Mass-independent sulfur of inclusions in diamond and sulfur recycling on early Earth

Abstract

Populations of sulfide inclusions in diamonds from the Orapa kimberlite pipe in the Kaapvaal-Zimbabwe craton, Botswana, preserve mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionations. The data indicate that material was transferred from the atmosphere to the mantle in the Archean. The data also imply that sulfur is not well mixed in the diamond source regions, allowing for reconstruction of the Archean sulfur cycle and possibly offering insight into the nature of mantle convection through time.