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<\/div>Twenty years ago, deep beneath Botswana\u2019s Kalahari desert, Thomas Gernon<\/a> found himself walking in what seemed like hell. The temperature soared as the sound of explosions echoed off the walls. \u201cIt was like a baptism of fire,\u201d he says. It was his first trip into a kimberlite diamond mine<\/a>.<\/p>\n The place teemed with cameras and Gernon, now at the University of Southampton in the UK, had been warned of trouble should any gemstones be found \u2013 accidentally or otherwise \u2013 on his person. But he wasn\u2019t here to find his fortune. He wanted an answer to one of Earth\u2019s greatest mysteries.<\/p>\n Diamonds are precious to many<\/a>, but they hold a special place in the hearts of geologists. They were forged long ago in the fiery depths of Earth\u2019s inaccessible mantle, brought to the surface by riding on supersonic jets of magma<\/a> from bizarre volcanoes called kimberlites.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t know much about precisely how diamonds formed, but we do know they are like time capsules that can teach us the secrets of our planet\u2019s distant past. And perhaps the biggest question of all is why the kimberlites that propelled them to the surface seem to have gone extinct millions of years ago.<\/p>\n Now, almost two decades since that first visit to a diamond mine, Gernon and his fellow kimberlite detectives may finally have an all-encompassing model for how the volcanoes work, and with it a better understanding of their treasures. What\u2019s more, this work has uncovered a tantalising prospect \u2013 that kimberlites might not be extinct after all.<\/p>\n Diamonds, contrary\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n