Diamond jewelry and accessories catch the eye of the wealthy and famous looking for an elite new jewelry design that reinforces their status. Men and women of all social classes value their diamond jewelry, from simple cufflinks and studded earrings to extra special engagement rings.
Diamonds are renowned for their beauty and their monetary value, but there is much more to diamonds than most people realize. This is especially true of two types of diamonds being found in Australia.
The Merlin Diamond Project Intrigues Investors
The diamond industry and diamond investors are presently keeping a close eye on the Merlin Diamond Project in Australia’s Northern Territory. The Merlin Project mines are owned by North Australian Diamonds Limited (NADL). Australia’s largest diamond was uncovered at the Merlin Diamond Project site in 2002. It was a 104.73 carat white gem quality diamond valued at over half a million US dollars.
Declining worldwide diamond reserves make the Merlin Diamond Project a particularly favorable investment. Good news recently got even better as NADL increased its estimation of diamond resources at the site. Based on samples taken in 2007, it was estimated that the site’s diamond reserve is approximately 5 million carats. The Merlin Diamond Project is known for producing rare, high quality diamonds.
Some very special Australian diamonds are exciting more than investors and the diamond industry in 2007, but these diamonds aren’t from the Merlin Diamond Project mines. Scientists made a very unique diamond discovery in Western Australia, although the value of the diamonds they found is purely geological.
Zircon Diamonds Fascinate Scientists
Geologists at the Curtin University of Technology in Perth discovered tiny diamonds dated at 4.25 billion years encapsulated inside zircon crystals. Zircon is itself a rare mineral with some unique properties. Zircon is extremely stable, and it is only formed at temperatures between 1,112 and 1.652 F degrees.
What makes the discovery of diamonds within zircon crystals so exciting? To understand their geological value, you have to recall some earth history lessons. At the beginning of earth’s history, the surface was covered with boiling oceans of yellow-orange magma. Scientists have traditionally thought this ultra-hot period lasted as long as 500 million years.
Only after the earth began to cool down could rock begin to harden into the earth’s crust. It was then that water began to be stored and life eventually started to evolve. Scientists have not previously discovered any intact rocks that would indicate cooling prior to 4 billion years. Then the zircon crystals were discovered in Australia.
Diamonds Rewrite the Story of Earth’s History
Zircon is unique in that once it is formed, geological processes that may affect the parent rock containing it do not alter this mineral. Diamonds and other minerals contained within zircons are also unaffected. Like tiny time capsules, zircon crystals containing diamonds can tell the story of exactly what was happening when they were formed.
The story the zircon crystals and diamonds is telling is nothing short of incredible. Scientists know that diamonds cannot be formed in molten lava, therefore the molten lava seas that once covered the Earth must have cooled down prior to the time of the zircon crystals’ formation. The zircon crystals and their diamonds suggest the Earth’s oceans could have been inhabitable to primitive life forms as early as 400 million years earlier than what scientists originally thought. The entire timeline of the history of the Earth’s formation is being called into question.
As a result of the zircon discoveries, scientists have had to rethink their theories about the process of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics refers to the movements of the earth’s crust, including continental shifts. Plate tectonics is responsible for all forms of geological activity and the eventual outcome of the Earth as we know it today.
An earlier cooling down of the earth implies plate tectonics dates to a much earlier time period than ever before imagined. Everything scientists have theorized about the time frames involved in the formation of Earth’s surface and the beginnings of life is being called into question.
Diamonds: Surprising Possibilities
The zircon crystals pose even more intriguing possibilities. There are only four known conditions under which diamonds are created in the earth. At present, scientists are unsure exactly how the diamonds within the zircon crystals were formed. It’s possible these diamonds could have formed under conditions yet to be discovered or understood.
Although diamonds are so rare and scarce, experts believe the world’s natural supply of diamonds will be exhausted in 30 to 40 years, diamonds keep surprising us. Super hard diamonds are revealing the history of the Earth billions of years after they were formed. It seems diamonds really are forever, but in ways nobody ever quite imagined.
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