Abstract
The sulphur isotope composition of the mantle has been generally considered to be 0±2‰1. There is, however, considerable uncertainty in the mean δ34S value of the mantle and in its range because there have been very few analyses of unaltered sulphide phases of direct mantle origin1–4 and δ34S values of sulphides from large mafic intrusions range from –9 to +17‰5. We report here ion microprobe δ34S determinations from two mantle derived sulphide inclusions (≈100 µm) preserved in a diamond (δ13C = –4.25‰) of peridotitic(?) paragenesis from Premier (South Africa) and in four diamonds of eclogitic paragenesis from Orapa (Botswana). Three octahedral sulphides have lower δ34S values (+2.3±1.4‰) than three platelet-like sulphides (+8.2±0.9‰). This evidence for mantle heterogeneity for sulphur is interpreted in terms of recycling of crustal material into the eclogitic region of diamond growth in the mantle.
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Chaussidon, M., Albarède, F. & Sheppard, S. Sulphur isotope heterogeneity in the mantle from ion microprobe measurements of sulphide inclusions in diamonds. Nature 330, 242–244 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/330242a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/330242a0
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