Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Deformation-related spectroscopic features in natural Type Ib-IaA diamonds from Zimmi (West African craton)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Zimmi diamonds (Sierra Leone) have 500 million year mantle residency times whose origin is best explained by rapid tectonic exhumation to shallower depths in the mantle, associated with continental collision but prior to kimberlite eruption. Here we present spectroscopic data for a new suite of Zimmi sulphide-bearing diamonds that allow us to evaluate the link between their spectroscopic features and their unusual geological history. Cathodoluminesence (CL) imaging of these diamonds revealed irregular patterns with abundant deformation lamellae, associated with the diamonds’ tectonic exhumation. Vacancies formed during deformation were subsequently naturally annealed to form vacancy clusters, NV0/− centres and H3 (NVN0). The brownish-yellow to greenish-yellow colours observed in Zimmi Ib-IaA diamonds result from visible absorption by a combination of isolated substitutional nitrogen (\( {\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{S}}^0 \)) and deformation-related vacancy clusters. Colour-forming centres and other spectroscopic features can all be attributed to the unique geological history of Zimmi Ib-IaA diamonds and their rapid exhumation after formation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Boyd SR, Kiflawi I, Woods GS (1994) The relationship between infrared absorption and the A defect concentration in diamond. Philos Mag B 69(6):1149–1153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookes A, Daniel R (2001) Influence of nitrogen content on the mechanical properties of diamond. In: Neves AJ, Nazare M (eds) Properties, growth and applications of diamond. INSPEC, The Institution of Electrical Engineers, London, pp 142–148

  • Bulanova GP, Varshavsky AV, Kotegov VA (2005) A venture into the interior of natural diamond: genetic information and implications for the gem industry. J Gemmol 29(7/8):377–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chrenko RM, Strong HM, Tuft RE (1971) Dispersed paramagnetic nitrogen content of large laboratory diamonds. Philos Mag 23(182):313–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark CD, Ditchburn RW, Dyer HB (1956) The absorption spectra of irradiated diamonds after heat treatment. P Roy Soc A-Math Phy 237(1208):75–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins AT (1979) High temperature annealing of colour centres in Type I diamond. Diamond Research 1979 (De Beers Industrial Diamond Division) 7–12

  • Collins AT (1980) Vacancy enhanced aggregation of nitrogen in diamond. J Phys C Solid State 13:2641–2650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins AT (1982a) Colour centres in diamond. J Gemmol 18(1):37–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins AT (1982b) A spectroscopic survey of naturally-occurring vacancy-related colour centres in diamond. J Phys D Appl Phys 15:1431–1438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins AT (1992) The characterisation of point defects in diamond by luminescence spectroscopy. Diam Relat Mater 1:457–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins AT, Woods GS (1982) An anomaly in the infrared absorption spectrum of synthetic diamond. Philos Mag B B 46:77–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dale MW (2015) Colour centres on demand in diamond. PhD thesis, University of Warwick

  • Davies G, Hamer MF (1976) Optical studies of the 1.945 eV vibronic band in diamond. P Roy Soc A 348:285–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries RC (1975) Plastic deformation and “work-hardening” of diamond. Mater Res Bull 10(11):1193–1199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrzhinetskaya LF, Eide EA, Larsen RB, Sturt BA, Trønnes RG, Smith DC, Taylor WR, Posukhova TV (1995) Microdiamond in high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Western Gness region, Norway. Geology 23(7):597–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans T, Qi Z (1982) The kinetics of aggregation of nitrogen in diamond. P Roy Soc A 361:109–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Fedortchouk Y, Zhang Z (2011) Diamond resorption: link to metasomatic events in the mantle or record of magmatic fluid in kimberlitic magma? Can Mineral 49:707–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher D, Sibley SJ, Kelly CJ (2009) Brown colour in natural diamond and interaction between the brown related and other colour-inducing defects. J Phys-Condens Mat 21:364213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaillou E, Post JE, Bassim ND, Zaitsev AM, Rose T, Fries MD, Stroud RM, Steele A, Butler JE (2010) Spectroscopic and microscopic characterizations of color lamellae in natural pink diamonds. Diam Relat Mater 19:1207–1220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaillou E, Post JE, Rose T, Butler JE (2012) Cathodoluminescence of natural, plastically deformed pink diamonds. Microsc Microanal 18:1292–1302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goss JP, Briddon PR, Hill V, Jones R, Rayson MJ (2014) Identification of the structure of the 3107 cm−1 H-related defect in diamond. J Phys-Condens Mat 26:145801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham RJ, Moustakas TD, Disko MM (1991) Cathodoluminescence imaging of defects and impurities in diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition. J Appl Phys 69(5):3212–3218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hainschwang T, Fritsch E, Notari F, Rondeau B (2012) A new defect center in type Ib diamond inducing one phonon infrared absorption: the Y center. Diam Relat Mater 12:120–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hainschwang T, Fritsch E, Notari F, Rondeau B, Katrusha A (2013) The origin of color in natural C center bearing diamonds. Diam Relat Mater 39:27–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley PL, Kiflawi I, Lang AR (1977) On topographically identifiable sources of cathodoluminescence in natural diamonds. P Roy Soc 284:329–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow GE (1998) The nature of diamonds. Cambridge University Press. 278 pp

  • Hounsome L, Jones R, Martineau PM, Fisher D, Shaw MJ, Briddon PR, Oberg S (2006) Origin of brown coloration in diamond. Phys Rev B 73:125203(8)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell D, O’Neill CJ, Grant KJ, Griffin WL, O’Reilly SY, Pearson NJ, Stern RA, Stachel T (2012a) Platelet development in cuboid diamonds: insights from micro-FTIR mapping. Contrib Mineral Petrol 64:1011–1025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell D, O’Neill CJ, Grant KJ, Griffin WL, Pearson NJ, O’Reilly SY (2012b) micro-FTIR mapping: distribution of impurities in different types of diamond growth. Diam Relat Mater 29:29–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell D, Stern RA, Griffin WL, Southworth R, Mikhail S, Stachel T (2015) Nitrogen isotope systematics and origins of mixed-habit diamonds. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 157:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull D, Bacon DJ (1984) Introduction to dislocations. Pergamon Press, Oxford, p 257

    Google Scholar 

  • Janak M, Ravna EJK, Kullerud K, Yoshida K, Milovsky R, Hirajima T (2013) Discovery of diamond in the Tromsø Nappe, Scandinavian Calenonides (N. Norway). J Metamorph Geol 31:691–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones R, Goss JP, Pinto H, Palmer DW (2015) Diffusion of nitrogen in diamond and the formation of A-centres. Diam Relat Mater 53:35–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan RUA, Cann BL, Martineau PM, Samartseva J, Freeth JJP, Sibley SJ, Hartland CB, Newton ME, Dhillon HK, Twitchen DJ (2013) Colour-causing defects and their related optoelectronic transitions in single crystal CVD diamond. J Phys-Condens Mat 25:275801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiflawi I, Lang AR (1976) On the correspondence between cathodoluminescence images and X-ray diffraction contrast images of individual dislocations in diamond. Philos Mag 33:697–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiflawi I, Mayer AE, Spear PM, van Wyk JA, Woods GS (1994) Infrared absorption by the single nitrogen and A defect centres in diamond. Philos Mag B 69(6):1141–1147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiflawi I, Mainwood A, Kanda H, Fisher D (1996) Nitrogen interstitials in diamond. Phys Rev B 54(23):16719–16726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiflawi I, Kanda H, Mainwood A (1998) The effect of nickel and the kinetics of the aggregation of nitrogen in diamond. Diam Relat Mater 7:327–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King JM, Shigley JE, Gelb TH, Guhin SS, Hall M, Wang W (2005) Characterization and grading of natural-color yellow diamonds. Gems Gemol 41(2):88–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawson SC, Fisher D, Hunt DC, Newton ME (1998) On the existence of positively charged single-substitutional nitrogen in diamond. J Phys-Condens Mat 10:6171–6180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lifshitz IM, Slyozov VV (1961) The kinetics of precipitation from supersaturated solid solutions. J Phys Chem Solids 19:35–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liggins S (2010) Identification of point defects in treated single crystal diamond. PhD thesis, University of Warwick

  • Lytwyn J, Burke K, Culver S (2006) The nature and location of the suture zone in the Rokelide orogen, Sierra Leone: geochemical evidence. J Afr Earth Sci 46:439–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majka J, Rosen A, Janak M, Froitzheim N, Klonowska I, Manecki M, Sasinkova V, Yoshida K (2014) Microdiamond discovered in the Seve Nappe (Scandinavian Caledonides) and its exhumation by the “vacuum-cleaner” mechanism. Geology 42(12):1107–1110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massi L, Fritsch E, Collins AT, Hainschwang T, Notari F (2005) The “amber centres” and their relation to the brown colour in diamond. Diam Relat Mater 14:1623–1629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mineeva RM, Titkov SV, Speransky AV (2009) Structural defects in natural plastically deformed diamonds: evidence from EPR spectroscopy. Geol Ore Deposit 51:233–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlov YL (1977) The mineralogy of diamond. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, pp 248

  • Petts DC, Stern RA, Chacko T, Stachel T, Heaman LM (2015) A nitrogen isotope fractionation factor between diamond and its parental fluid derived from detailed SIMS analysis of a gem diamond and theoretical calculations. Chem Geol 410:188–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shigley J, Breeding CM (2013) Bright yellow diamonds from Sierra Leone. Gems Gemol 49(4):259–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Shirey SB, Richardson SH (2011) Start of the Wilson Cycle at 3 Ga shown by diamonds from subcontinental mantle. Science 333:434–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner EMW, Apter DB, Morelli C, Smithson NK (2004) Kimberlites of the Man craton, West Africa. Lithos 76:233–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit KV, Shirey SB, Wang W (2016) Type Ib diamond formation and preservation in the West African lithospheric mantle: Re-Os age constraints from sulphide inclusions in Zimmi diamonds. Precambrian Res 286:152–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith EM, Helmstaedt HH, Flemming RL (2009) Survival of the brown colour in diamond during storage in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Can Mineral 48:571–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith EM, Shirey SB, Nestola F, Bullock ES, Wang J, Richardson SH, Wang W (2016) Large gem diamonds from metallic liquid in Earth’s deep mantle. Science 354(6318):1403–1405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparks RSJ, Baker L, Brown RJ, Field M, Schumacher J, Stripp G, Walters A (2006) Dynamical constraints on kimberlite eruption. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 155:18–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stachel T, Harris JW (2008) The origin of cratonic diamonds - constraints from mineral inclusions. Ore Geol Rev 34(1–2):5–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stachel T, Harris JW, Hunt L, Muehlenbachs K, Kobussen A, EIMF (2018) Argyle diamonds - how subduction along the Kimberley craton edge generated the world’s biggest diamond deposit. SEG - Spec Pub, in press

  • Steeds JW, Davis TJ, Charles SJ, Hayes JM, Butler JE (1999) 3H luminescence in electron-irradiated diamond samples and its relationship to self-interstitials. Diam Relat Mater 8:1847–1852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sumida N, Lang AR (1981) Cathodoluminescence evidence of dislocation interactions in diamond. Philos Mag A 43(5):1277–1287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor WR, Canil D, Milledge HJ (1996) Kinetics of Ib to IaA nitrogen aggregation in diamond. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 60(23):4725–4733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Titkov SV, Shigley JE, Breeding CM, Mineeva RM, Zudin NG, Sergeev AM (2008) Natural-color purple diamonds from Siberia. Gems Gemol 44:56–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Titkov SV, Krivovichev SV, Organova NI (2012) Plastic deformation of natural diamonds by twinning: evidence from X-ray diffraction studies. Mineral Mag 76:143–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Titkov SV, Mineeva RM, Zudina NN, Sergeev AM, Ryabchikov ID, Shiryaev AA, Speransky AV, Zhikhareva VP (2014) The luminescent nature of orange coloration in natural diamonds: optical and EPR study. Phys Chem Miner 42(2):131–141

  • Titkov SV, Shiryaev AA, Zudina NN, Zudin NG, Solodova YP (2015) Defects in cubic diamonds from the placers in the northeastern Siberian platform: results of IR microspectrometry. Russ Geol Geophys 56:354–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Enckevort WJP, Visser EP (1990) Photoluminescence microtomography of diamond. Philos Mag B 62:597–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welbourn CM, Cooper M, Spear PM (1996) De Beers natural versus synthetic diamond verification instruments. Gems Gemol 32(3):156–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson L, Head JW (2007) An integrated model of kimberlite ascent and eruption. Nature 447:53–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zudina NN, Titkov SV, Sergeev AM, Zudin NG (2013) Features of photoluminescence centers in cubic diamonds of various coloration from placers in the north-east of Siberian platform. Proceedings of the Russian Mineralogical Society 142(4):57–72

Download references

Acknowledgements

Israel Eliezri from Coldiam Ltd. is thanked for providing samples from Zimmi. Adrian Chan assisted with laser cutting and polishing the diamond plates. Phil Diggle, Mark Newton and Thomas Stachel are thanked for discussions that helped clarify some concepts. Thank you to John King for his help with the diamond colour descriptions, and Evan Smith for his comments on a previous version of this paper. Constructive reviews from Thomas Hainschwang, Eloise Gaillou, Sergey Titkov, an anonymous reviewer and the editor, Lutz Nasdala, improved the manuscript. D.H. acknowledges support from European Research Council Starting Grant 307322 awarded to Fabrizio Nestola.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gemological Institute of America, 50 West 47th Street, New York City, NY, 10036, USA

    Karen V. Smit, Ulrika F. S. D’Haenens-Johansson, Lorne C. Loudin & Wuyi Wang

  2. Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via G. Gradenigo 6, 35131, Padova, Italy

    Daniel Howell

  3. Diamond Durability Laboratory, 580 5th Ave, New York City, NY, 10036, USA

    Daniel Howell

Authors
  1. Karen V. Smit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ulrika F. S. D’Haenens-Johansson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Daniel Howell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lorne C. Loudin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wuyi Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen V. Smit.

Additional information

Editorial handling: L. Nasdala

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 2212 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smit, K.V., D’Haenens-Johansson, U.F.S., Howell, D. et al. Deformation-related spectroscopic features in natural Type Ib-IaA diamonds from Zimmi (West African craton). Miner Petrol 112 (Suppl 1), 243–257 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-018-0587-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-018-0587-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation