• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
methodshop

methodshop

tech news, reviews & how to's

  • Trending
  • Latest
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Internet
    • Software
    • Security
    • Games
    • Advertising
  • Life
    • Entertainment
    • TV & Film
    • Music
    • Health & Science
    • Family
    • Social Media
    • Food
    • Style
  • Learn
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • News
      • Business
      • Crime
      • Politics
  • Fun
    • Featured
    • Humor
    • Holiday

Home : Internet : Diamonds Nearly as Old as Earth

Diamonds Nearly as Old as Earth

August 24, 2007 by jayfrankwilson
FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn

Diamonds Nearly As Old As Earth - Capt.sge.lzz18.190807062642.Photo00.Photo.default 1Diamonds are indeed forever, or at least nearly as old as the Earth, a new study shows.

Scientists have unearthed diamonds more than 4 billion years old and trapped inside crystals of zircon in the Jack Hills region in Western Australia. Nearly as old as Earth itself and considered the oldest terrestrial diamonds ever discovered, the gems could give insights into the early evolution of our planet’s crust.

“Jack Hills is the only place on Earth that can give us this kind of information about the formation of the Earth,” said study team member Alexander Nemchin, a geochemist at Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. “We’re dealing with the oldest material on the planet.”

Hot or not?

About 4.5 billion years ago, Earth developed from a cloud of dust around a proto-Sun. During its youth, Earth smashed into a planet-size body and its surface temperatures likely soared above 10,830 degrees Fahrenheit (6,000 degrees Celsius). When the molten Earth cooled, the liquid lava gelled into rocks. Details about the rocks and when they began to form, a subject of intense debate, have been limited by sparse data.

One such debate centers on whether early Earth was covered by oceans of hot lava or if the planet’s surface had cooled enough for rock formation and was covered instead by oceans of water.

Zircon crystals could hold the answer. These crystals are tough and relatively resistant to melting. As a result, they retain their chemical nature and can provide vital clues about past events that occurred in the Earth’s crust and mantle.

Recent studies of zircons have suggested the Earth might have cooled much more rapidly than previously thought, with the continental crust and oceans forming as early as 4.4 billion years ago.

The diamond find supports this quick-cooling idea, said study team member Thorsten Geisler of the Institute of Mineralogy at the University of Münster in Germany.

Dating diamonds

The scientists, led by Martina Menneken of the Institute of Mineralogy, ran chemical analyses of the zircons, finding the ancient crystals (and thus the enclosed diamonds) were more than 4 billion years old. That’s nearly a billion years older than the previous oldest-known terrestrial diamonds and suggests the diamonds were present in material that crystallized within 300 million years of the formation of Earth, the scientists say.

Diamonds Nearly As Old As Earth - Ph Gold Diamond Ring 975 1 2

[VLearn More: Yahoo]


FacebookTweetPinLinkedIn
Category: Internet Tag: Diamonds, Yahoo
Previous Post:Report: $12 billion lost to piracy
Next Post:The Soup: Gi-Gi, Ju-Ju, Nu-Nu, Good Morning

Sidebar

Popular Posts

  • Job Automation Using ChatGPT Could Make These Jobs Obsolete - Is Your Job On This List?Job Automation Using ChatGPT Could Make These Jobs Obsolete – Is Your Job On…
  • 5 Funny Resurrection Jokes To Share On Easter Sunday5 Funny Resurrection Jokes To Share On Easter Sunday
  • 7 Pictures Of Naked People Captured By Google's Cameras7 Pictures Of Naked People Captured By Google’s Cameras
  • Top 200 Nielsen DMA Rankings (2023) – Full ListTop 200 Nielsen DMA Rankings (2023) – Full List
  • The Surprising Story Behind The NBC ChimesThe Surprising Story Behind The NBC Chimes
  • 20 Famous People Who Are Members Of The Sleepless Elite20 Famous People Who Are Members Of The Sleepless Elite
  • How To Change The Default LG TV Home Screen To Live TVHow To Change The Default LG TV Home Screen To Live TV
  • Is Your Hatch Restore Already Registered? Here's How To Fix It And Unregister A Hatch Restore.Is Your Hatch Restore Already Registered? Here’s How To Fix It And…
  • The Best Caddyshack Quotes: 30 Famous Caddyshack Quotes That'll Make You LaughThe Best Caddyshack Quotes: 30 Famous Caddyshack Quotes That’ll Make You Laugh
  • 18 Weird Facts About Sea-Monkeys You Won't Believe Are True, Including Their Connection To The Ku Klux Klan18 Weird Facts About Sea-Monkeys You Won’t Believe Are True, Including Their…

Categories

How To Visually Identify AI-Generated Text

How To Manually Identify AI-Generated Text Without Using A ChatGPT Detector

Wondering if what you’ve read is bot or human-generated? AI text detectors can help, but can be time-consuming. Here’s how humans can train to identify AI-generated text.

Best Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Quotes

The 18 Best Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Quotes

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a cinematic classic. Relive the action, adventure, and friendship through these Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid quotes from the 1969 movie.

Recent Posts

  • The 18 Best Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Quotes
  • The 40 Best Everything Everywhere All At Once Quotes
  • How To Manually Identify AI-Generated Text Without Using A ChatGPT Detector
  • 10 Clever Tech Gifts That People Actually Want
  • 10 Fun Things To Ask Alexa On St. Patrick’s Day

Jump to comments

About

MethodShop’s mission is to entertain, inform, and sometimes gross you out. MethodShop has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by us. All prices are subject to change.

Latest

Best Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Quotes

The 18 Best Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid Quotes

Everything Everywhere All At Once Quotes

The 40 Best Everything Everywhere All At Once Quotes

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
MethodShop Animated Zoom Icon
  • About
  • Submit
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Store

Copyright © 2023 MethodShop · All Rights Reserved