Some islands started in diamond-bearing regions under continents, geochemists say
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 11:21
in Earth & Climate
The raw materials of some volcanic islands are shaped by some of the same processes that form diamonds deep under the continents, according to a new study. The study asserts that material from diamond-forming regions journeys nearly to earth's core and back up to form such islands, a process that could take two and a half billion years or longer—more than half of earth's entire history. The research challenges some prevailing notions about the workings of the deep earth, and their connections to the surface. The study, led by researchers at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, appears this week in the scientific journal Nature.