Where is kimberlite formed?

Where is kimberlite formed?

mantle
Kimberlite occurs in the Earth’s crust in vertical structures known as kimberlite pipes, as well as igneous dykes. Kimberlite also occurs as horizontal sills. Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today. The consensus on kimberlites is that they are formed deep within the mantle.

How is this type of rock formed kimberlite?

Unlike most of the surface rocks in Kansas, which are sedimentary in origin, kimberlite is an igneous rock, formed from the cooling of molten magma. If volatile gases, such as carbon dioxide and water, are present, they may propel the molten peridotite upwards, forming a kimberlite magma.

What gems are found in kimberlite?

Garnet, chromite, ilmenite, chromium diopside, and olivine occur in kimberlites in significantly higher quantities than diamonds. As kimberlite indicator minerals, they are used for diamond prospecting, as well as for the primary assessment of whether a target kimberlite is diamond-bearing or not.

Where can I find kimberlite rocks?

Kimberlites – named after the South African town of Kimberley where they were first diamond was discovered – are generally only found in very old parts of the Earth’s crust. They are the sites of small but violent volcanic eruptions that brought material – including diamonds – spewing to the surface.

Do diamonds form in kimberlite?

The xenoliths found in kimberlite include diamonds, and the vast majority of the diamonds mined in the world today is found in kimberlite ores. Exactly how kimberlites acquire the necessary buoyancy for their long ascent through Earth’s crust has, however, been something of a mystery.

What rock makes diamonds?

kimberlite
Diamond is only formed at high pressures. It is found in kimberlite, an ultrabasic volcanic rock formed very deep in the Earth’s crust. The extreme pressures needed to form diamonds are only reached at depths greater than 150km.

Can you find diamond in quartz?

Diamonds can scratch every other mineral, but only diamonds can scratch diamonds. Quartz, the most likely mineral to be mistaken for diamonds in uncut rough form, ranks 7 on the Mohs Hardness Scale.

What do diamonds in kimberlite look like?

kimberlite, also called blue ground, a dark-coloured, heavy, often altered and brecciated (fragmented), intrusive igneous rock that contains diamonds in its rock matrix. It has a porphyritic texture, with large, often rounded crystals (phenocrysts) surrounded by a fine-grained matrix (groundmass).

What does kimberlite look like?

Kimberlite, also called blue ground, a dark-coloured, heavy , often altered and brecciated (fragmented), intrusive igneous rock that contains diamonds in its rock matrix. It has a porphyritic texture, with large, often rounded crystals (phenocrysts) surrounded by a fine-grained matrix (groundmass).

How to find kimberlite pipes?

Kimberlite –nearly vertical, cylindrical body or opening in the rock, near the surface. kimberlite pipes are found in clusters, at depths they link up with dykes, a wall like body of igneous rock formed as the effect of having been pushed up into a crack in a heated or liquid condition.

Where are kimberlites found?

Kimberlite occurs in the Earth’s crust in vertical structures known as kimberlite pipes, as well as igneous dykes. Kimberlite also occurs as horizontal sills. Kimberlite pipes are the most important source of mined diamonds today. The consensus on kimberlites is that they are formed deep within the mantle.

Where is kimberlite found?

Kimberlite is an igneous rock, which sometimes contains diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5-carat (16.70 g) diamond called the Star of South Africa in 1869 spawned a diamond rush and the digging of the open-pit mine called the Big Hole.