A nine-carat diamond glistens in the light. While such large, clear diamonds are highly prized, our planet hosts a surprising abundance of these precious stones.
- Science
- News
Earth's seafloor may be destined to become diamonds
By mimicking how the planet cooks up the sparkly gems, scientists discovered what may be a key ingredient for their formation.
Michael Förster was disappointed. As a Ph.D. student at Australia's Macquarie University, Förster had spent months cooking rocks in an attempt to grow the flaky, shimmery mineral mica in the lab, and he had little to show for his efforts. But in a meeting with his supervisor, his dismay quickly turned to delight. Instead of unlocking the mysteries of micas, he realized, the work could explain the enigmatic formation of another sparkly mineral: diamond.
These precious stones often have curiously salty impurities that scientists have long struggled to explain. The new research, published this week in the journal Science Advances, suggests that these inclusions are tiny time capsules of the sediments that once lingered in ancient oceans.
These sediments
