Researchers say they've recovered a mineral from deep inside the Earth, which they thought would never see the light of day.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas named the mineral "davemaoite" after Ho-kwang "Dave" Mao, a retired experimental geophysicist whose influence on the field is still felt today.
Oliver Tschauner, a mineralogist who led a study of rare mineral, said in an interview that it was an opportunity to give him credit for his contributions.
The mineral was not expected to be on the surface.
davemaoite isn't suited to survive outside the high-pressure environments where they're made. The sample of davemaoite did survive. The mineral was trapped inside a diamond and traveled more than 410 miles to the surface of the planet. The davemaoite would have fallen apart without the diamond's strength.
Tschauner said that it was a little bit of luck that they found it.
Scientists in 1975 believed that the compound, calcium silicate perovskite, existed in the Earth's mantle. The first time that lower mantle minerals have ever been observed in nature, they have proof.
A mineralogist at the California Institute of Technology bought the diamond-encased mineral from a gem dealer.
The mineral was found in the diamond.
The flawless diamond is the one that does not have any flaws, said Tschauner.
Tschauner and his team used a specialized X-ray called a synchrotron to study the rarity.
Tschauner said the finding will help scientists get a clearer picture of the evolution of the Earth's mantle. Scientists believe that davemaoite plays a key role in generating heat flow in the Earth's mantle, which in turn drives processes such as plate tectonics.
davemaoite was added to the list of minerals by the International Mineralogical Association before Tschauner's team published their findings. The sample is in safe-keeping at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum.
