9/10/2007

Researchers discover natural diamond 1st time in Japan
Kyodo Press – Monday Sept. 10, 2007—Researchers at Nagoya University said Monday they have discovered a natural diamond for the first time in Japan in volcanic rock in Ehime Prefecture…the discovered diamond can not be observed even using a microscope as its size is about one part per thousand millimeters….The group collected the volcanic rock which was exposed on the ground and radiated a laser beam on a sudsy spot on it. It then detected a wavelength that is characteristic of a diamond and estimated its size. The sudsy spot is caused when a mineral is formed in the ground by trapping carbon dioxide…more...

Researchers have either discovered diamonds or soap on my rice ranch in Ehime Prefecture! I figured that the curious term “sudsy spot” might have been a lost-in-translation moment for Kyodo Press (yet again). “Sudsy spot” sure seems odd but you can never tell if the scientists were drinking a lot suds when they started using the term as slang for CO₂ magmatic foam found in the formations of kimberlite where diamonds are discovered.

It turns out that the May 3 issue of the journal Nature published a new integrated theory of diamond formation were, “a leading wedge of fluid carbon dioxide, combined with catastrophic cooling upon reaching the Earth’s surface, to explain how the diamonds survive as magma powers them upward.” While the journal Nature doesn’t use the term “sudsy spot” to describe carbon dioxide magmatic foam apparently Japanese do.

Anyway, if this new theory pans out, it could mean that diamonds can be found anywhere—even on my rice ranch in Ehime Prefecture! Previously, diamonds have been found in South Africa and on the Canadian Shield. Since those were the only major places that “kimberlite” were known to exist, those were the only places people looked for diamonds.