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The uranium content of garnet lherzolite xenoliths from kimberlites
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2018
Summary
Uranium contents ranging from 0.03–1.18 ppm have been determined by delayed neutron activation analysis in a suite of 19 ultrabasic xenoliths (mostly of the common garnet lherzolite type) from the kimberlites of southern Africa. Consideration of these and previous data lead us to conclude that the U content of uncontaminated garnet lherzolite in the uppermost mantle is on average roughly 0.04–0.05 ppm, levels which are sufficient to account for the observed U contents of fresh basalts. Higher U contents in mantle-derived ultrabasic xenoliths are the result of secondary alteration processes, most probably related to infiltration metasomatism stemming from contact with kimberlitic or carbonatitic magma fractions. This introduced U is concentrated along the boundaries of the primary mineral grains and is mostly readily removed by acid leaching. A partial analysis is given for a secondary uraniferous calcium phosphate phase observed in kelyphitic rims around garnets.
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- Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1980
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