ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF CARBON FROM GAS AND BITUMENS OF GAS-LIQUID INCLUSIONS IN GARNET FROM THE MIR KIMBERLITE PIPE

Abstract

The contents of the inclusions were determined in a device that used mechanical grinding. A mortar and pestle joined by a bellows were connected directly to a vacuum system that included traps cooled with a mixture of dry ice and acetone, or by liquid nitrogen, a trap containing silica gel, cooled by liquid nitrogen, and a reactor containing copper oxide heated to 800°C. The volatiles given off during grinding were condensed in the cold traps. Some of the fractions were sampled for mass spectroscopy, and some was passed through the reactor containing copper oxide and the resulting CO2 was analyzed with a VARIAN-MAT-230 isotope mass spectrometer. Study results are discussed.