How Does a Diamond Form Under the Earth's Surface?

Carbon is squeezed and heated deep underground for a very long time to make diamonds.

Imagine you have a bunch of tiny, hard peas, those are like carbon atoms. Now, picture them being pushed really tightly together in a giant pressure cooker, way down inside the Earth, where it’s super hot and squishy. That's what happens to carbon when it gets buried deep underground for millions of years.

Deep under the Earth, carbon atoms are squeezed so tightly that they start linking up with each other in a special way, like friends holding hands really closely. This makes them change shape and become diamonds, which are super strong and shiny.

It’s like when you press your hands together really hard for a long time, eventually, your skin might feel different or even get a little bit tougher. That's kind of what happens to carbon under the Earth, it gets squeezed until it becomes something amazing: a diamond!