Russian asteroid crater full of diamonds
September 19, 2012
Russia recently declassified the existence of what could be considered the most plentiful diamond field as of late, which is located deep within a 62-mile diameter asteroid crater, the Popigai Astroblem in Siberia, according to Tecca.
This diamond discovery was reportedly of trillions of karats, and since diamonds usually sell for $2,000 a karat, this find can generate billions of dollars. The diamonds are considered to be "impact diamonds," which are significantly harder than normal diamonds. It is estimated these diamonds were created 35 million years ago when the meteorite hit Siberia originally, the media outlet reports.
According to The Huffington Post, there are a couple ways in which impact diamonds are created. First of all, it could have happened because the meteorite crashed into an area rich of a certain form of carbon, like the remains of living organism, and the high pressures and temperatures of the collision would turn the terrestrial carbon into diamond. The second is the carbon is inside of the meteorite and once it impacts, it flash-fuses into diamonds and they are dispersed onto the ground. However, neither of these incidents seem to have occurred in this situation.
"The diamonds that have been found around meteorite-impact craters have been small and few," Richard April, professor of geology at Colgate University, told the news source. "It's interesting that the Russians are claiming that they found a gigantic deposit of diamonds in a meteorite-impact crater, because, from what we've seen so far, it's kind of unlikely."
Those who want to talk about latest diamond find can make calls to Russia using international calling cards.
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