News Earth

To form pink diamonds, build and destroy a supercontinent

Most of the world’s pink diamonds may have emerged from the breakup of the supercontinent Nuna

three diamonds in varying shades of pink

Diamonds can become pink when powerful forces inside the Earth distort their crystal lattices, changing how the gemstones reflect and transmit light.

Murray Rayner, Rio Tinto

By Nikk Ogasa

The world’s largest source of natural diamonds — and of more than 90 percent of all natural pink diamonds found so far — may have formed due to the breakup of Earth’s first supercontinent, researchers report September 19 in Nature Communications.