X-ray topographic study of a diamond from Udachnaya: Implications for the genetic nature of inclusions

In recent years, several studies have focused on the growth conditions of the diamonds through the analysis of the mineral inclusions trapped in them. In these studies, it is crucial to distinguish between protogenetic, syngenetic and epigenetic inclusions. X-ray topography (XRDT) can be a helpful tool to verify, in a non-destructive way, the genetic nature of inclusions in diamond. With this aim, a diamond from the Udachnaya kimberlite, Siberia, was investigated. The diamond, previously studied by Nestola et al. (2011), has anomalous birefringence and the two largest olivines have typical "diamond-imposed" shapes. The study of the topographic images shows that the diamond exhibits significant deformation fields related to post growth plastic deformation. The absence of dislocations starting from the olivine inclusions, and the dark contrasts around them represent the main results obtained by XRDT, contributing to the elucidation of the relationships between the diamond and the olivine...