Diamonds: Precious Time Capsules from the Deep Earth

Explore the fascinating world of diamonds in this Europlanet webinar featuring Dr Janne Koornneef. Delve into the current knowledge of diamond formation and the mysteries geologists still aim to unravel about these iconic gemstones. Learn about various types of diamonds, including extraterrestrial, impact-formed, crustal, and lithospheric diamonds. Discover the rarity of diamonds at Earth's surface, their crystallization process from fluids, and the complex growth patterns of gem-quality diamonds. Examine the significance of mineral inclusions in diamonds and understand isotope dating techniques, particularly Samarium-Neodymium dating. Gain insights into groundbreaking research conducted at the VU Amsterdam isotope laboratory, revealing diamond growth in two distinct events under vastly different conditions. Uncover the connection between diamond formation and large-scale magmatism, including the role of hot mantle plumes. Explore the astonishing age differences found in diamonds, with some specimens differing by up to 2 billion years.

Intro
Diamonds: Precious times capsules from the deep Earth
Extraterrestrial diamond
Diamond from impacts
Crustal diamonds
Lithospheric diamonds
Diamonds are rare at Earth's surface...
Diamonds on Earth
What is diamond?
Diamonds crystallise from fluids
Gem quality diamond growth
Complex diamond growth
Mineral inclusions in diamonds
What are isotopes?
Dating by radiogenic Isotopes: Samarium-Neodymium
Isotope laboratory @ VU Amsterdam
Sm-Nd isotope dating of 26 SINGLE inclusions
Sm-Nd model ages
Diamond growth in two events
Formed at very different conditions
The 'young' event relates to large scale magmatism
Diamond growth at 1.1 Ga by hot mantle plume
Diamonds with 2 billion year age difference