• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Japan’s geologic history in question after discovery of metamorphic rock microdiamonds

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 4, 2020
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

a: Geological zone in western Japan. The blue-green part is the Sanbagawa belt that crosses mainland Japan. The Nishisonogi metamorphic rock was thought to belong to the same geological formation…
view more 

A collaboration of researchers based in Kumamoto University, Japan have discovered microdiamonds in the Nishisonogi metamorphic rock formation in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Microdiamonds in metamorphic rocks are important minerals because they form in continental collision zones and show that the crust has penetrated deeper than 120 km below the surface. This is the second area in the world, after the Italian Alps, that shows microdiamonds can form in metamorphic rock through subduction of oceanic plates.

In recent years, microdiamonds have received a great deal of attention because they have been discovered in metamorphic rocks around the world and it has become clear that they are formed in collisions between continents. It was thought that Japan would not produce such microdiamonds because it is not a continental collision zone, but an oceanic plate subduction zone. However, the first microdiamonds from metamorphic rocks in Japan were found in the Nishisonogi metamorphic rock formation in the west coast of Nagasaki Prefecture.

The area where the microdiamonds were discovered is an approximately 100-million-year-old Cretaceous metamorphic rock formation. On the west coast of Saikai City in Nagasaki Prefecture, blocks of pelitic and basic schist are scattered amongst serpentinite that was created from mantle material. Such rocks are called a serpentinite mélange and indicate that they have risen from deep in the subduction zone. Researchers found microdiamonds here, in the serpentinite mélange. Their formation conditions have been estimated to be a temperature of about 450 °C and a pressure of about 2.8 GPa, which makes them the coldest diamonds ever formed. It has been thought that the Nishisonogi metamorphic rock was formed under a pressure of about 1 GPa, but it is now clear that they were ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks that rose after subducting to 120 km–a very unexpected discovery.

“The discovery of microdiamonds from Japan’s first metamorphic rocks will rewrite Japan’s geological history,” said Professor Tadao Nishiyama, the leader of this study. “Until now, the Nagasaki metamorphic rocks were said to belong to a low-temperature, high-pressure-type metamorphic rock belt, the “Sanbagawa Belt,” which crosses the Japanese mainland. It has become clear, however, that they are independently-formed ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks. I expect that there will be many discussions about what kind of plate movement created this formation.”

###

This research was posted online in Scientific Reports on 15 July 2020.

Source: Nishiyama, T., Ohfuji, H., Fukuba, K., Terauchi, M., Nishi, U., Harada, K., … Arai, S. (2020). Microdiamond in a low-grade metapelite from a Cretaceous subduction complex, western Kyushu, Japan. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-68599-7

Media Contact
J. Sanderson, N. Fukuda
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68599-7

Tags: Earth ScienceGeographyGeology/SoilGeophysicsGeophysics/GravityPlate Tectonics
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Why Beer Foam Stays So Stable: The Science Behind the Perfect Pour

Why Beer Foam Stays So Stable: The Science Behind the Perfect Pour

August 26, 2025
SwRI Scientist Heads Science Team for New NASA Heliophysics AI Foundation Model

SwRI Scientist Heads Science Team for New NASA Heliophysics AI Foundation Model

August 26, 2025

Expanding Azole Chemistry with Precise N-Alkylation

August 26, 2025

Advancing Green Technology with More Efficient and Reliable SiC Devices

August 26, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    148 shares
    Share 59 Tweet 37
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    142 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    115 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    81 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Ficus Lyrata Bark: A Remedy for Fatty Liver

Predicting Therapy Outcomes for EGFR-Mutated NSCLC Patients

Revolutionizing Nepal’s Health: Past Challenges and Innovations

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.