Ever wondered where the gems that make up your stunning diamond hinged earrings came from? and I don’t mean which store they were bought from. I often wonder how old the diamonds are, where and how they were formed and indeed how many civilizations have come and gone in the time my rocks have been in existence.
Why do I think this, well, I’m not just sentimental, nor a science geek. Being in the industry the natural value and charm of a diamond is always on my mind. Recently scientists have come a little closer to understanding the origins of our sparkle and bling.
At least once in Earth’s history, global warming ended quickly, and scientists have long wondered why. Now researchers are reporting that the abrupt cooling — which took place about 12,900 years ago, just as the planet was emerging from an ice age — may have been caused by one or more meteors that slammed into North America.
The hypothesis has been regarded skeptically, but its advocates now report perhaps more convincing residue of impact: a thin layer of microscopic diamonds found in rocks across America and in Europe. At each of the 30 sites the scientists looked at, the diamond layer in the rocks correlates to the date of the hypothesized impact. Within the layer, the scientists report finding a multitude of diamond particles, all encased within carbon spheres. “We’ve yet to find a single diamond above it,” Dr. West said. “We’ve yet to find a single diamond below it.”