Find a Diamond, Keep a Diamond

Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt? That's exactly what will happen if you stumble into Murfreesboro, Arkansas, where you will find the Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Image Source: Craterofdiamondsstatepark.com

Apparently, an ancient volcano caldera lies beneath the surface of the park, which explains why these diamonds are located in this area. From the park's website:

During the past three billion years, many geologic changes have taken place on the surface of the earth. Crust formed and was destroyed, continents formed and migrated, and mountain ranges were built and eroded away. About 300 to 250 million years ago, the continent we now call South America collided with the southern portion of present day North America. This collision formed the Ouachita Mountains from sediments that were deposited in a deep ocean environment. The Ouachita's began to erode and during the Cretaceous Period (144 to 66 million years ago), the southern area of this eroded mountain range was covered by seas and the area of the Park was near-shore, but under shallow seawater. About 100 million years ago, instability in the Earth's mantle caused the movement of gas and rock to the surface. This volcanic vent, known as the “Prairie Creek” diatreme by geologists, rose rapidly through the upper mantle and crust, carrying with it fragments of mantle and crustal rocks and minerals, until it came near enough to the surface to explode due to the release of gases. When it exploded, it created an 83-acre funnel-shaped crater with sides sloping inward at about 45 degrees. Much of the airborne material formed by the initial explosion fell back into the vent. The speed of rise of the mass allowed the diamonds to be preserved in this material.

Here's a depiction of what the caldera might look like. Image Source: Craterofdiamondsstatepark.com

When I went to the park, it was a very interesting experience. First of all, I went in October. And even though it's the Southern USA, it was still a little chilly at times. There isn't much night life in Murfreesboro, either..but that suited me just fine. It left me more time for digging!!!

My first day there was actually half a day since I got into town later in the afternoon. But for the about $10, I had most of the whole park (37.5 acre diamond field!!!) to myself. As fate would have it, thunderstorms rolled through the area that afternoon, but that didn't stop me! I still searched!

I called it quits after it started getting dark and headed a little down the road where there was a small campground. You can rent out the little cabins like the one below for a very reasonable price.

The next three days, I had a lot of optimism, since the best times to find diamonds are apparently after heavy rains, since the water will wash any dirt away from the diamond allowing them to glimmer in the sunlight. So I walked row by row...

by row...

by row...

There are even wash pavilions where you can screed out dirt to see if there are any diamonds:

Despite the helpful signs, I found no diamonds after three days of searching. Only a bunch of quartz.

Oh well. Maybe one day I will go back and earn my place on the "Famous Finds" board.

Good luck and happy hunting!