Now that's a rock!

What is a diamond?

           Diamonds are formed deep beneath the Earth’s surface, under immense pressure and are made up of carbon, an element that occurs naturally on our Earth in the form of graphite. Although graphite and diamonds are both made up of carbon, their molecular structure

is what gives each of these materials their defining characteristics. In graphite, the carbon rings form sheets that stack together, making graphite an incredibly soft (weak) material. Diamonds, on the other hand, are composed of carbon rings in a three dimensional structure, making diamonds the hardest material on earth. Remember, you can only cut diamond with diamond. Ironic, considering they are made out of the exact same element, don’t you think?

 

Where do they come from?

            As previously mentioned, diamonds form deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Usually between 100 km and 200 km below the surface in the Earth’s mantle at temperatures between 900 and 1300 degrees Celcius. These extreme conditions form the diamonds, which are then transported to the surface through volcanic magma channels known as the kimberlite pipe or diamond pipe. In order to prevent the diamonds from converting back into graphite on their way to the surface, “It is probable that kimberlite lavas carrying diamonds erupt at between 10 and 30 km/hour (Eggler, 1989). Within the last few kilometers, the eruption velocity probably increases to several hundred km/hr.” Because diamond formation is closely associated with areas of current or previous volcanic activity, there are only a few diamond-producing countries, most of them in South Africa. 

Why the controversy?         

    Unfortunately, because many of these areas in Africa are also considered to be war-torn countries, the term “blood diamond”  has come to represent the perilous mining conditions, illegal diamond trafficking, and millions of deaths and mutilations that occur in order to fund ongoing civil wars.

            In order to prevent these conflict diamonds from entering the regular diamond market, the United Nations developed the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme in 2003, helping to ensure that diamond sales would not be funding the ongoing wars and unnecessary deaths in Africa.

So why do we care so much? What’s the big deal if it’s really just a rock we’re talking about?! In my next blog I will go over the history of diamonds in our society and their significance in our culture. As well as the way they are marketed to us!