Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» For you moneylovers out there. About 100 miles beneath earth's crust lurks over a QUADRILLION tons of diamonds for the taking. Interested?
Thank you Rosie. A hundred miles below the surface rather than below the crust, but still inaccessible - and I note the headlines differ between "there are" and the scientists' cautious "there may be".
If you could raise them, how many would be of gem quality I cannot say, but the sheer cost and difficulty of extracting more than a tiny fraction of them anyway would keep the prices high, probably too high.
BTW. I think astronomy has found one or two stars made of predominantly carbon, or at least very rich in it - real "diamonds in the sky"! Those are ancient, dead stars whose energy production stopped at Carbon, but I'll leave to the nuclear-physicists to explain!
You're welcome Durdle. Thank you for your informative and thoughtful reply. D'ya think it would ever be possible to "drill down" that far? I mean I know that going deep into the water requires much preparation and protective gear. And when you come back up you have to do it in stages or you get "the bends". I'm not sure what they are but I'm pretty sure they aren't good. So the deeper you go in the water the greater the pressure builds. Is that also true of going deep into the land? And diamonds in the sky seem incredibly appropriate. On a very sunny day at the beach there zillions of "diamonds" reflected on the water. Good to know there are actually some real diamonds up there. That is simply sublime. :)
For every 30 feet you go down in the oceans roughly Rosie you and one extra atmosphere or Bar of pressure ...all plus one for the air above the water...so st 200 feet you have eight time the surface pressers on your lungs compressing them.....that also means you need to breath eight times the amount of air you breath on the surface....:(
I don't know the feasibility of drilling to that depth but it could only be done in that way - a rotary drill rather like that for boring oil-wells. Only, an oil-well is a mere couple of miles or so deep.
These postulated diamonds are though to lie 100 hundred miles down - that would be thousands of tons of steel tube to rotate and to move and up down to replace the cutting "bit" on the end. Plus the problem of removing the chippings.
Also, the temperature down there would be so high that I doubt a conventional drill-string would stand it. The hole might support itself, I don't know, but not in the Mantle if the hole passes through the Crust. I believe one comparatively shallow, experimental borehole in Iceland, where the Crust is thin, was invaded by magma - molten rock - from below.
These diamonds might be in clusters, but scattered around the globe, not all in a neat bulk.
Air pressure does not behave as water does. If it did it would be impossible for humans to work in the deepest mines.
You ask what are "the bends".
Its formal name is "decompression sickness", but was first identified as "caisson disease", among workmen spending several hours a shift in compressed-air in the sealed caissons necessary for building the Brooklyn Bridge's foundations.
It is the effect of bubbles of atmospheric nitrogen coming out of solution in the blood, and impinging on nerves usually in the joints. It can be extremely painful, and can be very dangerous. The only treatment is to put the casualty in a Recompression Chamber and raise its internal air pressure to that at which he had been breathing under-water, then reduce the pressure to atmospheric very, very slowly.
To protect themselves, divers who have been below a certain depth come back up in stages, as you say, resting at those stages for a previously-calculated time. Sometimes they also breathe oxygen-enriched air, or pure oxygen, for a short time at shallow depth to help the body purge the remaining surplus nitrogen. For longer, deeper dives they also use special, carefully-calculated gas mixtures rather than simply compressed-air.
Such problems are unlikely in deep mines, but it would not be possible to work at anything like the depth of these diamonds.
I don't know how common those carbon stars are. I think very rare, but the carbon probably exists as vapour, at least anywhere near the star's surface. It would result from the way a star dies, by its material undergoing a chain of nuclear fusions creating one element after another until it reaches a point where it no longer has the pressure and temperature to keep going. Many stop at iron. The description of it as a "diamond" is rather fanciful, because diamond is solid, crystalline carbon.
Diving is not to be taken on lightly. It is fraught with peril and one needs to be aware of all the worst-case possible outcomes and protect themselves as best they can against it. Very scary prospect. You lay out a very thoughtful and information-filled response touching on all the questions I asked. I appreciate it Durdle. It is very helpful to me. I can Google lots of things but I cannot carry on a conversation in the usual sense. I ask. It answers. End of story. I don't know if humans will ever break through the wall of the their limitations. I wonder what's on the other side of it? I think I'm gonna. Happy Friday m'dear! :)
Thankyou Rosie! I do my best, and try to stick to areas sufficiently familiar to me!
Yes, diving is hazardous but the risks are not unduly high provided it is carried out properly. I've not been diving myself - deep water and I do not mix very well - but I have known quite a number of open-water and cave-divers over the years and gained some lay knowledge of the pursuit.
And if they were brought to the surface, they'd be worthless. Diamonds aren't particularly rare, DeBeers is sitting on tons of them and only letting them trickle onto the market, keeping the price artificially high. If even a large fraction of the stockpile was released, they'd be dirt cheap and only valuable to industry for use in cutting tools, due to their hardness.
Strangely , the mega rich high fashion branded clothing companies like Burberry , D&G , GUCCI ,Armani ,and Prada all burn the clothing they don't sell rather then sell it cheaper.....each incinerates millions of Pounds,Dolars of over priced clothing ,rather than reduce the price a bit....:(
What an appalling waste! I can see why they do it, but can't they just ease up on production? I expect the manufacturers also make sensibly-priced clothes for other retailers, so they won't lose too much.
You know those adventure movies you see Sbf where they seek treasure and come upon it? A room filled with jewels and gold and everything you could dream of finding? Whether worthless or not the sight would be spectacular wouldn't it? All glittery and shimmery and sparkly? Of course I know the sparkles comes from how the diamond expert cuts it but still. Quadrillion is a big number. I can't really comprehend what that represents. I just know it would be more bigly than anything I'd ever seen before! The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so to speak.Thank you for your reply. Of course somewhere going downward that far you'd die! Nothing's perfect, right! ?)
OK sweetie. I won't forget them but first please tell me what "wellies" are. Can you imagine what a sight that would be D? Can you comprehend how much a quadrillion is? I can't! I wonder if a day will arrive when such a venture would be possible? We don't know what lies ahead. We can imagine. Thank you for your reply and Happy Thursday to thee! :)
Wellies are long rubbed Wellinton boots Rosie...Galoshes or the like.... Diamonds are great for cutting tools....why people want to wear them in rings on their fingers is beyond me though... There is no other value in so called precious stones.... Big brand clothing chains like Gucci ,Prada,D&G ...would sooner burn their unsold clothing ,rather than selling it in sale or passing it on to other outlets.... How sad are companies like that....
All I wear is metal braclets ...they are not that expensive, mostly plain or pattened locking bands and I only wear them because I like the feel of them on my wrists. ....
I have heard of Wellingtons D so thank you. You call them "Wellies"! Cute. I'm not much for jewelry. Big rocks don't impress me. I think they're garish and very unattrative. Size isn't where it's at for me vis a vis jewelry. Are you familiar with Pave diamonds? There are teeny tiny very small diamond chips I think. A pave wedding band is so very beautiful. It sparkles and shines gloriously though very understated and classy. I tried on such a ring once upon a time years ago. Jim and I were meandering through South Coast Plaza, a high-end place with designer shops everywhere one of which was TIFFANY'S. We went in and mosyed around. Lots of garish gargantuan very tasteless (in my opinion) stuff. But what caught my eye was that simple band quite slim made of the pave diamonds. I tried it on. Oh D it was so beautiful! At the time it was ONLY $6000! That was almost 20 years ago. I have no idea what it would cost today. But that is the only ring I've ever adored as much as I adore the one Jim gave me years ago. I think even though you aren't a jewelry gal per se you would see such beauty in the massive sparkles of that particular ring. Thank you for your reply. Oh. Once upon a time I went into a Neiman Marcus store. It was in Honolulu. My son lives there and we were visiting him. I tried on a JEWELED jacket. It almost looked like stained glass which I love. It was magnificent. I'm a sucker for sparkle. That jacket would make a zombie look gorgeous. I still remember my reflection. I looked so fine. It was ONLY $2000 at the time. I also once tried on a pair of shoes (with peacock feathers in the leather...I'm serious). They were flats and simple. ONLY $400! That was at Nordstrom's. I tell ya trying on a $6000 Tiffany ring, a $2000 Neiman Marcus jeweled jacket and a $400 pair of Nordstrom shoes is something. I can truly say I HAVE LIVED! Ever do stuff like that D?
This post was edited by RosieG at July 19, 2018 6:25 AM MDT
I'm not attracted to any type of jewellery really Rosie...it's never really interested me....over done and it make girls look trashy or tarty and I dont go for that look at all... I like nice well cut clothing and good material is a must....
I have many pairs of shoes that cost up to two thousand pounds ,but would bever pay that for them...
I'm quite lucky because most all cloths tends to fit me and I'm very easy to to buy for...
Ive had very expensive jewelry bought for me ,but never ever wore it.....hard to say where its been put. I do appreciate people's skills in making such delicate things..... But the end products.....not so much. :(
Do you like sparkle D? I love it! Every card Jim has ever given me is sparkly. He calls me his "sparkle" girl. He tells me that every time he sees a sparkly anything he thinks of me! Do you like stained glass windows, Tiffany lamps? My birthstone is Opal. Have you ever seen a FIRE OPAL? It is rather like the Aurora Borealis only more intense colorwise and breathtaking. Color is very important to me. I shudder when I see chartreuse and purr like a kitten when I see soft blue-grey metalflake anything. I guess it's the kid in me. That kid who will never ever grow up. It is odd to be so young at such an old age but I am. Lucky me. Jim is like that too. A kid inside who never ceases to amaze me with his interests and talents and curiosity. It is a very good mix as you get older. Childlike wonder. Don't ever lose it. Thank you for your reply D! :)
Durdle 
