Around the diamond are always a lot of mystery and intrigue. Recently, scientists were able to unravel another mystery of these gems. It turned out that one of the most impressive diamond “the hope Diamond” — there are much deeper than previously thought.
Most diamonds are formed in the upper mantle, directly under the continental crust, at depths of 150 to 200 kilometers from the surface. Scientists have long known that in rare cases, these stones can form below, presumably at depths from 360 to 750 kilometers. However, according to the authors of a new study still has not been confirmed that the diamonds are from the lower range.
Scientists from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) say they found this evidence. The group examined two large diamond: a 20-carat blue diamond, type IIb, discovered in South Africa (“the hope Diamond”), and 124-carat diamond “CLIPPIR” from Lesotho (diamonds present in the jewelry treasure of the tower of London). Using a spectrometer, the researchers found the remains of a mineral called bridgemont.
“Brigmanis does not exist in the upper mantle or on the surface,” says Evan Smith of GIA.
“what we are seeing in diamonds, when they reach the surface, is not bridement and minerals remaining after it is destroyed when the pressure decreases. The discovery of these minerals in the diamond means that the diamond was supposed to crystallize at depth, where there is Brigmanis, and it is very deep in the bowels of the Earth (670-2, 900 kilometers)”.
Scientists say that this is not the most interesting, with regard to these diamonds. The thing is that the bluish tinge that is inherent in ultra-deep diamonds, appear from the forest, which comes from the bottom of the oceans. Plate tectonics “sucks” that element for hundreds of kilometers down into the mantle, where he falls in the stone. Smith commented: “This shows that there is a huge recycling route, which takes elements from the Earth’s surface down, and then sometimes restores the beautiful diamonds on the surface.”
