Diamonds Reveal New Minerals from 660km Below Earth

Scientists just found proof that Earth's surface and its deepest layers are more connected than we ever imagined, and it was hiding inside diamonds all along.

Researcher Nester Korolev peered through his microscope at the American Museum of Natural History and spotted something extraordinary: a mineral that formed 660 kilometers beneath our feet but had never been seen before. The only reason it survived the journey to the surface was because it got trapped inside a diamond, preserving its structure perfectly.

Advanced lasers and x-rays now let scientists examine increasingly tiny mineral flecks inside these deep Earth diamonds. The result has been an explosion of new mineral discoveries from the mantle, the massive layer of slowly moving rock between Earth's crust and core.

In just the past few years, researchers have discovered minerals with names like breyite, grahampearsonite, goldschmidtite, and now two more: kopylovite and bernwoodite. Each discovery helps scientists understand how rocks transform under extreme heat and pressure deep inside our planet.

Kopylovite came from a rare diamond found in Wyoming and forms between 50 and 200 kilometers down. Because it contains titanium and potassium, elements normally found in Earth's crust, scientists believe it forms when sediments sink into the mantle at subduction zones. "You need a lot of sediments to produce kopylovite," Korolev explains, suggesting that surface material really does make the deep journey.

Bernwoodite, found in a Brazilian diamond, comes from even deeper in the mantle. Its chemical makeup shows that crustal material reaches all the way down to the lower mantle, then transforms as it rises back up through the transition zone between 410 and 660 kilometers deep.

Why This Inspires

These tiny mineral flecks offer direct evidence that our planet runs on a massive recycling system. Material from the surface sinks hundreds of kilometers down into the mantle, transforms under incredible pressure, and eventually makes its way back up. This cycling creates far more mineral variety in Earth's interior than scientists previously believed.

The discoveries also help researchers estimate how much carbon, hydrogen, and other elements are stored deep within our planet. Understanding this hidden chemistry matters for grasping how Earth functions as a complete system, from its surface all the way to its core.

Kopylovite earned another distinction: it's one of just three percent of known minerals named after a woman. The researchers honored Maya Kopylova, a geoscientist at the University of British Columbia, along with her father.

The team is already verifying several more candidate minerals from the museum's diamond collection, and they're confident more discoveries await.