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Finding a diamond underground can be a lot easier than we imagined. In fact, gemstones are a thousand times more common than previously thought, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT
The result was revealed following a study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers using a technology commonly used to measure earthquakes What they thought was a mistake in the recording of seismic data was, after all, the revelation that there was a trillion of diamonds under our feet. In figures: 1,000,000,000,000,000 crystals are hidden in the heart of the Earth.
But do not expect a frantic treasure hunt: the diamond deposits are between 144,000 and 241,000 kilometers deep and current technology
was an anomaly that revealed the treasure [19659005] Investigators were not looking for a fortune under our feet, but to monitor seismic activity, when they detected an anomaly "In recent decades, organizations like the United States Geological Survey have maintained global records of seismic activity – sound waves traveling on Earth and are triggered by earthquakes, tsunamis, explosions and other earthquakes. "
Sources. "Seismic receivers around the world capture these sound waves at different speeds and intensities, and this information is used by seismologists to determine the origin of an earthquake, for example.
Sound waves travel at various speeds across the Earth, depending on the temperature, density, and composition of the rocks they cross.Scientists have used this relationship between seismic velocity and rock composition. to estimate the types of rocks that make up the earth's crust
However, when they used seismic data to map the interior of the Earth, they could not explain a "curious anomaly": accelerated sound waves as they pass through the roots of ancient cratons – rock masses in the form of inverted mountains, which can extend up to 320 kilo meters across the earth's crust – geologists refer to these deeper sections as "roots", which correspond to the older parts of the continental tectonic plates. These masses are cooler and less dense than the surrounding rocks and therefore produce faster sound waves.
"There is a problem," thought the scientists. "This is how this project started," says Ulrich Faul, Senior Researcher at MIT
Scientists have realized that the waves are getting even faster by moving to the bottom of these roots and have decided d & # 39; investigate. The sound crosses the diamond twice as fast as the other rocks and the team simulated with diamonds what was happening in the depths of the Earth.
The team increased the amounts of diamond in virtual rocks until they reached a combination that produced the same speeds detected when scientists used seismic technology in the real-world context .
The type of rock producing the same velocities as the measured seismologists contains 1 to 2% of diamonds and this scenario represents at least 1000 "This shows that the diamond is not an exotic mineral, on a scale of [geológica] it is relatively common, "says Faul, pointing out that" there is no diamond. "
We can do it, but there are still more diamonds than we thought. "
To conclude that part of the Cratonic roots is made of diamond makes sense for Ulrich Faul.The diamonds are forged in the environment at high pressure and high temperature of the Earth and do not are approaching the surface only by volcanic eruptions that occur only a few times in millions of years.
These eruptions excavate geological "pipes" k Imberlite (in l & rsquo; # 39; honor of the city of Kimberley, South Africa, where were found the first diamonds of this type of rock) .It is through the kimberlite that diamonds reach the surface of the Earth.
Most of these tubes were found in Canada, Siberia, Australia, and South Africa, contain any diamond in its composition. "We tested different possibilities and that is the only reasonable explanation, "explains the researcher
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