NOVEL NEXT Chapter 784 Moisture
Wisps of blue smoke lingered.
The newly laid wooden plank met its demise just like that.
A fist-sized, irregularly shaped black stone, emitting a dull glow, was stuck on the wooden plank. In its center, a transparent block at least the size of a thumb glittered in the sunlight.
Bi Fang knelt on the platform, leaned over, and reached to pry it off, but he was driven back by the heat it radiated when he nearly touched it.
The high temperature reacted with the wooden plank, turning the surroundings into charcoal ash, and the black hole continued to expand. Then Bi Fang saw the transparent substance in the center of the black stone shrink at a rate visible to the naked eye!
Before he could take any remedial action, the wooden plank, already half-smashed by the impact, was directly burned through by the high temperature, creating a large hole.
With a plop, the stone fell straight into the ocean, followed by a hissing sound similar to that of hot metal meeting cold water, a sound Bi Fang had become calloused to while in the Banna Rainforest.
With violent bubbling of white bubbles, Bi Fang immediately reached out to grab the sinking stone, quickly scooped it up, and tossed it onto the wooden plank.
The residual moisture evaporated swiftly, but the temperature of the stone was no longer so extreme; at least, it did not burn another hole in the wooden plank, and the semi-transparent stone on top did not continue to shrink.
Bi Fang scooped some seawater and poured it over the stone to speed up its cooling; once it had cooled sufficiently, he picked it up and scrutinized it under the sunlight.
Was this thing... a diamond?
The audience could not forget the phrase that Bi Fang had just exclaimed. If it was true, then this diamond was unbelievably large.
Even though it had shrunk a bit, it was still half the size of a finger, ridiculously large.
And why would diamonds fall from the sky?
[Is that really a diamond?]
[It doesn't look quite right, does it?]
[Maybe because it hasn't been cut yet?]
[Purity, too low!]
[When is Master Fang going to pinch a diamond with his bare hands?]
After looking for a while, Bi Fang finally confirmed that this was indeed a diamond!
Surviving a great disaster only to encounter fortune afterward?
Could at least a higher quality one have come, though?
Bi Fang, stroking the diamond, which seemed to have many impurities, was somewhat speechless.
"Volcanic eruptions can indeed bring some precious metals to the surface. Diamonds are primarily made of carbon, and carbon is not rare on Earth."
"Unlike the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions I mentioned before for the formation of jade, diamonds are formed under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions. Such conditions are rare on the Earth's surface, but the mantle is full of them, fitting the diamond formation conditions perfectly. Therefore, many diamonds are formed in the mantle."
[Isn't the volcanic eruption happening in the mantle?]
[Honestly, I don't remember any of this anymore]
[If I were a high school student, I might recall something, but I'm already a senior in college, all I know is to eat three meals a day]
"Yes."
Bi Fang nodded.
"The formation of a volcanic crater is related to the structure of Earth which, according to our current understanding of Earth, is like an onion with several layers. At the very core is the Earth's core, where the temperature exceeds 5000℃ and the pressure is immense, causing molten objects to become solid under pressure."
"Beyond the core is the mantle, covered by a rocky shell structure. Above that is the earth's crust."
"Within these materials, the temperature of the lithosphere and crust is relatively low, while the temperature of the core is relatively high, thus giving rise to thermal convection in the mantle. The ring structures of rock within the mantle and the crust are affected by the convection of heat, leading to the occurrence of disasters such as earthquakes."
"Besides the extremely high temperature, the pressure in the mantle layer is also significant. Normally, mantle materials struggle to break through the restrictions of the lithosphere and crust, but in weaker areas of the crust, mantle materials can erupt onto the surface due to the pressure. This is the formation process of volcanic eruptions."
"Diamonds are formed in the mantle, and magma is also from the mantle, so after diamonds form, they are carried to volcanic pipes with the magma. When the magma solidifies, it forms Kimberlite containing diamonds."
"When a volcano erupts, the parent rock containing diamonds is brought to the surface, and as the parent rock breaks apart due to the action of water, it leads to the formation of alluvial diamond mines—most diamond mines were once sites of volcanic eruptions."
After listening to Bi Fang's explanation and understanding the possible origins of diamonds, the audience was dumbfounded.
"[Hiss, tell me the location right now, I want to go pick up diamonds!]"
"[Diamonds are just a hype, they're really not that valuable, we can even artificially create natural diamonds now, not synthetic diamonds, I mean artificially created 'natural diamonds']"
"[We all know this already. I've rewatched Xiao Li's movie about blood diamonds three times.]"
"[To be honest, let's cut the crap, just tell me if you're picking them up or not?]"
"[Pick up! Send the address! I'm going to go on a wild collection spree!]"
The barrage of messages was all about demanding the location, while Bi Fang kept examining and murmuring to himself.
"I didn't expect to be so lucky as to come across a flown-out diamond. Honestly, the odds are actually very slim... "
Not to mention one that hit me out of nowhere.
The essence of a diamond is carbon, which will burn directly in temperatures above nine hundred degrees. Magma temperatures typically range between seven hundred and twelve hundred degrees, so it's quite easy for diamonds to get burned up if mixed in with it.
If not mixed, then it's not at the very center of the eruption, and it wouldn't be thrown so far.
Unless it's wrapped just right in rock and flies out before it's completely heated.
In fact, it almost sublimated just now, but fortunately, it scorched a hole through a wooden plank and fell into the sea, cooling rapidly.
The burning of diamonds in high temperatures with oxygen is different from the burning of carbon; when carbon burns, it turns red and burns on the outside as it contacts oxygen.
However, the burning process for a diamond is this: regardless of how high the temperature is, it remains colorless and transparent, and the outer carbon atom structure slowly disappears as it comes into contact with oxygen.
As for what happens when a diamond is heated without oxygen, the inherently unstable diamond structure will transform into graphite.
So, this diamond might have initially been larger, and not completely enclosed in stone, otherwise, it would have turned into a piece of graphite by now.
It's just that, while the diamond is large, after burning a bit, it's still about the size of the first joint of a little finger, only its quality isn't very good, with poor clarity, full of impurities. At first glance, one might not even think it's a diamond but rather a transparent stone with relatively high clarity.
In terms of value, it's quite limited; it would be okay as a collector's item but wouldn't fetch a high price.
"[To be honest, this is the first time I've heard of a volcano spewing diamonds.]"
"[Why can't I ever have that kind of luck?]"
"[Let's have a volcanic surfing event, and if you survive, you can do it too!]"
"[I'll take my surfboard and leave right now!]"
Gray snow began to float down from the sky.
A thin layer of ash mist covered the sea, as if a layer of lime had been sprinkled on the clean water's surface.
Ignoring the audience's teasing and instigation to go back and pick up diamonds, Bi Fang adjusted the sail, grabbed the paddle, and began moving in the opposite direction.
He wasn't a "Contra" warrior, he didn't have three lives.