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The presence of diamonds of lherzolitic, eclogitic and websteritic paragenesis in proximal alluvial deposits on the southwestern edge of the São Francisco Craton documents the incorporation of subducted oceanic crust and associated metasomatism through slab dehydration fluids affecting the local SCLM. To better constrain the subduction-association of diamond substrates and metasomatic events, we conducted a combined study of the δ13C-δ15N-[N] characteristics of 81 diamonds and the δ18O values of four of their eclogitic garnet inclusions. Diamond carbon isotope compositions range from −25.5 to +0.5‰, with 13C-depleted diamonds (≤ −7‰) being exclusively of eclogitic/websteritic paragenesis while the 13C-enriched (≥ −2‰) tail of the distribution is related to diamonds with lherzolitic inclusions. Nitrogen isotope values range from −14.2 to +25.5‰, with about half of the values being positive. A general absence of coherent trends in δ13C-δ15N-[N] across growth zones implies that diamond formation did not occur under fluid-limited conditions. Instead, the observed heterogeneity in carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions reflects contributions of distinct source reservoirs hosted in both altered oceanic crust and Earth's mantle. Nitrogen contents peak around a δ15N value of −3.5‰, indicating that more N-rich fluids, presumably representing a primitive endmember composition, have a mantle-like δ15N signature. While positive and negative δ15N values occur equally near the δ13C mantle value (−5 ± 2‰), 13C-depleted diamonds have nitrogen isotope compositions skewed towards positive values. 13C depletion and 15N enrichment is a signature of biogenic carbonates/organic matter and low-T clays in uppermost, basaltic sections of oceanic crust that experienced low-temperature seawater alteration prior to subduction. Correspondingly, the oxygen isotope compositions of eclogitic garnet inclusions fall in a restricted range between +5.5‰ to +7.0‰. For three of the four samples, the stable isotope signatures of inclusions and host diamonds display perfect agreement, with the intensity of seawater alteration signatures, in the form of garnet inclusion 18O enrichment and host diamond 13C depletion and 15N enrichment, increasing together. For the fourth sample, the δ18O signature of the garnet inclusion (+5.5‰) and δ13C-δ15N signatures of the diamond host (−25 and + 19‰, respectively) are decoupled. While the mantle-like δ18O signature indicates a diamond substrate derived from deeper levels in oceanic crust (e.g., deep sheeted dikes), the diamond-forming fluids must have originated from sources that originally resided near the sea water interface. A viable mode of mixing such disparate isotopic signatures is the interaction of diamond-forming fluids derived from shallow oceanic crust altered at low-temperatures with eclogitized substrates originally formed in deeper levels of oceanic crust. This process likely occurred during diamond formation in a tectonic subduction mélange, which juxtaposes deeper and shallower levels of oceanic crust. In the lithospheric mantle above the subcreted oceanic slab, the elevated carbon isotope and highly variable nitrogen isotope compositions of diamonds formed in lherzolitic substrates likely relate to devolatilization and/or melting of principally oceanic sediments containing marine carbonates and clays and subsequent mixing with mantle-derived volatile components. In combination, our diamond and inclusion stable isotope data provide insight into multiple processes that promote diamond formation both inside subducted slabs accreted to the São Francisco cratonic keel and in adjacent subcontinental lithospheric mantle. • Diamonds record both mantle and crustal isotopic signatures. • Eclogitic and websteritic diamonds are 13C-depleted, lherzolitic diamonds are 13C-enriched. • Mantle fluids are more nitrogen-rich than subduction fluids. • Garnet inclusions δ18O reflects original stratigraphic position within oceanic crust. • Diamond formation within subduction mélange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A suite of kimberlite-hosted mantle xenoliths from the Catalão region, southwestern margin of the São Francisco Craton (SFC), Brazil, consists of spinel lherzolites (type I and II) and garnet-phlogopite wehrlites. The chemical composition of these xenoliths provides evidence of enrichment and refertilization of the SFC lithosphere which were caused by distinct metasomatic agents. Garnet-phlogopite wehrlites have porphyroclastic textures and were equilibrated between 1005 and 1010 °C and 2.9–3.0 GPa (∼99 km). They record metasomatism caused by carbonatite and proto-kimberlite melts. Type I spinel lherzolite contains spinel-pyroxene symplectites indicating garnet destabilization due to variations of the P-T conditions. The minerals in this rock were equilibrated between 975 and 990 °C and their chemical compositions contain evidence for carbonatite metasomatism. High-Cr and low-Al clinopyroxene of garnet-phlogopite wehrlites and type I spinel lherzolite have high Mg#, Ca/Al, La/Yb N, Zr/Hf ratios, and high Sr contents, coupled with low to intermediate Ti/Eu and Ti/Nb, which also suggests that they were formed by carbonatite melt. These geochemical features, together with the presence of carbonate inclusions in the olivines, corroborate the interaction with carbonatite melt. The low-Ti-Cr phlogopite (Phl1), which is restricted to only the garnet-phlogopite wehrlites, was probably produced through the release of volatiles components from the carbonatite melt that reacted with garnet porphyroclasts. Furthermore, metasomatic reactions involving garnet-phlogopite wehrlites and a proto-kimberlite melt formed high-Ti-Cr phlogopite (Phl2), consuming the original phlogopite (Phl1). Phl2 occurs as rims around Phl1, as isolated flakes around garnets, and in the matrix of wehrlites. Therefore, we assume that the proto-kimberlite metasomatism responsible for generation of Phl2 occurred prior to the eruption of the host kimberlite magma. Conversely, type II spinel lherzolites (876–915 °C; ∼1.5 GPa) contain evidence of metasomatic reactions with silicate melts. These samples have high cpx/opx ratios (1.10–2.93) with low-Cr and high-Al clinopyroxene, and depleted incompatible trace element compositions. Some clinopyroxene crystals, however, show some enrichment in light rare earth elements (LREE), large ion lithophile elements (LILE), and Ti. Their low Ca/Al, La/Yb N , and Zr/Hf, low Sr contents, high Ti/Eu and Ti/Nb, and a strong positive correlation of Ti with the other high field strength elements (HFSE) and LREE, may indicate that these clinopyroxene crystals were formed by refertilization caused by a silicate melt that was depleted in incompatible elements. Overall, these metasomatic processes suggest a pervasive refertilization of the cratonic lithosphere where the typically depleted peridotites of cratonic regions were replaced by a pyroxene-rich lithology. • Mantle xenoliths from the SW margin of the SFC record pervasive metasomatism. • Wehrlites was formed by reaction of carbonatite melts with peridotite. • Low-Ti-Cr phlogopite records carbonatite metasomatism. • High-Ti-Cr phlogopite indicates proto-kimberlite melt metasomatism. • The shallow mantle (∼50 km) records refertilization caused by silicate melts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we present U–Pb and Hf isotope data combined with O isotopes in zircon from Neoarchean granitoids and gneisses of the southern São Francisco craton in Brazil. The basement rocks record three distinct magmatic events: Rio das Velhas I (2920–2850 Ma), Rio das Velhas II (2800–2760 Ma) and Mamona (2750–2680 Ma). The three sampled metamorphic complexes (Bação, Bonfim and Belo Horizonte) have distinct ε Hf vs. time arrays, indicating that they grew as separate terranes. Paleoarchean crust is identified as a source which has been incorporated into younger magmatic rocks via melting and mixing with younger juvenile material, assimilation and/or source contamination processes. The continental crust in the southern São Francisco craton underwent a change in magmatic composition from medium- to high-K granitoids in the latest stages, indicating a progressive HFSE enrichment of the sources that underwent anatexis in the different stages and possibly shallowing of the melting depth. Oxygen isotope data shows a secular trend towards high δ 18 O (up to 7.79‰) indicating the involvement of metasediments in the petrogenesis of the high potassium granitoids during the Mamona event. In addition, low δ 18 O values (down to 2.50‰) throughout the Meso- and Neoarchean emphasize the importance of meteoritic fluids in intra-crustal magmatism. We used hafnium isotope modelling from a compilation of detrital zircon compositions to constrain crustal growth rates and geodynamics from 3.50 to 2.65 Ga. The modelling points to a change in geodynamic process in the southern São Francisco craton at 2.9 Ga, from a regime dominated by net crustal growth in the Paleoarchean to a Neoarchean regime marked by crustal reworking. The reworking processes account for the wide variety of granitoid magmatism and are attributed to the onset of continental collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-silica rhyolites having U–Pb zircon ages of 3303 ± 11 Ma occur along the eastern border of the Gavião Block (Brazil) associated with the Contendas-Mirante and Mundo Novo supracrustal belts. Unlike many Archean greenstone sequences, they are not interlayered with mafic to intermediate units. Instead, they belong to an inter-related plutonic–volcanic system, together with granitic massifs having similar zircon crystallization ages of ca. 3293 ± 3 Ma and 3328 ± 3 Ma and plotting along the same geochemical trends as the rhyolites. The rhyolites show well-preserved primary volcanic features such as magma flow textures and euhedral phenocrysts. High emplacement temperatures are indicated by petrographic evidence (β-quartz phenocrysts), zircon saturation temperatures (915–820 °C) and geochemical data, especially high SiO 2 (74–79 wt.%) together with elevated Fe 2 O 3(T) (~ 3 wt.%), MgO (0.5–1.5 wt.%) and low Al 2 O 3 (< 11 wt.%). The rhyolites show homogeneous trace element ratios (La/Yb N 4.8 ± 1.8; Eu N /Eu* ~ 0.55; Sr/Y ~ 0.7) and negative ԐHf (3.3 Ga) from 0 to − 7, indicating derivation from a single crustal source for both occurrences. Specifically, the rhyolites would have derived from extraction and eruption of highly silicic residual liquid formed by crystallization of granitic magma in a relatively shallow (< 10 km) reservoir, now represented by the granite massifs. The granite magma was formed by melting or differentiation of material similar to the diorite gneiss that occurs regionally. The 3.30 Ga volcanic–plutonic systems formed after a period of crustal growth and stabilization of a thick continental lithosphere, represented by massive 3.40–3.33 Ga TTG and medium to high-K calk-alkaline magmatism in the Gavião Block. The 3.30 Ga-old rhyolites and granites would therefore have formed in an intracontinental tectonic setting after the formation and stabilization of new continental crust, and accordingly would represent the first stages of rifting and continental break-up. Intraplate magmatism and intracrustal differentiation processes took place on Earth at 3.3 Ga and produced magmas that were distinct from Archean TTGs, questioning the reliability (or at least the uniqueness) of “intraplate models” to explain the origin of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lithospheric mantle underpinning the Alto Paranaíba Igneous Province, southwestern São Francisco Craton, was investigated through a study of 82 diamonds and their mineral inclusions from the Coromandel (Douradinho River), Verde River (northern Coromandel), Abaeté, Frutal, and Romaria deposits. Mineral inclusion abundances show that lherzolite is the main diamond source-rock, followed by eclogite, harzburgite and minor websterite. The limited chemical depletion recorded in lherzolitic inclusions suggests a post-Archean origin or modification of the lithospheric mantle beneath this part of the São Francisco craton. Sinusoidal rare earth element patterns for lherzolitic garnet inclusions indicate variable but overall low degrees of metasomatism by fluids or silico‑carbonatitic (proto-kimberlitic) melts. These results contrast with previous studies on mineral inclusions in diamonds (Canastra range, southern Coromandel; Rio da Prata system, northeastern Coromandel; our new data on the Frutal area, southwestern Coromandel), where a dominance of harzburgitic inclusions documents a more depleted, likely Archean, cratonic root. Bulk rock compositions reconstructed from eclogitic and websteritic inclusions establish a clear link between subduction processes and diamond formation in the Coromandel region. Calculated bulk rare earth element patterns match typical sections of upper oceanic crust, where plagioclase accumulation is uncommon. Pyroxene inclusion-based geothermobarometry indicates that lherzolitic and websteritic diamonds formed and last resided along a ∼ 39 mW/m2 model geotherm. Projection of eclogitic garnet-clinopyroxene pairs onto this 39 mW/m2 geotherm places their origin near the base of the lithosphere (> 180 km depth). Low nitrogen contents and high aggregation states (up to 100 %B) indicate that eclogitic, websteritic, and part of the lherzolitic diamond populations experienced extended (2.0 Byr) mantle residence at high temperatures (> 1200 °C). The similarity in mantle residence temperatures and the shared presence of minor negative Eu anomalies for eclogitic and websteritic diamonds and their inclusions may be indicative of a common origin, following emplacement of subducted oceanic crust beneath the São Francisco Craton margin likely during a Paleoproterozoic orogeny (2.2–1.9 Ga). Based on our results, future exploration efforts in the Alto Paranaíba region should shift their focus from harzburgitic to lherzolitic and eclogitic indicator minerals to find new diamond deposits and kimberlites in this area. • Lherzolite and eclogite main diamond substrates in Alto Paranaíba Igneous Province. • Moderate olivine Mg# and rare G10 garnets indicate mild SCLM depletion. • Lherzolitic substrates affected by fluid or silico‑carbonatitic melt metasomatism. • Eclogitic and websteritic diamonds derived from base of lithosphere. • Eclogitic diamonds linked to Paleoproterozoic (2.2–1.9 Ga) subduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The São Francisco Craton (SFC) is an Archaean craton that hosts a significant number of mafic intrusions. Previous attempts to date the igneous emplacement of these rocks are limited to a few dates of poor precision. Here, two dyke swarms from the Uauá Block in the northeastern portion of the craton were dated using U–Pb on baddeleyite (ID-TIMS) and zircon (SIMS). The older dyke swarm trends mainly N–S to NW–SE (but also NE) and comprises norite dykes, whereas the younger dykes are tholeiite and trend NE–SW. The ages of 2726.2±3.2 and 2623.8±7.0Ma date dykes of noritic and tholeiitic compositions, respectively. The older age matches the ages of several Archaean-Large Igneous Provinces (tholeiitic-komatiite greenstone belts and continental flood basalts) worldwide and represents part of a feeder system, but the younger age is similar to Andean style continental margin magmatism in the São Francisco and Zimbabwe cratons. The two dyke swarms are tholeiitic in composition but the noritic dykes are more enriched in both compatible and incompatible elements and have higher (La/Yb)N ratios than the tholeiite dykes. The norite dykes are interpreted as low degrees of melting from enriched refractory mantle sources, whereas the tholeiite dykes represent high degrees of partial melting of more depleted mantle sources; the two mafic dyke swarms may be related to each other by progressive extension of the continental lithosphere. It is suggested that the Uauá Block with its dyke swarms is a small piece of Archaean crust dispersed after the break-up of a major Archaean supercraton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the present study, we describe and discuss the geology of aluminous–magnesian granulites and associated garnet-bearing charnockitic granulite from the Brejões Dome area, located in the Jequié Block, part of the São Francisco Craton in Bahia, Brazil. Investigation of metamorphic mineral assemblages allows the evaluation of P–T conditions for the formation of these rocks, and therefore to obtain constraints for the better understanding of the geological evolution of the area. We conclude that the rocks from the Brejões Dome area were formed under granulite facies conditions of low to intermediate pressure (5–8 kbar). Temperatures determined in samples of aluminous–magnesian granulites collected away from the dome are in the order of 850 °C, similar to those determined elsewhere in the southern part of the Itabuna–Salvador–Curaçá Orogen. However, samples of the same rock type collected close to the Brejões Dome are hercynite+quartz-bearing and record higher temperatures of about 900–1000 °C. It is suggested that the intrusion of the Brejões charnockite diapir was responsible for a local increase in temperature above the peak temperature of regional granulite metamorphism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Minor altered intrusions and drab retrogressed schists can easily be overlooked in geological studies but this contribution explores these rocks within the Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic southern São Francisco Craton (SSFC), Brazil using geological relationships and accessory mineral in situ analyses in the context of cratonic assembly. Three magmatic pulses are documented: i) Archaean and ii) Palaeoproterozoic felsic intrusions, both hosted by Archaean protoliths, and iii) Palaeoproterozoic felsic intrusions in Palaeoproterozoic supracrustal sequences. Archaean felsic intrusions confirm the Palaeoarchaean age of the mafic/ultramafic sequence of the Rio das Velhas Greenstone Belt and Rhyacian intrusions mark the collisional stage of the Mineiro Belt with the SFC at c. 2130 Ma. Greenstone belt schists show a wide distribution of rounded 'soccer ball' Archaean detrital and metamorphic zircon grains ranging in age from 3200 to 2750 Ma with an interpreted overprinting high-grade metamorphic event at c. 2700 to 2680 Ma. Most high-grade metamorphic rims have Th/U > 0.1, negative εHf (t) values and REE pattern consistent with eclogite/granulite metamorphic facies, reinforcing the hypothesis of a dehydrated-refractory crust formed during the stabilization of the SSFC, even though no such protoliths are preserved. This event links crustal thickening and partial melting of Archaean lower crust. Archaean rutile crystals from the greenstone belt schist were reset during the Palaeoproterozoic event but still preserve the early Archaean high-grade metamorphic signature. The presence of unstable ilmenite replaced by rutile in the schist, associated to felsic intrusions with the same age at c. 2130 Ma suggest high pressure, low temperature prograde metamorphism during the collisional stage of the Palaeoproterozoic orogen. Elongate and prismatic zircon grains from the Rhyacian intrusions have low εHf (t) signature and crystallised from partial melting of sedimentary protoliths. Accretionary events produced thicker and more differentiated crust by the end of Rhyacian time. Easily overlooked rocks in this study, when studied, have revealed a rich multi-event history of cratonic evolution. • Archaean felsic intrusions constrain the Rio das Velhas Greenstone Belt evolution in at least 200 Myr; • High-grade soccer ball metamorphic zircon grains depict conditions of Archaean crustal amalgamation; • First report of Rhyacian felsic intrusions in the Minas and Rio das Velhas supergroups of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero; • Rhyacian felsic intrusions in the supracrustal sequences derive from reworked crust; • Rhyacian felsic magmatism around the margins of the SSFC depicts the collisional stage of the Minas accretionary orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]