Relazioni di crescita tra magnesiocromite e diamanti: implicazioni sulla singenesi/protogenesi

The present study was carried out for investigating the growth relationships between magnesiochromite inclusions and its diamond hosts, in order to determine its genetic nature, expressed in terms of singenesis (simultaneous growth between diamonds and inclusions) or protogenesis (pre-existing inclusions with respect to the diamonds). The aim is to understand if magnesiochromite and diamond grow in epitaxy, namely according to a specific crystallographic relationship, through the analysis of the crystallographic orientation relationship between magnesiochromite and diamond determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction on a total of 14 inclusions of magnesiochromite still trapped inside 8 lithospheric diamonds, coming from the major kimberlite districts (Udachnaya mine, Siberia; Damtshaa mine, Botswana; Panda mine, Canada).