March 2023

More Than 100 Million Carat of Diamonds Produce Every Year, Are Diamonds Really Rare?

Diamonds, Gemstones., Geochemistry 3:49 AM

<span style="font-family: arial;">Diamonds are popular gemstones surrounded by popular misconceptions. From antiquity to 2015, about 4.5 billion carats of diamonds have been mined from the Earth's surface. While marketing suggests diamonds are rare, production and related sales trends globally suggest otherwise. During the last two decades, global diamond production averaged 134.6 million carats per year, a total production that exceeded what had previously been produced from the first diamond production records through 1993. In addition, industry analysts anticipate diamond production will increase to approximately 141 million carats by 2025.</span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The global diamond market is defined by the production and sales of rough diamonds. Rough diamonds are produced from 25 countries - an exclusive group dominated by African countries - although 93 percent of global diamond production is concentrated in just seven countries: Russia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Australia, Canada, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. <br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAF7h8DtTsP0K25qCLTx1bfdISMwfl6YBkTV3h2RVSCfG6P6RNMmP20BujLOnd5Siye9gQ5IGfYyvmSIeYj-wyu2LtMpx8lk71ChP3y9B0xLfYGrbY5yr8P7NSTNTQUeUp4tgUKkgT4idWIiE38sIYcmWWfIdV6DFk4pzYj8YoRobFHwNgbWrhtk0c/s1220/More%20Than%20100%20Million%20Carats%20of%20Diamonds%20Produced%20Every%20Year,%20Are%20Diamonds%20Really%20Rare%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="More Than 100 Million Carats of Diamonds Produced Every Year, Are Diamonds Really Rare?" border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1220" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAF7h8DtTsP0K25qCLTx1bfdISMwfl6YBkTV3h2RVSCfG6P6RNMmP20BujLOnd5Siye9gQ5IGfYyvmSIeYj-wyu2LtMpx8lk71ChP3y9B0xLfYGrbY5yr8P7NSTNTQUeUp4tgUKkgT4idWIiE38sIYcmWWfIdV6DFk4pzYj8YoRobFHwNgbWrhtk0c/w640-h382/More%20Than%20100%20Million%20Carats%20of%20Diamonds%20Produced%20Every%20Year,%20Are%20Diamonds%20Really%20Rare%20(1).jpeg" title="More Than 100 Million Carats of Diamonds Produced Every Year, Are Diamonds Really Rare?" width="640" /></a></div><br />Botswana and Russia are the two largest producers; between them they have about half of the world’s production. Australia, Angola, Namibia and Canada make up most of the rest. In fact, four control about 65 percent of the market:  De Beers, Russian producer Alrosa, and diversified mining companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.  De Beers alone controls about 35 percent of the market, with Alrosa about 20 percent. <br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />Today, there are only about 20 major diamond mines in the world. And the big supply is even rarer — only 11 mines make up 62 percent of the world’s production of diamonds by carat! And they’re getting even rarer. The last major diamond mine was discovered in Zimbabwe in 1997. No matter how big the mine is, you’ve got to move a lot of rock to get at a very small number of diamonds. <br /><br />Production varies by mine, but the world’s “richest” mine — the Jwaneng mine in Botswana — has to move a ton of rock to get 1.4 carats of rough diamond, on average. That mine moves 8 million tons of rock a year and sells the rough diamonds for an average of $134 a carat. That’s $1.5 billion in revenues, from a single mine. And it produces profit margins of 24 percent. <br /><br />The producers then sell their rough diamonds to intermediaries who cut and polish the diamonds. It’s a costly process: most rough diamonds lose 50 to 60 percent of their weight going to polished form because material is cut or polished away. <br /><br />Rough diamonds are classified according to one of three categories based on quality: gem quality, near-gem quality, and industrial quality. Of the 133 million carats produced, only half went toward jewelry. The rest went to lower-end industrial production, where diamonds are used for cutting, drilling and polishing, and they are especially popular in the mining industry and in the military. <br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />Very small diamond particles are embedded into saw blades, drill bits and grinding wheels to increase their ability to cut tough materials. Diamond powder, made into a diamond paste, is used for polishing or for very fine grinding. But they are the smallest, lowest value stones. The majority of diamonds for industrial use are now synthetically made.<br /><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;">Are Diamonds Really Rare?</span></h4><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Diamonds are the hardest material found on earth. They resist scratching better than anything else. Other than that, they hold no unique distinctions. All gem-quality materials are rare. They compose just a tiny fraction of the Earth. However, diamonds actually number among the most common gems. Scientists believe that a quadrillion tons of diamonds lie deep beneath the surface of the earth. That’s not rare at all. However, we cannot reach these quadrillions of diamonds. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because only a very small amount of these millions of carats are fit for jewelry. Only a tiny percentage is good enough to end up in the ring on your finger. Or in the necklace you have your eye on. These high-quality diamonds are rare.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Besides the fact that high-quality diamonds are valuable because they are rare, there is more. High-end craftsmanship also plays a huge role. Polished diamonds are worth way more than rough diamonds. So you don’t pay for the material (carbon) only, but for the craftsmanship as well. It may come as no surprise that good craftsmanship is more expensive than bad polishing work. Therefore, the cut of a diamond also influences the price a lot.<br /></span></p>

More Than 100 Million Carat of Diamonds Produce Every Year, Are Diamonds Really Rare?

Diamonds are popular gemstones surrounded by popular misconceptions. From antiquity to 2015, about 4.5 billion carats of diamonds have been ...

Pele's Hair and Pele's Tears

Lava, volcano 8:00 AM

<p style="text-align: left;">Pele's Hair is a natural spun glass formed by blowing-out during quiet fountaining of fluid lava, cascading lava falls, or turbulent flows, sometimes in association with <b>pele tears.</b> Pele's hair, named after the volcanic <b>deity</b> Pele.<br /><br />During vigorous gas-driven eruption of basaltic lava, a variety of pyroclastic materials may form, in including fine strands of brown sideromelane glass known as <b>Pele's hair</b>. Relatively little Pele's hair forms compared with the bulkier pyroclastic products, and much of this hair is quickly dispersed downwind during eruption. <br /><br />Masses of hair may collect around active vents, but these commonly are quickly covered by subsequent flows that may remelt the glass strands. Thus, there is little chance for the preservation of sizeable deposits of Pele's hair; such samples must be collected at the time of hair formation or shortly thereafter.<br />  </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8JGatT_Ny4w6i0tiKmy2dSee5aYdH8fFxqxAliZRHLttat7dChHXTN_Q5NNpKwt6GwZKBGoYG-89OdY5e42j09LFxdTifnN0hlNyw67AmxFQEyv6HbmxBf9RAjAlqV7A94VwjLWgD3ErR1HCM2eYxYcsahHNPGCAxHcYjnafGoSr7SBVvhFt5-kQ/s1293/Pele's%20Hair%20and%20Pele's%20Tears%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pele's Hair and Pele's Tears" border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="1293" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8JGatT_Ny4w6i0tiKmy2dSee5aYdH8fFxqxAliZRHLttat7dChHXTN_Q5NNpKwt6GwZKBGoYG-89OdY5e42j09LFxdTifnN0hlNyw67AmxFQEyv6HbmxBf9RAjAlqV7A94VwjLWgD3ErR1HCM2eYxYcsahHNPGCAxHcYjnafGoSr7SBVvhFt5-kQ/w640-h334/Pele's%20Hair%20and%20Pele's%20Tears%20(1).jpg" title="Pele's Hair and Pele's Tears" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pele's Hair and Pele's Tears from Hawaii<br />Left Photo: Ivtorov, Right Photo: National Park Service<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Pele's hair forms from droplets that are stretched into threads. Typically, Pele's hair is roughly circular in cross section with a diameter between about 1 and 300 micrometres. In detail, the basic cylindrical form exhibits numerous modifications, including bent, bifurcated, and pretzellike shapes, and changes in diameter as much as an order of magnitude either abruptly over lumps caused by microphenocrysts and vesicles or gradually from one end of a strand to another. <br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />The interiors of hairs are also varied. Solid glass cylinders occur, but spherical to elongate vesicles are common. Elongate vesicles form capillary-like tubes parallel to hair axes and occur both singly and multiply, commonly producing a thin-walled tube or bundle of tubes. Strands of Pele's hair may be up to a couple feet long, but only one micron (.001 mm) thick.<br /><br />Because these strands are so light, they can become airborne and be carried by the wind. They may accumulate in low-lying areas and form dense mats many inches deep. While fragile and brittle, they are also <b>sharp</b>. As tiny pieces of glass, they can become lodged in human skin and much worse, eyes. Caution around the fibers is necessary to avoid injury from the slivers.<br />   <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWdfNo_8csuLcVGZKsmLe74JOONqrCr2TPOfRMFS6cDV4icTGLBTJpRGec1FHr8d5_bCXEj5kVZmsICjt8OeVG6vlk6sxmj6r7yzxloNJy2R0CiCR5dSMDbUcDDh5pp7xR0bN0vDTFHr_sIVOARyh3IcvjkXP8xAHQsQWgRztTLcb3vyd-sSwterf/s1200/Pele's%20hair%20that%20came%20from%20lava%20within%20Kilauea%20volcano,%20in%20Hawaii%20Volcanoes%20National%20Park.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pele's hair that came from lava within Kilauea volcano, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park." border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1200" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWdfNo_8csuLcVGZKsmLe74JOONqrCr2TPOfRMFS6cDV4icTGLBTJpRGec1FHr8d5_bCXEj5kVZmsICjt8OeVG6vlk6sxmj6r7yzxloNJy2R0CiCR5dSMDbUcDDh5pp7xR0bN0vDTFHr_sIVOARyh3IcvjkXP8xAHQsQWgRztTLcb3vyd-sSwterf/w400-h250/Pele's%20hair%20that%20came%20from%20lava%20within%20Kilauea%20volcano,%20in%20Hawaii%20Volcanoes%20National%20Park.jpeg" title="Pele's hair that came from lava within Kilauea volcano, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pele's hair that came from lava within Kilauea volcano, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. <br />(Image credit: Alamy)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Pele's Tears</h3><div style="text-align: left;">A tiny teardrop-shaped globule of black volcanic glass similar to obsidian is sometimes attached to the end of a strand of Pele's hair. <b>Pele's tears </b>are small pieces of solidified lava drops formed when airborne particles of molten material fuse into tear-like drops of volcanic glass.<br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />Pele's tears are small spherical pyroclasts. Their sizes are variable (from few μm to several hundreds μm of diameter) and their surfaces are generally rough. Pele's tears are commonly observed on the walls of Pele's hairs and also within cavities of Pele's hairs. This would suggest they formed prior to being trapped within the strand and supports a different mechanism for formation. It has been considered that they became trapped during transport in the eruptive plume.<br />   <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRVh1xI7FNL8LMAwaXeNUC6HKp9rdnb3wWO1xBV0aJ3rzEkdHscu9S4QuJ33pa-jB2BjVsdxF2EEmeiXPdgHKnpmbq5JZz5bvjDIAqyWFm9TFqPkBk9o9ae_GD4xgetBvs-ihCaq4UzpnIcZ3W8Yev6uS9RDm2VPPpTev0fAbRaN-tXG_Zi5Q9-yS/s976/Pele's%20tear)%20with%20two%20attached%20threads%20of%20Pele's%20hair%20%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pele's tear) with two attached threads of Pele's hair" border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="976" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRVh1xI7FNL8LMAwaXeNUC6HKp9rdnb3wWO1xBV0aJ3rzEkdHscu9S4QuJ33pa-jB2BjVsdxF2EEmeiXPdgHKnpmbq5JZz5bvjDIAqyWFm9TFqPkBk9o9ae_GD4xgetBvs-ihCaq4UzpnIcZ3W8Yev6uS9RDm2VPPpTev0fAbRaN-tXG_Zi5Q9-yS/w400-h238/Pele's%20tear)%20with%20two%20attached%20threads%20of%20Pele's%20hair%20%20(1).jpg" title="Pele's tear) with two attached threads of Pele's hair" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pele's tear with two attached threads of Pele's hair, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii<br />Photo: James St. John<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Pele's tears are oftentimes found attached to a strand of Pele's hair, 
and Pele's tears and hairs are usually sampled together after an 
eruptive event. Pele's hairs are a widely distributed clast morphology 
in sub marine environments. However, Pele's hairs and tears are most 
typically associated with small subaerial explosive eruptions of 
low-viscosity basaltic melts. <br /><br />In many cases, Pele's hairs and tears are 
formed by deformation of low-viscosity lava in the air. In low viscosity
 magmas, droplet shape is controlled by surface tension, acceleration of
 the droplet after eruption and air friction. <br /><br />The formation of these tears is a complex process depending on a number of different factors as a tiny droplet of lava is being erupted from a lava fountain. Whilst it is travelling through the air two things are happening: it is cooling down very rapidly (a process known as quenching) and it is being deformed. The deformation of a droplet depends on the speed at which it is erupted from the volcano, its surface tension, the viscosity (thickness) of the magma and the resistance it experiences as it travels through the air.<br /><br />Pele's tears, like Pele's hair, are named after Pele, the Hawaiian fire <b>goddess</b> of volcanoes.<br /><br />See also: <a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2020/09/rainbow-obsidian.html" target="_blank">Rainbow Obsidian</a><br /></div>

Pele's Hair and Pele's Tears

Pele's Hair is a natural spun glass formed by blowing-out during quiet fountaining of fluid lava, cascading lava falls, or turbulent flo...

Oxygen on Early Earth May Have Come From Quartz Crushed by Earthquakes

Earth News, Earthquakes, evolution, Researches 11:52 PM

<p>Billions of years ago, crushed quartz reacting with water could have created the conditions needed for the evolution of the photosynthetic microbes responsible for most of the oxygen now in Earths atmosphere<br /><br />Earthquakes and other geological processes may have enabled oxygen-producing reactions that shaped the evolution of some of Earth’s earliest organisms.<br /><br />Today, oxygen makes up around a fifth of Earth’s atmosphere, with most of it produced by plants and microbes. It didn’t start that way. There was very little oxygen in the atmosphere until levels spiked during the Great Oxidation Event between 2.4 billion and 2.3 billion years ago thanks to the rapid spread of microbes that release oxygen through photosynthesis.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLil738OnwlZUErvn9rJqUp552GjK6kMKqBxCA6PQFBA4ywQastKqIikbAZX0aGubHS2RsX-MeJmLPJVI71CCvp8JovIuzaxHpzwUhQOsEvtgH3JpmeFj2ybBYhHPo9mJh8Mv3jJyYJjjnD1ac4o7AFGIAXVKbxGyyY8plZOrcTlM7Y9G51pEL3x-D/s1375/Quartz%20from%20New%20Mexico,%20USA%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Oxygen on Early Earth May Have Come From Quartz Crushed by Earthquakes" border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLil738OnwlZUErvn9rJqUp552GjK6kMKqBxCA6PQFBA4ywQastKqIikbAZX0aGubHS2RsX-MeJmLPJVI71CCvp8JovIuzaxHpzwUhQOsEvtgH3JpmeFj2ybBYhHPo9mJh8Mv3jJyYJjjnD1ac4o7AFGIAXVKbxGyyY8plZOrcTlM7Y9G51pEL3x-D/w400-h320/Quartz%20from%20New%20Mexico,%20USA%20(1).jpeg" title="Oxygen on Early Earth May Have Come From Quartz Crushed by Earthquakes" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quartz-lined cavity (Baker Ranch Agate Mine, Luna County, New Mexico, USA)<br />Photo: James St. John<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />A team of geochemists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with colleagues from the University of Hong Kong, Tianjin University and the University of California, has found evidence that suggests much of the oxygen in early Earth's early atmosphere may have come from rocks. In their study, reported in <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,</i> the group conducted lab experiments involving crushing rocks, exposing the results to water and measuring reactive oxygen species that were emitted.<br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />Prior research has shown that Earth experienced what has been called the Great Oxidation Event approximately 2.3 to 2.4 billion years ago. During this time, microbe numbers increased dramatically, as they released oxygen during photosynthesis. <br /><br />But prior research has also suggested that a common life ancestor existed before the Great Oxidation Event, which further suggests that there was some amount of oxygen exposure. In this new effort, the researchers suggest that such oxygen could have come from rocks interacting with water.<br /><br />The work involved crushing samples of quartz and then exposing them to water, which replicates some of the conditions that existed on early Earth prior to the rise of high levels of oxygen in the atmosphere. Adding water to freshly crushed quartz, the researchers found, led to reactions between the water and newly broken crystals. <br /><br />This resulted it the formation of molecular oxygen along with other reactive oxygen species like hydrogen peroxide. Such species are also known as free radicals and they would have played an important role in the evolution of early life. This is because by damaging DNA and other cell components, the free radicals would have pressured early life to adapt.<br /><br />The researchers suggest a variety of events could have led to the release of such materials, such as earthquakes, erosion or the movement of glaciers. They further suggest that similar processes could be happening on other planets right now—with Mars sandstorms, for example, or fluctuating tides on moons that have water. Such processes, they point out, could produce oxygen, which could be play a role in the development of life.<br /><br /> <br /><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2221984120" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by<a href="https://www.pnas.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. </a></u><br /><p></p>

Oxygen on Early Earth May Have Come From Quartz Crushed by Earthquakes

Billions of years ago, crushed quartz reacting with water could have created the conditions needed for the evolution of the photosynthetic m...

Arkansas Man Finds 3.29-carat "Big, Ugly Diamond" at State Park

Diamonds, Mining, USA 10:29 PM

<p> A diamond discovered at an Arkansas state park has been dubbed "Bud" by the man who discovered it.<br /><br />An Arkansas man found a 3.29-carat brown diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park earlier this month. It is the largest diamond found in the park since September 2021, the park said in a statement. <br /><br />David Anderson, a regular visitor to the park, found the diamond on Mar. 4 while searching through soil in the park's 37.5-acre diamond search area. He named his discovery B.U.D., which he said stands for "Big, Ugly Diamond." <br /><br />Anderson said he initially thought the stone was quartz. It was identified as a brown diamond with a pitted surface. Brown, yellow and white diamonds are the most common ones found in the Crater of Diamonds park. <br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5z2_EOh5zwHbAEKXN9gwwxwsY-YtLFfcxiG3Y6JeFyddqffdYeMyMAmgNa_UqU6uqmOPPyNJ8YVwITIBf2cghLt7G3shZUaLWT-U1T6l01OQRzqWnFwY4hdtyFp9vgW4136VUaheP76NQV3XtnORz6qGpEkcyPFs7yap2rK_y62Jj7tzORgfcz95/s1327/Arkansas%20Man%20Finds%203.29-carat%20_Big,%20Ugly%20Diamond_%20at%20State%20Park.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Arkansas Man Finds 3.29-carat "Big, Ugly Diamond" at State Park" border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="1327" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5z2_EOh5zwHbAEKXN9gwwxwsY-YtLFfcxiG3Y6JeFyddqffdYeMyMAmgNa_UqU6uqmOPPyNJ8YVwITIBf2cghLt7G3shZUaLWT-U1T6l01OQRzqWnFwY4hdtyFp9vgW4136VUaheP76NQV3XtnORz6qGpEkcyPFs7yap2rK_y62Jj7tzORgfcz95/w640-h340/Arkansas%20Man%20Finds%203.29-carat%20_Big,%20Ugly%20Diamond_%20at%20State%20Park.jpeg" title="Arkansas Man Finds 3.29-carat "Big, Ugly Diamond" at State Park" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arkansas Man Finds 3.29-carat "Big, Ugly Diamond" at State Park<br />Photo:Crater of Diamonds State Park<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />"Mr. Anderson's diamond is about the size of an English pea, with a light brown color and octahedron shape," said park interpreter Tayler Markham in the park's statement. "It has a metallic shine typical of all diamonds found at the park, with a partially resorbed surface and lots of inclusions."<br /><br />Visitors can rent digging and sifting tools, and park rangers offer free identification for any rocks and minerals found in the park. The site is also where the largest diamond ever found in the US was discovered.<br /><br />The park was formed in 1972, but the diamond field was found in 1906. Since then, over 75,000 diamonds have been found there. Since 2007, Anderson has found more than 400 diamonds, including 15 weighing over one carat, the park said in a statement. He has also found a 3.83-carat yellow diamond in 2011 and a 6.19-carat white gem in 2014. Anderson typically sells his diamonds locally, the park said, and has the same plans for this stone. <br /><br />As of March 2023, 124 diamonds were registered as having been found at the state park this year. An average of one to two diamonds are found by visitors each day, the park said. <br /><br />In 1924, a white diamond with a pink cast weighing 40.23 carats was unearthed from the site. </p><p><a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2016/08/the-only-diamond-mine-in-world-where.html" target="_blank"><b>See also: The Only Diamond Mine In the World Where You Can Be the Miner </b></a><br /></p><p><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/articles/park-visitor-finds-329-carat-diamond-crater-diamonds-state-park?fbclid=IwAR1jbyIAr-PWcyxQmmyGqNxhEmrFFRLQKKOjvGv2bw87T1NG4ffzqjAse84" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Crater of Diamonds State Park. </a></u><br /></p>

Arkansas Man Finds 3.29-carat "Big, Ugly Diamond" at State Park

A diamond discovered at an Arkansas state park has been dubbed "Bud" by the man who discovered it. An Arkansas man found a 3.29-c...

Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island

Environment, Geology, Rocks 10:07 PM

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoc5AGaoVWZEQyiGpauNukYnCDlvcCgZFBHBOEXjKgd383SPM7K1UG86H83bqSob1aluGeu461Dh045_OhKHpFaZFaL292L5efHGBOoIz2Hor2aU4lh0EjmBnv0QP-_EwAxhDuHRPm6wPyfgtc1mOUpdj10SYl7Zagseu-i0lx8ocvtQ_Ben0RK-Y/s1080/Rocks%20Made%20of%20Melted%20Plastic%20Waste%20Found%20on%20Remote%20Islandd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island" border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1080" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoc5AGaoVWZEQyiGpauNukYnCDlvcCgZFBHBOEXjKgd383SPM7K1UG86H83bqSob1aluGeu461Dh045_OhKHpFaZFaL292L5efHGBOoIz2Hor2aU4lh0EjmBnv0QP-_EwAxhDuHRPm6wPyfgtc1mOUpdj10SYl7Zagseu-i0lx8ocvtQ_Ben0RK-Y/w640-h564/Rocks%20Made%20of%20Melted%20Plastic%20Waste%20Found%20on%20Remote%20Islandd.jpg" title="Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island. "Plastic rocks" found on Trindade Island in the state of Espirito Santo is seen at the laboratory of the Federal University of Parana, in Curitiba, state of Parana, Brazil. REUTERS/Rodolfo Buhrer<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br />Melted plastic has become intertwined with rocks on the island, which researchers say is evidence of humans’ growing influence over geological cycles.<br /><br />Researchers from the Federal University of Parana have discovered melted plastic intertwined with rocks on Brazil’s volcanic Trindade Island, located 708 miles away from Espirito Santo. This discovery sparks alarm as it provides evidence of humans’ growing influence over Earth’s geological cycles. Fernanda Avelar Santos identified four distinct types of plastic debris based on composition and appearance.<br /><br />The geology of Brazil's volcanic Trindade Island has fascinated scientists for years, but the discovery of rocks made from plastic debris in this remote turtle refuge is sparking alarm.<br /><br />Melted plastic has become intertwined with rocks on the island, located 1,140 km (708 miles) from the southeastern state of Espirito Santo, which researchers say is evidence of humans' growing influence over the earth's geological cycles.<br /><br />"This is new and terrifying at the same time, because pollution has reached geology," said Fernanda Avelar Santos, a geologist at the Federal University of Parana.<br /><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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<br />Santos and her team ran chemical tests to find out what kind of plastics are in the rocks called "plastiglomerates" because they are made of a mixture of sedimentary granules and other debris held together by plastic.<br /><br />"We identified (the pollution) mainly comes from fishing nets, which is very common debris on Trinidade Island's beaches," Santos said. "The (nets) are dragged by the marine currents and accumulate on the beach. When the temperature rises, this plastic melts and becomes embedded with the beach's natural material."<br /><br />Trindade Island is one of the world's most important conservation spots for green turtles, or Chelonia mydas, with thousands arriving each year to lay their eggs. The only human inhabitants on Trindade are members of the Brazilian navy, which maintains a base on the island and protects the nesting turtles.<br /><br />"The place where we found these samples (of plastic) is a permanently preserved area in Brazil, near the place green turtles lay their eggs," Santos said.<br /><br />The discovery stirs questions about humans' legacy on the earth, says Santos.<br /><br />"We talk so much about the Anthropocene, and this is it," Santos said, referring to a proposed geological epoch defined by humans' impact on the planet's geology and ecosystems.<br /><br />"The pollution, the garbage in the sea and the plastic dumped incorrectly in the oceans is becoming geological material ... preserved in the earth's geological records."<br />  <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9a0RyWrCMiizSgQ4D2PdC-PWFC81zLqMG1Nfm4qMRjVb0KuEAL5w-iPMw7xSVy7PuF075C32tu1uccpz-FUoURq85r6f4bPv2DJKbJWWQzT8VjyAYKRHf7YVokHOb79T696uCUMUrUqF6kShR_Fo4NFRS1QHwICxJNzMh-fpxDtg4oVYwRT7FLyog/s710/Rocks%20Made%20of%20Melted%20Plastic%20Waste%20Found%20on%20Remote%20Island..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Plastiglomerates: Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island." border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="710" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9a0RyWrCMiizSgQ4D2PdC-PWFC81zLqMG1Nfm4qMRjVb0KuEAL5w-iPMw7xSVy7PuF075C32tu1uccpz-FUoURq85r6f4bPv2DJKbJWWQzT8VjyAYKRHf7YVokHOb79T696uCUMUrUqF6kShR_Fo4NFRS1QHwICxJNzMh-fpxDtg4oVYwRT7FLyog/w400-h321/Rocks%20Made%20of%20Melted%20Plastic%20Waste%20Found%20on%20Remote%20Island..jpg" title="Plastiglomerates: Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island." width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Plastistones:</b> homogeneous composition of melted plastic.<br /><br /><b>Plastiglomerates:</b> melted plastic cement, framework of volcanic lithoclasts, matrix ranging from fine to coarse sand (ca. 0.125 - 1 mm) of lithic fragments, heavy minerals, plastic, and bioclasts. <br /><br />REUTERS<p></p>

Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island

Rocks Made of Melted Plastic Waste Found on Remote Island. "Plastic rocks" found on Trindade Island in the state of Espirito Santo...

Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects

Amber Fossils, Fossils 10:23 PM

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5mey_z2bWDgXaZAwhQrxAOLTu7kKjmeRfOQQ22xuqTqXYWfwVlL3HB1ug9wWb-59rW6CjS7jxPdGD3F5A3FVVP_rhkKql_CZ3pEQhjS0M4RZzZEAndj9Fms0aV1zSxQSatcaSUAPoGtkywsO3LhdJSJgilb7jVVnWdBQH8AGlKxj-Yv9Ch-qyf_V/s1273/Cretaceous%20Amber%20Preserves%20Lizard%20Carcass%20With%20Necrophagous%20Insects%20df%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects" border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1273" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5mey_z2bWDgXaZAwhQrxAOLTu7kKjmeRfOQQ22xuqTqXYWfwVlL3HB1ug9wWb-59rW6CjS7jxPdGD3F5A3FVVP_rhkKql_CZ3pEQhjS0M4RZzZEAndj9Fms0aV1zSxQSatcaSUAPoGtkywsO3LhdJSJgilb7jVVnWdBQH8AGlKxj-Yv9Ch-qyf_V/w640-h352/Cretaceous%20Amber%20Preserves%20Lizard%20Carcass%20With%20Necrophagous%20Insects%20df%20(1).jpg" title="Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects. The researchers examined three excellently preserved Cretaceous amber specimens in which lizard carcasses are enclosed along with necrophagous insects. Photo: Solórzano Kraemer / Senckenberg / Peretti Museum Foundation<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>An international team of scientists led by Mónica Solórzano Kraemer of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt has studied a series of excellently preserved Cretaceous amber specimens containing lizard carcasses enclosed together with carrion-eating insects.<br /><br />The results of their study, now published in the journal <i>Scientific Reports</i>, show that the reptiles, which were preserved in an early stage of decomposition, had attracted typical necrophagous flies—but no ants. These insects, known today as the "health police of the forest," apparently did not yet play a role as scavengers 99 million years ago.<br /><br />When a living creature dies in nature, a variety of different organisms are involved in decomposing the carcass. The study of the complex succession of scavenging insects and larvae that feed on a dead organism at various stages of its decomposition—so-called destruents—is a core area of forensic science.<br /><br />However, with few exceptions, cadavers, along with their destruents, are virtually absent from the fossil record. Knowledge about the evolution of necrophagous insects is correspondingly limited. Dr. Mónica Solórzano Kraemer, together with researchers from the CN-Instituto Geológico y Minero de España CSIC, Valencia, the Universities of Barcelona and Yangon, the Natural History Museum Los Angeles, and the Peretti Museum Foundation, has now studied some rare examples: lizards enclosed in amber along with necrophagous flies that were preserved in tree resin 99 million years ago.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />The inclusions have virtually "frozen" a specific moment in the process of decomposition and recycling and allow conclusions about the state of evolution and the role of early necrophagous insects during the Cretaceous period.<br /><br />"We have studied three outstanding amber specimens from Myanmar, each of which contains a lizard enclosed in the same fossilized resin layer along with a variety of scavenging insects," reports Solórzano Kraemer.<br /><br />She continues, "Such inclusions are exceedingly rare—presumably, because the reptiles were often able to extricate themselves again from the sticky resin due to their body size. Inclusions with scavengers in the same resin layer are particularly uncommon. Often, creatures that appear to have been preserved together in amber are actually located in separate, adjacent layers—the spatial proximity suggests a biological relationship that may not really have existed at all."<br /><br />Together with the lizard carcasses enclosed in a resin layer, the researchers found a large number of necrophagous flies from the families of scuttle flies (Phoridae) and dagger flies (Empidoidea).<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2-XRG3ckbLO-9-OC6PtmyOm-jEwY9vMavAv6m_gjU9MGzK2NtzVyKJyioCKahDnxGYrP7xhC0Tclz19d0mKVt3RYNK3rdX2cZzUgq35eAUIqnY5BHWJ7nHclg1Xm9QCqOk1xvgdMfAlUB6093T9xJ-rHsADFLZYJmOsf0CVxKTpgV5vlVIIjEZVL/s1231/Cretaceous%20Amber%20Preserves%20Lizard%20Carcass%20With%20Necrophagous%20Insects%20%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects" border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="1231" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2-XRG3ckbLO-9-OC6PtmyOm-jEwY9vMavAv6m_gjU9MGzK2NtzVyKJyioCKahDnxGYrP7xhC0Tclz19d0mKVt3RYNK3rdX2cZzUgq35eAUIqnY5BHWJ7nHclg1Xm9QCqOk1xvgdMfAlUB6093T9xJ-rHsADFLZYJmOsf0CVxKTpgV5vlVIIjEZVL/w640-h406/Cretaceous%20Amber%20Preserves%20Lizard%20Carcass%20With%20Necrophagous%20Insects%20%20(1).jpg" title="Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Together with a lizard of the now extinct species <i>Oculudentavis naga</i>, a large number of necrophagous flies from the scuttle flies (Phoridae) and dagger flies (Empidoidea) families are preserved in one specimen. Photo: Solórzano Kraemer/ Senckenberg / Peretti Museum Foundation<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Among the examined amber specimens, one piece stands out: just over five centimeters long, it contains a lizard of the now-extinct species <i>Oculudentavis naga</i> and more than 130 animal and plant inclusions in a total of 13 resin layers. "What is special is that the layer in which the lizard is enclosed reveals an 'open window,' asmall area at the neck where the carcass is insufficiently covered by resin," says Solórzano Kraemer.<br /><br />She continues, "This presumably allowed the odor of decay to spread, attracting various necrophagous and predatory flies in large numbers, which in turn stuck to the resin and were preserved. A 'necrophagous trap'—this is the term we propose in our study for this type of preservation trap."<br /><br />As shown by experiments, various fly families still act as typical destruents today, visiting lizard carcasses in an early stage of decomposition—but so do ants. In the ambers studied, however, ants are entirely absent.<br /><br />"Today, ants play a pivotal role in carrion removal in tropical forests—simply because of their sheer mass. The global biomass of all ants exceeds that of mammals or birds," explains Solórzano Kraemer, and she adds, "Ants are generally rare in Cretaceous fossil deposits. The fact that they are completely absent from the ambers we studied suggests that tracking and decomposing carrion was not yet part of their feeding strategies at that time. Ants apparently did not develop these skills until later." <p></p><p><br /></p><p><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://museumfrankfurt.senckenberg.de/en/pressemeldungen/in-the-necrophagous-trap/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://museumfrankfurt.senckenberg.de/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. </a><br /></u></p>

Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects

Cretaceous Amber Preserves Lizard Carcass With Necrophagous Insects. The researchers examined three excellently preserved Cretaceous amber s...

Oldest Fossils of Mysterious Animal Group Are Actually Seaweeds

Earth History, evolution, Fossils 9:37 PM

<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchDZZccKk9_OaLYBW7YxDYXYmA50eoWVMBLdNhF-tGaPSnfhhu2uqrWVb9gw3cFGPrcSIkjJI3ZQ8Y5eiCry2XrYkZmI9gi2AdnTOhQmjSgZMmaC8mwMKxEN5VIw1Kw3TgGvsmHLOpU9LCe98Jc_TxSsDR5jPiBtBTT51dVaKLN8YpXJ9ToeXBq1u/s1306/Oldest%20Fossils%20of%20Mysterious%20Animal%20Group%20Are%20Really%20Seaweeds%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Oldest Fossils of Mysterious Animal Group Are Actually Seaweeds" border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="1306" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchDZZccKk9_OaLYBW7YxDYXYmA50eoWVMBLdNhF-tGaPSnfhhu2uqrWVb9gw3cFGPrcSIkjJI3ZQ8Y5eiCry2XrYkZmI9gi2AdnTOhQmjSgZMmaC8mwMKxEN5VIw1Kw3TgGvsmHLOpU9LCe98Jc_TxSsDR5jPiBtBTT51dVaKLN8YpXJ9ToeXBq1u/w640-h298/Oldest%20Fossils%20of%20Mysterious%20Animal%20Group%20Are%20Really%20Seaweeds%20(1).jpeg" title="Oldest Fossils of Mysterious Animal Group Are Really Seaweeds" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oldest Fossils of Mysterious Animal Group Are Really Seaweeds.  (Photo: Zhang Xiguang/Yunnan University/PA)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>A new study has revealed that a group of prehistoric sea creatures is not as ancient as we thought - their earliest fossils are actually seaweeds.<br /><br />Research carried out by experts from Durham University, UK, and Yunnan University and Guizhou University in China found that the fossils, that were previously thought to be the oldest Bryozoans, are in fact green algae.<br /><br />This means that Bryozoans – tentacle-bearing animals that lived in skyscraper-like underwater colonies – are millions of years younger than previously thought, only appearing in the Ordovician period (480 million years ago). <br /><br />This makes them the only group of fossil animals not to appear in the Cambrian “explosion”, a rapid burst of evolution 40 million years earlier.<br /><br />The delayed appearance of bryozoans shows that the Cambrian was not a unique period of innovation as conventionally thought; instead, new body plans continued to be carved out by evolution over a much longer time period.<br /><br />The study findings have been published in the <i>journal Nature.</i><br /><br />Ancient fossil material discovered in the hills of China revealed previously unseen “soft parts” of <i>Protomelission gateshousei</i>, formerly believed to be the earliest Bryozoan.<br /><br />This fragile tissue allowed the researchers to interpret <i>Protomelission</i> as a member of the green algal group Dasycladales.<br /><br />Study co-author Dr Martin Smith, of the Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, said: “We tend to think of the ‘Cambrian explosion’ as a unique period in evolutionary history, in which all the blueprints of animal life were mapped out.<br /><br />“Most subsequent evolution boils down to smaller-scale tinkering on these original body plans. But if Bryozoans truly evolved after the Cambrian period, it shows that evolution kept its creative touch after this critical period of innovation – maybe the trajectory of life was not set in stone half a billion years ago.”<br /><br />Study co-author Professor Zhang Xiguang, of Yunnan University, said: “Where previous fossils only preserved the skeletal framework of these early organisms, our new material revealed what was living inside these chambers.<br /><br />“Instead of the tentacles we would expect to see in Bryozoans, we discovered simple leaf-like flanges – and realised we were not looking at fossil animals, but seaweeds.  This means that the oldest convincing Bryozoan fossils do not evolve until the next geological period, the Ordovician.”<br /><br />The researchers suggest whilst the origin of animal groups may not have been so sudden, humble seaweeds played a larger part in the early oceans than previously thought. </p><p><br /></p><p><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/2023/03/oldest-fossils-of-mysterious-animal-group-are-actually-seaweeds/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/homepage/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Durham University.</a></u><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.25px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></p>

Oldest Fossils of Mysterious Animal Group Are Actually Seaweeds

Oldest Fossils of Mysterious Animal Group Are Really Seaweeds. (Photo: Zhang Xiguang/Yunnan University/PA) A new study has revealed that a ...

The Largest Ants That Ever Lived Are Challenging What We Know About Insect Sizes

evolution, extinction, Fossils 10:18 PM

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfonrCVsj253jSPf5NjiE0sQdFPBP8CRnEPgJS3hloTKXkYVJ3gVDu9f0_tZc4ypOQliOneGVA5UL_s08Bp_FOHHHPHsyBLQ342jwE1jsiuaGJUFap80aqSJZlnbpSFus3cHIDI5TvY6-xZhmsduKFb7o-XCaPCNhvXKNKBIZRqGcwyjC23K4ijbi/s1227/A%20fossil%20of%20a%20giant%20ant%20queen%20unearthed%20in%20Germany,%20the%20largest%20ant%20ever%20found.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Largest Ants That Ever Lived Are Challenging What We Know About Insect Sizes" border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1227" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfonrCVsj253jSPf5NjiE0sQdFPBP8CRnEPgJS3hloTKXkYVJ3gVDu9f0_tZc4ypOQliOneGVA5UL_s08Bp_FOHHHPHsyBLQ342jwE1jsiuaGJUFap80aqSJZlnbpSFus3cHIDI5TvY6-xZhmsduKFb7o-XCaPCNhvXKNKBIZRqGcwyjC23K4ijbi/w640-h484/A%20fossil%20of%20a%20giant%20ant%20queen%20unearthed%20in%20Germany,%20the%20largest%20ant%20ever%20found.jpeg" title="Fossils of Hummingbird-Sized Ants Are Challenging What We Know About Insect Sizes" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Largest Ants That Ever Lived Are Challenging What We Know About Insect Sizes. A fossil of a giant ant queen unearthed in Germany, the largest ant ever found. <br />Photo: AntWeb.org</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>More than 47 million years ago, giant carnivorous ants swarmed the prehistoric forest floors of North America looking for prey. 'Giant' is no exaggeration either. Some ancient colonies that lived in what is now the state of Wyoming were ruled by queens the size of hummingbirds.</p><p>Simon Fraser University scientists say their research on the latest fossil find near Princeton, B.C. is raising questions about how the dispersal of animals and plants occurred across the Northern Hemisphere some 50 million years ago, including whether brief intervals of global warming were at play.<br /><br />The fossil was discovered by Princeton resident Beverley Burlingame and made available to the researchers through the town’s museum. Researchers say it is the first Canadian specimen of the extinct ant <i>Titanomyrma</i>, whose biggest species was surprisingly gigantic, with the body mass of a wren and a wingspan of half a foot.<br /><br />SFU paleontologists Bruce Archibald and Rolf Mathewes, together with Arvid Aase of Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, have published their research on the fossil in the current edition of the scientific journal <i>The Canadian Entomologist</i>.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />A decade earlier, Archibald and collaborators discovered a gigantic <i>Titanomyrma</i> fossil from Wyoming in a museum drawer in Denver. “This ant and the new fossil from British Columbia are close in age to other Titanomyrma fossils that have been long known in Germany and England,” says Archibald. “This raises the questions of how these ancient insects traveled between continents to appear on both sides of the Atlantic at nearly the same time.”<br /><br />Europe and North America were connected by land across the Arctic then, as the North Atlantic had not yet opened enough by continental drift to fully separate them. But was the ancient far-northern climate suitable for their passage?<br /><br />The scientists found that the ancient climates were hot where these ants lived in Wyoming and Europe. They further found that modern ants with the biggest queens also inhabit hot climates, leading them to associate large size in queen ants with high temperatures. This creates a problem, however, as although the ancient Arctic had a milder climate than today, it still wouldn’t have been hot enough to allow <i>Titanomyrma</i> to pass.<br /><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">New findings build on earlier research</span></h4><p>The researchers suggested in 2011 that this might be explained by geologically brief intervals of global warming around the time of <i>Titanomyrma</i> called “hyperthermals” creating short-term intervals of friendly conditions for them to cross.<br /><br />They then predicted that <i>Titanomyrma</i> wouldn’t be found in the ancient temperate Canadian uplands, as it would have been cooler than <i>Titanomyrma</i> appears to have required. But now one has been discovered there.<br /><br />The story becomes more complicated and interesting, as the new Canadian fossil was distorted by geological pressure during fossilization, so its true life size can’t be established. It might have been gigantic like some of the largest Titanomyrma queens, but it could equally be reconstructed as smaller.<br /><br />“If it was a smaller species, was it adapted to this region of cooler climate by reduction in size and gigantic species were excluded as we predicted back in 2011?” says Archibald. “Or were they huge, and our idea of the climatic tolerance of gigantic ants, and so how they crossed the Arctic, was wrong?”<br /><br />Archibald says the research is helping scientists better understand how B.C.’s community of animals and plants were forming when climate was much different. “Understanding how life dispersed among the northern continents in a very different climate 50 million years ago in part explains patterns of animal and plant distribution that we see today,” says Archibald.<br /><br />“<i>Titanomyrma</i> may also help us better understand how global warming could affect how the distribution of life may change. To prepare for the future, it helps to understand the past.” <br /><br />He adds: “We’ll need to find more fossils. Do our ideas of <i>Titanomyrma</i>’s ecology, and so of this ancient dispersal of life, need revision? For now, it remains a mystery.”<br /><br /> </p><p><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-entomologist/article/eocene-giant-ants-arctic-intercontinental-dispersal-and-hyperthermals-revisited-discovery-of-fossil-titanomyrma-hymenoptera-formicidae-formiciinae-in-the-cool-uplands-of-british-columbia-canada/ADDC856D2187563033374F5F1BD2E737" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simon Fraser University</a>.</u><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.25px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></p>

The Largest Ants That Ever Lived Are Challenging What We Know About Insect Sizes

The Largest Ants That Ever Lived Are Challenging What We Know About Insect Sizes. A fossil of a giant ant queen unearthed in Germany, the la...

Fulgurite: a Petrifying Flash of Lightning!

Geology, Structural Geology 9:28 PM

<p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> A petrifying flash of lightning!</span><p>Fulgurites are natural hollow glass tubes often formed during lightning strikes, in quartzose sand, silica, or soil. Sometimes they are referred to as <b>petrified</b> lightning. This process occurs over a timespan of around one second. The lightning bolt traveled through a thick layer of dry sand, and it heated to a temperature greater than 18000 C  (32000 F).  <br /><br />Fulgurites are usually occurring beneath the surface of the sand and their shape reflects the way that makes lightning as it dispersed into the ground.<br /><br />Fulgurites resemble roots with rough surface. However, the inner surface is smooth and glassy, because of the fact that the sand cools rapidly and solidifies. Their size is based on the strength of the lightning and the thickness of the sand bed.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZyjukOtk0pEktAK6DkUJJTCPl7AKckAOkm54N8K3S8KX8SvWVaiBhixyCSqf2JVE1sgpt2MmkHIjJ6qwALdtL_aL5r6zcflpnWQom6LqRNqSaiSjaNp_dO-A-wu2LasNk_Fpmng0tWocN5BoTnOm1bvmtKN_m5uu3ooxD9skL8UwCdve2o7UsTG1/s1286/Fulgurite%20A%20petrifying%20flash%20of%20lightning!.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fulgurite: a Petrifying Flash of Lightning!" border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1286" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZyjukOtk0pEktAK6DkUJJTCPl7AKckAOkm54N8K3S8KX8SvWVaiBhixyCSqf2JVE1sgpt2MmkHIjJ6qwALdtL_aL5r6zcflpnWQom6LqRNqSaiSjaNp_dO-A-wu2LasNk_Fpmng0tWocN5BoTnOm1bvmtKN_m5uu3ooxD9skL8UwCdve2o7UsTG1/w400-h290/Fulgurite%20A%20petrifying%20flash%20of%20lightning!.jpeg" title="Fulgurite: a Petrifying Flash of Lightning!" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fulgurite: a Petrifying Flash of Lightning. Photo: Fulgurite Lightning Portugal/Facebook<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although most of those found are only a few inches in length, some have been found which are thirty feet or more in length. Small pebbles in the sand frequently cling to the fulgurites. Some fulgurites are no larger in diameter than a soda straw, and others have the diameter of a good sized carrot.<br /><br />Fulgurites are fragile and should be <b>dug</b> out with extreme care and patience. When one is found there may be others near it, or it may be the only one present. The objective of the trip might be gemstone pebbles, or microfossils, or small crystals, or colored sand for sand bottles, but the possibility of fulgurites should be in the consciousness of the collector. <br /><br />The technical name for naturally fused sand is lechatelierite. The fulgurite will be mainly silica. It will have the same exterior color as the surrounding sands, but perhaps a little darker in appearance because of the dark fused glass interior. Sand colors vary from beige to buff to gray, charcoal, or drab muted tints of pink, yellow or green. These other colors are due to the presence of other minerals than quartz in the sand. Some of these minerals may be feldspar, hornblende, biotite, and clay and iron minerals.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br /><p></p><p>The fulgurites are known since 1711 and they are appreciated for their scientific value. A fulgurite that is 250 million years old found in the Sahara, has confirmed that the desert was a fertile area where the storms were frequent.<br /><br />The favorite places to look for the deposits of this <a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2017/11/what-is-difference-between-mineral-and.html" target="_blank"><b>mineraloid</b></a> are the deserts, coastal dunes, on lake shores, sea shores, sandy hills where lightning often strikes, sandy cliffs by rivers, on islands, and in sandy fields. Fulgurites have been reported in the following states, but the list is probably only a beginning: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, Oregon, Arizona, and California </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to the composition and morphology, fulgurite can be classified into several types:</span></h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Sand fulgurite</b>: It is the one that is generated when the lightning strike falls on soils that have a sandy texture.</li><li><b>Clay Fulgurite:</b> it is usually formed when the lightning strike occurs in soils with abundant amounts of clay and generates another type of structure in this mineraloid.</li><li><b>Calcium sediment:</b> It is another variety that has a large amount of calcium in the form of precipitated sediments.</li><li><b>Rock fulgurite: </b>it usually forms on other rocks and one in both structures. They are usually somewhat larger in size and have a higher hardness.</li><li><b>Exogenous fulgurites: </b>they can be spherical or drop-shaped.</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzmyC-702kCu6s-mOOWsnnrlRa-PYPF_jox7s2jrj0RpBcSNZsrQWszSTAQBn0BGONDgCdQrmMDnWYN_FOa13u0IUBVaKP0t3aHTSC9610PHCQ4fVw5qMerXSe_p4yYHP6GuaEf-lEw7tqnPXFhHp3cKJDFumIM25YQVcQPSvcFPzFNkcntNSrR32/s1298/Exogenic%20Fulgurites.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fulgurite: a Petrifying Flash of Lightning!. Exogenic Fulgurites" border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="1298" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzmyC-702kCu6s-mOOWsnnrlRa-PYPF_jox7s2jrj0RpBcSNZsrQWszSTAQBn0BGONDgCdQrmMDnWYN_FOa13u0IUBVaKP0t3aHTSC9610PHCQ4fVw5qMerXSe_p4yYHP6GuaEf-lEw7tqnPXFhHp3cKJDFumIM25YQVcQPSvcFPzFNkcntNSrR32/w640-h288/Exogenic%20Fulgurites.jpg" title="Exogenic Fulgurites" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exogenic Fulgurites. Photo: WorthPoint Corporation<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Exogenic Fulgurites</h4><p style="text-align: left;">Exogenic fulgurites feature an amorphous and often bubbly appearance due to the rapid manner in which the airborne, liquefied materials cool down. They are generally dark green in colour (as a result of a moderate iron oxide content), differing from traditional fulgurites, which are typically carrot, brown or tan.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>See also:</b><br /><a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2020/09/rainbow-obsidian.html" target="_blank">Rainbow Obsidian<br /></a><a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2020/05/rare-blue-skarn.html" target="_blank">Rare Blue Skarn</a><br /></p>

Fulgurite: a Petrifying Flash of Lightning!

A petrifying flash of lightning! Fulgurites are natural hollow glass tubes often formed during lightning strikes, in quartzose sand, silica...

Scientists Solve Mystery of Salt Deserts’ Unusual Honeycomb Patterns

Earth News, Geology, Researches 10:17 PM

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7Pq8R1_nRqe7O4l9z7jD5B7p5BU1jCErd_QQwskOtBj_VUXvXvGkyl7h45QHxNKUY65_cGlJ1d6IGwTx6-8zpzFLl_pW4WesYBSzpnYcLjmc31fo9l4asla_jsJ5KOk-W_w8B1RH6kgLNaVSBg67zpTp92wopAqHZSmxxNBz_3nHrKFGeeEqgHQO/s1280/Uyuni-Salt-Flat-Bolivia%20copy%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Scientists Solve Mystery of Salt Deserts’ Unusual Honeycomb Patterns" border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7Pq8R1_nRqe7O4l9z7jD5B7p5BU1jCErd_QQwskOtBj_VUXvXvGkyl7h45QHxNKUY65_cGlJ1d6IGwTx6-8zpzFLl_pW4WesYBSzpnYcLjmc31fo9l4asla_jsJ5KOk-W_w8B1RH6kgLNaVSBg67zpTp92wopAqHZSmxxNBz_3nHrKFGeeEqgHQO/w640-h428/Uyuni-Salt-Flat-Bolivia%20copy%20(1).jpg" title="Salt Deserts Are Covered in Strange, Repeating Patterns" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scientists Solve Mystery of Salt Deserts’ Unusual Honeycomb Patterns. The Uyuni Salt Flat at sunrise, Bolivia.<br />Photo: © Sara_Winter</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Salt Deserts Are Covered in Strange, Repeating Patterns. We've Finally Figured Out Why</span><br /><p></p><p>The spectacular, hexagonal shapes texturing salt deserts such as the Badwater Basin in Death Valley, California, and Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia have long mystified travelers and scientists alike.<br /></p><p>Salt deserts are among the most extreme and inhospitable places on the planet and their bizarre and other-worldly polygon-shaped structures attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.<br /><br />They occur in areas including the Badwater Basin of Death Valley in California and Salar de Uyuni in Chile, where they served as a backdrop for the desert planet Crait in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’.<br /><br />Now a team involving researchers at Nottingham Trent University and TU Graz in Austria has been able to explain the origin of these patterns and their iconic shape and size.<br /><br />Previously, it was suspected that the salt crust of the desert dries out and cracks form, around which the patterns grow. Another hypothesis suggested that the salt crust grows continuously and bends due to lack of space, forming the patterns.<br /><br />Neither of these explanations, however, account for the consistent size – always one to two metres – and the honeycomb shape.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />A more plausible explanation has now been provided by researchers, who describe how convection of saline water in the subsurface is responsible for the honeycomb-like formation of the salt patterns.<br /><br />The constant size of the features and the speed with which the patterns grow can also be attributed to this, they say.<br /><br />To get to the bottom of this mystery of nature, the team combined the research fields of fluid dynamics from physics and geomorphology from the geosciences and investigated the phenomenon from several directions.<br /><br />They observed in laboratory experiments how saline water moves in sandy soils and analysed in numerical simulations the length scale of the patterns under different conditions. In two field studies in California they observed the patterns in nature and collected samples to show that the currents in the subsurface mirror the patterns visible on the surface.<br /><br />The evidence gathered by the researchers in experiments, simulations and field studies all points to a consistent picture.<br /><br />The driving mechanism for pattern formation is the convection or circulation of salty water in the soil beneath the salt crust. The salt deserts in which these patterns occur are by no means bone dry and the highly salty groundwater often reaches up to lie directly below the salt crust. In these deserts you’d quickly reach that water digging by hand, although it would be far too salty to drink.<br /><br />When this brine then evaporates in the hot summer sun, the salt remains. This makes the groundwater directly below the surface saltier, and thus heavier than the fresher water that still lurks below. If this difference in salinity is high enough, the saltier water near the surface begins to sink downwards, while fresher water rises from below.<br /><br />Similar to hot and cold water circulating by convection in radiators, convection rolls of salty and less salty water form in the subsurface.<br /><br />A single convection roll would have a circular shape, which maximises the volume enclosed by the roll while minimising its circumference. However, when many convection rolls develop next to each other in the ground, they are ‘squeezed’ together and produce hexagonal, honeycomb-like patterns, along the edges of which very salty water sinks down.<br /><br />In places with a particularly high salt content, salt also crystallises more on the surface. Over time, the resulting crust forms the raised humps and edges that create the honeycomb salt pattern.<br /><br />First author Dr Jana Lasser from TU Graz said: “This is a great example of curiosity-driven basic research. Nature presents us with an obvious and fascinating puzzle that stimulates our curiosity and thereby prompts us to solve it – even without any direct further possibility of application in mind.”<br /><br />In addition to satisfying curiosity, an understanding of the topography of salt deserts helps predict how much mineral-rich dust will be dislodged from the surfaces of salt deserts and swirled into the atmosphere. This dust in turn plays an important role in the formation of clouds and the transport of minerals into the oceans.<br /><br />Dr Lucas Goehring, Associate Professor in Physics in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology, said: “In salt deserts the first thing you see – almost the only thing you see – is an endless patchwork of hexagons and other ordered shapes. Some 50 million tourists have visited these patterns at Death Valley alone, and the fantastic landscape demands an explanation.  <br /><br />“What we’ve shown is that a simple, plausible explanation is there, but hidden beneath the ground. The surface patterns reflect the slow overturning of salty water within the soil, a phenomenon somewhat like the convection cells that form in a thin layer of simmering water. <br /><br />“Although beautiful, wind blowing over salt deserts is a major source of atmospheric dust, and our results will help understand processes like this in desert environments.”<br /><br /><br /><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2023/02/scientists-solve-mystery-of-salt-deserts-unusual-honeycomb-patterns" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by © <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nottingham Trent University.  </a></u><br /><p></p>

Scientists Solve Mystery of Salt Deserts’ Unusual Honeycomb Patterns

Scientists Solve Mystery of Salt Deserts’ Unusual Honeycomb Patterns. The Uyuni Salt Flat at sunrise, Bolivia. Photo: © Sara_Winter Salt Des...

Vanadinite: Gemmy Mineral

Minerals 9:16 PM

<p></p>Vanadinite is formed as a<b> secondary mineral</b> in desert lead deposits often associated with mimetite and pyromorphite. When first found, vanadinite was recognized as a lead mineral with reference to its red or brown color, which explains why the type locality mineral for vanadium was called “plombo rojo” in Mexico.<p><br />First discovered in 1801 in <b>Mexico</b>, vanadinite deposits have since been unearthed in South America, Europe, Africa, and North America.<br /><br /><b>Vanadinite</b> is in the apatite group of phosphates, and forms a chemical series with the minerals pyromorphite <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">(Pb</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">5</sub><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">(PO</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">3</sub><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Cl)</span> and mimetite <span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(Pb</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">5</sub><span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(AsO</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">3</sub><span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Cl),</span> with both of which it may form solid solutions. Whereas most chemical series involve the substitution of metallic ions, this series substitutes its anion groups; phosphate <span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(PO</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span>, arsenate <span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(</span>As<span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">O</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span> and vanadate <span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(VO</span><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">4</sub><span face="sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #202122; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span>. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZykolvN5MZ6p5NYd9i0Ncv1fUeR5kIMQpvVGAD979JW1CMMSmML4qX3iM4nCZ9lzdlSxjNKCvILgiNLHa-_mwVWcxTtuaZxmCGqx0dVyWasB7E1L7hOPIsYOv_OrPnfw1bVKWfsI9OOZriRGHEAGdXJRZmrZ03Civozc45X1qKKdyFddWE2chaz3T/s1280/Vanadinite_-_ACF_mine,_Mibladen,_Morocco%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vanadinite: Gemmy Mineral" border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1280" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZykolvN5MZ6p5NYd9i0Ncv1fUeR5kIMQpvVGAD979JW1CMMSmML4qX3iM4nCZ9lzdlSxjNKCvILgiNLHa-_mwVWcxTtuaZxmCGqx0dVyWasB7E1L7hOPIsYOv_OrPnfw1bVKWfsI9OOZriRGHEAGdXJRZmrZ03Civozc45X1qKKdyFddWE2chaz3T/w400-h279/Vanadinite_-_ACF_mine,_Mibladen,_Morocco%20(1).jpeg" title="Vanadinite: Gemmy Mineral" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanadinite: Gemmy Mineral. Cluster of reddish brown tabular vanadinite from ACF mine, Mibladen, Morocco<br />Photo: Ivar Leidus <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Vanadinite most often forms as simple hexagonal prisms of modest size as very attractive bright red to orange-red color crystals, although sometimes brown, red-brown, grey, yellow, or colourless. Its distinctive colour makes it popular among mineral collectors. Its streak can be either pale yellow or brownish-yellow. Vanadinite may be transparent, translucent or opaque, and its lustre can range from resinous to adamantine. <br /></p><p>Vanadinite is very brittle, producing small, conchoidal fragments when fractured. Its hardness is 3–4 on the Mohs scale, about the same as a copper coin. Vanadinite is particularly heavy for a translucent mineral.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;">
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</div><br />Vanadium is also <b>present</b> in crude oil, tar sands, and coal. <p></p><p>While vanadinite is described in the literature as an <b>uncommon</b> mineral, Morocco has made it more common in the recent years. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzyiQ9qPoDZESlmPj-shieo_tEEYoYUn4QWWf7kUgAhdToC7Cenqw4G_EfoBiIQ7JTsbMi7qWH_442dK1Ar4eZuqlE7TLkPcKo6dLqze9gBpg8NsEgqjn-97adeKoMyUVmYi49RAnyGocjvjHViGXIHJpcbgKww4ZoNMJ46yjOLkqFQuAhu296Ae9w/s1080/Vanadinite%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vanadinite: Gemmy Mineral Killer vanadinite crystals from Morocco" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzyiQ9qPoDZESlmPj-shieo_tEEYoYUn4QWWf7kUgAhdToC7Cenqw4G_EfoBiIQ7JTsbMi7qWH_442dK1Ar4eZuqlE7TLkPcKo6dLqze9gBpg8NsEgqjn-97adeKoMyUVmYi49RAnyGocjvjHViGXIHJpcbgKww4ZoNMJ46yjOLkqFQuAhu296Ae9w/w400-h400/Vanadinite%20(1).jpg" title="Killer vanadinite crystals from Morocco" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Killer vanadinite crystals from Morocco

<br />Photo: Phdminerals/Diego Savard</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><b>Class:</b> Phosphates, arsenates, vanadates<b><br />Member of: </b>Apatite Group<b><br />Chemical Formula: </b> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span>Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl<br /></span><b>Crystal system: </b>Hexagonal<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><b>Color:</b> Bright red, orange, brown, yellow-brown, yellow, greenish-brown<br /><b>Mohs scale hardness: </b>  3–4<br /><b>Type Locality: </b>Zimapán, Zimapán Municipality, Hidalgo, Mexico</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YKvu03zo_O3E6LmpEz4NxD8YT1De55luX6wfIZNcGdQwpIp3obO9BeT9UqM_6r-vruVPGyO5s6nylSo-uNhf9TIQIamL0YdC_R3QYadVZ5Nfyuxyo0jxxpx26hlCdSz-JxQJKiT8y-m-kltnAFknvVtjpRL4EJj9VwHqiSnEhufkVHMyjM8AmsMe/s960/Hexagonal%20Vanadinite%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vanadinite: Gemmy Mineral. Hexagonal Vanadinite crystals  on goethite matrix  Mibladen, Morocco" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="715" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YKvu03zo_O3E6LmpEz4NxD8YT1De55luX6wfIZNcGdQwpIp3obO9BeT9UqM_6r-vruVPGyO5s6nylSo-uNhf9TIQIamL0YdC_R3QYadVZ5Nfyuxyo0jxxpx26hlCdSz-JxQJKiT8y-m-kltnAFknvVtjpRL4EJj9VwHqiSnEhufkVHMyjM8AmsMe/w298-h400/Hexagonal%20Vanadinite%20(1).jpg" title="Hexagonal Vanadinite crystals  on goethite matrix  Mibladen, Morocco" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Hexagonal Vanadinite crystals  on goethite matrix 
from Mibladen, Morocco
<br /></span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"></span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Photo: Abdel Abdel</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNrRwj8j6CbMdcZgpjonMp1vqBBzmGqr91qcij-TRQvOo0luZGlpzJeMT33F8dWohlz3O6nN-8CoRgdL9oUTFg1MFfi5gy-I7-jTKA4Sa_aII8F0Hr4kG6JIyTPtK3zaoL-IxCDdM3ZwLJi7CwMbFms5kzJ8yMIfv_xP0imDKIqg2lMgTSFAmrO4B/s1080/Vanadinite%20Crystal%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vanadinite Crystal Specimen from Mibladen, Morocco" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNrRwj8j6CbMdcZgpjonMp1vqBBzmGqr91qcij-TRQvOo0luZGlpzJeMT33F8dWohlz3O6nN-8CoRgdL9oUTFg1MFfi5gy-I7-jTKA4Sa_aII8F0Hr4kG6JIyTPtK3zaoL-IxCDdM3ZwLJi7CwMbFms5kzJ8yMIfv_xP0imDKIqg2lMgTSFAmrO4B/w400-h400/Vanadinite%20Crystal%20(1).jpg" title="Vanadinite Crystal Specimen from Mibladen, Morocco" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanadinite Crystal Specimen from Mibladen, Morocco  <br />Photo: Exotic Crystals LLC</td></tr></tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwrkPRusyxsm88vM-o4-0GAiGAbUqG2vhZ_-1ukJM6EJrHsuZE6rPdepBR1OJHl86n-aP8LeiVr-LreGFd_M4SjqFRx-MxAVGW3kMV-T2bk3IEpyLny3ux44Wp6Kehlk6kP7lF97h2jgiiXwTaPUR1Ci-cmKDtIoXWXHpwz4SBVGvx-iARypDp1ck/s1080/Vanadinite%20crystals%20f.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vanadinite crystals from Taouz," border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1080" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwrkPRusyxsm88vM-o4-0GAiGAbUqG2vhZ_-1ukJM6EJrHsuZE6rPdepBR1OJHl86n-aP8LeiVr-LreGFd_M4SjqFRx-MxAVGW3kMV-T2bk3IEpyLny3ux44Wp6Kehlk6kP7lF97h2jgiiXwTaPUR1Ci-cmKDtIoXWXHpwz4SBVGvx-iARypDp1ck/w400-h360/Vanadinite%20crystals%20f.jpg" title="Vanadinite crystals from Taouz," width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanadinite crystals from Taouz, Er Rachidia Province, Drâa-Tafilalet, Morocco  <br />Photo: Applied Metaphysics</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNn4yZrdl_mSh1stpWZ4SWE9OoO6gnVJLVNNFREp9EZKrGVqXnbdv2S5QHHKfAp37hBhLJ5CSq5F0_QhxXFqzUaR0ySzn2nSCiTTwBX5qmSQ7lZ7LZdx3Ugcjj2tR2Kf4wPIHiwbnoGV-rH3Up-xw9Hjjq9YMFoVT8bUBXhOv3zjGgqpo1FWhaLf1E/s1024/Arizona_Vanadinite%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNn4yZrdl_mSh1stpWZ4SWE9OoO6gnVJLVNNFREp9EZKrGVqXnbdv2S5QHHKfAp37hBhLJ5CSq5F0_QhxXFqzUaR0ySzn2nSCiTTwBX5qmSQ7lZ7LZdx3Ugcjj2tR2Kf4wPIHiwbnoGV-rH3Up-xw9Hjjq9YMFoVT8bUBXhOv3zjGgqpo1FWhaLf1E/w400-h400/Arizona_Vanadinite%20(1).jpeg" title="Hexagonal Prismatic Vanadinite Crystals From Geronimo Mine, Arizona, Usa." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Hexagonal Prismatic Vanadinite Crystals From Geronimo Mine, Arizona, USA. <br />Photo: Masha Milshina<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

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Deep Earthquakes Could Reveal Secrets of the Earth's Mantle

Earth News, Earthquakes, Geology 11:16 PM

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSXyxygRe01YmEKND0hx6pr9evjFwY_QJPtyMbV_V91LYI7NMs1IQ_Cu5KK8fixNn46J7KyeM3f_wYBcZr49UEhH-0qwSoSyLTB8YYzMKV1AzJQXM6fMylMzwxoke3H0042BwI6oJ9lG2dHpx4VmHUrFb9pq0t4XZBeMw83p9CKBo9nYw76UTDAEo/s1260/Deep%20Earthquakes%20Could%20Reveal%20Secrets%20of%20the%20Earth's%20Mantle%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Deep Earthquakes Could Reveal Secrets of the Earth's Mantle" border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="1260" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSXyxygRe01YmEKND0hx6pr9evjFwY_QJPtyMbV_V91LYI7NMs1IQ_Cu5KK8fixNn46J7KyeM3f_wYBcZr49UEhH-0qwSoSyLTB8YYzMKV1AzJQXM6fMylMzwxoke3H0042BwI6oJ9lG2dHpx4VmHUrFb9pq0t4XZBeMw83p9CKBo9nYw76UTDAEo/w400-h334/Deep%20Earthquakes%20Could%20Reveal%20Secrets%20of%20the%20Earth's%20Mantle%20(1).jpg" title="Deep Earthquakes Could Reveal Secrets of the Earth's Mantle" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep Earthquakes Could Reveal Secrets of the Earth's Mantle</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Study uses 350-mile-deep earthquake to make elusive measurements of the Earth's layers</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">A new study from a University of Chicago scientist suggests there may be a layer of surprisingly fluid rock ringing the Earth, at the very bottom of the upper mantle.<br /><br />The finding was made by measuring the lingering movement registered by GPS sensors on islands in the wake of a deep earthquake in the Pacific Ocean near Fiji. Published in <i>Nature</i>, the study demonstrates a new method to measure the fluidity of the Earth's mantle.<br /><br />"Even though the mantle makes up the largest part of Earth, there's still a lot we don't know about it," said Sunyoung Park, a geophysicist with the University of Chicago and the lead author on the study. "We think there's a lot more we can learn by using these deep earthquakes as a way to probe these questions."<br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Mantle mysteries</h4><p style="text-align: left;">We still know surprisingly little about the Earth beneath our feet. The furthest anyone has managed to dig down is about seven and a half miles before the increasing heat literally melts the drill. Thus scientists have had to use clues like how seismic waves move to infer the different layers that make up the planet, including the crust, mantle, and core.<br /><br />One thing that has stymied scientists is a precise measurement of how viscous the mantle layer is. The mantle is the layer below the crust. It's made of rock, but at the intense temperature and pressures at that depth, the rock actually becomes viscous -- flowing very slowly like honey or tar.<br /><br />"We want to know exactly how fast the mantle flows, because that influences the evolution of the entire Earth -- it affects how much heat the planet retains for how long, and how the Earth's materials are cycled over time," explained Park. "But our current understanding is very limited and includes a lot of assumptions."<br /><br />Park thought there might be a unique way to get a measurement of the mantle's properties by studying the aftermath of very deep earthquakes.<br /><br />Most of the earthquakes we hear about on the news are relatively shallow, originating in the top crust of the Earth. But occasionally, there are earthquakes that originate deep within the Earth -- down to 450 miles below the surface. These earthquakes are not as well-studied as shallower ones, because they're not as destructive to human settlements. But because they reach down into the mantle, Park thought they might offer a way to understand the behavior of the mantle.<br /><br />Park and her colleagues looked at one particular such earthquake, which occurred off the coast of Fiji in 2018. The quake was magnitude 8.2, but it was so deep -- 350 miles down -- that it did not cause any major damage or deaths.<br /><br />However, when the scientists carefully analyzed the data from GPS sensors on several nearby islands, they found the Earth kept moving -- after the earthquake was over.<br /><br />The data revealed that in the months following the quake, the Earth was still moving, settling in the wake of the disturbance. Even years later, Tonga is still moving slowly down at a rate of about 1 centimeter per year.<br /><br />"You can think of it like a jar of honey that slowly comes back to level after you dip a spoon in it -- except this takes years instead of minutes," said Park.<br /><br />This is the first solid observation of the deformation following deep quakes; the phenomenon had been observed before for shallow earthquakes, but experts thought the effect would be too small to be observable for deep earthquakes.<br /><br />Park and her colleagues used this observation to infer the viscosity of the mantle.<br /><br />By examining how the Earth deformed over time, they found evidence of a layer about 50-miles thick that is less viscous (that is, "runnier") than the rest of the mantle, sitting at the bottom of the upper mantle layer. They think this layer may extend around the entire globe.<br /><br />This low-viscosity layer could explain some other observations by seismologists that suggested there are "stagnant" slabs of rock that don't move very much, located around the same depth at the bottom of the upper mantle. "It has been hard to reproduce those features with models, but the weak layer found in this study makes it easier to do so," Park said.<br /><br />It also has implications for how Earth transports heat, cycles and mixes materials between the crust, core, and mantle over time.<br /><br />"We're really excited," Park said. "There's a lot more to find out with this technique." </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/deep-earthquakes-could-reveal-secrets-earths-mantle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Chicago</a>. Original written by Louise Lerner. </u><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><br /></span></span></p>

Deep Earthquakes Could Reveal Secrets of the Earth's Mantle

Deep Earthquakes Could Reveal Secrets of the Earth's Mantle Study uses 350-mile-deep earthquake to make elusive measurements of the Ear...

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