LONSDALEITE - discovered within a meteor originated from a distant dwarf planet

A research team has confirmed the existence of lonsdaleite in ureilite meteorites that originated from the mantle of a distant dwarf planet, in our solar system. It is one of the rare hexagonal form of diamonds, whose structural composition of atoms could potentially make it stronger than conventional diamonds possessing a cubic structure. The researchers believe that the discovered lonsdaleite was formed by a supercritical chemical vapour deposition process that occurred on the dwarf planet, shortly after a catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid, around 4.5 billion years ago. This is similar process that is used to make lab-grown diamonds. The researchers made a hypothesis that the lonsdaleite in the meteorites is formed, from a supercritical fluid at high temperature and moderate pressure, which preserved the shape and textures of the pre-existing graphite, almost perfectly. The robust structure of lonsdaleite may find use in the new manufacturing techniques for ultra-hard materials, in various applications.

The research team involved scientists from Monash University, RMIT University, CSIRO, the Australian Synchotron and Plymouth University and the research done, has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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