Scientists think they have discovered a quadrillion tons of unmined diamonds on earth. However, they are 100 miles deep which is way deeper than we’ve drilled so far. So, if we haven’t drilled this deep, how did the scientists find out? Well, turns out they accidentally discovered based on an anomaly in seismic data. The MIT researchers found the sound waves seemed to speed up down below in the cratonic roots which suggested the presence of diamonds. One of the properties of diamond is the sound velocity more than doubles compared to the other surrounding minerals.
Cratonic roots are the oldest sections of rock found under tectonic plates and are shaped like upside-down mountains. Researchers believe 1%-2% of the cratonic roots could be diamonds. Scientists always knew that diamonds weren’t rare earth minerals, they were just difficult to mine. However, this discovery shatters all previous estimates. There might be enough diamonds to give one away to everyone, but will we be able to reach them? Only time will tell.
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