The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V55cJl7SUno/WLVddcUurRI/AAAAAAAALng/nKsrmRtCLwEfEmx8I1NqFNbJtSvyRe0zQCLcB/s1600/The%2BWorld%25E2%2580%2599s%2BDeepest%2BCave%2BKnown%2BAs%2B%25E2%2580%2598Everest%2BOf%2BThe%2BCaves%25E2%2580%2599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’" border="0" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V55cJl7SUno/WLVddcUurRI/AAAAAAAALng/nKsrmRtCLwEfEmx8I1NqFNbJtSvyRe0zQCLcB/s640/The%2BWorld%25E2%2580%2599s%2BDeepest%2BCave%2BKnown%2BAs%2B%25E2%2580%2598Everest%2BOf%2BThe%2BCaves%25E2%2580%2599.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">krubera cave Georgie</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have A Glimpse Of Krubera Cave, The Deepest Cave In The World!</span></h3> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The cave, known as Krubera-Voronya, is considered the “Everest of the caves”. The total length of cave passages reaches 13,232 m, the depth is -2,197 m. It’s located in Abkhazia (Georgia) near the Black Sea.</span><br /> <br /> The difference in elevation of the cave's entrance and its deepest explored point is 2,197 ± 20 metres (7,208 ± 66 ft). It became the deepest-known cave in the world in 2001 when the expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association reached a depth of 1,710 m (5,610 ft) which exceeded the depth of the previous deepest-known cave, Lamprechtsofen, in the Austrian Alps, by 80 metres (260 ft).<br /> <br /> In 2004, for the first time in the history of speleology, the Ukrainian Speleological Association expedition reached a depth greater than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), and explored the cave to −2,080 m (−6,824 ft).<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> The Ortobalagan Valley extends along the crest of the Berchil'sky anticline, which gently dips northwest. The cave entrances are aligned along the anticlinal crest, but the caves are controlled by longitudinal, transverse, and oblique fractures and faults and comprise complex winding patterns in the plan view, remaining largely within and near the anticlinal crest zone.<br /> <br /> The caves are predominantly combinations of vadose shafts and steep meandering passages, although in places they cut apparently old fossil passages at different levels (e.g., at −2,100–2,040 m (−6,890–6,690 ft) in Kujbyshevskaja and Krubera caves, −1,200–1,240 m (−3,940–4,070 ft) and −980–1,150 m (−3,220–3,770 ft) in the non-Kujbyshevskaja branch of Krubera Cave, etc.).<br /> <br /> The deep parts of Krubera display a more pervasive conduit pattern with a mixture of phreatic morphology, characteristic of the zone of high-gradient floods, which can be up to 400 m above the low-flow water table, and vadose downcutting elements that are observed even below the water table.<br /> <br /> The core part of the Arabika Massif is composed of the Upper Jurassic succession resting on the Bajocian Porphyritic Series, which includes sandstones, clays and conglomerates at the top, and tuff, tuff sandstones, conglomerates and breccia, porphyry and lava.<br /> <br /> The Porphyritic series forms the non-karstic basement of Arabika, which is exposed only on the northern and eastern outskirts, locally in the bottoms of the Kutushara and Gega River valleys. <br /> <br />  In the central part of Arabika the Cretaceous cover (Valanginian and Hauterivian limestones, marls and sandstones) is retained only in a few ridges and peaks, but it lies intact through the low-altitude ridges to the south-west of the central part. There the Cretaceous succession includes Barremian and Aptian–Cenomanian limestones and marly limestones with abundant concretions of black chert.<br /> <br /> The Upper Jurassic succession begins with thin-bedded Kimmeridgian–Oxfordian cherty limestones, marls, sandstones and clays, which are identified in the lower part of Krubera Cave. Above lies the thick Tithonian succession of thick-bedded limestones with marly and sandy varieties. Sandy limestones are particularly abundant through the upper 1,000 m sections of deep caves of the Ortobalagan Valley.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i1nYKFjhnz8/WLVgyFL5rvI/AAAAAAAALn4/fDXQKnS28S8l4oOoRFPwEuOKlI6zNKFIgCLcB/s1600/The%2BWorld%25E2%2580%2599s%2BDeepest%2BCave%2BKnown%2BAs%2B%25E2%2580%2598Everest%2BOf%2BThe%2BCaves%25E2%2580%25991.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’" border="0" height="428" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i1nYKFjhnz8/WLVgyFL5rvI/AAAAAAAALn4/fDXQKnS28S8l4oOoRFPwEuOKlI6zNKFIgCLcB/s640/The%2BWorld%25E2%2580%2599s%2BDeepest%2BCave%2BKnown%2BAs%2B%25E2%2580%2598Everest%2BOf%2BThe%2BCaves%25E2%2580%25991.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Krubera-Voronya</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> Major on-shore karst springs with individual average discharges of 1 to 2.5 m3/s (35 to 88 cu ft/s) are located at altitudes ranging from 1 m (3.3 ft) (Reproa Spring) to 540 m (1,770 ft) (Gega waterfall). Two of them are located in the shore area; these are Reproa (average discharge 2.5 m3/s or 88 cu ft/s; altitude 1 m or 3 ft 3 in above sea level) and Kholodnaja Rechka (1.2 m3/s or 42 cu ft/s; 50 m or 160 ft a.s.l.).<br /> <br /> Two more major springs are located in the river canyons bordering Arabika to the east: Goluboe Ozero in the Bzyb canyon (2.5 m3/s or 88 cu ft/s; 90 m or 300 ft a.s.l.) and Gega waterfall in the Gega canyon (1 m3/s or 35 cu ft/s; 540 m or 1,770 ft a.s.l.). There are also several smaller springs in the Gagra town. The Reprua River, one of the shortest rivers in the world, about 60 ft long, starts in the cave and flows toward the Black Sea.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Some boreholes located along the shore of the Black Sea yield karstic groundwater from depths of 40–280 m below sea level. Other much deeper boreholes tapped low-salinity karstic waters at depths of 500 and 1,750 m in the Khashupse Valley near Tsandripsh and 2,250 m near Gagra. This suggests the existence of a deep karst system and vigorous karst groundwater circulation at depth.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h3XyEDw7FnI/WMaOVUKYJpI/AAAAAAAALu0/DQkLMB5Utl0EZ0Etjcweh7YppIUBm3ZMQCLcB/s1600/Nekuybyshevskaya%2Bseries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’" border="0" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h3XyEDw7FnI/WMaOVUKYJpI/AAAAAAAALu0/DQkLMB5Utl0EZ0Etjcweh7YppIUBm3ZMQCLcB/s640/Nekuybyshevskaya%2Bseries.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Gergely Ambrus photography</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1foQxXyX1w/WMaOeEGtbeI/AAAAAAAALu4/Q-xpxDknt4ccyhF7TW6IkcOzp9Cbprb4gCLcB/s1600/Nekuybyshevskaya%2Bseries%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’" border="0" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1foQxXyX1w/WMaOeEGtbeI/AAAAAAAALu4/Q-xpxDknt4ccyhF7TW6IkcOzp9Cbprb4gCLcB/s640/Nekuybyshevskaya%2Bseries%2B1.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Gergely Ambrus photography</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zL-8GHApBMM/WMaO6zsqL7I/AAAAAAAALu8/fc-zNLUluuUvTQTec-axhwkD468ZYF1-ACLcB/s1600/Gergely%2BAmbrus%2Bphotography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’" border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zL-8GHApBMM/WMaO6zsqL7I/AAAAAAAALu8/fc-zNLUluuUvTQTec-axhwkD468ZYF1-ACLcB/s640/Gergely%2BAmbrus%2Bphotography.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Gergely Ambrus photography</td></tr> </tbody></table> </div>

The World’s Deepest Cave Known As ‘Everest Of The Caves’

krubera cave Georgie Have A Glimpse Of Krubera Cave, The Deepest Cave In The World! The cave, known as Krubera-Voronya, is cons...

Read more »

Earth Probably Began With a Solid Shell

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8jfUGno34NY/WLVUOkyTOtI/AAAAAAAALnI/Vspn7nV3YHUl9fVvCEcqH_ekk26l6X2OgCLcB/s1600/Earth%2Bprobably%2Bbegan%2Bwith%2Ba%2Bsolid%2Bshell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8jfUGno34NY/WLVUOkyTOtI/AAAAAAAALnI/Vspn7nV3YHUl9fVvCEcqH_ekk26l6X2OgCLcB/s640/Earth%2Bprobably%2Bbegan%2Bwith%2Ba%2Bsolid%2Bshell.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright JJMedia</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <h4> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">New research suggests that plate tectonics began later in Earth's history</span></i></h4> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Today's Earth is a dynamic planet with an outer layer composed of giant plates that grind together, sliding past or dipping beneath one another, giving rise to earthquakes and volcanoes. Others separate at undersea mountain ridges, where molten rock spreads out from the centers of major ocean basins.</span></i><br /> <br /> But new research suggests that this was not always the case. Instead, shortly after Earth formed and began to cool, the planet's first outer layer was a single, solid but deformable shell. Later, this shell began to fold and crack more widely, giving rise to modern plate tectonics.<br /> <br /> The research, described in a paper published February 27, 2017 in the journal Nature, is the latest salvo in a long-standing debate in the geological research community: did plate tectonics start right away -- a theory known as uniformitarianism -- or did Earth first go through a long phase with a solid shell covering the entire planet? The new results suggest the solid shell model is closest to what really happened.<br /> <br /> "Models for how the first continental crust formed generally fall into two groups: those that invoke modern-style plate tectonics and those that do not," said Michael Brown, a professor of geology at the University of Maryland and a co-author of the study. "Our research supports the latter -- a 'stagnant lid' forming the planet's outer shell early in Earth's history."<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> To reach these conclusions, Brown and his colleagues from Curtin University and the Geological Survey of Western Australia studied rocks collected from the East Pilbara Terrane, a large area of ancient granitic crust located in the state of Western Australia. Rocks here are among the oldest known, ranging from 3.5 to about 2.5 billion years of age. (Earth is roughly 4.5 billion years old.) The researchers specifically selected granites with a chemical composition usually associated with volcanic arcs -- a telltale sign of plate tectonic activity.<br /> <br /> Brown and his colleagues also looked at basalt rocks from the associated Coucal formation. Basalt is the rock produced when volcanoes erupt, but it also forms the ocean floor, as molten basalt erupts at spreading ridges in the center of ocean basins. In modern-day plate tectonics, when ocean floor basalt reaches the continents, it dips -- or subducts -- beneath the Earth's surface, where it generates fluids that allow the overlying mantle to melt and eventually create large masses of granite beneath the surface.<br /> <br /> Previous research suggested that the Coucal basalts could be the source rocks for the granites in the Pilbara Terrane, because of the similarities in their chemical composition. Brown and his collaborators set out to verify this, but also to test another long-held assumption: could the Coucal basalts have melted to form granite in some way other than subduction of the basalt beneath Earth's surface? If so, perhaps plate tectonics was not yet happening when the Pilbara granites formed.<br /> <br /> To address this question, the researchers performed thermodynamic calculations to determine the phase equilibria of average Coucal basalt. Phase equilibria are precise descriptions of how a substance behaves under various temperature and pressure conditions, including the temperature at which melting begins, the amount of melt produced and its chemical composition.<br /> <br /> For example, one of the simplest phase equilibria diagrams describes the behavior of water: at low temperatures and/or high pressures, water forms solid ice, while at high temperatures and/or low pressures, water forms gaseous steam. Phase equilibria gets a bit more involved with rocks, which have complex chemical compositions that can take on very different mineral combinations and physical characteristics based on temperature and pressure.<br /> <br /> "If you take a rock off the shelf and melt it, you can get a phase diagram. But you're stuck with a fixed chemical composition," Brown said. "With thermodynamic modeling, you can change the composition, pressure and temperature independently. It's much more flexible and helps us to answer some questions we can't address with experiments on rocks."<br /> <br /> Using the Coucal basalts and Pilbara granites as a starting point, Brown and his colleagues constructed a series of modeling experiments to reflect what might have transpired in an ancient Earth without plate tectonics. Their results suggest that, indeed, the Pilbara granites could have formed from the Coucal basalts.<br /> <br /> More to the point, this transformation could have occurred in a pressure and temperature scenario consistent with a "stagnant lid," or a single shell covering the entire planet.<br /> <br /> Plate tectonics substantially affects the temperature and pressure of rocks within Earth's interior. When a slab of rock subducts under the Earth's surface, the rock starts off relatively cool and takes time to gain heat. By the time it reaches a higher temperature, the rock has also reached a significant depth, which corresponds to high pressure -- in the same way a diver experiences.<br /> <br /> <i><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /> </span></u></i> <i><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from Materials provided by <a href="http://www.umd.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Maryland</a>. </span></u></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /> </span></span></div>

Earth Probably Began With a Solid Shell

Copyright JJMedia New research suggests that plate tectonics began later in Earth's history Today's Earth is a dynamic plane...

Read more »

Radial Annabergite Crystals From Greece

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8OjUR4qj5xs/WShfu9hd4QI/AAAAAAAAMbU/lMP_A9HjrKM_-d0sjIduOh0Nv7Wb8MfRgCLcB/s1600/Radial%2BAnnabergite%2Bcrystals%2Bfrom%2BLavrio%253B%2BGreece.%2B%25F0%259F%2587%25AC%25F0%259F%2587%25B7%2B%25F0%259F%2587%25AC%25F0%259F%2587%25B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Radial Annabergite Crystals From Greece" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8OjUR4qj5xs/WShfu9hd4QI/AAAAAAAAMbU/lMP_A9HjrKM_-d0sjIduOh0Nv7Wb8MfRgCLcB/s640/Radial%2BAnnabergite%2Bcrystals%2Bfrom%2BLavrio%253B%2BGreece.%2B%25F0%259F%2587%25AC%25F0%259F%2587%25B7%2B%25F0%259F%2587%25AC%25F0%259F%2587%25B7.jpg" title="" width="500" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Annabergite </b>is an arsenate mineral consisting of a hydrous nickel arsenate,<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Ni</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">3</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">(AsO</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">2</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">·8H</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">2</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">O</span>, crystallizing in the monoclinic system and isomorphous with vivianite and erythrite.</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">Formula: </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Ni</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">3</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">(AsO</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">2</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">·8H</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">2</sub><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">O</span></span> </span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;">System: Monoclinic<br />Colour: Green, light grey </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">From Lavrio; Greece</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Photo Credit: László Tóth </span></b><br /> </span></div>

Radial Annabergite Crystals From Greece

Annabergite is an arsenate mineral consisting of a hydrous nickel arsenate, Ni 3 (AsO 4 ) 2 ·8H 2 O , crystallizing in the monoclinic ...

Read more »

Oil and Gas Wastewater Spills Alter Microbes in West Virginia Waters

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qg2tf7YevgI/WLQF74pm00I/AAAAAAAALmg/A5UaqDOrWe4V4XzeKh4usjDhQRf7fCMjgCLcB/s1600/Oil%2Band%2Bgas%2Bwastewater%2Bspills%2Balter%2Bmicrobes%2Bin%2BWest%2BVirginia%2Bwaters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Oil and Gas Wastewater Spills Alter Microbes in West Virginia Waters" border="0" height="442" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qg2tf7YevgI/WLQF74pm00I/AAAAAAAALmg/A5UaqDOrWe4V4XzeKh4usjDhQRf7fCMjgCLcB/s640/Oil%2Band%2Bgas%2Bwastewater%2Bspills%2Balter%2Bmicrobes%2Bin%2BWest%2BVirginia%2Bwaters.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The hydraulic fracturing (fracking) water cycle includes withdrawing water, adding chemicals, injecting fracking fluids through a well to a rock formation, and pumping wastewater to the surface for disposal or reuse. Credit: US Environmental Protection Agency</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <h4 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></h4> <h4 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rutgers' Nicole Fahrenfeld leads research documenting impacts in stream water and sediments from a wastewater disposal facility</span></h4> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wastewater from oil and gas operations -- including fracking for shale gas -- at a West Virginia site altered microbes downstream, according to a Rutgers-led study.</span></i><br /> <br /> The study, published recently in Science of the Total Environment, showed that wastewater releases, including briny water that contained petroleum and other pollutants, altered the diversity, numbers and functions of microbes. The shifts in the microbial community indicated changes in their respiration and nutrient cycling, along with signs of stress.<br /> <br /> The study also documented changes in antibiotic resistance in downstream sediments, but did not uncover hot spots, or areas with high levels of resistance. The findings point to the need to understand the impacts on microbial ecosystems from accidental releases or improper treatment of fracking-related wastewater. Moreover, microbial changes in sediments may have implications for the treatment and beneficial reuse of wastewater, the researchers say.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> "My hope is that the study could be used to start making hypotheses about the impacts of wastewater," said Nicole Fahrenfeld, lead author of the study and assistant professor in Rutgers' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Much remains unknown about the impacts of wastewater from fracking, she added.<br /> <br /> "I do think we're at the beginning of seeing what the impacts could be," said Fahrenfeld, who works in the School of Engineering. "I want to learn about the real risks and focus our efforts on what matters in the environment."<br /> <br /> Underground reservoirs of oil and natural gas contain water that is naturally occurring or injected to boost production, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), whose scientists contributed to the study. During fracking, a fracturing fluid and a solid material are injected into an underground reservoir under very high pressure, creating fractures to increase the porosity and permeability of rocks.<br /> <br /> Liquid pumped to the surface is usually a mixture of the injected fluids with briny water from the reservoir. It can contain dissolved salt, petroleum and other organic compounds, suspended solids, trace elements, bacteria, naturally occurring radioactive materials and anything injected into wells, the USGS says. Such water is recycled, treated and discharged; spread on roads, evaporated or infiltrated; or injected into deep wells.<br /> <br /> Fracking for natural gas and oil and its wastewater has increased dramatically in recent years. And that could overwhelm local infrastructure and strain many parts of the post-fracking water cycle, including the storage, treatment, reuse, transportation or disposal of the wastewater, according to the USGS.<br /> <br /> For the Rutgers-USGS study, water and sediment samples were collected from tributaries of Wolf Creek in West Virginia in June 2014, including an unnamed tributary that runs through an underground injection control facility.<br /> <br /> The facility includes a disposal well, which injects wastewater to 2,600 feet below the surface, brine storage tanks, an access road and two lined ponds (now-closed) that were used to temporarily store wastewater to allow particles to settle before injection.<br /> <br /> Water samples were shipped to Rutgers, where they were analyzed. Sediment samples were analyzed at the Waksman Genomics Core Facility at Rutgers. The study generated a rich dataset from metagenomic sequencing, which pinpoints the genes in entire microbial communities, Fahrenfeld noted.<br /> <br /> "The results showed shifts in the microbial community and antibiotic resistance, but this site doesn't appear to be a new hot spot for antibiotic resistance," she said. The use of biocides in some fracturing fluids raised the question of whether this type of wastewater could serve as an environment that is favorable for increasing antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance detected in these sediments did not rise to the levels found in municipal wastewater -- an important environmental source of antimicrobial resistance along with agricultural sites.<br /> <br /> Antibiotics and similar drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the microbes the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 2 million people become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year in the U.S., with at least 23,000 of them dying from the infections.<br /> <br /> "We have this really nice dataset with all the genes and all the microbes that were at the site," Fahrenfeld said. "We hope to apply some of these techniques to other environmental systems."<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://news.rutgers.edu/research-news/oil-and-gas-wastewater-spills-including-fracking-wastewater-alter-microbes-west-virginia-waters/20170215#.WKcfuG8rK72">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a>.</span></i></u></div>

Oil and Gas Wastewater Spills Alter Microbes in West Virginia Waters

The hydraulic fracturing (fracking) water cycle includes withdrawing water, adding chemicals, injecting fracking fluids through a well to...

Read more »

Scientists Find New Way to Extract Uranium From Seawater

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lC-HiFU7AV4/WLK_ZzmHgFI/AAAAAAAALlw/kb-WamKR04EcBOmn1zhs9sIq1eb1Ae23wCLcB/s1600/Advances%2Bin%2Bextracting%2Buranium%2Bfrom%2Bseawater%2Bannounced%2Bin%2Bspecial%2Bissue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Scientists Find New Way to Extract Uranium From Seawater" border="0" height="362" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lC-HiFU7AV4/WLK_ZzmHgFI/AAAAAAAALlw/kb-WamKR04EcBOmn1zhs9sIq1eb1Ae23wCLcB/s640/Advances%2Bin%2Bextracting%2Buranium%2Bfrom%2Bseawater%2Bannounced%2Bin%2Bspecial%2Bissue.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advances in extracting uranium from seawater announced in special issue</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A method for extracting high quantities of uranium in a short time could help make nuclear power a viable part of the quest for a carbon-free energy future, the team says.</span></i></b><br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A group of scientists form Stanford University is working on a new method to extract uranium from the ocean, which could be particularly useful in areas with no uranium mines but that need the material to power nuclear plants.</span></i><br /> <br /> The team’s main goal is to come up with a much more environmentally friendly alternative to extracting the radioactive material than the current mining techniques, according to a statement.<br /> <br /> While the presence of traces of uranium in seawater has been a known fact for years, the amounts present are very low and difficult to extract. But if the researchers at Stanford University can prove their method is cost effective, the situation could quickly change.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> “Concentrations are tiny, on the order of a single grain of salt dissolved in a liter of water,” Yi Cui, one of the researchers, said in the statement. “But the oceans are so vast that if we can extract these trace amounts cost effectively, the supply would be endless.”<br /> <br /> When uranium comes in contact with the oxygen from the ocean, it forms the compound uranyl. The team plans to collect the vast supplies by using amidoxime, a compound that would pull only uranyl from the water. The amidoxine coats a pair of carbon electrodes, which are able to accumulate large amounts of the uranyl that could then be sent off for processing.<br /> <br /> The scientists put their method to the test and found they were able to extract three times as much uranyl in an 11-hour period compared to their previous method of using only an amidoxine-coated brush. The new method also sustained the electrodes for future uses.<br /> <br /> Despite the team’s success, there is a long way to go before large-scale application. To be commercially viable, the benefits of the extraction method must outweigh its costs. The process also needs to be streamlined to treat large quantities of water. "We have a lot of work to do still but these are big steps toward practicality," Cui concludes.<br /> <br /> If successful, the method could make of nuclear power generated with uranium extracted from seawater a renewable energy, as it's continuously replenished, just as solar, hydro and wind.<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i>The researchers’ findings have been published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy20177" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the journal </a><a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy20177">Nature</a>.</i></u></div>

Scientists Find New Way to Extract Uranium From Seawater

Advances in extracting uranium from seawater announced in special issue A method for extracting high quantities of uranium in a sh...

Read more »

Global Warming is Shrinking Colorado River which could Affect 41 Million Americans

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WIXsA8nck9s/WLKxis2xCDI/AAAAAAAALlM/X0uX9NGUz-YWWpzSVLm6WOBEH5-FUAKSQCLcB/s1600/Colorado%2BRiver%2BIs%2BShrinking%2BDue%2BTo%2BClimate%2BChange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WIXsA8nck9s/WLKxis2xCDI/AAAAAAAALlM/X0uX9NGUz-YWWpzSVLm6WOBEH5-FUAKSQCLcB/s640/Colorado%2BRiver%2BIs%2BShrinking%2BDue%2BTo%2BClimate%2BChange.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Global Warming Is Shrinking Colorado River</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Warm temperatures, not just drought, are shrinking the Colorado River</span></b><br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A shortage of rain and snow can account for only about two-thirds of the river's decline, according to a new study.</span></i><br /> <br /> Warming in the 21st century has reduced Colorado River flows by at least 0.5 million acre-feet—about the amount of water used by 2 million people for one year, a new study warns.<br /> <br /> “This paper is the first to show the large role that warming temperatures are playing in reducing the flows of the Colorado River,” says Jonathan Overpeck, professor of geosciences and of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona.<br /> <br /> From 2000-2014, the river’s flows declined to only 81 percent of the 20th-century average, a reduction of about 2.9 million acre-feet of water per year. One acre-foot of water will serve a family of four for one year, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation.<br /> <br /> From one-sixth to one-half of the 21st-century reduction in flow can be attributed to the higher temperatures since 2000. The new analysis shows that as temperatures continues to rise, Colorado River flows will continue to decline.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Current climate change models indicate temperatures will increase as long as humans continue to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but the projections of future precipitation are far less certain.<br /> <br /> <b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">30% by midcentury</span></b><br /> <br /> Forty million people rely on the Colorado River for water, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation. The river supplies water to seven US Western states plus the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California.<br /> <br /> “The future of Colorado River is far less rosy than other recent assessments have portrayed,” says Bradley Udall, a senior water and climate scientist/scholar at Colorado State University’s Colorado Water Institute. “A clear message to water managers is that they need to plan for significantly lower river flows.” The study’s findings “provide a sobering look at future Colorado River flows.”<br /> <br /> The Colorado River Basin has been in a drought since 2000. Previous research has shown the region’s risk of a megadrought—one lasting more than 20 years—rises as temperatures increase.<br /> <br /> “We’re the first to make the case that warming alone could cause Colorado River flow declines of 30 percent by midcentury and over 50 percent by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated,” Overpeck says.<br /> <br /> The researchers began their study, published in the journal Water Resources Research, because Udall learned that recent Colorado flows were lower than managers expected given the amount of precipitation. The team wanted to provide water managers with insight into how future projections of temperature and precipitation for the Colorado River Basin would affect the river’s flows.<br /> <br /> They began by looking at the drought years of 2000-2014. About 85 percent of the river’s flow originates as precipitation in the Upper Basin—the part of the river that drains portions of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. The team found during 2000-2014, temperatures in the river’s Upper Basin were 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degree Celsius) higher than the average for the previous 105 years.<br /> <br /> To see how increased temperatures might contribute to the reductions in the river’s flow that have been observed since 2000, they reviewed and synthesized 25 years of research about how climate and climate change have and will affect the region and how temperature and precipitation affect the river’s flows.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Water loss increases as temperatures rise because plants use more water, and higher temperatures increase evaporative loss from the soil and from the water surface and lengthen the growing season.<br /> <br /> <b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What about a megadrought?</span></b><br /> <br /> In previous studies, researchers have showed current climate models simulated 20th-century conditions well, but the models cannot simulate the 20- to 60-year megadroughts known to have occurred in the past. Moreover, many of those models did not reproduce the current drought.<br /> <br /> Those researchers and others suggest the risk of a multidecadal drought in the Southwest in the 21st century is much higher than climate models indicate and that as temperatures increase, the risk of such a drought increases.<br /> <br /> “A megadrought in this century will throw all our operating rules out the window,” Udall says.<br /> <br /> The findings show that all current climate models agree that temperatures in the Colorado River Basin will continue rising if the emission of greenhouse gases is not curbed. However, the models’ predictions of future precipitation in the basin have much more uncertainty.<br /> <br /> “Even if the precipitation does increase, our work indicates that there are likely to be drought periods as long as several decades when precipitation will still fall below normal,” Overpeck says.<br /> <br /> The new study suggests Colorado River flows will continue to decline. “I was surprised at the extent to which the uncertain precipitation aspects of the current projections hid the temperature-induced flow declines,” Udall says.<br /> <br /> The US Bureau of Reclamation lumps temperature and precipitation together in its projections of Colorado River flow, he says. “Current planning understates the challenge that climate change poses to the water supplies in the American Southwest. My goal is to help water managers incorporate this information into their long-term planning efforts.”<br /> <br /> The Colorado Water Institute, National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the US Geological Survey funded the work.<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The study was published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016WR019638" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Water Resources Research.</a> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /> </span></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>The above post is reprinted from <a href="https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/colorado-river-flows-keep-shrinking-climate-warms" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Arizona</a></i></span></u></div>

Global Warming is Shrinking Colorado River which could Affect 41 Million Americans

Global Warming Is Shrinking Colorado River Warm temperatures, not just drought, are shrinking the Colorado River A shortage of rain ...

Read more »

Huge Sinkhole Opens at Highest Dam in the U.S.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jOOBbhJeBW8/WKGyVQXl6NI/AAAAAAAALa8/ijwiYTDYX_k1a_OextNtuTNp7T94VkoXgCLcB/s1600/Huge%2BSinkhole%2BOpens%2Bat%2BHighest%2BDam%2Bin%2Bthe%2BU.S..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jOOBbhJeBW8/WKGyVQXl6NI/AAAAAAAALa8/ijwiYTDYX_k1a_OextNtuTNp7T94VkoXgCLcB/s640/Huge%2BSinkhole%2BOpens%2Bat%2BHighest%2BDam%2Bin%2Bthe%2BU.S..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The California Department of Water Resources suspended overflow from the Oroville Dam after gushing water ripped open a sinkhole in the middle of the spillway. Engineers assessed the options and opened up a secondary, emergency spillway on Saturday morning, February 11. </td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As heavy rains fill Lake Oroville in California, the overflow damages a spillway and forces an emergency diversion of water.</span></i><br /> <br /> After a year of heavy rains, California’s Lake Oroville—home to the country’s tallest dam—has almost reached its maximum capacity, and its infrastructure is feeling the strain.<br /> <br /> That’s a complete reversal from the end of 2015, when persistent drought brought the lake’s water level to about 694 feet, or 33% of capacity—the second lowest level ever recorded.<br /> <br /> By the morning the lake was swollen with so much water, 895 feet, that it had reached 96% of its maximum capacity.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> The 770-foot-tall Oroville Dam creates the lake by impounding the Feather River, serving to generate hydroelectric power, supply water, and control flooding.<br /> <br /> Unexpectedly heavy rains and rapidly-rising water levels have contributed to some infrastructure challenges that now have engineers scrambling to keep up with the water.<br /> <br /> An emergency spillway, which has not been used since the dam’s completion in 1968, was opened Saturday morning after previous efforts to contain the water did not prove sufficient.<br /> <br /> The California Department of Water Resources upped the output of water from 40,000 to 65,000 cubic feet per second in an attempt to avoid the use of the emergency spillway. But the torrent of water damaged the main spillway, opening a sinkhole in the middle of the passage. The cavity grew so big that it seemed to swallow the workers who climbed in to inspect the damage.<br /> <br /> Engineers were forced to temporarily stop the water flow after the extent of the damage became apparent.<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/lake-oroville-dam-drought-dam-flood/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Geographic</a></span></i></u></div>

Huge Sinkhole Opens at Highest Dam in the U.S.

The California Department of Water Resources suspended overflow from the Oroville Dam after gushing water ripped open a sinkhole in the m...

Read more »

The Oldest Fossilized Giant Penguin

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8aPnunVLcb4/WLAjncsQPxI/AAAAAAAALk0/8TGJFp6CpVglMqJ3KAWm9H__fTB6qzvYACLcB/s1600/The%2Boldest%2Bfossilized%2Bgiant%2Bpenguin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8aPnunVLcb4/WLAjncsQPxI/AAAAAAAALk0/8TGJFp6CpVglMqJ3KAWm9H__fTB6qzvYACLcB/s640/The%2Boldest%2Bfossilized%2Bgiant%2Bpenguin.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scientists have found what they think could be the earliest remains of a penguin ever found.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Together with colleagues from New Zealand, Senckenberg scientist Dr. Gerald Mayr described a recently discovered fossil of a giant penguin with a body length of around 150 centimeters. The new find dates back to the Paleocene era and, with an age of approx. </span></i><br /> <br /> 61 million years, counts among the oldest penguin fossils in the world. The bones differ significantly from those of other discoveries of the same age and indicate that the diversity of Paleocene penguins was higher than previously assumed. In their study, published in the Springer scientific journal The Science of Nature, the team of scientists therefore postulates that the evolution of penguins started much earlier than previously thought, probably already during the age of dinosaurs.<br /> <br /> The fossil sites along the Waipara River in New Zealand's Canterbury region are well known for their avian fossils, which were embedded in marine sand a mere 4 million years after the dinosaurs became extinct. "Among the finds from these sites, the skeletons of Waimanu, the oldest known penguin to date, are of particular importance," explains Dr. Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> <u>Together with colleagues from the </u>Canterbury Museum in New Zealand, Mayr now described a newly discovered penguin fossil from the famous fossil site. "What sets this fossil apart are the obvious differences compared to the previously known penguin remains from this period of geological history," explains the ornithologist from Frankfurt, and he continues, "The leg bones we examined show that during its lifetime, the newly described penguin was significantly larger than its already described relatives. Moreover, it belongs to a species that is more closely related to penguins from later time periods."<br /> <br /> According to the researchers, the newly described penguin lived about 61 million years ago and reached a body length of approx. 150 centimeters -- making it almost as big as Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, the largest known fossil penguin, which lived in Antarctica around 45 to 33 million years ago, thus being much younger in geological terms. "This shows that penguins reached an enormous size quite early in their evolutionary history, around 60 million years ago," adds Mayr.<br /> <br /> In addition, the team of scientists from New Zealand and Germany assumes that the newly discovered penguin species also differed from their more primitive relatives in the genus Waimanu in their mode of locomotion: The large penguins presumably already moved with the upright, waddling gait characteristic for today's penguins.<br /> <br /> "The discoveries show that penguin diversity in the early Paleocene was clearly higher than we previously assumed," says Mayr, and he adds, "In turn, this diversity indicates that the first representatives of penguins already arose during the age of dinosaurs, more than 65 million years ago."<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=172816&CultureCode=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=71&PHPSESSID=2lpd6brjk8cc14u474l6bt6uo2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum</a>.</span></i></u></div>

The Oldest Fossilized Giant Penguin

Scientists have found what they think could be the earliest remains of a penguin ever found. Together with colleagues from New Zealan...

Read more »

Diamond's 2-billion-year Growth Charts Tectonic Shift in Early Earth's Carbon Cycle

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J0AAf3DKccg/WLAXwgDs_3I/AAAAAAAALkg/iKCFg3-7dHgfbadIA13MLkwXZW3P2vttgCLcB/s1600/Diamond%2527s%2B2-billion-year%2Bgrowth%2Bcharts%2Btectonic%2Bshift%2Bin%2Bearly%2BEarth%2527s%2Bcarbon%2Bcycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Diamond's 2-billion-year Growth Charts Tectonic Shift in Early Earth's Carbon Cycle" border="0" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J0AAf3DKccg/WLAXwgDs_3I/AAAAAAAALkg/iKCFg3-7dHgfbadIA13MLkwXZW3P2vttgCLcB/s640/Diamond%2527s%2B2-billion-year%2Bgrowth%2Bcharts%2Btectonic%2Bshift%2Bin%2Bearly%2BEarth%2527s%2Bcarbon%2Bcycle.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A selection of unprocessed inclusion-bearing gem quality diamonds from Letlhakane. The dark areas surrounding the shiny metal like inclusions (sulphide) are graphite in cracks that from due to the differential expansion of the sulphide and diamond when brought to the surface from a depth of over 150 km. Bottom left diamond contains an orange garnet and a green clinopyroxene. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"[The] finding suggests that organic material from biological sources may have been more abundant in diamond-forming zones early in the Earth's history than we find today," said lead researcher Suzette Timmerman.</span></i><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A study of tiny mineral ‘inclusions’ within diamonds from Botswana has shown that diamond crystals can take billions of years to grow. One diamond was found to contain silicate material that formed 2.3 billion years ago in its interior and a 250 million-year-old garnet crystal towards its outer rim, the largest age range ever detected in a single specimen.</span><br /> <br /> Analysis of the inclusions also suggests that the way that carbon is exchanged and deposited between the atmosphere, biosphere, oceans and geosphere may have changed significantly over the past 2.5 billion years.<br /> <br /> ‘Although a jeweller would consider diamonds with lots of inclusions to be flawed, for a geologist these are the most valuable and exciting specimens,’ said Prof Gareth Davies, of Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, who co-authored the study. ‘We can use the inclusions to date different parts of an individual diamond, and that allows us to potentially look at how the processes that formed diamonds may have changed over time and how this may be related to the changing carbon cycle on Earth.’<br /> <br /> Sixteen diamonds from two mines in north eastern Botswana were analysed in the study: seven specimens from the Orapa mine and nine from the Letlhakane mine. A team at VU Amsterdam measured the radioisotope, nitrogen and trace element contents of inclusions within the diamonds. <br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Although the mines are located just 40 kilometres apart, the diamonds from the two sources had significant differences in the age range and chemical composition of inclusions.<br /> <br /> The Orapa diamonds contained material dating from between around 400 million and more than 1.4 billion years ago. The Letlhakane diamond inclusions ranged from less than 700 million and up to 2-2.5 billion years old. In every case, the team were able to link the age and composition of material in the inclusions to distinct tectonic events occurring locally in the Earth’s crust, such as a collision between plates, continental rifting or magmatism. This suggests that diamond formation is triggered by heat fluctuations and magma fluid movement associated with these events.<br /> <br /> The Letlhakane diamonds also provided a rare opportunity to look back in time to the early Earth. The oldest inclusions date back to before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.3 billion years ago, when oxygen produced by multicellular cyanobacteria started to fill the atmosphere, radically changing the weathering and sediment formation processes and thus altering the chemistry of rocks.<br /> <br /> ‘The oldest inclusions in the diamonds contain a higher proportion of the lighter carbon isotope. As photosynthesis favours the lighter isotope, carbon 12, over the heavier carbon 13, this ‘light’ ratio finding suggests that organic material from biological sources may have been more abundant in diamond-forming zones early in the Earth’s history than we find today,’ explained Suzette Timmerman, lead author on the study. <br /> <br /> ‘Higher temperatures in the Earth’s interior before the GOE may have affected the way that carbon was released into the diamond forming regions beneath the Earth’s continental plates and may be evidence of a fundamental change in tectonic processes. However, we are currently working with a very small dataset and need further studies to establish if this is a global phenomenon.’<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://www.europlanet-eu.org/2-billion-year-old-diamond/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.europlanet-eu.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Europlanet Media Centre</a>.</span></i></u><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></div>

Diamond's 2-billion-year Growth Charts Tectonic Shift in Early Earth's Carbon Cycle

A selection of unprocessed inclusion-bearing gem quality diamonds from Letlhakane. The dark areas surrounding the shiny metal like inclus...

Read more »

Scientists Discover 2-meter Long Carnivorous WORM With Snapping Jaws

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iKhKpcNHn7c/WK7hMROjbiI/AAAAAAAALkI/cfbPOpDfd9Uwp7lfZsQfw7AN8SZ7Cy2NgCLcB/s1600/Scientists%2Bdiscover%2B2-meter%2Blong%2Bcarnivorous%2BWORM%2Bwith%2Bsnapping%2Bjaws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=" Scientists Discover 2-meter Long Carnivorous WORM With Snapping Jaws" border="0" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iKhKpcNHn7c/WK7hMROjbiI/AAAAAAAALkI/cfbPOpDfd9Uwp7lfZsQfw7AN8SZ7Cy2NgCLcB/s640/Scientists%2Bdiscover%2B2-meter%2Blong%2Bcarnivorous%2BWORM%2Bwith%2Bsnapping%2Bjaws.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a photograph showing the holotype of Websteroprion armstrongi.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Gigantic Worm With Snapping Jaws Lived 400 Million Years Ago</span></i></b></span></h3> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A previously undiscovered species of an extinct primordial giant worm with terrifying snapping jaws has been identified by an international team of scientists.</span></i><br /> <br /> Researchers from the University of Bristol, Lund University in Sweden and the Royal Ontario Museum studied an ancient fossil, which has been stored at the museum since the mid-1990s, and discovered the remains of a giant extinct bristle worm (the marine relatives of earthworms and leeches).<br /> <br /> The new species is unique among fossil worms and possessed the largest jaws ever recorded in this type of creature, reaching over one centimetre in length and easily visible to the naked eye. Typically, such fossil jaws are only a few millimetres in size and need to be studied using microscopes.<br /> <br /> Despite being only knows from the jaws, comparison with living species suggests that this animal achieved a body length in excess of a metre.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> This is comparable to that of 'giant eunicid' species, colloquially referred to as 'Bobbit worms' which are fearsome and opportunistic ambush predators, using their powerful jaws to capture prey such as fish and cephalopods (squids and octopuses) and dragging them into their burrows.<br /> <br /> Lead author Mats Eriksson from Lund University said: "Gigantism in animals is an alluring and ecologically important trait, usually associated with advantages and competitive dominance.<br /> <br /> "It is, however, a poorly understood phenomenon among marine worms and has never before been demonstrated in a fossil species.<br /> <br /> "The new species demonstrates a unique case of polychaete gigantism in the Palaeozoic, some 400 million years ago."<br /> <br /> Co-author Luke Parry from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, added: "It also shows that gigantism in jaw-bearing polychaetes was restricted to one particular evolutionary clade within the Eunicida and has evolved many times in different species."<br /> <br /> The specimens were collected over the course of a few hours in a single day in June 1994, when Derek K Armstrong of Ontario Geological Survey was dropped by helicopter to investigate the rocks and fossils at a remote and temporary exposure in Ontario.<br /> <br /> Sample materials, from what proved to belong to the Devonian Kwataboahegan Formation, were brought back to the Royal Ontario Museum, where they have been stored until they caught the eyes of the authors'.<br /> <br /> avid Rudkin from the museum said: "This is an excellent example of the importance of looking in remote and unexplored areas for finding new exciting things, but also the importance of scrutinizing museum collections for overlooked gems."<br /> <br /> The species has been named Websteroprion armstrongi. This honours Armstrong, who collected the material, and bass player extraordinaire, Alex Webster of Death Metal band Cannibal Corpse, since he can be regarded as a 'giant' when it comes to handling his instrument.<br /> <br /> Luke Parry added: "This is fitting also since, beside our appetite for evolution and paleontology, all three authors have a profound interest in music and are keen hobby musicians."<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2017/february/giant-worm-fossil-.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Bristol</a>.</span></i></u></div>

Scientists Discover 2-meter Long Carnivorous WORM With Snapping Jaws

This is a photograph showing the holotype of Websteroprion armstrongi. Gigantic Worm With Snapping Jaws Lived 400 Million Years Ago A...

Read more »

'Quartz' Crystals at Earth's Core Power Its Magnetic Field

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d042_q-0h4U/WK7bTA2mtJI/AAAAAAAALj0/cqdHDG48SHY4FM5tpUuT_qLaH30oOJNfwCLcB/s1600/%2527Quartz%2527%2Bcrystals%2Bat%2BEarth%2527s%2Bcore%2Bpower%2Bits%2Bmagnetic%2Bfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="'Quartz' Crystals at Earth's Core Power Its Magnetic Field" border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d042_q-0h4U/WK7bTA2mtJI/AAAAAAAALj0/cqdHDG48SHY4FM5tpUuT_qLaH30oOJNfwCLcB/s640/%2527Quartz%2527%2Bcrystals%2Bat%2BEarth%2527s%2Bcore%2Bpower%2Bits%2Bmagnetic%2Bfield.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quartz Crystals from the Swiss Alps by Franz von Arx and Elio Mulle. </td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Earth's core consists mostly of a huge ball of liquid metal lying at 3000 km beneath its surface, surrounded by a mantle of hot rock. Notably, at such great depths, both the core and mantle are subject to extremely high pressures and temperatures. </span></i><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Furthermore, research indicates that the slow creeping flow of hot buoyant rocks -- moving several centimeters per year -- carries heat away from the core to the surface, resulting in a very gradual cooling of the core over geological time. However, the degree to which the Earth's core has cooled since its formation is an area of intense debate amongst Earth scientists.</span><br /> <br /> In 2013 Kei Hirose, now Director of the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), reported that the Earth's core may have cooled by as much as 1000 degrees Celsius since its formation 4.5 billion years ago. This large amount of cooling would be necessary to sustain the geomagnetic field, unless there was another as yet undiscovered source of energy. These results were a major surprise to the deep Earth community, and created what Peter Olson of Johns Hopkins University referred to as, "the New Core Heat Paradox," in an article published in Science.<br /> <br /> Core cooling and energy sources for the geomagnetic field were not the only difficult issues faced by the team. Another unresolved matter was uncertainty about the chemical composition of the core. "The core is mostly iron and some nickel, but also contains about 10% of light alloys such as silicon, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, hydrogen, and other compounds," Hirose, lead author of the new study to be published in the journal Nature. "We think that many alloys are simultaneously present, but we don't know the proportion of each candidate element."<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Now, in this latest research carried out in Hirose's lab at ELSI, the scientists used precision cut diamonds to squeeze tiny dust-sized samples to the same pressures that exist at the Earth's core. The high temperatures at the interior of the Earth were created by heating samples with a laser beam. By performing experiments with a range of probable alloy compositions under a variety of conditions, Hirose's and colleagues are trying to identify the unique behavior of different alloy combinations that match the distinct environment that exists at the Earth's core.<br /> <br /> The search of alloys began to yield useful results when Hirose and his collaborators began mixing more than one alloy. "In the past, most research on iron alloys in the core has focused only on the iron and a single alloy," says Hirose. "But in these experiments we decided to combine two different alloys containing silicon and oxygen, which we strongly believe exist in the core."<br /> <br /> The researchers were surprised to find that when they examined the samples in an electron microscope, the small amounts of silicon and oxygen in the starting sample had combined together to form silicon dioxide crystals  -- the same composition as the mineral quartz found at the surface of the Earth.<br /> <br /> "This result proved important for understanding the energetics and evolution of the core," says John Hernlund of ELSI, a co-author of the study. "We were excited because our calculations showed that crystallization of silicon dioxide crystals from the core could provide an immense new energy source for powering the Earth's magnetic field." The additional boost it provides is plenty enough to solve Olson's paradox.<br /> <br /> The team has also explored the implications of these results for the formation of the Earth and conditions in the early Solar System. Crystallization changes the composition of the core by removing dissolved silicon and oxygen gradually over time. Eventually the process of crystallization will stop when then core runs out of its ancient inventory of either silicon or oxygen.<br /> <br /> "Even if you have silicon present, you can't make silicon dioxide crystals without also having some oxygen available," says ELSI scientist George Helffrich, who modeled the crystallization process for this study. "But this gives us clues about the original concentration of oxygen and silicon in the core, because only some silicon:oxygen ratios are compatible with this model."<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from Materials provided by <a href="http://www.titech.ac.jp/english/index.html">Tokyo Institute of Technology</a>. </span></i></u><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /> </span></span></div>

'Quartz' Crystals at Earth's Core Power Its Magnetic Field

Quartz Crystals from the Swiss Alps by Franz von Arx and Elio Mulle. The Earth's core consists mostly of a huge ball of liquid me...

Read more »

Experiments Call Origin of Earth’s Iron Into Question

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uxP5A-OMjfM/WK2bqkBnokI/AAAAAAAALjg/BqS8LnFTJ3ABqv4sTbFItxID5SkmLV7BQCLcB/s1600/Experiments%2Bcall%2Borigin%2Bof%2BEarth%2527s%2Biron%2Binto%2Bquestion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Experiments Call Origin of Earth’s Iron Into Question" border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uxP5A-OMjfM/WK2bqkBnokI/AAAAAAAALjg/BqS8LnFTJ3ABqv4sTbFItxID5SkmLV7BQCLcB/s640/Experiments%2Bcall%2Borigin%2Bof%2BEarth%2527s%2Biron%2Binto%2Bquestion.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An infographic describing theories on how the Earth got its iron. Credit: Designed by Laura Martin/The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences. Images 1 and 2 from NASA/JPL-Caltech, Image 3 from X-Science, Earth from NASA/JPL.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">New research from The University of Texas at Austin reveals that the Earth’s unique iron composition isn’t linked to the formation of the planet’s core, calling into question a prevailing theory about the events that shaped our planet during its earliest years.</span></i><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The research, published in Nature Communications on Feb. 20, opens the door for other competing theories about why the Earth, relative to other planets, has higher levels of heavy iron isotopes. Among them: light iron isotopes may have been vaporized into space by a large impact with another planet that formed the moon; the slow churning of the mantle as it makes and recycles the Earth’s crust may preferentially incorporate heavy iron into rock; or, the composition of the raw material that formed the planet in its earliest days may have been enriched with heavy iron.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An isotope is a variety of atom that has a different weight from other atoms of the same element because it has a different numbers of neutrons.</span><br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <!-- insidepost --><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-slot="3957834894" style="display: block;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The Earth’s core formation was probably the biggest event affecting Earth’s history. Materials that make up the whole Earth were melted and differentiated,” said Jung-Fu Lin, a professor at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences and one of the study’s authors. “But in this study, we say that there must be other origins for Earth’s iron isotope anomaly.”</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jin Liu, now a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, led the research while earning his Ph.D. at the Jackson School. Collaborators include scientists from The University of Chicago, Sorbonne Universities in France, Argonne National Laboratory, the Center for High Pressure Science and Advanced Technology Research in China, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rock samples from other planetary bodies and objects — ranging from the moon, to Mars, to ancient meteorites called chondrites — all share about the same ratio of heavy to light iron isotopes. In comparison to these samples from space, rocks from Earth have about 0.01 percent more heavy iron isotopes than light isotopes.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That might not sound like much, but Lin said it’s significant enough to make the Earth’s iron composition unique among known worlds.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“This 0.01 percent anomaly is very significant compared with, say, chondrites,” Lin said. “This significant difference thus represents a different source or origin of our planet.”</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lin said that one of the most popular theories to explain the Earth’s iron signature is that the relatively large size of the planet (compared with other rocky bodies in the solar system) created high pressure and high temperature conditions during core formation that made different proportions of heavy and light iron isotopes accumulate in the core and mantle. This resulted in a larger share of heavy iron isotopes bonding with elements that make up the rocky mantle, while lighter iron isotopes bonded together and with other trace metals to form the Earth’s core.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when the research team used a diamond anvil to subject small samples of metal alloys and silicate rocks to core formation pressures, they not only found that the iron isotopes stayed put, but that the bonds between iron and other elements got stronger. Instead of breaking and rebonding with common mantle or core elements, the initial bond configuration got sturdier.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Our high pressure studies find that iron isotopic fractionation between silicate mantle and metal core is minimal,” said Liu, the lead author.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Co-author Nicolas Dauphas, a professor at the University of Chicago, emphasized that analyzing the atomic scale measurements was a feat unto itself.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“One has to use sophisticated mathematical techniques to make sense of the measurements,” he said. “It took a dream team to pull this off.”</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Helen Williams, a geology lecturer at the University of Cambridge, said it’s difficult to know the physical conditions of Earth’s core formation, but that the high pressures in the experiment make for a more realistic simulation.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“This is a really elegant study using a highly novel approach that confirms older experimental results and extends them to much higher pressures appropriate to the likely conditions of core-mantle equilibrium on Earth,” Williams said.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lin said it will take more research to uncover the reason for the Earth’s unique iron signature, and that experiments that approximate early conditions on Earth will play a key role because rocks from the core are impossible to attain.</span><br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The above post is reprinted from <a href="http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2017/02/experiments-call-origin-of-earths-iron-into-question" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">materials</a> provided by <a href="http://www.utexas.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Texas at Austin</a>.</span></i></u><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></div>

Experiments Call Origin of Earth’s Iron Into Question

An infographic describing theories on how the Earth got its iron. Credit: Designed by Laura Martin/The University of Texas at Austin Jack...

Read more »

Scientists Found a Way to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Minerals

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ecwCWG1asHE/WK2IGbMpVOI/AAAAAAAALi4/r2x1vnD2K2EpI6iY6uPBno_BRnF6_lzdgCLcB/s1600/Scientists%2BFound%2Ba%2BWay%2Bto%2BTurn%2BCarbon%2BDioxide%2BInto%2BMinerals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Scientists Found a Way to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Minerals" border="0" height="258" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ecwCWG1asHE/WK2IGbMpVOI/AAAAAAAALi4/r2x1vnD2K2EpI6iY6uPBno_BRnF6_lzdgCLcB/s640/Scientists%2BFound%2Ba%2BWay%2Bto%2BTurn%2BCarbon%2BDioxide%2BInto%2BMinerals.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The white areas within the dark basalt rock core sample show where the CO₂ has reacted with minerals in the basalt and converted into a carbonate mineral similar to limestone.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We're running out of time to solve our carbon dioxide emission problem.  <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Scientists Found </span>a chemical reaction that converts carbon dioxide into <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">stone Back where it belongs.</span> Transformation happens quickly, study shows</span></i></b><br /> <br /> <i>Researchers have turned carbon dioxide (CO₂) into solid rock by injecting volcanic basalt rock with pressurised liquid CO₂, and letting natural chemical reactions trigger the transformation.</i><br /> <br /> The technique, which takes two years to achieve, gives scientists another option for capturing and storing the excess CO₂ humans are pumping into the atmosphere – and could one day be scaled up to take significant levels of carbon out of circulation.<br /> <br /> The research was conducted by a team from the the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and builds on a similar experiment in Iceland earlier this year, which dissolved CO₂ in water and injected it into a basalt formation. <br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> In the latest study, undiluted CO₂ was used, and much more of it was stored at once: 1,000 tonnes of fluid carbon dioxide.<br /> <br /> The PNNL team had already shown that the chemical reactions could happen in lab conditions, but until now, they didn't know how long the reactions would take in a real-world setting.<br /> <br /> "Now we know that this mineral trapping process can occur very quickly, it makes it safe to store CO₂ in these formations," says researcher Pete McGrail. "We know now that in a short period of time the CO2 will be permanently trapped."<br /> <br /> In their field study, the researchers injected the fluid carbon dioxide into hardened lava flows some 900 metres (2,952 feet) underground, near the town of Wallula in Washington State.<br /> <br /> At that depth, minerals including calcium, iron, and magnesium make up part of the basalt formations. These minerals become unstable, and then dissolve in the acidic conditions created by the CO₂.<br /> <br /> The dissolving minerals react with the carbon dioxide to form the carbonate material ankerite, which is similar to limestone, and binds with the basalt.<br /> <br /> You can see the end results marked by the white areas in the sample shown in the image above.<br /> <br /> While turning CO2 into rock isn't a new idea, scientists are working to make the process quicker and more efficient – as original estimates predicted the reactions could take thousands of years. <br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Basalts are found all around the world, including North America and Iceland, which is one of the reasons the technique could be an effective way of dealing with excess CO₂.<br /> <br /> But before we get too excited about sending all of our excess carbon underground, there are still some issues to resolve.<br /> <br /> Capturing carbon remains relatively expensive, and scientists aren't sure how well these experiments will ultimately scale up, particularly as more and more existing basalt formations turn into carbonate.<br /> <br /> Then there's the question of accurately gauging how much storage capacity the basalt actually offers.<br /> <br /> Scientists have recently found that our calculations of another carbon storage method – soil's natural capacity to absorb and store CO₂ – had been overestimated by as much as 40 percent.<br /> <br /> So we need to wait for further tests to be carried out before declaring all our carbon worries over, but it's a promising area of research, and it gives us an end result that's difficult to beat: CO₂ in a safe and solid form deep below the ground, where it can't do any harm to the atmosphere or oceans.<br /> <br /> "[The CO₂] can't leak, there's no place for it to go, it's back to solid rock," explains McGrail. "There isn't a more safer or permanent storage mechanism."<br /> <br /> <br /> <u><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The findings are published in <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00387" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Environmental Science & Technology Letters</a>.</span></i></u></div>

Scientists Found a Way to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Minerals

The white areas within the dark basalt rock core sample show where the CO₂ has reacted with minerals in the basalt and converted into a...

Read more »

Naica's Crystal Caves Hold Long-dormant Life

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vy26tJiVCXE/WKmnywg7q-I/AAAAAAAALhk/2WyuPpPXi1oOeINEm0YHqwhQo7BAxWPDgCLcB/s1600/Naica%2527s%2Bcrystal%2Bcaves%2Bhold%2Blong-dormant%2Blife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Naica's Crystal Caves Hold Long-dormant Life" border="0" height="378" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vy26tJiVCXE/WKmnywg7q-I/AAAAAAAALhk/2WyuPpPXi1oOeINEm0YHqwhQo7BAxWPDgCLcB/s640/Naica%2527s%2Bcrystal%2Bcaves%2Bhold%2Blong-dormant%2Blife.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The caves were discovered by miners 100 years ago</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is a remarkable discovery in an amazing place.</span></b></span></h3> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Scientists have extracted long-dormant microbes from inside the famous giant crystals of the Naica mountain caves in Mexico - and revived them.</span><br /> <br /> In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both Fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old.<br /> <br /> The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, Mexico, and were able to exist by living on minerals such as iron and manganese, said Penelope Boston, head of NASA's Astrobiology Institute. <br /> <br /> "It's super life," said Boston, who presented the discovery Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston.<br /> <br /> If confirmed, the find is yet another example of how microbes can survive in extremely punishing conditions on Earth.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> Though it was presented at a science conference and was the result of nine years of work, the findings haven't yet been published in a scientific journal and haven't been peer reviewed. Boston planned more genetic tests for the microbes she revived both in the lab and on site.<br /> <br /> The life forms—40 different strains of microbes and even some viruses—are so weird that their nearest relatives are still 10 percent different genetically. That makes their closest relative still pretty far away, about as far away as humans are from mushrooms, Boston said.<br /> <br /> The Naica caves—an abandoned lead and zinc mine—are half a mile (800 meters) deep. Before drilling occurred by a mine company, the mines had been completely cut off from the outside world. Some were as vast as cathedrals, with crystals lining the iron walls. <br /> <br /> They were also so hot that scientists had to don cheap versions of space suits—to prevent contamination with outside life—and had ice packs all over their bodies.<br /> Boston said the team could only work about 20 minutes at a time before ducking to a "cool" room that was about 100 degrees (38 Celsius).<br /> <br /> NASA wouldn't allow Boston to share her work for outside review before Friday's announcement so scientists couldn't say much. But University of South Florida biologist Norine Noonan, who wasn't part of the study but was on a panel where Boston presented her work, said it made sense.<br /> <br /> "Why are we surprised?" Noonan said. "As a biologist I would say life on Earth is extremely tough and extremely versatile."<br /> <br /> This isn't the oldest extreme life. Several years ago, a different group of scientists published studies about microbes that may be half a million years old and still alive. Those were trapped in ice and salt, which isn't quite the same as rock or crystal, Boston said.<br /> <br /> The age of the Naica microbes was determined by outside experts who looked at where the microbes were located in the crystals and how fast those crystals grow.<br /> <br /> It's not the only weird life Boston is examining. She is also studying microbes commonly found in caves in the United States, Ukraine and elsewhere that eat copper sulfate and seem to be close to indestructible.<br /> <br /> "It's simply another illustration of just how completely tough Earth life is," Boston said.<br /> <br /> <br /></div>

Naica's Crystal Caves Hold Long-dormant Life

The caves were discovered by miners 100 years ago It is a remarkable discovery in an amazing place. Scientists have extracted long-d...

Read more »

Top Spots For Gem Hunting In The US II

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-53WM2gJViC0/WJXasLIzimI/AAAAAAAALPU/68ke89DsahUCE37LTz8vCJ4-1VKovAkgQCLcB/s1600/Part%2BII%2BTop%2BSpots%2BFor%2BGem%2BHunting%2BIn%2BThe%2BUS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Top Spots For Gem Hunting In The US" border="0" height="442" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-53WM2gJViC0/WJXasLIzimI/AAAAAAAALPU/68ke89DsahUCE37LTz8vCJ4-1VKovAkgQCLcB/s640/Part%2BII%2BTop%2BSpots%2BFor%2BGem%2BHunting%2BIn%2BThe%2BUS.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Rosecreektreasures.com</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> Similar to the therapeutic relaxation of tossing a fishing line or hand-pressing fresh dough, a methodic hunt of natural resources—that is, finding gems—is worth a vacation, too. Consider taking a vacation to one of these geologically rich destinations and you might just find enough gemstones or precious metals to pay for the trip, because you can keep everything you find. You're guaranteed to have a good time looking—even if you come up empty.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you have not Read the first <b><a href="http://www.geologyin.com/2016/09/top-spots-for-gem-hunting-in-us.html" target="_blank">Part I: Top Spots For Gem Hunting In The US</a></b></span><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Rock Hound State Park, Deming, New Mexico</span></b></span></h3> <a href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/spd/rockhoundstatepark.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rockhound State Park</a> is a prime spot for hunting thunder eggs aka geodes. Thunder eggs look like muddy rocks and can be popped open to reveal valuable crystals such as amethyst, rose quartz and hematite. To distinguish a geode from a regular rock, look for a spherical external shape, often cauliflower-like in texture. You may need a hammer or chisel to break open the rock. Visitors are allowed to leave the park with 15 lbs. of rock to add to their personal collection.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 9880 Stirrup Rd SE, Deming, NM 88030</span><br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Gem Mountain, Spruce Pine, North Carolina</span></span></b></h3> <a href="http://www.gemmountain.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gem Mountain</a> is located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina in the heart of the Spruce Pine Mining District. They operate several mines in the area and offer mining at the flume line where you go through buckets of material or you can take a trip out to a mine and dig your own. They have the Brushy Creek Mine where you can dig for aquamarine, garnet, golden beryl, tourmaline, smoky quartz and clear quartz. It is a relatively new mine and has been very successful. You can also take a trip out to the legendary Hoot Owl Mine. This mine has been around for a 100+ years. It is a very impressive mine to see. These trips are 4 hour trips and transportation, tools and a guide are provided. The cost is $75 for adults and $35 for children 11 and under. Free stone identification is provided and lapidary and jewelry making services are available.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 13780 NC-226, Spruce Pine, NC 28777 </span><br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Bonanza Opal Mine in Denio, Nevada</span></b></span></h3> Plan your hunt for fire opals at the <a href="http://www.bonanzaopals.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bonanza Opal Mine</a> in Denio, NV. This mine has been in operation since the early 1900s. The mining season runs from May to September, and the weather can get warm and very arid. Water bottles, sun block, a hat and gloves are suggested items to bring with you. Rock hounds should also bring a small rake and buckets for collecting their finds. Many opal mines are located in remote areas, so be prepared to camp and bring all necessary food. Visitors can camp near the mine and hotels are less than 30 miles from Virgin Valley.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 10 Virgin Valley Rd, Denio, NV 89404 </span><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Graves Mountain, Lincoln County, Georgia</span></span></b></h3> Graves Mountain is a unique geological formation located in Lincoln County, Georgia. Beginning in the 1920's, Tiffany’s mined the site for rutile, a substance used for polishing diamonds. Graves Mountain is filled with some of the finest specimens of Rutile, Kyanite, Lazulite, Iridescent Hematite, Pyrophyllite, Pyrite, Ilmenite, Fuchsite, Barite, Sulfur, variscite, woodhouseite, cacoxenite, blue quartz, quartz crystals, etc.<br /> More Information <a href="https://www.gamineral.org/ft/commercial/ftgravesmain.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 2257 Washington Hwy, Lincolnton, GA 30817 </span><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Diamond Hill Mine, Abbeville, South Carolina</span></b></span></h3> Over millions of years, erosion has occurred to the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains which is one of the oldest mountain chains in the world. This has exposed a small 3 acre spot full of some of the widest variety quartz crystals in the world, known as Diamond Hill! Some of the best Amethyst, Smokey, Skeletal(Elestial), Angle Plated, Iron & Manganese Oxide coated, Aura, and other crystals are found here! Other minerals including Beryl, Garnet and Epidote have also been recovered! Fees<br /> Adult/$20, Teen(13-17)/.$10. More Information <a href="http://diamondhillmine.com/informationcost/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 100 Diamond Mine Rd, Abbeville, SC 29620 </span><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Alabama Gold Camp, Lineville, Alabama</span></b></span></h3> This site, about 85 miles east of Birmingham, rents shacks for lodging and welcomes families. There are 34 mine sites within a 5 mile range of the camp. On a Alabama Big Ten Gold map the camp is located in the center of the largest pile of nuggets. The camp has a major uplift thru the center of the property. AGC has miles of gold bereing creeks (Wesobugla & Crooked) for dredging. You can camp on the shaded creek banks or in the campground with full hookups. There are bathrooms and hot showers. The prospecting store will be open for your camping and prospecting supplies including a full line of rental equipment. The prices are fair.<br /> More information <a href="http://www.alabamagoldcamp.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 1398 Co Road 5, Lineville, AL 36266</span><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins><br /> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /></div> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Spencer Opal Mines, Spencer Idaho</span></b></span></h3> The mini mine is open to all rock hounds and adventurers who want to dig their own opal. You are welcome to leave with up to one (1) pound of treasure for the cost of the dig ($10 for adults and $5 for kids ages 4 to 12). You can take more rocks for an  additional $10.00 each pound. More information <a href="https://spenceropalmines.com/you-can-dig-it/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 27 Opal Ave, Spencer, ID 83446 </span><br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">Spectrum Sunstone Mine, located near Plush, Oregon</span></span></b></h3> Spectrum Sunstone Mine, located near Plush, OR, in Lake County Oregon, is an  Oregon sunstone mine open to the public for mining Oregon  Sunstone. Visit Spectrum Mine and dig for Oregon sunstone gems from a  designated pile of fresh unprocessed ore for free all day and keep what  you find (mine personnel must be present). Additional days are $50 per  person per day, keep all. Kids 12 years old and younger are free,  always. Rock clubs and families and all rockhounds welcome. Some  equipment provided (see "digging tools" at bottom of this page).  Reservations are NOT required for digging. More information <a href="http://www.highdesertgemsandminerals.com/html/spectrum_sunstone_mines.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Woodward Ranch, Alpine, Texas</span></b></span></h3> Rare red plum agates are found scattered about at this working West Texas cattle ranch about 70 miles from Big Bend National Park. "They literally lie on top of the ground, so you don't have to do much digging.  More information <a href="http://www.highdesertgemsandminerals.com/html/spectrum_sunstone_mines.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 1900 Calamity Creek Rd, Alpine, TX 79830</span><br /> <h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Gem Mountain, Philipsburg, Montana.</span></span></b></h3> Gem Mountain is about 350 kilometers northwest of Yellowstone National Park’s north entrance in the tiny mining town of Philipsburg, Montana. Over the past 100 years or so, more than 180 million carats of sapphire have been unearthed at the Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine, and you could make the next discovery. Staff members are available year-round to instruct you and your family how to search spot a sapphire in the rough and enhance the color of your stone using a sapphire heating treatment. You’ll get wet and dirty during the search, but that’s all part of the fun. More information <a href="http://www.gemmountainmt.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Address: 201 W Broadway St, Philipsburg, MT 59858</span><br /> <br /> <b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.geologyin.com/2016/09/top-spots-for-gem-hunting-in-us.html" target="_blank">Read the first part: Top Spots For Gem Hunting In The US</a></span></b><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">See Also: <a href="http://www.geologyin.com/p/with-literally-hundreds-of-places.html" target="_blank">Top Mineral shows In the USA</a></span><br /> <a href="http://www.geologyin.com/2017/08/california-rainbow-obsidian-is-natural.html" rel="" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">California Rainbow Obsidian Is a Natural Wonder (PHOTOS)</span></a><br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.geologyin.com/2017/08/where-can-you-find-emerald-crystals-in.html" rel="" target="_blank">Where Can You Find Emerald Crystals in The USA? </a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2017/05/where-to-find-gold-in-united-states.html" target="_blank">Where to Find Gold in the United States </a></span><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /> </span></b></div>

Top Spots For Gem Hunting In The US II

Photo: Rosecreektreasures.com Similar to the therapeutic relaxation of tossing a fishing line or hand-pressing fresh dough, a methodic...

Read more »