Normally people hate ice. It's a hazard whether you're walking or driving. It ruins road surfaces and takes forever to clear up. Black ice is especially hazardous since you cannot see it. Salt is used to melt ice down and the only people who seem to enjoy its presence are hockey players. However, ice is about to get a lot more love now that a huge discovery has been made. Kimberlites have been discovered under layers of ice on the frozen continent of Antarctica.

What is a kimberlite? Well, it's a type of igneous rock. Kimberlites have been found in various corners of the globe including Africa, Siberia, and Australia. It derives its name from the town of Kimberley, South Africa. Way back in 1871, a massive 83.5-carat diamond was discovered embedded in kimberlite rock on a hillside. Shortly thereafter, 50,000 miners rushed to the South African town hoping to strike it rich by mining the rock. All that mining chipped away at the hillside and led to the formation of the Big Hole (also known as Kimberley Mine).

Unfortunately for would-be diamond miners, Antarctica is off limits to any type of drilling due to an international treaty. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was first signed in Madrid, Spain in 1991. It finally became law in 1998. The Treaty firmly establishes that commercial drilling activity is to be strictly forbidden on the continent. Only drilling pertaining to scientific endeavors is allowed.

"There is likely to be little opposition to an extension of this prohibition, despite the potential discovery of a new type of Antarctic 'ice'," Nature Communications said in a statement.

Despite the arctic ice being home to a host of these kimberlite rocks researches aren't 100% sure until the rocks are examined. However past kimberlite rocks have been ripe with the gemstone.

"It would be very surprising if there weren't diamonds in these kimberlites," Dr. Greg Yaxley of the Australian National University in Canberra, who led the research, said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Yet all this excitement may be for naught as it is said that only 10 percent of the supposed diamonds would be economically viable. If this figure is later proven inaccurate, expect that someone, somewhere, will make a good amount of money mining the desolate continent.

Would you want a diamond ring from Antarctica? Let us know in the comments section below!