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Surprising discovery: a layer of diamonds up to 18 km thick. Researchers recreated the planet's extreme conditions in the laboratory, revealing a diamond formation process.
The search for hidden treasures has always fascinated humanity. But what if I told you that one of the most precious treasures could be hidden in an unexpected place? Beneath the arid, unexplored surface of a planet, there may exist a layer of diamonds up to 18 kilometers thick.
According to new research, diamonds may be on Mercury and formed shortly after the planet's consolidation, about 4,5 billion years ago.
During this period, Mercury was enveloped in a cloud of dust and gas, subjected to atmospheric conditions. high pressure e high temperature. The planet's young graphite crust is believed to float on a vast ocean of magma.
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According to the portal CNN Brazil, a team of researchers recreated this extreme environment in a laboratory, using a machine called an anvil press. This machine allows small samples to be subjected to the same pressures and temperatures found deep in Mercury's mantle.
“It's a big press, which allows us to subject small samples to the same high pressure and high temperature that we would expect to find deep in Mercury's mantle,” explained Bernard Charlier, head of the geology department at the University of Liège, Belgium, and co-author of the study.
Recreation of Mercury's conditions in the laboratory
The researchers inserted a synthetic mixture of elements, including silicon, titanium, magnesium and aluminum, into a graphite capsule, mimicking the theorized composition of Mercury's interior. This capsule was then subjected to pressures almost 70.000 times greater than those found on the Earth's surface and temperatures of up to 2.000 ºC. After the sample melted, microscopic analysis revealed that the graphite had transformed into diamond crystals.
“We found that conditions are different from Earth because there is a lot of sulfur on Mercury, which lowered the melting point of our sample,” Charlier commented. “It completely melted at a lower temperature, which is good for the stability of the diamond. This suggests that Mercury's magma ocean is colder and deeper than we expected.”
Mercury: the mysterious planet
Mercury, the second densest planet in the solar system, has a large metallic core that occupies 85% of its radius. This core and the lack of oxygen, due to its proximity to the Sun, differentiate Mercury from the other rocky planets. The last completed mission to Mercury, NASA's Messenger, orbited the planet between March 2011 and April 2015, collecting valuable data on its geology, chemistry and magnetic field.
“Compared to the Moon or Mars, we know very little about Mercury, also because we have no samples from the planet’s surface,” explained Yanhao Lin, a scientist at the Advanced Research Center for High-Pressure Science and Technology in Beijing and co-author of the study.
Messenger revealed that Mercury is rich in carbon, with a gray surface due to the widespread presence of graphite. Current research suggests that during the planet's formation, the presence of sulfur and extreme conditions allowed graphite to transform into diamond.
Diamond formation and possible implications
Charlier and his team believe that Mercury's diamond layer, estimated to be between 15 and 18 kilometers thick, is still forming as the planet's core cools. However, the depth of around 500 kilometers makes mining these diamonds unfeasible with current technology.
“It is reasonable to consider that lavas formed by the melting of the deep mantle could bring some diamonds to the surface, similar to what happens on Earth,” Charlier suggested. This diamond formation process may also be happening on exoplanets with characteristics similar to Mercury, especially those with a low amount of oxygen.
Future missions and challenges
The next mission to Mercury, BepiColombo, launched in October 2018 by the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is scheduled to enter the planet's orbit in December 2025. This mission promises to provide more accurate data on the composition and the internal structure of Mercury, possibly identifying and quantifying carbon on the surface, as well as exploring the presence of diamonds.
“BepiColombo can possibly identify and quantify the carbon on the surface, but also whether there is diamond or more graphite,” stated Charlier. The collaboration is named after Italian scientist Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo, who invented the “gravity assist” maneuver routinely used to send probes to other planets.
The importance of research
Sean Solomon, principal investigator for NASA's Messenger mission, highlighted that the research presents an interesting idea, although confirming it will be a challenge for future missions to Mercury.
“Any diamond layer is deep and relatively thin,” Solomon said. “The most promising technique is probably seismology, but that would require long-duration landers on Mercury’s surface.”
Felipe González, a theoretical physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, believes the study represents an important step in understanding planetary interiors and their formation.
“Interdisciplinary studies like this are crucial for addressing complex problems in science,” said González. However, he also stressed that many assumptions about Mercury's interior still depend on indirect measurements and future experiments.
For now, future missions like BepiColombo will shed more light on Mercury's mysteries and, perhaps, confirm the existence of these valuable hidden diamonds.
Will we one day be able to explore and mine these treasures on Mercury? Leave your opinions in the comments!
Who will be the geologist with a postgraduate degree or MBA to assess the quality of the diamond? If it is brought to Earth, what will be its stability in maintaining such quality in contact with other elements on our planet? Will it become poisonous to human contact or to other life on this planet?