23 August 2007

Diamonds are forever or at least a very long time

A clutch of ancient diamonds found in Western Australia have been identified as the oldest remnants of the Earth's crust ever recovered.

The stones, which are over 4bn years old, were found inside rocks lodged in the sediments of a coastal ridge known as the Jack Hills. It is hoped that they will shed light on the earliest period of the Earth's history, the Hadean period (the period between the planet's initial formation and the formation of the first rocks.). The oldest of the diamonds is thought to be 4.25bn years old. This would suggest that the Earth had cooled enough to form a crust of solid rock by that time, earlier than originally thought.

This is definitely in the “fascinating stuff” category. Geology isn’t my area of expertise (try mammalian physiology and microbiology, although university is a long time ago now...)

7 comments:

billie said...

i like the diamonds made out of dead loved ones. that seems like a pretty good idea to me- cremains turned into diamonds. that's completely off topic though :)

elasticwaistbandlady said...

I'm no geologist either, but diamonds are my best friend, so, of course this story interested me.

My best friend is older than I thought. I wonder what I should diamonds for her 4.5 billionth birthday?

The Lone Beader® said...

Diamonds are a girl's best friend:)

jams o donnell said...

It certainly is one way to remember a loved one Betmo. Me I want to be planted under a sapling, but I think teh not-wife will just leave me at the kerb!

jams o donnell said...

Well you can't get a diamond diamonds! so that's a good question. I'lll get my thinking cap on, EWBL!

Followed by cats, chocolate... we men come way down the pecking order!

The Lone Beader® said...

Ha! Well, dogs would be my first... They are very loyal creatures... I was only kidding about diamonds =:)

Also, thanks for adding my link! U are sweet. I added you to my Google Reader. Cheers!

jams o donnell said...

The not wife gives that accolade to cats but a dog would be great. One day I'd like a Labrador. You're welcome I really do like your craft work.