Picture of the ruby that this study evaluated. Credit: University of Waterloo
While evaluating a few of the worlds earliest colored gems, researchers from the University of Waterloo discovered carbon residue that was as soon as ancient life, enclosed in a 2.5 billion-year-old ruby.
The research study team, led by Chris Yakymchuk, teacher of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Waterloo, set out to study the geology of rubies to better understand the conditions necessary for ruby formation. During this research in Greenland, which includes the earliest known deposits of rubies worldwide, the group found a ruby sample which contained graphite, a mineral made from pure carbon. Analysis of this carbon suggests that it is a residue of early life.
” The graphite inside this ruby is actually special. Its the very first time weve seen proof of ancient life in ruby-bearing rocks,” says Yakymchuk. “The presence of graphite also offers us more hints to determine how rubies formed at this area, something that is difficult to do straight based upon a rubys color and chemical structure.”
The presence of the graphite enabled the scientists to analyze a residential or commercial property called isotopic structure of the carbon atoms, which determines the relative quantities of various carbon atoms. More than 98 percent of all carbon atoms have a mass of 12 atomic mass units, but a couple of carbon atoms are much heavier, with a mass of 13 or 14 atomic mass units.
” Living matter preferentially includes the lighter carbon atoms due to the fact that they take less energy to integrate into cells,” said Yakymchuk. “Based on the increased amount of carbon-12 in this graphite, we concluded that the carbon atoms were as soon as ancient life, probably dead microorganisms such as cyanobacteria.”
The graphite is found in rocks older than 2.5 billion years ago, a time on earth when oxygen was not abundant in the environment, and life existed just in bacteria and algae films.
During this research study, Yakymchuks group found that this graphite not only links the gems to ancient life however was likewise likely necessary for this ruby to exist at all. The graphite altered the chemistry of the surrounding rocks to create beneficial conditions for ruby development. Without it, the teams designs showed that it would not have been possible to form rubies in this place.
The study, “Corundum (ruby) growth throughout the final assembly of the Archean North Atlantic Craton, southern West Greenland,” was recently released in Ore Geology Reviews. A buddy study, “The corundum conundrum: Constraining the compositions of fluids included in ruby formation in metamorphic melanges of aluminous and ultramafic rocks,” was published in the journal Chemical Geology in June.
References:
” Corundum (ruby) development throughout the last assembly of the Archean North Atlantic Craton, southern West Greenland” by Chris Yakymchuk, Vincent van Hinsberg, Christopher L. Kirkland, Kristoffer Szilas, Carson Kinney, Jillian Kendrick and Julie A.Hollis, 20 August 2021, Ore Geology Reviews.DOI: 10.1016/ j.oregeorev.2021.104417.
” The corundum quandary: Constraining the structures of fluids included in ruby development in metamorphic melanges of ultramafic and aluminous rocks” by Vincent van Hinsberg, Chris Yakymchuk, Angunguak Thomas Kleist Jepsen, Christopher L.Kirkland and Kristoffer Szilas, 20 March 2021, Chemical Geology.DOI: 10.1016/ j.chemgeo.2021.120180.
During this study, Yakymchuks group found that this graphite not just links the gemstone to ancient life but was also likely required for this ruby to exist at all.
The research group, led by Chris Yakymchuk, professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Waterloo, set out to study the geology of rubies to better comprehend the conditions necessary for ruby formation. During this research in Greenland, which includes the oldest recognized deposits of rubies in the world, the group found a ruby sample that included graphite, a mineral made of pure carbon. “The presence of graphite also gives us more ideas to identify how rubies formed at this place, something that is difficult to do directly based on a rubys color and chemical composition.”