Welcome back to the Lonnie’s Blog! We are hard at work making sure all of our unique pieces are going to their new owners in the best state. Sometimes some folks wonder about in that process, is ‘How do diamonds form?’ How did this sparkling, gorgeous stone become what it is? We decided that this month on the blog, we’d tackle just that question. And no, they don’t come from coal!

How Do Diamonds Form?

Traditional Diamond Formation in the Mantle

Many diamonds begin life deep in the Earth’s mantle. They require intense pressure and heat to form them. These conditions are met about 90 miles into the Earth. It is here, in this zone that compounds like basic graphite are changed at an atomic level from their basic forms into a diamond. This happens over an extended period of time and then they simply stay put in this ‘diamond sustainable zone.’ These are so deep that we wouldn’t be able to mine and harvest them for our uses in jewelry. Luckily for us, Mother Nature has the means to move these diamonds to the surface (or at least close enough for our purposes).

Volcanic eruptions take the chunks of the mantle that have these diamonds sitting in them and moves them out and upward into the surface levels of the earth.

Subduction Zone Diamonds

Bear with us here for a moment, we are talking some serious science here. Earth is made up of moving plates, right? They are the things that cause volcanos, earthquakes and such. Subduction zones are places where the continental plates shift over the oceanic plates. When this occurs, that zone between plates, the subduction zone, is another home for diamond creation. Like the others, this is deep in the Earth and needs to be propelled up to the surface before it can be mined, processed, and made ready for a ring.

Meteor Strikes

That’s right! Earth has been struck by a number of meteors of its long lifespan. Every time one of those rocks from space hits it creates the perfect blend of pressure and heat for diamond creation. The benefit of this is that these diamonds are relatively closer to the surface than those made in the mantle or subduction zones. So that’s nice.

Diamonds can also form in space and land in the meteors themselves. There are a few other ways for diamonds to be made, for instance in a lab, but the diamond formation is only one step on the path from mantle to ring. We will cover that process another time.

If you’re looking to buy your unique, custom piece or simply need some repairs done, and you are in the Albuquerque area, reach out! Until then we’ll catch you next time on the blog!