Sulfur isotopes in diamonds reveal differences in continent construction
Abstract
Neoproterozoic West African diamonds contain sulfide inclusions with mass-independently fractionated (MIF) sulfur isotopes that trace Archean surficial signatures into the mantle. Two episodes of subduction are recorded in these West African sulfide inclusions: thickening of the continental lithosphere through horizontal processes around 3 billion years ago and reworking and diamond growth around 650 million years ago. We find that the sulfur isotope record in worldwide diamond inclusions is consistent with changes in tectonic processes that formed the continental lithosphere in the Archean. Slave craton diamonds that formed 3.5 billion years ago do not contain any MIF sulfur. Younger diamonds from the Kaapvaal, Zimbabwe, and West African cratons do contain MIF sulfur, which suggests craton construction by advective thickening of mantle lithosphere through conventional subduction-style horizontal tectonics.
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Mass-independently fractionated sulfur was not present in sulfides in Paleoarchean diamonds, but was in sulfides in younger diamonds.
“They showed that the mass-independently fractionated sulfur was not present in sulfides in Paleoarchean diamonds, but was in sulfides in younger diamonds.”
From Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth (2020) · cites this paper as Smit et al. (2019)
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Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth
Palin, R. M., Santosh, M., Cao, W., Li, S.-S., Hernández-Uribe, D., & Parsons, A. (2020) · Earth-Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103172 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
“Smit et al. (2019) compared the mass-independently fractionated sulfur, which refers to Δ33S (33S/32S) and Δ36S (36S/32S) relative to Δ34S (34S/32S), in sulfide inclusions in diamond from Archean to Proterozoic terranes.”
Background
- Authors
- Smit, K. V., Shirey, S. B., Hauri, E. H., & Stern, R. A.
- Affiliations
- Gemological Institute of America (US)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Smit, Karen V.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2019-04-26
- Volume
- 364
- Issue
- 6438
- Pages
- 383-385
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2940826215
- Cited by
- 73
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 6.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (1049992)
- University of Alberta
- Carnegie Institution for Science
- Gemological Institute of America
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Keywords
- sulfur isotopes, mass-independent fractionation, sulfide inclusions, subduction, lithospheric mantle, West African Craton, Kaapvaal Craton, Zimbabwe Craton, diamond growth
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