Diamonds illuminate Earth's deep mantle

Dec 3 2024 12:30 - 2:30PM
ESB 5104

Colloquium

Speaker: Graham Pearson
·
U. Alberta
Hosted by: Kelly Russell
Description/Abstract

Super-deep diamonds are a variety of diamonds that form beneath the lithosphere, 
in the deep asthenosphere, transition zone and uppermost lower mantle. Along 
with being the world’s most valuable gems, these diamonds and their inclusions 
are unrivaled direct records of slab-mantle interaction processes in these mantle 
regions. I will describe a variety of discoveries that show how these diamonds 
have advanced our understanding of the deep mantle, even in the context of 
deep focus earthquakes.