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posted by takyon on Tuesday May 05 2015, @08:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the finder's-keepers dept.

According to ScienceMag, the palmlike Pandanus candelabrum plant has an affinity for diamonds. Or more precisely, an affinity for kimberlite.

A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia that seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes—columns of volcanic rock hundreds of meters across that extend deep into Earth, left by ancient eruptions that exhumed diamonds from the mantle. [...] It has a stilt-like aerial root system, similar to mangrove trees, and rises to a height of 10 meters or more, spreading spiny, palm-like fronds. [...] Kimberlite pipes bring the gems to the surface in eruptions that sometimes rise faster than the speed of sound. The pipes are rare.

The Kimberlite pipes are rich in magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus, and the plant appears to be particularly adapted to these soils. It appears to grows no where else.

Prospecting has just gotten much easier. That may be good for the West African nations, but not necessarily for P. candelabrum. Kimberlite mines tend to be narrow and vertical, with much smaller footprints than open-pit copper mines, and their effluent—ground-up kimberlite—is benign.

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Tuesday May 05 2015, @09:19AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Tuesday May 05 2015, @09:19AM (#179017) Homepage

    Incorrect placement of "that":

    A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia that seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes

    A geologist has discovered that a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia seems to grow only on top of kimberlite pipes

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by CoolHand on Tuesday May 05 2015, @02:41PM

    by CoolHand (438) on Tuesday May 05 2015, @02:41PM (#179110) Journal
    I disagree. If the discovery was new, you would be correct, but, since the plant itself is new, the article's author is correct in his usage, IMHO. "But the new plant , identified as Pandanus candelabrum, is the first indicator species for diamond-bearing kimberlite."

    A geologist has discovered a thorny, palm-like plant in Liberia

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    • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Tuesday May 05 2015, @06:48PM

      by wonkey_monkey (279) on Tuesday May 05 2015, @06:48PM (#179199) Homepage

      "But the new plant, identified as Pandanus candelabrum

      Well, it is a bit confusing to refer to it as a new plant, then in the same sentence say it's been identified as a species that was first described more than 200 years ago without further qualification.

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