One and a Half Billion Year Mystery Will Be Solved: A New Mineral Has Been Found

Tschauner and colleagues, Carnegie science He named the new calcium silicate mineral “davemaoite” in honor of Ho-Kwang Dave Mao, a geological scientist at his Institute.

Normally, on the other hand, davemaoid’s crystal structure would break apart if it were brought to the Earth’s surface due to the large drop in pressure. However, it was preserved throughout the long history of the Orapa mine, which probably dates back 1.5 billion years, as it was trapped inside a hard diamond.

‘When we broke the diamond, the davemaoid remained intact for about a second, then we saw it expand and swell under the microscope, then turn into glass,’ Tschauner said.

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