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A Huge Black Diamond, Purportedly From Outer Space, Is Now Up for Sale The gem known as the ‘Enigma’ is expected to fetch around $7 million at auction, though experts are skeptical of its cosmic origin Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, January 21, 2022 Sotheby's unveils 555.55-carat black diamond thought to come from outer space Associated Press, January 17, 2022 Out of this world: 555.55-carat black diamond lands in Dubai Associated Press, January 17, 2022 55-sided, 555-carat 'Enigma' black diamond (potentially from space) goes on sale By Harry Baker, Live Science Some papers: Haggerty, S.E., 2017. Carbonado diamonds: A review of properties and origin. Gems & Gemology, 53(2). Garai, J., Haggerty, S.E., Rekhi, S. and Chance, M., 2006. Infrared absorption investigations confirm the extraterrestrial origin of carbonado diamonds. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 653(2), p.L153. PDF of paper Abstract of paper Demény, A., Nagy, G., Bajnóczi, B., Németh, T., Garai, J., Drozd, V. and Hegner, E., 2011. Hydrogen isotope compositions in carbonado diamond: constraints on terrestrial formation. Central European Geology, 54(1-2), pp.51-74. PDF file linked at Academic.edu PDF file at Central European Geology Yours, Paul H.

The strange race to track down a missing billion years Zaria Gorvett, BBC News, September 1, 2021 A billion years have vanished from the geological record – and over 152 years after this was first discovered, scientists can't agree on why. Some papers: Peters, S.E. and Gaines, R.R., 2012. Formation of the ‘Great Unconformity’as a trigger for the Cambrian explosion. Nature, 484(7394), pp.363-366. Keller, C.B., Husson, J.M., Mitchell, R.N., Bottke, W.F., Gernon, T.M., Boehnke, P., Bell, E.A., Swanson-Hysell, N.L. and Peters, S.E., 2019. Neoproterozoic glacial origin of the Great Unconformity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(4), pp.1136-1145. Open access Marshak, S., Domrois, S., Abert, C., Larson, T., Pavlis, G., Hamburger, M., Yang, X., Gilbert, H. and Chen, C., 2017. The basement revealed: Tectonic insight from a digital elevation model of the Great Unconformity, USA cratonic platform. Geology, 45(5), pp.391-394. Yours, Paul H.

Earth's mountains disappeared for a billion years, and then life stopped evolving A dead supercontinent may be to blame By Brandon Specktor, Live Science Tang, M., Chu, X., Hao, J. and Shen, B., 2021. Orogenic quiescence in Earth’s middle age. Science, 371(6530), pp.728-731. Yorus, Paul H.