Study: Up To 2% of Earth’s Oldest Mantle Rocks are Made from Diamond

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Study: Up To 2% of Earth’s Oldest Mantle Rocks are Made from Diamond
Jul 17, 2018 by News Staff / Source
 

The ancient cores of Earth’s continents are called cratons. Shaped like inverted mountains, they can stretch as deep as 200 miles (320 km) through the Earth’s crust and into its mantle; geologists refer to their deepest sections as ‘roots.’ According to new research published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, cratonic roots may contain 1 to 2 vol.% diamond. Considering the total volume of cratonic roots, the study authors figure that about a quadrillion tons of diamond are scattered within these ancient rocks, 90 to 150 miles (145-241 km) below the surface.
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“This shows that diamond is not perhaps this exotic mineral, but on the geological scale of things, it’s relatively common,” said Dr. Ulrich Faul, a researcher in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT.

“We can’t get at them, but still, there is much more diamond there than we have ever thought before.”

http://www.sci-news.com/geology/diamond-cratonic-roots-06207.html