indicates a deep mantle origin of some materials in the mantle sequence of Luobusa ophiolite. Further, we proposed a transformation model to explain the transfer process of UHP materials from the deep mantle to ophiolite sequence and then to the supra-subduction zone environment. Interactions between the crown of the mantle plume and mid-ocean ridge are suggested to be the dominant mechanism. © 2014 Geological Society of China.