The boundary zone between the mantle, the planet's rocky middle layer, and the molten metal core might be a diamond-producing region!
According to a recent laboratory experiment, the elements such as iron, carbon, and water, all probable components found near the core-mantle boundary, can combine to make diamonds when subjected to high temperatures and pressures.
If this process is also happening in the depths of Earth, it might be able to explain the mantle's oddities, such as why it contains more carbon than scientists expect.
Two Enormous Blobs
As reported by Space.com, the study's findings may shed light on mysterious structures located deep at the core-mantle border, where earthquake waves exhibit substantial slowing.
These areas often referred to as "ultra low-velocity zones," might be just a few miles broad or hundreds of miles across. They are also linked to odd mantle structures, such as two enormous blobs under Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
Several experts believe they are made of components from the very early Earth and are 4.5 billion years old. But according to a recent study, some of these zones may have developed as a result of plate tectonics, which possibly began 3 billion years after Earth was formed.
Additionally, investigations that photograph the mantle using the reflected seismic waves have revealed that materials from the crust may reach the core-mantle boundary, which is located about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) below the surface of the Earth.
Tectonic plates slide under one another at subduction zones, driving oceanic crust deep into the Earth. Water has been trapped in the minerals of the rocks that make up this oceanic crust, as per Space.com.
The study's lead author Sang-Heon Shim said that water might exist in the core-mantle border and be able to trigger chemical reactions there.
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Putting the Theory to the test
To put the theory to the test, the researchers combined the components found in the core-mantle barrier and compressed them with diamond anvils at pressures up to 140 gigapascals. The researchers also heated the materials to 6,830 degrees Fahrenheit (3,776 degrees Celsius).
Water behaves substantially differently near the core-mantle border than it does on the surface of the Earth, according to Shim.
A split occurs between the oxygen molecules and the hydrogen molecules. The iron will then attract hydrogen due to intense pressure and as a result, the oxygen from water remains in the mantle while the hydrogen fuses with the core.
This causes the hydrogen to appear to displace other light elements in the core, most importantly carbon. This carbon is forced into the mantle from the core. The most stable form of carbon at the high pressures found in the core-mantle interface is diamond.
Shim stated, "That's how diamonds form."
According to the ratio of elements in stars and other planets, the mantle has three to five times more carbon than what scientists would anticipate. Shim said the diamonds discovered in this layer might account for the discrepancy.
Shim and his team calculated that enough diamonds might be produced to account for the crust's levels of carbon if 10% to 20% of the water in the oceanic crust reaches the core-mantle boundary.
However, the team has to confirm this first by digging thousands of kilometers below the Earth's surface.
Shim proposed two ways to look for evidence, one is to look for features that might be diamond clusters near the core-mantle barrier, and another approach would entail studying diamonds that may have originated from the deepest levels of the Earth's mantle.
But until then, we will know if there is truly a diamond factory in the depths of our planet!
Related Article: This Super-Deep Diamond Reveals How The Earth's Layers Work
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
