Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Carbon isotopic variation within individual diamonds

Abstract

Various regions of type I diamonds have been analysed to determine intra-specimen variation in carbon isotopic abundance. We report here that generally, although not in all cases, a trend was observed from the centre to the exterior. The cores of some samples were isotopically light (enriched in 12C) whereas the edges became progressively heavier. For the specimen showing the greatest spread of δ13C values, the range observed covered almost 4‰, from −11.01 to −7.32‰. Such changes could be interpreted according to one or a combination of fractionation processes. Since diamonds exhibit a wide range of δ13C values (+2.7 to −34.4‰)1,2 and many specimens show evidence of heterogeneity, we have looked for isotopic differences between areas in individual diamonds which might reasonably be expected to have been formed in different conditions. The small scale of such internal structures in diamond requires the accurate excision of selected volumes. Such a requirement can now be met by controlled laser dissection. As a preliminary to realizing the full potential of such an approach, we have examined the exteriors and cores of coated diamonds, as representing one of the most conspicuous instances in which two distinct epochs of diamond genesis might be involved.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kovalskii, V. V. & Cherskii, N. V. Ind. Diamond Rev. 54–56 (1973).

  2. Deines, P. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 44, 943–961 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Seal, M. Phil Mag. (submitted).

  4. Swart, P. K., Grady, M. M., Wright, I. P. & Pillinger, C. T. J. geophys. Res. 87, A283–A258 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Craig, H. Geochim cosmochim. Acta 12, 133–149 (1957).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Grady, M. M., Swart, P. K. & Pillinger, C. T. Meteoritics (in the press).

  7. Gurkina, G. A., Ivanovskaya, I. N., Kaminiski, S. V. & Galimov, E. M. Geokhimiya 1897–1905 (1979).

  8. Kamiya, Y. & Lang, A. R. Phil. Mag. 11, 347–356 (1965).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Seal, M. Phil. Mag. 13, 645–648 (1966).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Swart, P., Pillinger, C., Milledge, H. et al. Carbon isotopic variation within individual diamonds. Nature 303, 793–795 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303793a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/303793a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing