A new mineral
Most diamonds crystallise 150–200 kilometres underground; however, some ‘super-deep diamonds’ are formed as far down as 410–620 kilometres, in the transition zone of the Earth’s mantle. One such diamond has been discovered to contain a new mineral that has never been seen before in nature. The mineral, named davemaoite, was spotted by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, trapped as small flecks in an ancient diamond that was unearthed in Botswana in the 1980s. It had previously been hypothesised that the calcium silicate compound, alongside other minerals, existed in the incredibly high-pressure environment of the lower mantle, but most of these minerals lose their structure by the time they reach the surface, or once outside of an artificial laboratory environment. The discovery of more of these minerals, in larger quantities, may reveal new information about the structure and evolution of the planet.