New mineral discovered inside deep-earth diamond now named after Alberta geochemist

From the coal fields of northern England to the ice of the Arctic and the steamy jungles of Brazil, diamond hunter and scholar Graham Pearson has made a name for himself that still lives on in the rocks.

A newly discovered mineral has been named after Pearson – the honor was approved by the International Mineralogical Union late last year.

It’s called Grahampiersonite and it was found inside diamonds deep underground in Brazil.

Pearson, a mental geochemist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, has spent decades Mantle Geology and Mineralogy. he is considered a The world’s leading expert on diamonds and what they tell us about the Earth’s interior.

His lifetime research on diamonds includes his work in Brazil where he and his team made discoveries a decade ago that helped explain, through deeply mined diamonds, the composition and water content of the Earth’s deep mantle.

‘Very polite’

“The most enduring legacy of our work as scientists is really the data that we produce but the ideas that are revised,” Pearson said in a recent interview.

“So if you’re lucky enough to have a mineral named after you, it’s not going to change.

“(And) we’re going to run out of new minerals soon. So it’s very humbling to think that one of the minerals found is named after me.”

buried deep beneath

Grahampiersonite was discovered inside a diamond that crystallized at a depth of more than 300 kilometers below the Earth’s surface in the Juina region of Brazil.

According to a research paper detailing its discoveryThe chemical formula of the mineral is calcium, phosphorus and oxygen.

Grahampiersonite was previously known as a synthetic material And can be found in products like toothpaste abrasives.

The substance, known as calcium pyrophosphate, scientists already knew how to make the material in the laboratory, but this was the first time it had been found naturally.

Using X-rays, researchers looked at the diamond while the mineral was still trapped inside, revealing its uniqueness crystal structure.

The international research group named the prism-like mineral after Pearson, to honor his “outstanding contributions” to diamond research.

It received its official name in December.

“It may be mysterious, but it’s really beautiful,” he said, pointing to a picture of Grahampiersonite, which is made of calcium and diphosphorus. The diagram shows oxygen flowing between chemicals.

Pearson said, “Only naturally occurring minerals can be named (after a person).”

And someone would have to discover it, do an enormous amount of work to characterize it, justify its name, and then get it approved by the International Mineralogical Association.

“The association decides that what (researchers) have done is good and solid enough to name a new mineral,” Pearson said.

‘Diamond World’

Pearson is a leader in diamond research.

In addition to mapping the history of the Earth’s mantle, Pearson developed new techniques for geochemical analysis and pioneered methods for dating microscopic geological samples.

Born in the United Kingdom, he grew up in an English mining town called Pontefract. “I’m surrounded by the products of mining,” he said.

And like the creation of diamonds, he said his love for the mineral was also a slow burn. His PhD advisor, who was researching a rare graphite mineral in Morocco that used to be diamond, piqued his interest.

“It inspired me to delve deeper into the world of diamonds and study the Earth,” he said.

In 2010, he moved to Canada to work at the University of Alberta. He established the world-class Arctic Resources Geochemistry Laboratory.

He continues to research minerals and diamonds in the Arctic.

more than a shining rock

Pearson said the ongoing mineral exploration is important.

“Until you discover them, it’s hard to predict what applications some of these synthetic minerals have,” he said.

“And I’m a natural scientist and nothing created artificially has the same allure. This whole story tells us that someone put these elements together in a lab and cooked them up.”

He said most people like the look of diamonds because they shine, but he said there is more to them.

“It is capable of trapping residual pressure inside itself which no other mineral is capable of doing,” he said. “That’s what gives it the ability to retain these pieces of the deep Earth. Those elements are also able to tell us surprising things about plate tectonic cycles.”

Pearson said advances in microscope technology have also made it easier to identify new minerals and that humanity will eventually discover all the minerals the Earth has to offer.

We’re almost halfway through.

“About 4,800 minerals have been discovered,” he said.

“There are probably another 4,000 people waiting to be discovered.”