At Argyle (pictured), this procedure took place round 1.8 billion years in the past when Western Australia and Northern Australia collided, turning the once-colorless diamonds purple masses of miles underneath Earth’s crust.
The authors proposed that the breakup of Nuna could have reopened the previous juncture that the collided continents left in the back of, permitting diamond-bearing rocks to shuttle via this area to shape the massive diamond deposit.
This chain of occasions, in line with the learn about, advised that the junctures of historical continents could also be necessary for locating purple diamonds — and would possibly information exploration for different deposits.
“Maximum diamond deposits were discovered in the course of historical continents as a result of their host volcanoes have a tendency to be uncovered on the floor for explorers to seek out,” Olierook stated.
“Argyle is on the suture of 2 of those historical continents, and those edges are regularly lined via sand and soil, leaving the chance that equivalent purple diamond-bearing volcanoes nonetheless sit down undiscovered, together with in Australia.”
