WORLD RECORDS

Which natural material is the world’s hardest?

Lonsdaleite is a very rare type of diamond that exists in meteorites and results, when the graphite of a meteor hits Earth. The heat and pressure from the collision transforms the material into diamonds which are up to 58 % harder than diamonds formed in the usual way. The hardness is probably due to a more stable atomic structure.

USA

WHERE: The first lonsdaleite finds are from a meteorite from the Barringer Crater in Arizona.

WHAT: Lonsdaleite results, when pressure and heat from a meteor strike converts carbon into diamond.