A quadrillion tons of diamond may be hiding beneath your feet. But before you grab your supervillain cape and nab the nearest mega-drill, be warned: At around a hundred miles deep, these riches lie well out of reach.

Scientists found the astonishing quantity of sparkly gems using seismic waves rippling through Earth to estimate the composition of a particular planetary layer. Their results, published recently in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, show that our planet is probably packed with a thousand times more diamonds than researchers previously thought.

Organizations like the U.S. Geological Survey use an array of sensitive instruments known as seismometers around the world to monitor each tremble and burp our planet makes. Not only can this