Are There Diamonds on Mercury? (cnn.com) 29
The planet Mercury could have "a layer of diamonds," reports CNN, citing new research suggesting that about 310 miles (500 kilometers) below the surface...could be a layer of diamonds 11 miles (18 kilometers) thick.
And the study's co-author believes lava might carry some of those diamonds up to the surface: The diamonds might have formed soon after Mercury itself coalesced into a planet about 4.5 billion years ago from a swirling cloud of dust and gas, in the crucible of a high-pressure, high-temperature environment. At this time, the fledgling planet is believed to have had a crust of graphite, floating over a deep magma ocean.
A team of researchers recreated that searing environment in an experiment, with a machine called an anvil press that's normally used to study how materials behave under extreme pressure but also for the production of synthetic diamonds. "It's a huge press, which enables us to subject tiny samples at the same high pressure and high temperature that we would expect deep inside the mantle of Mercury, at the boundary between the mantle and the core," said Bernard Charlier, head of the department of geology at the University of Liège in Belgium and a coauthor of a study reporting the findings.
The team inserted a synthetic mixture of elements — including silicon, titanium, magnesium and aluminum — inside a graphite capsule, mimicking the theorized composition of Mercury's interior in its early days. The researchers then subjected the capsule to pressures almost 70,000 times greater than those found on Earth's surface and temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,630 degrees Fahrenheit), replicating the conditions likely found near Mercury's core billions of years ago.
After the sample melted, the scientists looked at changes in the chemistry and minerals under an electron microscope and noted that the graphite had turned into diamond crystals.
The researchers believe this mechanism "can not only give us more insight into the secrets hidden below Mercury's surface, but on planetary evolution and the internal structure of exoplanets with similar characteristics."
And the study's co-author believes lava might carry some of those diamonds up to the surface: The diamonds might have formed soon after Mercury itself coalesced into a planet about 4.5 billion years ago from a swirling cloud of dust and gas, in the crucible of a high-pressure, high-temperature environment. At this time, the fledgling planet is believed to have had a crust of graphite, floating over a deep magma ocean.
A team of researchers recreated that searing environment in an experiment, with a machine called an anvil press that's normally used to study how materials behave under extreme pressure but also for the production of synthetic diamonds. "It's a huge press, which enables us to subject tiny samples at the same high pressure and high temperature that we would expect deep inside the mantle of Mercury, at the boundary between the mantle and the core," said Bernard Charlier, head of the department of geology at the University of Liège in Belgium and a coauthor of a study reporting the findings.
The team inserted a synthetic mixture of elements — including silicon, titanium, magnesium and aluminum — inside a graphite capsule, mimicking the theorized composition of Mercury's interior in its early days. The researchers then subjected the capsule to pressures almost 70,000 times greater than those found on Earth's surface and temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,630 degrees Fahrenheit), replicating the conditions likely found near Mercury's core billions of years ago.
After the sample melted, the scientists looked at changes in the chemistry and minerals under an electron microscope and noted that the graphite had turned into diamond crystals.
The researchers believe this mechanism "can not only give us more insight into the secrets hidden below Mercury's surface, but on planetary evolution and the internal structure of exoplanets with similar characteristics."
next up: (Score:5, Funny)
debeers buys Mercury!
It's what they do.
We should be able to mine diamonds there, then. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Synthetic diamonds are so easy to make that most of the cost of a synthetic diamond is all the additional processes they need to make it have random natural-life flaws.
Re: (Score:2)
Considering the probes that landed on venus only lasted 4 hours; this should be no problem right?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Mercury is probably a little less hostile than venus, in terms of pressures (almost none. Moon like, no atmosphere).
Temperatures however, utterly brutal. 800f/430c in the day and -290f/-180c at night. Though with a very slow day/night cycle you could in theory just land on the night side, do stuff for a month or two, then return without too much danger of facing the inferno.
Re: (Score:2)
It was primarily the combined pressure and super-toxic atmosphere that killed most of the Venera probes. It's an insanely corrosive environment and it's kind of amazing that any of the probes lasted as log as they did.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Temperatures however, utterly brutal. 800f/430c in the day and -290f/-180c at night.
Temperatures of what, exactly? There is no atmosphere in Mercury. It's got to be temperatures of the surface, which, here on Earth are much higher than those of the air.
whew (Score:4, Funny)
Thank God they don't have oil or we would have to liberate the inhabitants from their oppressive rulers by killing a large number of them.
Re: (Score:2)
If there's anything worth taking, we'll se a resurrection of the manifest destiny policy.
Re: (Score:1)
Titan is full of hydrocarbons.
Earth has more plentiful and easy to get diamonds (Score:5, Informative)
These diamonds are 310 miles below the surface. The Earth has far more diamonds only 100 miles deep: https://www.iflscience.com/a-q... [iflscience.com] ... But forget that, the Earth has plenty of SURFACE diamonds, that are easily within reach of underpaid slaves .. the only difference is DeBeers owns all the major diamond mines so they create artificial scarcity by restricting how many diamonds their slaves can mine.
Re: (Score:2)
My favorite is that for my entire life on this planet I have been told that diamonds are values first and foremost on their clarity. Then debeers (da Bears) comes out with what? Thats right, a ‘chocolate’ diamond. No clarity, quite dirty. They might as well be pissing on you and calling it rain. While laughing all the way to their bank. Shit diamond is what it really is.
Oh, you mean garbage diamonds? (Score:2)
Diamonds not Forever (Score:2)
Yeah, those have been around forever.
Actually they have not, diamond is an unstable allotrope of carbon so diamonds decay into graphene. However, unless you plan to be around to observe the universe's stellar black holes start to evaporate you probably dont need to worry.
The Universe started when I was born. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Roger Moore? Are you still bitter that Sean Connery starred in Diamonds Are Forever?
Chocolate diamond (Score:2)
Lump of lignite?
Re: (Score:2)
They might as well be pissing on you and calling it rain.
You flunk marketing creativity 101.
Calling it "rain" is mundane and boring, won't sell.
Call it a "golden shower", and everybody wants in.
With apologies to the Beetles (Score:3)
Merc'ry in the sky with diamonds.
And if you don't get that, you're too young to be here. And get off my lawn on your way out.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, you'd better apologize after that one, you schmuck!
(Does anybody here smell that? It smells like rotten fish . . . )
Re: (Score:1)
"Lucy on my lawn with diamonds...
I thnk we should (Score:2)
... ask astrophysicist Brian May
He should know whether there were diamonds on (Freddie) Mercury
Re: I thnk we should (Score:2)