<
https://theconversation.com/how-do-you-make-a-giant-gold-nugget-take-a-vein-of-quartz-add-a-few-thousand-earthquakes-236694>
"Humanity’s fascination with gold stretches back thousands of years. Gold
mining is described in ancient Greek and Roman sources, and gold rushes –
especially in the 19th century – played a powerful role in shaping the modern
world.
The dense, yellow metal is often found in veins of the rocky mineral quartz.
This is because the two condense together from hot fluids underground as a
result of changes in temperature, pressure and chemistry.
Geologists understand this process quite well, but large gold nuggets have been
a bit of a mystery. Gold is only dissolved in natural fluids at around one part
per million, so how does it concentrate into lumps that weigh tens or even
hundreds of kilograms?
As we report today in
Nature Geoscience, the answer likely has to do with the
unusual electrical properties of quartz – and what happens when an earthquake
puts it under pressure."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
