Ruby and jade illuminate the history of the Earth

The relationship between rubies and jade with special geological conditions forms them, helping us understand more about the history of tectonic plates on Earth.

Jade is a general term for both jadeite and nephrite jade.

Jadeite is a sign of subduction zones , a collision between the continent and tectonic plates in the ocean. In a submerged, colder, denser area than the oceanic lithosphere flows down into a hotter shell beneath the continental crust. The lithosphere is then pressed, heated and released into the Earth's crust. In some submerged areas, the interaction between the crust, solution and marine sediment has created jade.

Jade is found much in Myanmar and Guatemala.

Ruby is the result of a collision between two continents . Sediment is buried deep underground, rich in aluminum but no silica makes rubies. Most of the world's rubies are in metamorphic limestone.

The highest mountains on earth, such as the Himalayas, are the result of continental collisions, creating the heat and pressure needed for the formation of rubies. In the past, East Africa, southern India and Madagascar were areas with many large mountains and this is also where there are many rubies. These areas formed a supercontinent at the end of prehistory, about 650 million years ago. Millions of years of erosion (and mining) have brought these ruby ​​mines to the surface.

Robert Stern, geologist at the University of Texas, Dallas, USA and colleagues hope that connecting rubies and jade with stratigraphic features will increase interest in gems and floors. constructivism. Stern is one of the few geological experts who said that the distribution of gems (along with other indicators) indicates that modern geological strata, with submerged suction zones are operating, are formed about 750 million years ago.

"Not all submerged zones have jade, and not all continental collisions create rubies , " Stern said. "The question is: Will special conditions only last for a certain period of time?".

However, most researchers think these gems prove that the stratigraphic layers were formed 2.5 to 3 billion years ago.