Finding Diamonds
Unfortunately the ring dike that is present around the Belknaps and the Winnipesaukee islands does not produce diamonds due to a number of reasons. The main reason is that the ring dike is actually the outer cone portion of the volcano that has been built up over millions of years. Diamonds are formed by extreme heat and pressure at depths up to 6 to 10 miles below the surface and are brought up by the magma that explodes out of the middle of the volcano. The diamonds we find today (such as in South Africa) are from cooled, solid, magma chambers that are rich in diamonds, called Kimberlite Pipes (named after the town of Kimberly where they were first found). Not every volcano explodes with diamonds in the middle, the main factor is the type of rock that is ejected and the depth that it was sourced from.
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