# Diamonds Nearly as Old as Earth



## Rosemary (Aug 25, 2007)

[FONT=&quot]LiveScience.com[/FONT][FONT=&quot] _Wed Aug 22, 1:45 PM ET
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 [FONT=&quot]Diamonds are indeed forever, or at least nearly as old as the Earth, a new study shows.  [/FONT]


   [FONT=&quot]Scientists have unearthed diamonds more than 4 billion years old and trapped inside crystals of zircon in the Jack Hills region in Western Australia.  Nearly as old as Earth itself and considered the oldest terrestrial diamons ever discovered, the gems could give insights into the early evolution of our planet's crust.
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         [FONT=&quot]http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/diamondsnearlyasoldasearth;_ylt=AvsQsK9KKuz4xebscI96Njzq188F

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## j d worthington (Aug 25, 2007)

Thanks for posting this, Rosie... was going to post it later, when I put up several other news stories, but now I won't have to....

Nifty stuff.

For some reason, though, the link there isn't complete, so I'll go ahead and try this one....

Diamonds Nearly as Old as Earth - Yahoo! News


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## Sephiroth (Sep 9, 2007)

This has to strengthen the case for life on Earth (or should I say DNA-based life) being present at an earlier date than is generally supposed.  The earliest evidence we presently have is at around 3.5 Ba before present, but we know that this does not represent the earliest DNA-based life, the last universal common ancestor or LUCA.  

If environmental conditions were that much more clement further back in time...well, it's interesting...


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## HardScienceFan (Sep 9, 2007)

http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/shirey/ftp/Publications/Shireyetal2004_8IKC.pdf

of course you can buy the _SCIENCE_ article pal
for an effing load of money
there's probably loads more on kimberlyites,Archean carbon,etc

anything from _science_ or _Nature_ costs a 

uh 
lot


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