DECRYPTION – A new study has revealed the presence of water in diamonds born at a depth of 660 km and discovered in the Karowe mine, in Botswana.
What is the center of the Earth made up of? If Jules Verne imagined a vast cavity that could house dinosaurs, we have known for almost three centuries that this is not the case. The Earth is a succession of rocky layers subjected to very high pressures and temperatures. Impossible to dig to know its exact composition: the deepest drilling ever made by men does not exceed 13 km. But in their research, geologists have valuable allies. Diamonds.
These gemstones prized for their brilliance form at least 200 km deep, where the carbon densifies under tremendous pressure forces to yield this strongest and hardest crystal possible. And when a diamond forms, it can capture what’s around it. The diamonds then take several billion years to rise to the surface, thanks to the internal movements of the mantle. They then become messengers who transmit to us…
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