Research
Penn State Intercom......August 29, 2002

Researchers develop methods
to characterize diamonds

By A'ndrea Messer
Public Information

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but the qualities that make some diamonds so sought after are the same qualities that make them difficult to characterize and fingerprint, according to a University geoscientist.

"The diamond trade and buyers want diamonds to be pure, with no inclusions or imperfections," said Peter J. Heaney, associate professor of geoscience. "But mineralogists look for inclusions and imperfections to determine the origin of the stones."

Typically, all diamonds have impurities, but they are in the range of parts per million, parts per billion or even smaller. In fact a few hundred parts per million of nitrogen make diamonds yellow, while much smaller amounts of boron will make them blue.

"It takes very sophisticated equipment to measure these things in diamonds," Heaney said. "Using current methods, it is not possible to screen out conflict diamonds because it would be very labor-intensive."

Conflict diamonds are gems marketed by guerrillas with the proceeds going to buy weapons. Currently, some diamonds from the Congo basin, Sierra Leone and Angola are considered conflict diamonds. The United Nations has condemned the sale of conflict diamonds.

Not easily traced

Diamonds' perfection also makes it impossible to use them as a window into the processes that occur deep in the Earth, because scientists cannot easily trace a flawless stone back to its original mine in South Africa, Canada or Australia. Scientists do not agree on how diamonds are created or where they originate in the Earth. Kimberlite, the material in which gem quality diamonds are found, is much younger than the diamonds it holds, muddying the waters even further.

Heaney and other mineralogists discussed ways to characterize diamonds during two sessions at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. These sessions are a follow-up to a White House conference held by President Bill Clinton shortly before he left office. Clinton may have been pursuing the problem of conflict diamonds, but researchers have taken the opportunity to explore the more basic science of diamonds as well. The international diamond industry, including De Beers, the largest diamond producer and distributor, has adopted an agreement supporting, among other things, the use of forgery resistant certificates and tamper-proof containers for shipments of rough diamonds.

From a scientific point of view, researchers are interested in characterizing diamonds because of what that will tell them about plate tectonics, the Earth's formation and processes deep in the Earth. Researchers are currently looking into the crystalline structure of diamonds, chemical composition, isotopic composition, inclusions and other properties to link diamonds to their mine of origin.

Composition study

Heaney and Edward P. Vicenzi, Smithsonian Institution, used an ion mass spectrometer and a transmission electron microscope to characterize minuscule pieces of diamond removed from gemstones. They can look at the composition and crystalline structure of the diamond without creating a visible scar in the gem.

"Most crystals have structural mistakes such as missing rows or layers," Heaney said. "Different locations may have different defect assemblages so that we can associate diamonds with their original locations."

Except for the slight impurities, diamonds are made up of carbon and are the hardest-known material. Various theories of diamond formation suggest that the carbon in diamonds came from methane or carbon dioxide, primordial carbon from the formation of the Earth or organic carbon.

Peter Dienes, professor of geochemistry, is looking at the ratios of carbon isotopes in diamonds to determine if the carbon is primordial or organic in nature.

"This characterization may help us understand why plate tectonics began on Earth and shed light on the Earth's past," Heaney said.

Scientists know that diamonds are found only in areas where the oldest rocks are near the surface, never in young areas like the sea floor. To make diamonds, there must be high pressure but only moderate temperatures, because if the temperatures are high, only graphite forms. Thick, old rock formations provide high pressure beneath, but moderate the temperatures creating areas where diamonds may form.

"Besides the conflict diamond issue, there are good scientific reasons to want to be able to characterize diamonds because how diamonds form is still a hotly contested issue," Heaney said.

A'ndrea Messer can be reached at aem1@psu.edu.

Global outsourcing
will save money

Outsourcing global trade management to third-party providers can save global companies billions, reports a new study led by researchers in The Smeal College of Business.

The study, "Market Size Estimate and the Potential Savings Associated with Outsourcing the Management of Global Trade Operations," shows the potential savings range from $1.2 billion for consumer product goods to a high of
$10.6 billion for the auto/industrial sector. It is co-authored by three researchers in the Center for Supply Chain Research: John Coyle, professor of business logistics; Scott Gaston, research assistant; and Robert Novak, associate professor of business logistics.

The results of the study indicate the potential for significant savings if global companies purchase managed services from appropriate providers, and it demonstrates the opportunities for improved efficiency among global companies, Coyle said. The savings for 2002 were conservatively estimated in this study to be about $30 billion annually.

"The industry sectors most likely to benefit appear to be the auto-industrial, high-tech and retail sectors of our economy, because of the scope and complexity of their global operations," Coyle said. "In addition to the savings, third parties providing global trade management services can provide many skills, expertise and technology to help reduce the complexity of global operations. By allowing a third party to manage global trade operations, companies can focus on their core competencies. Outsourcing provides an excellent opportunity to reduce the complexity of global operations and increase global competitiveness."

He notes that many outsourcing services already exist in the field of international trade such as customs brokers, freight forwarders, banks and transportation providers.

However, outsourcing global trade operations through managed services is only beginning to develop as an opportunity for increased efficiency and effectiveness.

The study also estimates the market size (the total potential spent by companies outsourcing the work their global trade management employees perform) for global trade management services to be more than $15 billion annually.

The Center for Supply Chain Research in The Smeal College of Business has participated actively in research related to global logistics operations and third-party service providers.

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