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Finding a diamond on the ground would make someone's day. Depending on its quality, you may be able to sell it for a nice little salary. Imagine now finding a quadrillion tons of diamonds, only you will never be able to reach them. This is exactly what MIT researchers have accomplished with the help of seismic waves that cross the Earth.
Building on what they already know about how seismic waves cross different types of materials, researchers have looked at seismographic data evaluating events like earthquakes and making a difference. Surprising estimate: There is an almost unfathomable amount of diamond deep in the planet.
The study, which was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems examined a curious behavior of sound waves traveling across the Earth deep underground. Scientists have discovered seemingly unpredictable changes in the speed of the waves during their trip, and the only explanation that seems plausible is that the waves accelerate when they hit important diamond deposits.
The MITs describe them as "the oldest and most immobile sections of rocks that lie beneath the center of most continental tectonic plates." They can extend for hundreds of kilometers, and scientists believe that they can be composed of two percent of diamond.
But if there are so many diamonds out there, why not start digging? Well, you will not go very far. The diamond deposits would be between 90 and 150 miles below the surface, which is much deeper than what humanity has ever achieved.
"This shows that the diamond may not be this exotic mineral, but on the scale of 1945 to 1900 things, it's relatively common," says Ulrich Faul of the Department earth sciences, the atmosphere and planets of MIT. "We can not reach them, but there are many more diamonds than we had ever thought of before."
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