Russian scientists have found a lunar mineral in a diamond

It was extracted with rock from the depths of a thousand kilometers

A new mineral for the Earth – merrillite, which was previously found only in meteorites and lunar rocks, was discovered by scientists from the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry. IN AND. Vernadsky RAS as part of the lower mantle of the Earth.

According to the GEOKHI RAS, merrillite was found during the study of a substance extracted from a kimberlite pipe (the vent of an ancient volcano) in the Rio Soriso basin in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. The studies were carried out jointly with the staff of the Institute of Geology and Geochemistry named after V.I. Academician A.N. Zavaritsky Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Along with the usual inclusion minerals that are present in the lower mantle (bridgmanite, dauvmaoite, ferropericlase), experts have found inclusions of merrillite – βCa3(PO4)2, one of the varieties of calcium phosphate. Until recently, it was considered exclusively a cosmic mineral, which was extracted from meteorites and lunar matter. This time, merrillite micrograins were found by scientists in a diamond extracted from a kimberlite pipe from a depth of about a thousand kilometers. Their size varied within 50 micrometers. According to the researchers, merrillite may point to the essential role of phosphates in the formation of diamonds in the natural environment. This can also be used in the industrial synthesis of diamonds.