Iconic American movie star Marilyn Monroe once famously sang, "Diamonds are girl's best friend". Scientists from University of Liege in Belgium believe they have unearthed gargantuan amount of these precious stones. There could be 18-km wide layer of gems beneath crust of the planet Mercury. Our nearest planetary neighbour could quite literally be celestial jewel. Researchers tested how Mercury formed, approximately 4.5 billion years ago. The planet evolved from gyrating cloud of cosmic dust and gas. Over millions of years, dust was compressed into graphite, which is chemically identical to diamond. Both are solid forms of element carbon. It is unlikely Mercury's diamonds could ever be mined as they are about 500 km below surface.
Researchers used machine called anvil press to simulate conditions under which Mercury was formed. The press is used to make synthetic diamonds. Researchers mixed elements inside graphite capsule. These included silicon, magnesium and aluminium. The capsule was subjected to pressure 70,000 times greater than that on Earth. It was heated to temperatures of 2,000 degrees Celsius. lead researcher speculated about diamonds on Mercury. He said: "Diamonds are made of carbon only, so they should be similar to what we know on Earth…They would [resemble] pure diamonds." Scientists believe there are quadrillion tons of diamonds beneath Earth's surface. Experts say value of these hidden gems is pretty much incalculable.
