Intrusion features of some hypabyssal south African kimberlites
Tóm tắt
Kimberlite in certain dykes and in the deepest parts of some diatremes show textural and other features which contrast with those in the breccia diatremes. Some hypabyssal kimberlite intrusions show relatively high-temperature contact phenomena including baking of country-rock sediments and sedimentary xenoliths, and contrasting with the brecciated texture of most diatreme-facies kimberlites, in the hypabyssal kimberlites are numerous examples of preferred orientation of inequidimensional minerals (? trachytic flow texture), and rapid mineralogical gradients from the contact towards the dyke centres that may be attributable to flowage differentiation. In the Benfontein sill (Kimberley area) there is well-developed horizontal banding due to gravitational settling, and pseudo-sedimentary structures are also present. The accumulated evidence indicates that kimberlite existed as a relatively hot fluid up to depths of 2–3 km below the land-surface at the time of intrusion; above this level, gas release caused diatreme formation, brecciation and adiabatic cooling. These views are contrary to those of geologists who postulate eruption of kimberlite as a cold breccia directly from the mantle or deep within the crust, but accords with the views of many Russian geologsts who accept the existence of kimberlite magma, the extrusive equivalent of which is the ultrabasic lava meimechite.
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