TAG | Australian diamonds may be nearly as Old as the (Jack) Hills |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Friday, 04 July 2008 | |
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Page 1 of 3 If this discovery is proven true, then the date when life first appeared on Earth could be scientifically stated to be as far back as 4.25 billion years ago. The Earth itself was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Current scientific estimates place the start of life on Earth at around 500 to 700 million years later than what was found in this study. The Nature article published by the Australian-German team is entitled “Hadean diamonds in zircon from Jack Hills, Western Australia.” Its authors are Martina Menneken and Thorsten Geisler, from the Institut für Mineralogie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany; and Alexander A. Nemchin, Robert T. Pidgeon, and Simon A. Wilde, from the Department of Applied Geology, Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia [Nature 448, 917-920 (23 Aug 2007), doi: 10.1038/nature06083, Letters to Editor] The research team found carbon-12 in 4.2 billion-year-old diamonds in the Jack Hills of Western Australia—which were located within the remains of ancient rocks that have long since been destroyed. The diamonds were found inside very small zircon crystals, which were only 0.3 millimeter (less than 0.012 inch) in length. The age of the diamonds was determined from radiometric (radioactive) dating, which compares the abundance of radioactive isotopes and their decay products. The analysis of the diamonds showed unusual trace amounts of carbon-12 (an isotope of carbon with six protons, six neutrons, and six electrons, the lightest of the three natural carbon isotopes), which is commonly found in the presence of plants and bacteria. Carbon compounds are the foundation for all life on Earth. Comments from members of the research team follow on the next page. |
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