Scientists have discovered the fact that Mercury, which is the closest planet to the Sun in our solar system, has a large amount of diamonds.
A recent study has shown that there may be a thick layer of diamonds beneath the surface of Mercury.
Information on this matter has been given in a report published by Live Science.
According to Yanhao Lin, a scientist at the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Research in Beijing, China and co-author of the study, Mercury’s extremely high carbon content reveals the secret of something special beneath the planet’s surface. According to him, Mercury has a magnetic field, although it is much weaker than Earth’s.
It should be remembered that NASA’s Messenger spacecraft also discovered unusual black areas on the surface of Mercury during its study. It was identified as graphite.
The research published in the journal Nature Communications sheds light on the structure and unusual magnetic field of Mercury.
According to scientists, the formation of the planets is probably made by the melting of very hot lava oceans. This is how other terrestrial planets developed. Scientists believe that Mercury may be full of silicates and carbon.
The formation of the mantle, which is the outer layer and middle layer of the planet, is formed when the magma material turns into crystals. While the metals were already solidified within it, a central core was formed.
Previously, scientists believed that carbon would turn into graphite due to temperature and pressure in the middle atmosphere.
Because the mantle is lighter than the middle layer, it floats on the surface. However, a 2019 study found that Mercury’s mantle may be 80 km deeper than previously thought. Because of this, the temperature and pressure at the boundary of the mid-latitude and the mid-latitude increases a lot. As a result, a situation arises where the carbon element crystallizes into diamond.
A team of researchers from Belgium and China prepared a chemical mixture using carbon, silica and iron to explore this possibility. The researchers added different densities of iron sulfide to the mixture.
Then the chemical mixture was pressurized to 7 gigapascals using a multiple anvil press. This amount of pressure is 70 thousand times more than the atmospheric pressure of the earth at sea level. This extreme situation represents the conditions found in the interior of the planet Mercury. The researchers used computer models to accurately measure temperature and pressure near the boundary between Mercury’s core and mantle.
The computer simulation provides information about the internal situation of the planet. During research, the chemical mixture freezes at a higher temperature when only sulfur is added. In such a situation, the chances of diamond formation are high.
The researchers concluded from the computer model that in this situation, the inner core of Mercury can become a diamond.
Although there are diamonds in the interior of Mercury, it is not possible to mine them. Besides the extremely high temperature on Mercury, the potential diamond is 485 km below the surface. Which is impossible to remove.
