Three-dimensional distribution of minerals in diamondiferous eclogites, obtained by the method of high-resolution X-ray computed tomography

High-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) is a technology ideally applicable to a wide range of geological investigations. It is an express non-destructive method to produce images corresponding to series of slice projections through a sample. In the present study, HRXCT was applied to rock samples with the use of synchrotron radiation from the VEPP-3 storage ring, at the “X-ray microscopy and tomography” station. The method was calibrated and preliminary measurements were carried out on the Low-Dose Digital Radiographic Device “Siberia”. The data obtained have determined the internal structure of rock samples with a spatial resolution of 100 μm. HRXCT has been applied to the xenoliths of diamondiferous eclogites from the Udachnaya kimberlitic pipe located in Yakutia, Russia. It has allowed determination of the distribution of rock-forming (garnet and clinopyroxene) and accessory (diamond, rutile, and sulfide) minerals of different X-ray absorption. This is important to find out the genetic relationship of diamonds with associated minerals and the sequence of crystallization.