Why Is This German Town Covered With 72,000 Tons of Diamonds?

April 3, 2017 5:00 am
This German Town Is Covered in 72,000 Tons of Diamonds
An aerial shot of Nördlingen, Germany (Elmar Hartmann/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
This German Town Is Covered in 72,000 Tons of Diamonds
An aerial shot of Nördlingen, Germany (Elmar Hartmann/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

 

Bavaria might be known for its alpine skiing, famous castle, and doughnut cream-filling, but it’s safe to say that “diamonds” can now be added to that list. Per Travel + Leisure, the town of Nördlingen is dusted with 72,000 tons of tiny diamonds, measuring at largest, about 0.3 mm.

How did this happen? Fifteen million years ago an asteroid hit the town and left behind a giant crater, along with a payload of suevite, a type of rock that is made up of a number of fragments, including “impact diamonds.”

Per a report that ran in Smithsonian, the town’s church was constructed completely out of suevite, and so contains roughy 5,000 carats worth of diamonds.

—RealClearLife

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