2023-09-21 06:00:06
The mysterious origin of pink diamonds, mainly mined from the Argyle Formation in Western Australia, finally appears to be resolved. A new study suggests that these rare gemstones are the products of geological events dating back to the breakup of Earth’s first supercontinent. Earth is the third planet in the Solar System in order of distance…), approximately 1.3 billion years ago .
Different colored diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine.
Image credit: Murray Rayner
Researcher Hugo Olierook of Curtin University in Australia (Australia (officially the Commonwealth of Australia) is a country of…) , lead author of the study, explains that the Argyle formation is unique. Unlike most diamond mines located in the center of continents, Argyle is located on the edge of the Australian continent. In addition, the diamonds are embedded in a slightly different rock (In mathematics, the different is defined in the algebraic theory of…) of that which usually produces diamonds.
Pink diamonds differ from blue or yellow diamonds. While the latter get their color from impurities such as nitrogen and boron and boron B and atomic number 5.), pink diamonds are colored only because their crystal structure has been distorted. Hugo Olierook points out that the brown color of certain Argyle diamonds comes from an even greater deformation of this structure.
Recent results reveal that the Argyle Formation is older than previously believed, dating back 1.3 billion years. This discovery coincides with the period of rupture of the supercontinent Nuna. According to Hugo Olierook, this rupture facilitated the emergence of these rare diamonds on the Earth’s surface.
Photograph of the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Image credit: Murray Rayner
The history of Argyle’s formation begins regarding 1.8 billion years ago, when two pieces of continental crust collided. This collision would be responsible for the deformation of the crystalline structure of the diamonds, thus giving them their pink color. The breakup of Nuna, 500 million years later, then facilitated their emergence on the surface.
The trajectory of diamonds from the depths to the surface helps scientists understand the movements of carbon in the interior of the planet ( A planet is a celestial body orbiting the Sun or another star…). Hugo Olierook thinks other pink diamond deposits might exist, but finding them would require great luck.
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