Scientists have discovered a crystal from the lower mantle of the Earth inside the diamond, the existence of which was previously considered only in theory
The study showed that inside the ancient diamond, which was mined in Botswana, there is a previously unseen mineral, which was named davemaite. The discovery of this mineral opens the door to an amazing and yet unknown chemical world in the bowels of our planet.
An unusual diamond that opened the world to the depths of the Earth
This unique natural diamond, only 4 millimeters wide and weighing 81 milligrams, was recovered from the ground at the Orapa mine in Botswana.
Back in 1987, it was sold by a local merchant to a scientist from the California Institute of Technology institute, but neither the seller nor the buyer knew how unique the object was in their hands.
The diamond, previously kept in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (California, USA), decided to study O. Chauner (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). The scientist is looking for the so-called "superdeep diamonds", which may well tell about the chemical and mineral composition of the bowels of our planet.
The point is that the overwhelming majority of all natural diamonds are formed at depths of 120-250 kilometers, but at the same time there is called superdeep diamonds, which form in the lower part of the mantle, starting at about 660 kilometers.
So when the scientist, together with his colleagues, more carefully studied the diamond from Botswana using X-rays, they discovered microscopic crystals of another mineral.
To do this, the scientists used a special laser, with which they extracted the crystals, and only then used the so-called mass spectrometry to study the extracted material.
So the analysis showed that the extracted crystals were calcium silicates (CaSiO3), which, according to theoretical calculations, they exist only in the lower mantle and still, in reality, are not were observed. Within these crystals, molecules line up in a special cubic shape known as the perovskite structure.
At the same time, the studied atomic composition of crystals, which, as it turned out, mainly contains calcium, silicon and oxygen, clearly indicates that it could have formed exclusively under extreme conditions of the lower mantle, where presumably the pressure exceeds atmospheric by 200,000 times and more.
After all, if calcium silicate is on the surface at normal atmospheric pressure, then it is in the form of a white mineral with needle crystals called wollastonite.
Scientists named the calcium silicate found in the diamond davemaite in honor of the scientist who is working on the study of the interior of our planet - Ho-Kwan "Dave" Mao (Carnegie Institute, Washington).
At the same time, scientists have found that davemaite is extremely unstable under normal conditions. And only the imprisonment in diamond allowed the material to remain in its original form for more than one hundred thousand years.
But once the diamond was opened, the dimemoite was stable for about a second, and then expanded and actually turned into glass.
Davemaoite and its role in the existence of the Earth
So, according to theoretical assumptions, the mineral davemaite occupies 5% of the total mass of the lower mantle of the Earth and in it also contains radioactive elements: uranium, thorium and potassium-40, these, decaying, heat the inner region Earth.
Some experts generally assume that if it were not for these radioactive elements and their constant heating, then the core of the planet would have cooled down long ago.
In order to better study the structure of the mantle of our planet, more data is needed, which is why scientists are leading the never-ending hunt for the so-called superdeep diamonds, hoping to find deep materials.
But this process is quite difficult, primarily because scientists simply cannot even guess where it is best to look for such diamonds.
Did you like the material? Then rate it and don't forget to subscribe to the channel. Thank you for your attention!