A workshop on “Diamonds & Recycled Mantle” which is organized as part of the 5th IGCP-649 commenced at Sultan Qaboos University on Wednesday, 13 November 2019. The event is sponsored by UNESCO; IUGS; ICGP-649 Project; Sultan Qaboos University; Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, China; and Nanjing University.

The IGCP (International Geoscience Program) is a cooperative enterprise of UNESCO and IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences) and has been stimulating comparative studies in the Earth Sciences since 1972. The IGCP has been a research program designed to attain globally homogeneous advancement of the geosciences to improve the prosperity of nations and the quality of human life. The IGCP 649 (2015-2020) is a newly approved and supported project in March 2015, by IGCP. Recent studies of ophiolites show the presence of diamonds in both chromitites and peridotites. The IGCP 649 seeks to investigate if diamonds are ubiquitous in the mantle of the earth, or do they only exist in isolated mantle domains. It also attempts to find answer to the question where did the carbon for diamonds come from and how did diamonds and other UHP minerals reach the surface.

The 5th IGCP-649 Diamonds and Recycled Mantle Workshop and accompanying field trip, that lasts from 12 to 22 November in Oman seeks to investigate the Semail ophiolite sequence, chromite and related high pressure metamorphic rocks in the southwest of Muscat. The event consists of a two-day workshop at SQU and an eight-day filed trip to investigate the ophiolite and chromite in the Fanja-Al Khoudh-Somarah, Ibra and Maqsad area, southwest of Muscat, Wadi Al Jizzi volcanics, copper and chromite mines in Sohar area, and chromite, carbonatite and ultramafic lamprophyre in eastern Oman ophiolite. The workshop leaders are Prof. Jingsui Yang from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and Prof. Subhi Nasir from the Earth Science Research Centre of SQU.