| Abstract: | Considerable debate surrounds the existence of silicon carbide in nature, mostly owing to the problem of possible contamination by man-made SiC. Recently, Gurney1 reviewed reports of rare SiC inclusions in diamonds, and noted that SiC can only be regarded as a probable rather than proven cogenetic mineral. Here we report our observation of clusters of SiC coexisting with diamond in a kimberlite from Fuxian, China. Macrocrysts of ??-SiC are overgrown epitaxially by ??-SiC, and both polymorphs are structurally well ordered. We have also measured the carbon isotope compositions of SiC and diamonds from Fuxian. We find that SiC is more enriched in 12C than diamond by 20% relative to the PDB standard. Isotope fractionation might have occurred through an isotope exchange reaction in a common carbon reservoir. Silicon carbide may thus ultimately provide information on carbon cycling in the Earth‘s mantle. |
| Genre: | Article |
| ProdID: | 70016175 |
| Citation Author: | Leung, I.; Guo, W.; Friedman, I.; Gleason, J. |
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| Citation End Page: | 354 |
| Citation Issue: | 6282 |
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| Citation Language: | English |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | Nature |
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| Citation Number Of Pages: | 3 |
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| Citation Search Results Text: | Natural occurrence of silicon carbide in a diamondiferous kimberlite from Fuxian; 1990; Article; Journal; Nature; Leung, I.; Guo, W.; Friedman, I.; Gleason, J. |
| Citation Start Page: | 352 |
| Citation Volume: | 346 |
| Citation Year: | 1990 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Natural occurrence of silicon carbide in a diamondiferous kimberlite from Fuxian; 1990; Article; Journal; Nature; Leung, I.; Guo, W.; Friedman, I.; Gleason, J. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| Date Other: | Mon, 1 Jan 1990 00:00 -0600 |
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