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Context

• Pink diamonds are among the most costly stones in the world due to their scarcity and beauty.
• More than 90% of all pink diamonds ever were unearthed at the Argyle mine in Australia's far northwest. Most other diamond mines, on the other hand, are in the center of a continent.

Pink Diamond Forming Ingredients

• Three elements are required for the production of the Pink diamond. Two of the three components required to create pink diamonds were already known.
• The first component is carbon, which must be more than 150 kilometers underground.
• The second factor is the appropriate amount of pressure used to color the diamonds.
• The third and final missing component was the event that caused the diamonds to rocket to the surface.

• The tremendous pressure that twisted color into the diamonds occurred 1.8 billion years ago during collisions between western and northern Australia.

The Key Missing Ingredient

• Pink diamonds were introduced to the earth's surface by the break-up of the first supercontinent Nuna some 1.3 billion years ago, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
• The "scar" from that event was exacerbated as Nuna began to break up.
• Magma rushed up through this old scar, carrying the gems with it.

Significance

• Knowing the "missing ingredient" for pink diamonds may aid future efforts to locate the precious stones.
• Old mountain belts marking Nuna's split near the boundaries of continents, such as Canada, Russia, southern Africa, and Australia, may also be home to a new "pink diamond paradise."

Key facts about Nuna

• It is an ancient supercontinent that once existed on the surface of our planet.
• Nuna is thought to have existed between 1.6 and 2.5 billion years ago, predating even the legendary Pangea by a significant amount.
• Nuna's formation is being actively mapped by researchers using geological and paleomagnetic data.
• These hints point to Nuna bringing together bits of what we now call North America, northern Europe, and sections of Siberia.
• This supercontinent went through several cycles of joining together and breaking apart. The Earth's surface was changed by each stage of assembly and dispersal.
• These alterations resulted in the construction of new geological formations, which laid the framework for the following continents.
• One of the most exciting discoveries concerning Nuna is its relationship to Earth's atmospheric evolution.
• Volcanic activity increased as Nuna developed. These volcanoes emitted massive amounts of carbon dioxide, helping to shape the planet's early atmospheric conditions and possibly impacting the fate of life.

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