How are Diamonds Made?

Live Science

Diamonds are made out of carbon — highly organized carbon, that is. Geologists are still guessing how diamonds formed in the Earth from 1 billion to 3 billion years ago.

Transcript

00:00 How are diamonds made?

00:04 For decades, diamonds have been linked to romance and marriage, but how are they made?

00:09 They start out not as coal, but as a form of carbon, the building block for all life

00:13 on Earth.

00:14 But, to become a diamond, carbon undergoes an incredible transformation under very extreme

00:19 conditions.

00:20 Naturally occurring diamonds formed deep in the Earth between 1 billion and 3 billion

00:25 years ago, and geologists say the recipe went something like this.

00:29 Step 1, bury carbon dioxide in Earth's mantle about 100 miles underground.

00:34 Step 2, apply heat to around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit.

00:40 Step 3, add incredible pressure, about 725,000 pounds per square inch.

00:46 And finally, Step 4, quickly rush towards Earth's surface to cool.

00:51 Ancient volcanic eruptions billions of years ago are thought to be responsible for transporting

00:55 most of the diamonds found today.

00:58 All that sounds hard to replicate, but diamonds can also be made in a laboratory.

01:03 In one method, tiny anvils squeeze down on graphite as intense electricity zaps it, producing

01:09 gem-quality diamonds in just a few days.

01:12 Another uses a diamond-growing vacuum chamber, seeding a diamond kernel with deposits from

01:17 gases, gradually building it up to form a perfect gem.

01:21 To the naked eye, today's synthetic diamonds closely match the color and brilliance of

01:25 the diamonds shaped deep underground billions of years ago.

01:29 How diamonds are made, just one of life's little mysteries.

01:31 (siren blaring)

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