The deep, vertical formation through which diamonds traveled to the surface is called what?

The deep, vertical formation through which diamonds traveled to the surface is called what?

• A. Dikes
• B. Veins
• C. Lodes
• D. Pipes

Answer: (D)

Diamonds are carried to the surface by a vertical volcanic conduit formed by rapidly rising magma, called a kimberlite pipe. This pipe acts as a cylindrical channel from deep in the mantle up to the surface, bringing diamonds embedded in the rock with it as the eruption erupts. Other structures described in geology—dikes are sheet-like intrusions that cut across rock layers, veins are mineral-filled fractures, and lodes are ore-bearing deposits—do not serve as the vertical transport conduit to the surface in the way a pipe does. Hence, the term that best fits the description is a pipe, specifically a kimberlite pipe.

Diamonds are carried to the surface by a vertical volcanic conduit formed by rapidly rising magma, called a kimberlite pipe. This pipe acts as a cylindrical channel from deep in the mantle up to the surface, bringing diamonds embedded in the rock with it as the eruption erupts. Other structures described in geology—dikes are sheet-like intrusions that cut across rock layers, veins are mineral-filled fractures, and lodes are ore-bearing deposits—do not serve as the vertical transport conduit to the surface in the way a pipe does. Hence, the term that best fits the description is a pipe, specifically a kimberlite pipe.