Geology: A new mechanism for diamond formation
Nature Communications
2015년11월4일

A new mechanism that may explain the formation of natural diamonds has been presented in Nature Communications this week. According to a new model, a drop in pH during water-rock interactions deep within the Earth is capable of leading to diamond precipitation.
Previously, the cause of diamond formation has been attributed to poorly-understood redox reactions associated with fluids or magmas at depth, but the role of pH changes has not been explored. Dimitri Sverjensky and colleagues use a theoretical approach to model the conditions under which diamonds might form, using hydrous fluids and elevated temperatures and pressures. By modelling how the fluids evolve during migration and how they interact with silicate rocks, the authors suggest that fluid-mineral reactions cause a decrease in pH, resulting in the right conditions for diamonds to be precipitated. This occurs without the redox changes that were previously invoked to explain diamond formation, although the previous theory may still be valid in some settings.
The new model could be useful for investigating different natural settings in which diamonds form, and may be expanded to include more sophisticated parameters. Eventually this kind of research may help to unravel the complicated history of fluids in the deep Earth through geological time.
doi: 10.1038/ncomms9702
리서치 하이라이트
-
3월4일
Environment: Reservoirs account for more than half of water storage variabilityNature
-
3월2일
Evolution: Neanderthals may have heard just like usNature Ecology & Evolution
-
3월2일
Geoscience: Earth’s atmosphere may return to low-levels of oxygen in one billion yearsNature Geoscience
-
2월26일
Environment: Shifting from small to medium plastic bottles could reduce PET wasteScientific Reports
-
2월24일
Environment: European forests more vulnerable to multiple threats as climate warmsNature Communications
-
2월11일
Environment: Global CFC-11 emissions in declineNature