Hi Pyramid,
You seem to have a lot of questions about the internal workings of diamonds. Unfortunately when I start to contemplate the answers to your questions, the amount of information necessary to deliver a thorough answer would be too lengthy for a forum of this nature. Perhaps the best thing I could recommend as a good source for many answers to your questions is a book by John Koivula entitled, "The MicroWorld of Diamonds." Not only will you find lots of good informaton, but there are some stunning examples of photomicrography.
Enjoy!
Bill Scherlag
I do know that diamond has four planes of cleavage so I thought if the crystal growth was disrupted that the internal graining would no longer follow the planes of cleavage. Is that correct or not near?
I do know that diamond has four planes of cleavage so I thought if the crystal growth was disrupted that the internal graining would no longer follow the planes of cleavage. Is that correct or not near?
The answer is yes / no / maybe. I don''t mean to sound flippant, but there is no blanket answer. Each individual stone with that internal phenomenon would have to be viewed on a case by case basis. At the very least it would depend on the nature of the original crystal habit and whether the same growth pattern continued or changed after the period of disruption. Again, I would encourage you to do some reading on the subject because it is impossible to fit all of the information into a "sound bite" sized answer (as I just attempted to do
Growth planes when diamonds grow in optimal temp press zones are octahedral and octahedral planes are also the prefferred plane of dislocation. The dodecahedra is the next weakest and the cube requires a huge amount of energy to cleave.
But diamonds can and do grow on the other crystal planes and do also grow in curved faces in suboptimal HPHT or catalyst / solution conditions.
Garry,
I understand what you''re saying. But my point was that disrupted, or more precisely, interrupted crystal growth does not necessarily result in an automatic change in crystal habit.
Bill
I do know that diamond has four planes of cleavage so I thought if the crystal growth was disrupted that the internal graining would no longer follow the planes of cleavage. Is that correct or not near?