Mercury's 11-Mile Thick Layer of Diamonds
July 17, 24
(IDEX Online) - The planet Mercury may have an 11-mile thick layer of diamonds beneath its surface, according to scientists from China and Belgium writing in the journal Nature Communications.
They believe extreme heat and pressure may have favored diamond formation where the planet's core meets its mantle.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, and is, on average, 77 million miles from Earth.
Abundant carbon was identified on Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft, which crashed into the planet at the end of its exploration mission in 2016. It usually takes the form of graphite, which gives the planet its dark color.
But recent computer modelling and experiments with material samples suggest the carbon may also have formed a thick layer of diamonds.
Authors of the study, entitled A diamond-bearing core-mantle boundary on Mercury, say they re-evaluated "carbon speciation in Mercury's interior in light of the high pressure-temperature experiments, thermodynamic models and the most recent geophysical models of the internal structure of the planet".
They conclude that diamonds crystallized from the cooling molten core of the planet, leading to the "formation of a diamond layer" which became thicker over time.