Ringwoodite is a mineral which has lately been found inside of diamonds. According to a study published by ‘Nature’ magazine, ringwoodite can only be formed at a depth of 375 miles and its presence indicates important quantities of water, which has opened a whole window of possibilities directed towards the exploration of planet Earth.
All of this started when one investigation of the University of Alberta, in Canada, revealed that after analyzing a diamond found in Juina, Brazil, they found an important presence of ringwoodite inside the precious stone. The specialist, Graham Pearson, affirmed that this sample would be the first found on the whole planet because until that moment, ringwoodite was only found on meteorites.
by itself, the study concluded that ringwoodite contains 1% of water. It can seem like a little but a vast portion of the depths of the Earth is supposed to be made of ringwoodite, which then means that there is a large amount of water trapped in these minerals which engulfs the planet.
Professor Sally Gibson emphasized the importance of the Canadian discovery. “Finding water in such a large concentration implies a hugely significant development of our understanding of the origin of the water present on the surface of the Earth.”
With this discovery, also, a huge question is deciphered, which has been in and around the most brilliant minds of the world of geology for at least 25 years, because before finding ringwoodite, it was not known if the center of the Earth was dry or wet.
From space down to Earth, ringwoodite had only been previously found on the inside of meteorites; its discovery inside a Brazilian diamond has set a new guide for the world of science. For the American scientist Joseph Smith, with the terrestrial ringwoodite, a new guideline is set for his branch of specialization, after spending decades in a laboratory studying different samples coming from outer space.
“I think it is impressive! – Said Smith – This implies that the interior of the planet could house many times over the amount of water that is in the oceans. It tells us that hydrogen is an essential ingredient on Earth and not something added later trough collisions with comets”.
If you didn’t know, aside from its beauty, diamonds have elevated the curiosity in the scientific, industrial and mineral communities with this finding, proposing a new hypothesis. The presence of minerals inside diamonds would put into evidence the existence of water inside rocks which make up an extensive internal layer of the planet.
Scientists assure that its number would be equivalent to a whole new ocean. Going beyond that, not only would this planet have such an amount of H2O, the rest of the planets that make up the solar system are also included, which would elevate the mining of precious stones from its banal objective, to be a way of answering the question of the cosmic origin and the uncertainty of the future of humanity.