The mineral will be found at a depth of less than 300 kilometers from the surface.
A new study published in the journal Nature claims that Mercury hides a layer up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) thick made of diamonds. Although the mineral could not be mined Since it is located 300 kilometers below the surface, it is an important discovery about the formation of planetary layers and opens up the possibility for other terrestrial planets to have similar layers.
Crystallization process
As NASA’s MESSENGER and Mariner 10 missions have shown, the planet high presence of graphitewhich gives its surface a dark color. Until now, scientists thought that graphite formed from carbon in the mantle under pressure and temperature, and then floated to the surface because it is lighter than other components.
That all changes when a 2019 study shows that Mercury’s mantle is 80 kilometers deeper than previously thought. This means that the pressure and temperature are higher, which makes it easier for carbon to crystallize into diamond. Added to this is presence of sulfurwhich would allow it to harden at much higher temperatures. Curiously, on other planets, diamonds rain down.
That’s what Yanhao Lin of the Advanced Research Center for High-Pressure Science and Technology in Beijing noticed. “Many years ago, I realized that Mercury’s extremely high carbon content could have serious consequences,” he told Phys.org.
It was impossible to send a robot to check the diamond, so Lin made Experiments with presses in conditions simulating the bowels of Mercury. Using 70,000 pascals and 1970 degrees Celsius, the conditions of the celestial body were simulated with results consistent with those proposed. Diamonds would be crystallized in the inner core of the planetbut being less dense What is this, They emerged into the adjacent region between the core and the mantle..
It would be impossible to mine 300 kilometers away on Mercury, which already has extreme temperatures ranging from -180° to 430°. Likewise, the study could be great progress in understanding how planetary layers are formed. In addition, diamond layers may exist on other planets besides the one closest to the Sun, which, oddly enough, is also the closest to Earth.
You can follow Andro4all on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter (X) or visit our Telegram channel to stay up to date with the latest tech news.