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☆ Pink Diamonds Emerged Out of One of Earth’s Most Ancient Breakups
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Maya Wei-Haas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pink diamonds take the Barbiecore craze to another level, but the rosy color comes at a cost. These gems are among the most rare and valuable diamonds around. While all diamonds form under pressure, even more force turns once clear diamonds colorful. A slight extra squeeze turns a diamond pink, and a hard squash turns it brown. But out of every thousand gems, a couple would pop up in the rarer and more valuable pink.

Persons: “ They’re, ”, Hugo Olierook Organizations: Curtin University, Argyle Locations: Perth, Australia, Western Australia

☆ Satellite Data Yields Clues to Morocco’s ‘Blind Earthquake’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Maya Wei-Haas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just before sunrise on Monday, a satellite peered down on regions of Morocco that had been damaged by an earthquake Friday night. The data it gathered from 430 miles above Earth is offering scientists critical clues that will help unravel the mechanics behind the quake, including pinning down the specific fault that ruptured. Key data came from Sentinel-1a, one of a group of satellites launched by the European Space Agency that pass around the Earth every 12 days, mapping out the surface. The satellite relies on radar to measure tiny shifts in the ground toward or away from the orbiting craft, said Tim Wright, a geophysicist at the University of Leeds in England. The technique is known as InSAR and allows scientists to compare the data collected before and after the quake to assess the three dimensional movement of the land around a fault with almost millimeter accuracy.

Persons: Tim Wright, Judith Hubbard, Kyle Bradley Organizations: Sentinel, European Space Agency, University of Leeds, Cornell University Locations: Morocco, England

“They have nowhere they can go back to,” Mr. Choula said of his family, who spent Saturday night sleeping in a field with several other families. Some are rallying together to send funds and organize shipments of supplies for survivors while others are heading home to help on the ground. But Mr. Dehy said he had received dozens of calls from Moroccans who want to immediately send help home. For Moroccans watching from afar, “the only thing that helps them is knowing that they helped, that they didn’t just stand idly by,” Mr. Dehy said. Mr. Choula, 41, said he was gathering money to send home.

Persons: Youssef Choula, “, ” Mr, Choula, ”, Latif Dehy, Dehy, —, Ella Williams, Talat N’yakoub, It’s, “ I’ve, Williams Organizations: “, French, of, British Moroccan Society Locations: Gloucestershire, England, Marrakesh, Amizmiz, Moroccan, Avignon, France, Morocco, Europe, Britain, ”

Residents fleeing their homes in Moulay Brahim, a village near the epicenter of the quake, outside Marrakesh, Morocco, on Saturday. “The current tectonic stresses are therefore only part of the story,” Dr. Hubbard said. Historical earthquakes offer few answers to that question, according to Dr. Hubbard. Another challenging detail to study is an earthquake’s depth, Dr. Hubbard said. The shaking from a deeper earthquakes may not be as strong, but it can be felt across a wider swath of the surface, Dr. Hubbard said.

Persons: Judith Hubbard, ” Dr, Hubbard, ”, Jascha Polet Organizations: Saturday, Earthquakes, San, Cornell University, Geological, Seismological, California State Polytechnic University Locations: Moulay Brahim, Marrakesh, Morocco, Africa, Africa’s, Pacific

The earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night hit near Marrakesh, a popular tourist destination, sending both residents and visitors scrambling for safety. “We didn’t know if we had to stand up, to sit down, to run,” Mr. Ait Chari said. Ms. Lorang and hundreds of others found refuge in a courtyard, where some brought out rugs and blankets to sleep. “It was very chaotic.”Mr. Ait Chari, the tour guide, said he was supposed to pick up more clients on Sunday but was unsure flights would be maintained. Many people were still in shock, he said, but there had also been “great solidarity,” as residents cleared roads.

Persons: “, Jen Lorang, ” Ms, Lorang, “ I’ve, Mr, Ait, ”, Jean, Baptiste Guinet Organizations: Big, ”, UNESCO, Heritage, Tourism, Organization for Economic Cooperation, Development Locations: Morocco, Marrakesh, Ait Chari, Massachusetts, Seattle, San Francisco, ” Morocco, Agadir, ”, Taroudant

☆ When Ancient Eruptions Pumped Diamonds to Earth’s Surface
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Maya Wei-Haas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

While diamonds might look pretty perched atop a ring, the rocks they hail from venture to Earth’s surface in a journey that’s anything but glamorous. Millions of years ago, some of our planet’s strangest and most violent volcanic outbursts dredged from deep underground most of the diamonds mined today in the form of blue-tinged rocks called kimberlites. The turbulent flow punches a carrot-shaped pipe through the ground, ripping out chunks of deep subsurface rock, including some that are studded with diamonds. A new study led by Dr. Gernon and published Wednesday in the journal Nature points to the ancient roots of these eruptions. He and his colleagues report that the breakup of ancient supercontinents like Pangaea and Rodinia caused deep disruptions in the flow of the mantle beneath Earth’s crust, setting off the blasts.

Persons: ”, Thomas Gernon, Dr, Gernon Organizations: University of Southampton Locations: England

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