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

00:00How are diamonds made?

00:04For decades, diamonds have been linked to romance and marriage.

00:07But how are they made?

00:09They start out not as coal, but as a form of carbon,

00:12the building block for all life on Earth.

00:15But to become a diamond, carbon undergoes an incredible transformation

00:18under very extreme conditions.

00:21Naturally occurring diamonds formed deep in the Earth

00:24between 1 billion and 3 billion years ago.

00:26And geologists say the recipe went something like this.

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

00:35Step 2, apply heat to around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit.

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

00:47And finally, step 4, quickly rush towards Earth's surface to cool.

00:52Ancient volcanic eruptions billions of years ago

00:54are thought to be responsible for transporting most of the diamonds found today.

00:58All that sounds hard to replicate.

01:01But diamonds can also be made in a laboratory.

01:04In one method, tiny anvils squeeze down on graphite

01:07as intense electricity zaps it,

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

01:12Another uses a diamond-growing vacuum chamber,

01:15seeding a diamond kernel with deposits from gases,

01:18gradually building it up to form a perfect gem.

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

01:26of diamonds shaped deep underground billions of years ago.

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

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