Relationships between oxygen fugacity and metasomatism in the Kaapvaal subcratonic mantle, represented by garnet peridotite xenoliths in the Wesselton kimberlite, South Africa

A suite of 12 peridotite xenoliths from the Wesselton kimberlite was studied and found to sample the subcratonic lithospheric mantle over a pressure range from 3.6 to 4.7GPa and a temperature range of 880 to 1120°C. Major, minor and trace element compositions indicate that both metasomatised and un-metasomatised samples are present over this pressure range. Fe³⁺/∑Fe in garnet from four xenoliths was determined using Fe K-edge XANES spectroscopy, enabling the redox state of the sampled subcratonic mantle to be determined for three garnet bearing samples. δlogfO₂^[FMQ] varied from 0 to -3.3 over the sampled pressure interval, with the un-metasomatised samples falling within the global trend of decreasing δlogfO₂^[FMQ] with increasing depth. Superimposed on this was an oxidation trend, at higher pressures (≥4.5GPa), with δlogfO₂ increasing by 1.5 to 2 units in the metasomatically enriched samples, indicating a clear link between metasomatism and oxidation. One potential source of this oxidation is a carbonated silicate melt, which will increase in carbonate content as δlogfO₂ increases. Mantle minerals affected by such a melt have the potential to shift from the field of diamond stability into that of carbonate, threatening the stability of diamond.