The extreme temperatures and pressures produced when a space rock slams into the Earth can create distinctive materials, such as the shocked quartz used to identify the remains of such events. Arizona's Canyon Diablo contains diamonds with unusual structures, but scientists have been misinterpreting what makes them special.
Very different processes can lead to the same minerals. Although diamonds can be made by various terrestrial forces, they can also be produced from the shock wave when an asteroid runs into the Earth with only a small portion of its energy dissipated in the atmosphere.
However, when scientists used advanced imaging techniques to look at diamonds from the Canyon Diablo meteorite, they found these were no ordinary gemstones. The Canyon Diablo meteorite fell around 50,000 years ago, creating Meteor Crater – one of the most intact impact craters in the world.
In a 2022 study, the researchers reported that these stones share diamonds' proverbial hardness, but are also unusually malleable. Moreover, they have electronic properties that can be tuned, making them potentially useful for electronics. READ MORE...
