The answer to what is a diamond made of is quite simply carbon. Graphite, just like the kind in your pencil, is also composed of carbon, but diamonds have entirely different properties. Diamond’s distinctive properties come about during their formation process.
Diamonds can be formed in four ways:
1.The first formation method we will discuss is for diamonds that were created within the Earth’s mantle between one and three billion years ago. These diamonds are formed within diamond stability zones which contain the perfect environment for a diamond to form. Diamonds are formed about 100 miles below Earth’s surface, with at least 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and 725,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. In this environment, carbon atoms form a rigid bond with each other, resulting in outstanding durability. Deep-source volcanic eruptions help bring these diamonds to the Earth’s surface. These types of volcanoes are three times as deep as typical volcanoes. High amounts of magnesium and carbon dioxide force the volcano’s magma to the surface, causing a powerful eruption. These deep eruptions are pushed through cracks in the Earth called Kimberlite pipes and carry diamonds during their ascension.
2.Diamonds can form in subduction zones, which are when two tectonic plates meet and one plate is forced down the Earth’s mantle. During this time, carbon rocks are exposed to the mantle’s heat and the pressure from the colliding plates. This great heat and pressure can cause diamonds to form, however, the resulting diamonds are too small for jewelry and industrial use.
3.Diamonds can also be made synthetically in a lab by artificially creating great heat and pressure, known as High Pressure High Temperature or HPHT. The first commercially successful synthetic diamond was made in the 1950s by General Electric. These artificial diamonds are used in jewelry and come at a lower price point than their natural counterparts.
4.Diamonds can also form when an asteroid hits earth, which creates intense heat and pressure. These diamonds are mainly used for industrial purposes because they are small and do not meet the desired qualities for jewelry piece diamonds.
What are colored diamonds made of?
Diamonds can come in an array of colors because of mineral contamination during the formation process or changes in its molecular structure. Below are several fancy colored diamonds along with what gives them their distinctive color.
What are white diamonds are made of?
White diamonds are essentially colorless and are devoid, or have very few minerals, that will alter its color, such as nitrogen. When diamonds are evaluated, one of the characteristics that gemologists look at is a diamond’s color. White diamonds are graded on a scale from D to Z, where D is colorless and Z is a light yellow. Ideally, a white diamond should have a color grade as close to D as possible.
Colored diamonds:
- Blue: Boron
- Yellow: Nitrogen
- Orange: Nitrogen
- Purple: Hydrogen
- Red: Structural defects
- Green: Radioactive materials
- Brown: Irradiation or nickel impurity
- Grey: Nitrogen impurities and select boron atoms
- Pink: Some scientists believe that the pink color comes from structural defects which selectively absorbs light, but no one really knows for sure.
Unlike white diamonds, fancy colored diamonds do not have a letter color grade, instead they are graded from a scale of Fancy Light to Fancy Vivid depending on their color intensity. It takes a highly trained gemologist to identify a diamond’s proper color. The stronger the color, the more the diamond is worth. The rarest fancy colored diamonds are red diamonds followed by blue diamonds, while brown diamonds are the most common. Many fancy colored diamonds can contain multiple colors such as purplish pink or orangey yellow.
The article source：https://jewelrybymail.wordpress.com/2019/05/09/what-is-a-diamond-made-of/
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