Natural occurrence of silicon carbide in a diamondiferous kimberlite from Fuxian

Abstract

Considerable debate surrounds the existence of silicon carbide in nature, mostly owing to the problem of possible contamination by man-made SiC. Recently, Gurney 1 reviewed reports of rare SiC inclusions in diamonds, and noted that SiC can only be regarded as a probable rather than proven cogenetic mineral. Here we report our observation of clusters of SiC coexisting with diamond in a kimberlite from Fuxian, China. Macrocrysts of α-SiC are overgrown epitaxially by β-SiC, and both polymorphs are structurally well ordered. We have also measured the carbon isotope compositions of SiC and diamonds from Fuxian. We find that SiC is more enriched in 12 C than diamond by 20‰, relative to the PDB standard. Isotope fractionation might have occurred through an isotope exchange reaction in a common carbon reservoir. Silicon carbide may thus ultimately provide information on carbon cycling in the Earth's mantle.