00:00How are diamonds made?
00:03For decades, diamonds have been linked to romance and marriage, but how are they made?
00:08They start out not as coal, but as a form of carbon, the building block for all life on Earth.
00:14But to become a diamond, carbon undergoes an incredible transformation under very extreme conditions.
00:20Naturally occurring diamonds formed deep in the Earth between one billion and three billion years ago,
00:25and geologists say the recipe went something like this.
00:28Step one, bury carbon dioxide in Earth's mantle about 100 miles underground.
00:34Step two, apply heat to around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:40Step three, add incredible pressure, about 725,000 pounds per square inch.
00:47And finally, step four, quickly rush towards Earth's surface to cool.
00:51Ancient volcanic eruptions billions of years ago are thought to be responsible for transporting most of the diamonds found today.
00:57All that sounds hard to replicate, but diamonds can also be made in a laboratory.
01:03In one method, tiny anvils squeeze down on graphite as intense electricity zaps it, producing gem-quality diamonds in just
01:11a few days.
01:12Another uses a diamond-growing vacuum chamber, seeding a diamond kernel with deposits from gases, gradually building it up to
01:19form a perfect gem.
01:20To the naked eye, today's synthetic diamonds closely match the color and brilliance of the diamonds shaped deep underground billions
01:27of years ago.
01:28How diamonds are made, just one of life's little mysteries.
01:32What is this for a fair, think- refugees?
01:34It's been wild.
01:34You're not ready to be compiled, but you're not killed.
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