Impact Diamond | Popigai Crater, Arctic Siberia, Russia

Impact Diamond formed by the meteorite impact that created Popigai Crater in Arctic Siberia, Russia. About 36 million years ago, an asteroid between 5 to 8 kilometers (3-5 miles) in diameter, entered Earth's atmosphere at high velocity, impacting in northern Siberia above the arctic circle. The impact blast created a 100 kilometer (60 mile) wide crater, Popigai Crater. Popigai is the fourth largest verified meteor crater on Earth. The impact melted 1750 cubic kilometers (420 cubic miles) of rocks, intense heat and pressure instantly transformed flakes of graphite into diamonds. The diamonds inherited the tabular shape and texture of the original graphite crystal structure. Most of these diamonds are very small, 0.5 to 2mm. This impact diamond is a micro mount, but at 5 x 4mm, it's surprisingly large for a Popigai impact diamond. Popigai impact diamonds are very rare to see in person, it's not something one can see at gem shows, they're almost never available to purchase. The Popigai impact area is off limits and protected because of the diamonds found there. The impact diamonds are reserved for scientific research in Russia. The opportunity to own one of these meteorite impact diamonds is exceptionally rare. The diamonds are fascinating to view up close with magnification from a microscope, jewelers loupe or magnifying glass. We recently acquired a very limited number of these Popigai impact diamonds from an old collection.

• Impactite: Impact Diamond
  
• Locality: Popigai Crater, Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia
  
• Size Category: Micro mount
• Size: 5 x 4 x 2mm