WATER AND DIAMOND: NO. 9 HARDNESS

As you all know, diamonds are the hardest material on the earth.  It is measured with Mohs scale of hardness with 10.  However, the scale does not give us solid idea how hard the diamonds are.  Therefore, I have done two experiments in the past.

With my first experiment, I tried to break rough diamonds using a vise.  The vise was made of iron.  After the pressure was applied, the vise did not have any space in between.  However, the diamonds did not break.  Instead, the vise had small dents.

For next experiment, I overheated the rough diamond when it was polished.  In order to polish or cut diamonds, you need to find out right direction.  If you try to polish it with wrong direction, the diamond would not be polished even after hours.  The diamond glowed with the frictional heat.  I closely observed to see when it started to burn.  However, it never did.  That proved the hardness of the diamond.

On the Mohs scale, topaz is hardness 8 and rubies and sapphires are hardness 9.  If the difference between hardness 8 and 9 is multiplied by 100, it equals the hardness of the diamond. 

* Mohs hardness: a unit of measurement used to quantify the hardness of a mineral

WATER AND DIAMOND: NO. 8 IS DIAMOND COMBUSTIBLE?

One anchorman said on TV that since diamonds consist of carbon, they will burn away.  If it is that easy to burn diamonds, I think they would not exist to start with.

Diamonds are uplifted with magma which is 1000℃ from 250km down the earth to near the surface, and cooled down rapidly to 400℃ to 500℃ due to adiabatic expansion. 

Under those hash circumstances, however, diamonds will stay the same, and will not be burnt away.

Also, a base rock plays a role.  It is also called Kimberlite or blue ground, and protects rough diamonds from blazing magma by holding them tight in themselves.  Carbon is an origin of life.  Therefore, diamonds, crystallized carbon, are children of lives on earth, and humans share the same life origin.  When the children are pushed out from deep in the earth to the surface through a magma road, secrets of nature will help to make it happen.  I cannot help thinking about the wonder of life, which is supported by something unseen and something great.

WATER AND DIAMOND: NO. 7 TRIGON

You can see some triangles in rough diamonds, and they are called trigons.  If a diamond has trigon, the crystallization was formed naturally.  Once it is cut, however, trigons cannot be seen anymore.

Why does it form triangle shape?  Is this a trace of growth as a result of natural crystallization?

Some have triangular-pyramidal growth hillocks, which look like layers of triangles from larger to smaller.  Those are beautiful equilateral triangles, and even mysterious and sacred when looked with a magnifying glass. 

The same triangle shapes sometimes appear on my Ryusuimon from the flow of the river.  Why do they exist in the river and on my work?

Moreover, the triangles on Ryusuimon would appear only when the water is fresh and “new-born”.  This must be a proof that the water is full of life-force.

It leads me to imagine that triangles exist where the life has its source. 

WATER AND DIAMOND: NO. 6 MISTERY???

It is said that all the diamonds were formed at least one billion years ago.  Yet, how did they figure out the age-date?

Studying the isotopic ratio of the tiny amount of gas in a diamond makes it possible to trace the age of the diamond.  However, it is not so easy.  Breaking rough diamonds in a vacuum is such a work.  For the people who know the hardness of diamonds, it sounds impossible to take out the tiny amount of gas (and even invisible!) from the stone by cutting or breaking it.  By closely studying the gas, however, it will tell us how old the stone is, as well as the state of the earth and universe when the stone is formed.

Instead of figuring out the numbers, let’s develop your imagination.

How do rough diamonds take in the gas inside???

Or, how do diamonds grow bigger???

In fact, no one has seen it.

WATER AND DIAMOND: NO. 5 FORMATION

Where did the diamonds being formed?  Some were formed close to the earth’s surface.  However, most of them were formed around 250 to 300 km below ground, which is in an upper layer of the mantle, with high temperature and high pressure.

They say there are numerous diamonds around that area.  Yet, human technology doesn’t allow digging that far deep in the earth.

Then, why most of the diamonds are found close to the surface of the earth?

When volcanoes erupt, diamonds would come out together with lava.  Or, some lava is hardened without coming out to the surface and forms a dorm.  Then, people can mine the lava to find diamonds.

Nowadays, mining has been mechanized, and owned by corporations, which makes it easier for humans to find them.  However, when diamonds were first found long time ago, it was like finding gold dusts in a river.  People just had to look everywhere for the diamonds which might have came out on the earth with lava.  There was no exact point they could look for, or no guarantee that diamonds were there.  If one was lucky, s/he could find a diamond in the bottom of a river or on the beach; after the lava had eroded for hundreds of millions of years and rain would wash down the diamonds.  Finding the stone was literally one-in-a-million chance.

Thinking about the story, I can’t help imaging like following; diamonds are carbon, which also support human’s life.  The carbon is crystallized deep in the earth, and transformed into diamonds.  Diamonds are like children of the earth, and born into the surface through a path of lava, like going through a birth canal of mother’s body.

Or, is it my selfish imagination?

Diamonds are a letter from the underground which has a key to solve a secret of dawn of the universe.

WATER AND DIAMOND: NO. 4 ETERNAL LIFE

Eternity means unchanging.  However, when it comes to “eternal life”, it has to be changed.  Therefore, in this case, eternity means that the life will pass on to the future.  Inheritance, succession, or handing down.  Since it will be passed down to the future, ‘now’ is important. 

Every living creature has to die someday, so it is natural for everyone to wish to live a longer life, even for a day.  On the other hand, diamond can indulge oneself in eternity as long as it likes; although the component of diamond is the same carbon as other living creatures.  Water also has existed without changing from 3.5 billion years ago until now, while it changes and improves the passing moment. 

It should not be changed from now on either, because the change of water means the change of earth.

When you look at this relationship among water, diamond, and life, and see things with a comprehensive and panoramic view, you will find many interesting incidences.

LITTLE BREAK…

On 24^th April, Ms. Mehl, the first secretary of the embassy of the republic of Zambia, visited our office at Ikebukuro.  She came interested in my work, and paid a visit to see them.  We had great time talking together.

I knew the name of the country Zambia.  Yet, I did not have clear images of the country, such as how it looks like, or what kind of people is living there.  As the conversations went on, however, we found ourselves talking like friends who have known each other for a long time.

Zambia has Victoria Falls, one of the three great waterfalls in the world, and retains 60% of all the water in southern African area. People respect water, and treat water with a feeling of awe; they use water to purify themselves by putting water from their chin to face, and head, using their hands.  The ritual is so similar to that of Japanese purification.

She expressed her wish to have my exhibition in Zambia.  She even set the timing for this year or next year.

I feel that Africa is the last defense against environmental conservation for this entire planet.  If Africa is urbanized like Tokyo, New York, or Paris, an eternal life for the earth will not be guaranteed.  In order to keep the current situation, we ought to know what we have to right now.

Zambian people should recognize the importance of their fresh air and lively water in order to support the future of the earth.  People from the city, like Tokyo, New York, or Paris, have to tell Zambian that the things they have right now are the best.  Because, no so-called “developed” cities can get back the beauty of it any longer.