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All diamonds are formed from carbon.
Kimberlite and diamonds are both erupted to the earth's surface via volcanic pipes. Kimberlite is an indicator mineral, increasing odds for geologists that a volcanic pipe includes diamonds: not all pipes erupt diamonds with kimberlite.
Kimberlite can be considered a 'neighbor' or 'kin' of diamond, but not a source.
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Are most diamonds mined directly from Kimberlite?
Kimberlite is an indicator mineral, formed deep within the earth's mantle where diamonds are also formed. Often, they are found together, but not always. Kimberlite is not diamond: they are different minerals.
Where are diamonds found most?
Most diamonds are found on the earth and in the earth near indicator minerals, such as kimberlite.
Where is kimberlite found?
Kimberlite is a rare, blue-tinged, coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock that often contains diamonds. Some kimberlite deposits have been found in Western Kenya.
What forms a diamond?
Diamonds are formed as an allotrope of the element carbon, at depths greater than 90 miles. The pressure and heat at this depth is critical to the formation of the diamonds that are mined at the surface today. At crustal pressures, the stable form of carbon is the allotrope graphite. Diamond was transported to the surface by supersonic volcanic eruptions that carried molten rock material from the mantle that contained diamond and other mantle minerals. Diamond is not formed from metamorphosed coal, and most diamonds discovered on the surface in mining operations are at least one billion years old; some may be two or three times that age. Diamond can also be formed from the pressures of high speed impacts of meteors with the Earth, but these are more of scientific interest, having no economic usefulness due to their small size and dispersion.
Are diamonds non silicate or silicate?
No it is a nonsilicate mineral because it is formed from only carbon and not silicate.
Are most diamonds mined directly from Kimberlite?
Kimberlite is an indicator mineral, formed deep within the earth's mantle where diamonds are also formed. Often, they are found together, but not always. Kimberlite is not diamond: they are different minerals.
Where is kimberlite found?
Kimberlite is a rare, blue-tinged, coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock that often contains diamonds. Some kimberlite deposits have been found in Western Kenya.
Where are diamonds found most?
Most diamonds are found on the earth and in the earth near indicator minerals, such as kimberlite.
Why are diamonds most commonly found in Africa?
Diamonds are brought to the surface from the lower mantle by means of kimberlite pipes. Kimberlite pipes are only found within old cratonic crust, such as Africa.
How do kimberlite pipes and diamonds form?
These pipes are volcanic in nature and are formed like most volcanoes: heat and molten material within the earth's core erupt to the surface.
What is a craton and what is a kimberlite pipe and how are they linked to the discovery of the diamond?
A craton is 'an old and stable part of the lithosphere' -- the earth's crust. One class of inclusions in the formation of the earth's crust when subductions of crust were folded into the deep, kimberlite diamond areas that lie about 150-450 K below the surface. Diamonds as we know them are exploded to the earth's surface through kimberlite pipes, which are carrot shaped and widest at the surface. Although not all kimberlite pipes are sources for diamonds, most diamonds are found in areas where kimberlite pipes occur.
What rock would most likely contain diamonds?
Indicator minerals for diamond include kimberlite and lamproite.
What US state produces the most diamonds?
Arkansas is the US state out of which come the most diamonds. The United States just doesn't have the "right geology" to have diamonds as a natural resource. Diamonds usually come from or appear near (having washed out of) kimberlite pipes. The geology of the US is broad and breathtaking, but does not include much in the way of these unique geologic structures.
Do all volcanoes have kimberlite?
No. Most volcanoes do not have kilberlite. Kimberlite is a rather unusual form of igneous rock found primarily in kimberlite pipes.
How do diamond turn black?
Black diamonds -- carbonado -- are formed in ways that other diamonds are not formed. All diamonds are formed from carbon, but carbonado is more porous than other diamonds. The carbon isotope is low at -13 where most diamonds are rated as -12. Black diamonds are the 'toughest' form of diamond. Bottom line: we don't really know how carbonado is formed.
What mineral is a diamond composed of?
Diamond itself is a mineral. It is an allotrope of the element carbon. We know that kimberlite is the rock most commonly associated with bearing diamonds, and a geological structure known as a kimberlite pipe is the place to start looking for them.
Are there diamonds in volcanic tubes?
Only in some. Most diamond mines are in or near formations called Kimberlite Pipes, which form as a result of a rather unusual type of volcanic acvtivty that has not beem witnessed in human history. These volcanoes do not form the diamonds, but rather bring the diamonds up from great depths.
