SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Sound waves reveal diamond cache deep in Earth's interior
There may be more than a quadrillion tons of diamond hidden in the Earth's interior, according to a new study from MIT and other universities. But the new results are unlikely to set off a diamond rush. The scientists estimate the precious minerals are buried more than 100 miles below the surface, far deeper than any drilling expedition has ever reached.
The ultradeep cache may be scattered within cratonic roots — the oldest and most immovable sections of rock that lie beneath the center of most continental tectonic plates. Shaped like inverted mountains, cratons can stretch as deep as 200 miles through the Earth's crust and into its mantle; geologists refer to their deepest sections as "roots."
In the new study, scientists estimate that cratonic roots may contain 1 to 2 percent diamond. Considering the total volume of cratonic roots in the Earth, the team figures that about a quadrillion (1016) tons of diamond are scattered within these ancient rocks, 90 to 150 miles below the surface.
"This shows that diamond is not perhaps this exotic mineral, but on the [geological] scale of things, it's relatively common," says Ulrich Faul, a research scientist in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. "We can't get at them, but still, there is much more diamond there than we have ever thought before."
Also at National Geographic and Discover Magazine.
Multidisciplinary Constraints on the Abundance of Diamond and Eclogite in the Cratonic Lithosphere (DOI: 10.1029/2018GC007534) (DX)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @07:13AM
Thanks. I am certainly not looking for the type that hang around the MAC counter at Macy's, that's fer sure. I would love to be able to say I met my mate at Home Depot or while taking a walk around the neighborhood. I hate bars. I neither smoke nor drink, and many would call me quite stingy. But if the car breaks down, I will not lose sleep over it. I don't have and flat do not want a fancy car.... I have a huge 25 year old beater that I am quite comfortable with. I know how its made and how it works, and have far more confidence in it than I have for the modern machines. And its a personal philosophy that I keep my bills paid, not be in debt, and have a bit left over so if I should kick the bucket, there's enough there to do the services and a bit more to help my family.
I have no intention of playing that damned "I'm richer than you" game, and would much rather go on a road trip and just look at things. If people see me as a homeless bum, I'd rather have them see me that way rather than have them see me as the rich sunnafabitch who extorts resources from everyone else, living on unearned ( legally stolen ) income.
I do not like makeup on women. It makes them look like a clown. I see all these "before" and "after" photos from these so called beauty services, and I usually prefer the "before" photo. Once they get through with them, the lady looks too much like a gold-digger, and absolutely useless. Just a pain-in-the-ass to have around. I want an older model, good and sturdy. If I find her attractive, she would look fine to me even if she were dressed in an old burlap feed sack. I don't dress up either. Its WalMart jeans for me. And whatever T-shirts I find at garage sales... just so long as they don't have flamebait crap printed on them. Damned if I'm paying extra just for some brand logo.
I need someone that doesn't consider me as just a stepping stool on her way up to something better. Yes, I would choose a mate almost exactly like I choose a vehicle: I want someone I can be comfortable with, and is not some sort of show-thing always stirring up trouble for me. I deliberately chose a vehicle I know I can go through the desert and come back, damn near no matter what. I want a companion of similar robustness, knowing I don't have to worry that another guy come by and poof! She's gone. Finicky expensive thing that isn't worth a hoot.
Nor do I want anyone constantly goading me to earn more money. There is a tradeoff between having enough time and enough money. I have enough to live on. I had just as soon enjoy what time I have left. I highly resent being nagged into trading more hours of my life for the purchase of trinkets whose sole purpose is to signal wealth. I have been around wealthy people, and I really don't want to emulate some of the things I see them do. Some people can be wealthy and you would never know it... those are the kind I like. Others can appear to be wealthy but are in reality head-over-heels in debt trying to maintain that illusion in public... and that's the kind of life I am trying to avoid at all costs.