Diamond Planet: Recently, scientists from China and Belgium have made a shocking discovery. They were studying Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, and they could not believe what they found. They have claimed that there may be a possibility of a layer of diamond about 9 miles (14 km) thick being formed within the surface of this planet. They published their findings in a journal called Nature Communications, titled, “A diamond-bearing core-mantle boundary on Mercury.”
Scientists speculate that diamonds may have formed due to ‘crystallization in a carbon-saturated magma ocean’, but as the planet cooled, diamonds turned into graphite. Both graphite and diamond are isomers of carbon. In graphite, carbon atoms are connected to each other in a hexagonal net, while in diamond, carbon atoms are connected to each other in a tetrahedral structure.
Mercury’s atmosphere was prepared
Regarding the formation of the diamond layer on Mercury, scientists tried to re-understand the conditions of the interior of the planet Mercury with high pressure and temperature and thermodynamic modeling. This process helped them study the minerals in the equilibrium phase. They found that the presence of sulfur in Mercury’s iron ore facilitates the crystallization process resulting in the formation of diamonds at the core mantle boundary. The diamond layer keeps the planet’s temperature high. Due to which it affects thermal conductivity and magnetic field formation. This layer helps in heat transfer from the core to the mantle.
Human greed will increase
What happens if diamonds and gold are found somewhere, people start looting to get it. In such a situation, the presence of a 9-mile layer of diamonds on a planet can increase the greed of humans, although mining of diamonds is almost impossible here. This discovery can give us an opportunity to find an explanation for the unique features of Mercury like its magnetic field or geological structures. Scientists have found that the presence of diamonds is possible, but also said that based on the data it is impossible that “the diamond was in an ocean of magma.” The conclusion of this study is that the processes seen in Mercury can also be found on other planets and similar diamond layers can be detected there too.
It kept orbiting Mercury for 5 years
NASA’s MESSENGER, or Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury and while it orbited the planet for nearly 5 years, its data has been relevant to scientists who studied the planet’s geology, magnetic field, and chemical composition. They found abundant carbon on Mercury, thought to be the result of a primitive graphite flotation crust.
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 23, 2024, 09:34 IST