Geologist and researchers across the globe associated with gemology are agreeing that the colourful pink diamonds that hail from the Argyle mine which is the source of more than 90 % of the total pink diamonds are attributed to a supercontinent breakup or in other words when continents split.
Pink diamonds have taken barbiecore aesthetics to a level never crossed due to the rosy colours of pink diamonds that are undoubtedly among the most valuable diamonds that exists in the current market despite the fact that these diamonds are far from perfect.
The fact is that while Australian pink diamonds or argyle diamonds are rare and expensive to buy, they are scientifically unique due to the fact that they are actually damaged chemically, however the damage is rare according to Hugo Olierook who is a prominent geoscientist linked to the Curtin University (Perth, Australia).
The colour of the Argyle diamonds according to the research points to a continental rift that has enough force, pressure and heat to warp the diamonds crystal lattice causing clear diamonds to turn pink and other into brown due to even greater geological squashes.
The Argyle mine located in Western Australia which produced 90 % of the world’s total pink diamonds has ceased operations which mean that pink diamonds are going to get even scarcer.
Researchers have constructed a series of event that not only led to the formation of these precious stones, but also have an idea as to when and how these diamonds appeared on the surface of the planet.
The Journal of Nature Communications recently published that these diamonds were ‘pushed’ to the surface about 1.3 billion years ago which was possible due to the thin continental edges of the planet’s early supercontinents. If this is to be proved to be true then it is apparent that more such diamonds can be found within the areas of ancient continental junctures.
Similar to Argyle diamonds, these diamonds were naturally formed deep below the earth’s surface when these continents collided with each other which were crucial for colouring these diamonds after which the subsequent drifts or splits of these continents and volcanic eruptions caused these diamonds to move closer to the earth’s surface based on the volcanic rocks that were found studded with Argyle diamonds in the region.
The estimated dates and age of the rocks and diamonds are said to coincide when the supercontinent Nuna started to break apart which caused these geologic sutures to ‘thin’ which allowed assisted magma containing these diamonds to come up to the surface near at the edges of north western Australia.
Hence in summary, the formation and distribution of Argyle like diamonds takes first a continental collision to form these diamonds and must be followed by a continental drift that will thin the earth’s layer that would allow magma or full-on eruptions to send the diamonds close enough to the surface for them to be mined by humans.The researchers have also gone far enough to identify regions that may have undergone the same processes and most fingers are pointing towards the African and South American continents as the next wholesale source for pink diamonds.