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Earth Science News A group of ultramafic rocks, including Kimberlite. They sometimes contain chromite or diamonds.
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From Our Store Kimberlite with diamond: Kimberlite, the rock that is found in many diamond pipes, is a variety of peridotite. The
All Products specimen above is a piece of kimberlite with numerous visible grains of phlogopite and a six millimeter octahedral diamond
Field Books crystal of about 1.8 carats. This specimen is from the Finsch Diamond Mine in South Africa. Wikimedia photo by
Fossil Fish StrangerThanKindness used here under a Creative Commons License.
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What is Peridotite?
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Roadside Geology Guides Peridotite is a generic name used for coarse-grained,
Topographic Maps
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dark-colored, ultramafic igneous rocks. Peridotites
Wall Maps usually contain olivine as their primary mineral,
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frequently with other mafic minerals such as pyroxenes
Map Collections
and amphiboles. Their silica content is low compared to
Alabama Map
Alaska Map other igneous rocks, and they contain very little quartz
Arizona Map
Arkansas Map
and feldspar.
California Map
Colorado Map Peridotites are economically important rocks because
Connecticut Map
Delaware Map they often contain chromite - the only ore of chromium;
Florida Map they can be source rocks for diamonds; and, they have
Georgia Map
Hawaii Map the potential to be used as a material for sequestering
Idaho Map carbon dioxide. Much of Earth's mantle is believed to be
Illinois Map
Indiana Map composed of peridotite.
Iowa Map
Kansas Map Types of peridotite: Peridotite is a generic name for a
Kentucky Map
number of different rock types. All of them are rich in
Louisiana Map
Maine Map
Many Types of Peridotite olivine and mafic minerals. They are usually green in color
Maryland Map and have a high specific gravity for a nonmetallic material.
Massachusetts Map The peridotite “family” contains a number of different Shown above are specimens of lherzolite, harzburgite,
Michigan Map dunite, and wehrlite. Image by USGS.
Minnesota Map
intrusive igneous rocks. These include lherzolite,
Mississippi Map harzburgite, dunite, wehrlite, and kimberlite (see
Missouri Map
Montana Map
photos). Most of them have an obvious green color,
Nebraska Map attributed to their olivine content.
Nevada Map
New Hampshire Map
New Jersey Map
Lherzolite: a peridotite composed primarily of
New Mexico Map olivine with significant amounts of orthopyroxene
New York Map
North Carolina Map
and clinopyroxene. Some researchers believe that
North Dakota Map much of Earth's mantle is composed of lherzolite.
Ohio Map
Oklahoma Map
Oregon Map Harzburgite: a peridotite composed primarily of
Pennsylvania Map
Rhode Island Map olivine and orthopyroxene with small amounts of
South Carolina Map spinel and garnet.
South Dakota Map
Tennessee Map
Texas Map Dunite: a peridotite that is composed mainly of
Utah Map
Vermont Map olivine and may contain significant amounts of Peridotite: The specimen shown is about two inches (five
Virginia Map chromite, pyroxene, and spinel. centimeters) across.
Washington Map
West Virginia Map
Wisconsin Map Wehrlite: a peridotite that is composed mainly of orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, with olivine and
Wyoming Map
hornblende.

Kimberlite: a peridotite that is composed of at least 35% olivine with significant amounts of other minerals
that might include phlogopite, pyroxenes, carbonates, serpentine, diopside, monticellite, and garnet.
Kimberlite sometimes contains diamonds.

Alteration of Peridotite
Peridotite is a rock type that is more representative of
Earth’s mantle than of the crust. The minerals that
compose it are generally high-temperature minerals that
are unstable at Earth’s surface. They are quickly altered
by hydrothermal solutions and weathering. Those that
contain magnesium-oxide-bearing minerals can alter to
form carbonates, such as magnesite or calcite, which
are much more stable at Earth's surface. Alteration of
other peridotites forms serpentinite, chlorite, and talc.

Peridotite can sequester gaseous carbon dioxide into a geologically stable solid. This occurs when carbon
dioxide combines with magnesium-rich olivine to form magnesite. This reaction happens at a geologically rapid
rate. The magnesite is much more stable over time and serves as a carbon dioxide sink. Perhaps this
characteristic of peridotite can be used by humans to intentionally sequester carbon dioxide and contribute to
solving the climate change problem (see video).

Ophiolites, Pipes, Dikes and Sills

Earth's mantle is thought to be composed mainly of
peridotite. Some of the occurrences of peridotite on
Earth's surface are thought to be rocks from the mantle
that have been brought up from depth by deep-source
magmas. Ophiolites and pipes are two structures that
have brought mantle peridotite to the surface. Peridotite
is also found in the igneous rocks of sills and dikes.

Ophiolites: An ophiolite is a large slab of oceanic crust,

including part of the mantle, that has been overthrust
onto continental crust at a convergent plate boundary.
These structures bring large masses of peridotite up to
Earth's surface and offer a rare opportunity to examine
rocks from the mantle. Studies of ophiolites have helped
geologists better understand the mantle, the process of
seafloor spreading, and the formation of oceanic
lithosphere.
The Tablelands: One of the few extensive surface
exposures of peridotite is an area known as "The
Tablelands" in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland.
This area is the mantle portion of a large slab of oceanic
lithosphere that was overthrust onto continental
lithosphere. These rocks from the mantle lack the
nutrients required to support most types of plants, and the
soils that form from them are usually barren. The
brownish color is from iron staining. Image copyright
iStockphoto / Wildnerdpix.

Pipes: A pipe is a vertical intrusive structure that forms

when a deep-source volcanic eruption brings magma
up from the mantle. The magma often breaks through
the surface, producing an explosive eruption and a
steep-walled crater known as a maar.
Peridotite Xenolith: This photograph is of a volcanic
bomb that contains a peridotite (dunite) xenolith
composed almost entirely of olivine. Photo by Woudloper,
used here under a Creative Commons License.

These deep-source eruptions are the origin for most of

the Earth's primary diamond deposits. The magma that forms the pipe is thought to ascend rapidly from the
mantle, tearing rocks free from the mantle and from the walls of the pipe. These pieces of foreign rock are known
as "xenoliths." The diamonds are found in the xenoliths and in the residual material produced by their weathering.
Xenoliths provide the only way that diamonds can ascend from the mantle to the surface without being melted or
corroded by the hot magma.

Dikes and Sills: Dikes and sills are intrusive igneous rock bodies. Some of them are composed of peridotite that
was sourced from deep within the Earth. When they are exposed by erosion, they provide another way that
peridotite from great depth can be observed at Earth's surface.

Diamonds and Peridotite

The formation of
diamonds requires very
high temperatures and
pressures that only occur
on Earth at depths of 100
How do diamonds form? A miles below the surface
detailed article that explains the
four sources of diamonds found
and at locations in the
at Earth's surface. mantle where
temperatures are at least 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The diamonds are delivered to the surface in pieces of
rock, known as xenoliths, which are torn from the mantle Garnet peridotite: A specimen of garnet peridotite from
Alpe Arami, near Bellinzona, Switzerland. Certain types of
by deep-source volcanic eruptions. When the mantle
garnet, along with chromite and ilmenite, can be
material approaches the surface, an explosive eruption indicator minerals for diamond prospecting. Public
occurs that forms a pipe-shaped structure that might be domain image by Woudloper.
several hundred yards to over a mile in diameter. These
"pipes," the rocks that are blasted from them, and the
sediments and soils produced by their weathering are the source for most of Earth's natural diamonds.

Chromite in Peridotite
Some peridotites contain significant amounts of
chromite. Some of these form when a subsurface
magma slowly crystallizes. During the early stages of
crystallization, the highest-temperature minerals such as
olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and chromite
begin to crystallize from the melt. The crystals are
heavier than the melt and sink to the bottom of the melt.
These high-temperature minerals can form layers of
peridotite on the bottom of the magma body. This can
form a layered deposit where up to 50% of the rock can Rock & Mineral Kits: Get a rock, mineral, or fossil kit to
learn more about Earth materials. The best way to learn
be chromite. These are known as "stratiform deposits."
about rocks is to have specimens available for testing and
Most of the world's chromite is contained in two examination.
stratiform deposits: the Bushveld Complex in South
Africa and the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe.
Peridotite Information

Another type of chromite deposit occurs where tectonic
forces push large masses of oceanic lithosphere up
onto a continental plate in a structure that is known as
an "ophiolite." These ophiolites contain significant
[1] Mineral Carbonation Using Ultramafic Rocks, USGS
Cooperative Research on CO2 Sequestration Using Ultramafic
and Carbonate Rocks, Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry
Science Center, United States Geological Survey, last
accessed June 2016.

amounts of chromite and are called "podiform [2] Stratiform Chromite Deposit Model: Ruth F. Schulte,
deposits." Ryan D. Taylor, Nadine M. Piatak, and Robert R. Seal II;
Chapter E of Mineral Deposit Models for Resource
Assessment; Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5070–E;
131 pages; November 2012.

Prospecting for Peridotite [3] Chromium: John F. Papp, United States Geological
Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2013.
Peridotite bodies exposed at Earth's surface are rapidly
[4] Chromium: John F. Papp, United States Geological
attacked by weathering. They can then be obscured by Survey, 2011 Minerals Yearbook, April 2013.
soil, sediment, glacial till, and vegetation. Finding a
peridotite body as small as a kimberlite pipe, which
might be only a few hundred yards across, can be very
difficult. Because peridotite often has magnetic
properties that are distinctly different from the
surrounding rocks, a magnetic survey can sometimes
be used to locate them. The survey can be conducted
using an aircraft that slowly tows a magnetometer at low
altitudes, recording the magnetic intensity as it travels.
The magnetic data can be plotted on a map, often
revealing the location of the pipe as an anomaly. (See
map and photo.)

Peridotite bodies are also found by prospecting for

Aeromagnetic prospecting: Finding small bodies of
some of the rare minerals that they contain. When a peridotite such as a kimberlite pipe can be very difficult
peridotite weathers, the olivine breaks down, quickly because they are so small. Aeromagnetic surveys are
leaving the more resistant minerals behind. Geologists sometimes employed to find them. The geographic areas
underlain by peridotite will often be a magnetic anomaly in
have located peridotite bodies by prospecting for
contrast to their surrounding rocks. Images by the United
chromite, garnet, and other resistant indicator minerals. States Geological Survey.
When scattered by the action of water, wind, or ice, they
will be most highly concentrated near the pipe and be
diluted by local rock debris with distance. The grains of these minerals might also be more rounded with distance
of transport. This allows geologists to use the "trail-to-lode" prospecting method to find them.

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