Gorgeous Pink Diamonds Unearthed: Shattering Secrets of a Supercontinent's Split!
Rare pink diamonds found in Western Australia near a defunct mine offer hope for uncovering new deposits of these highly coveted and elusive gems, according to a recent study
Subscribe to CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter and immerse yourself in the world of the cosmos. Stay updated with captivating breakthroughs, remarkable scientific progress, and much more.
Pink diamonds, known for their exceptional rarity, have predominantly originated from a now-defunct mine in Australia, accounting for 90% of all colored gemstones. The top-quality pink diamonds, once polished, can fetch prices in the tens of millions of dollars. Nevertheless, researchers claim that a recent discovery in the same region might unveil untapped reserves of these precious gems.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications revealed that scientists studying the Argyle diamond deposit in Western Australia have gained insight into the geological conditions required for the formation of pink diamonds and other color variations. By utilizing laser technology to examine minerals and rocks extracted from the deposit, the researchers determined that the site, which is abundant in pink diamonds, originated during the fragmentation of an ancient supercontinent called Nuna approximately 1.3 billion years ago.
"While the continent that would eventually become Australia remained intact, the area where Argyle is situated underwent a process of stretching, resulting in the formation of gaps in the Earth's crust. These gaps acted as conduits for magma to ascend towards the surface, carrying along valuable pink diamonds," stated Dr. Hugo Olierook, the lead author of the study and a research fellow at Curtin University's John de Laeter Centre in Perth, Australia, in a news release.
The Argyle diamond mine is located in the remote Kimberley region in the far northeast of Western Australia.
Murray Rayner
Discovering Pink Diamonds
The majority of diamond reserves are located within the heartlands of ancient continents, embedded in volcanic rock formations that have swiftly carried precious pink diamonds from the depths of the Earth's core to the outer surface.
The content fragment must be rewritten in a better way. Please find the revised version below:
In order for diamonds to acquire a pink or red color, they undergo the tremendous pressure exerted by colliding tectonic plates, which distort and deform their crystal structures. A similar process is responsible for the formation of most brown diamonds. Roughly 1.8 billion years ago, this phenomenon took place at Argyle when Western Australia collided with Northern Australia, causing the transformation of previously colorless diamonds into pink gems deep beneath the Earth's crust, over hundreds of miles.
But how did these colored diamonds manage to reach the surface? Discovering that the Argyle deposits dated back 1.3 billion years, during the breakup of the ancient supercontinent named Nuna, shed light on their journey.
Pink diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine were formed when an ancient supercontinent was breaking up into fragments, according to a new study.
Murray Rayner
Supercontinents have formed multiple times throughout Earth's geological history when several continents come together to create a single landmass.
Olierook has discovered that Argyle, using laser beams smaller than the width of a human hair on rocks provided by Rio Tinto (the mine's owner), is actually 1.3 billion years old. This revelation suggests that Argyle likely formed from the breakup of an ancient supercontinent, and is 100 million years older than originally believed.
Antonio Lira
Scientists say that the mysterious lights observed in earthquake footage from Morocco might be a phenomenon that has been documented for hundreds of years. The researchers suggest that the fragmentation of the Nuna supercontinent may have reactivated an ancient fault line, enabling diamond-containing rocks to migrate and create the substantial diamond reserve in the area.
The study revealed that the sequence of events indicated that the intersections of ancient continents could potentially serve as valuable indicators for locating pink diamonds and other deposits during exploration. Olierook stated that the majority of diamond deposits have been discovered within the interior regions of ancient continents, primarily due to the fact that their accompanying volcanoes are often visible and accessible to explorers.
Argyle is situated at the junction of two ancient continents, with the potential for undiscovered pink diamond-bearing volcanoes in Australia, as these areas are frequently concealed by sand and soil.
