Season 8, Episode 4: The Danger is in a Particular Location (Patreon)

The action moves to Africa this week as the crew of the Albion pursues their white whale, Kou does his best Amuro impression, and someone finally gives Monsha exactly what he's been asking for. Plus, Thom goes hunting for the real location of Zeon's secret base. All that and more on this week's episode of MSB!

Show Notes

The Basics on Kimberlites

• "Kimberlite," Geology Science. Available at https://geologyscience.com/rocks/igneous-rocks/kimberlite/
• "What are Kimberlites?" Kansas Geological Survey, July 2000. Available at https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/pic16/pic16_2.html
• Erik Klemetti, "The Crazy Eruptions That Spit Up Diamonds," Wired, May 5, 2017. Available at https://www.wired.com/2017/05/crazy-eruptions-spit-diamonds/
• Karen V. Smit and Steven B. Shirey, "Kimberlites: Earth’s Diamond Delivery System," Gems & Gemology, Summer 2019, Vol. 55, No. 2. Available at https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2019-kimberlites-earths-diamond-delivery-system
• "Secrets of Earth's Deepest Volcanoes," National Geographic Society, March 15, 2010. Available at https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2010/03/15/secrets-of-earths-deepest-volcanoes/
• "Diamond Deposits," Earth Science Australia. Available at http://earthsci.org/mineral/mindep/diamond/diamond.html
• "Diamond Geology," De Beers Group. Available at https://www.geokniga.org/bookfiles/geokniga-diamondgeology.pdf.
• John P. Rafferty, "Kimberlite Eruption," Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at https://www.britannica.com/science/kimberlite-eruption
• Melissa Pistilli, "Kimberlite Pipes: What They Are and How They’re Formed," GEM Investing News, January 25, 2021. Available at https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/gem-investing/diamond-investing/kimberlite-pipes-south-africa-australia-borneo-brazil-russia/
• Matthew Field, Johann Stiefenhofer, Jock Robey, Stephan Kurszlaukis, "Kimberlite-hosted diamond deposits of southern Africa: A review," Ore Geology Reviews, April 22, 2008. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238365259_Kimberlite-hosted_diamond_deposits_of_southern_Africa_A_review
• J.B. Hawthorne, "Model of a kimberlite pipe," Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Vol. 9, 1975.

Can You See Kilimanjaro From the Serengeti?

• "Can Kilimanjaro Be Seen From the Serengeti?" Ultimate Kilimanjaro, available at https://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/can-kilimanjaro-be-seen-from-the-serengeti/

Diamond Mining at Mbuji-Mayi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Terese Hart, "In Congo, Diamonds are Whose Best Friend?" May 23, 2009. Available at https://www.bonoboincongo.com/2009/05/23/in-congo-diamonds-are-whose-best-friend/
• "DRC: State-owned diamond company, MIBA, hopes to rebound," Rédaction Africanews, June 7, 2021. Available at africanews.com/2021/06/07/drc-state-owned-diamond-company-miba-hopes-to-rebound/
• "Making a killing; The diamond trade in government-controlled DRC," Amnesty International, October 22, 2002. Available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/afr620172002en.pdf

Overviews on the Processes of Diamond Mining

• "Exploration," De Beers Group. Available at https://www.debeersgroup.com/about-us/our-operations/exploration.
• "Diamond Mining," Cape Town Diamond Museum. Available at https://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/diamond-mining/
• "Block Cave Underground Mine," PT Freeport Indonesia, October 2020. Available at https://bdtbt.esdm.go.id/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Underground-Freeport-Indonesia.pdf
• John Pollard, "World's richest diamond mine 'Goes Underground'," IGI Gemblog, May 12, 2021. Available at https://www.igi.org/gemblog/worlds-richest-diamond-mine-goes-underground/
• "Debswana to sink $6bn into Jwaneng underground mine," Mining.com, April 23, 2021. Available at https://www.mining.com/debswana-to-sink-6bn-into-jwaneng-mine-underground/

State of the Diamond Market, 1992

• Mining in deserted diamond mines: Bill Keller, "De Beers May Be Losing Grip on Diamond Market" for The New York Times, September 3, 1991.
• Tommy Trenchard, "Diamond diggers in South Africa's deserted mines break the law — and risk their lives," Goats and Soda (NPR), November 27, 2022. Available at https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/11/27/1132369294/diamond-diggers-in-south-africas-deserted-mines-break-the-law-and-risk-their-liv

The Igwisi Hills Volcanoes

• R.J. Brown, R.S.J. Sparks, "Mapping the Igwisi Hills kimberlite volcanoes, Tanzania: understanding how deep-sourced mantle magmas behave at the Earth`s surface," NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility Report, 2013. Available at https://gef.nerc.ac.uk/documents/report/894.pdf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Aerial View of the Secret Base:

Map Showing Suggested Locations for the Secret Base:

The recap music is “80's Synth Rock (Guitar Improvisation)” by Zombie-Fish.

Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

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