Turquoise made headlines recently when researchers discovered that Mesoamericans had more than one source for this gem that they valued highly. Not all of it came from the Southwest!
However, visitors to New Mexico and other parts of the American Southwest today do see a lot of turquoise. If you’re heading there on vacation, here is a video that shows you what to look for in a turquoise shop.
That last “Star Trek”-style application is just one of the reasons why this “Murder She Wrote” element is on the 2018 US critical minerals list.
You might be thinking, wait, arsenic is a mineral? It’s not a nefarious white powder?
That powder exists, but it’s artificial. Arsenic itself is a metal–one of the weird ones that have a few nonmetal properties. As the chemical element As, it belongs in the same group of metalloids as antimony (Sb), another critical mineral.
The metalloids are green. Reading vertically, from top to bottom, arsenic is in group “15”–the nitrogen group–on the periodic table of elements. This matters for arsenic’s use as a semiconductor in electronics and telecommunications. (Links are live at image source.)
As we saw last time, when this volcano broke its five-decade silence with a VEI-2 bang in 1994, local people responded with traditional ceremonies; artists were drawn to the event; government officials took emergency measures; and scientists expanded their monitoring networks.
For almost a quarter of a century now, Don Goyo has been on center stage. People have adjusted to it and are moving on with their lives, as people always do after a natural disaster.
But scientists just updated the official hazard map (Spanish) for Popocatépetl, which we’re going to take a look at in this post.
The volcanologists did reassure everybody that there is no sign of any increased or upcoming increase in activity; the volcano is still at a “Yellow, Phase 2” alert level.
Also, to counter popular rumors, they stated in no uncertain terms that Don Goyo is not connected to Guatemala’s Fuego, which recently had a deadly eruption, or to Kilauea, out in Hawaii, with its spectacular lava flows. Each of these three volcanoes has its own plumbing system and exists for different geological reasons.
The problem with Popocatépetl is that, not only in 1994 but also at any point in modern times, this volcano has never shown the levels of violence that the geologic record proves that it is capable of.
And now Don Goyo has 25 million human neighbors, unfamiliar with its historic power and living less than 65 miles (100 km) away from its summit.
See CENAPRED’s hazard map (Spanish) for details. “Ciudad de México” is Mexico City.
Seismic sensors, deformation monitoring, and gas/hydrothermal studies can pick up signs of such approaching events, especially the big ones.
Continue reading
Yes, a wildcat can be Scottish.
At least on my equipment, the perspective seems off on this video, but the information is so complete and well presented, based on what I’ve learned about this cat while working on the books, that I’m sharing it anyway.
PS, June 16, 2018: I have mixed feelings about the Scottish wildcat issue, but I am not expressing them here because they stem from reasons that are too complex to get into in just a thousand words or so. It must wait until I have been able to explain the basics of it in the upcoming ebook on the domestic cat, and its sequel on the modern cat family.
As anyone acquainted with a domestic cat might expect, even zoologists find Felis silvestris hard to deal with. One of the book chapters will mention this by focusing on the domestic cat’s scientific name: no one can agree on what it should be.
Wildcats are in the Felis silvestris group, but the scientific name for house cats is highly controversial–some say that it should be Felis silvestris catus, while others rightly point out that this is going to mess up a lot of environmental legislation meant to protect wildcats and therefore it should be Felis catus. But wait! say members of the first group. It is a wildcat descendant . . . and round and round the debate goes.
The Highland Tiger group is on the F. catus end of the opinion spectrum, but this video is a good introduction to the issue. My main concern, from this and from some scientific papers I have read, is two-fold:
When first scheduling this guest video last week, I didn’t realize a note would be necessary, but on rewatching the thing today, I do want to make this addendum. Online resources on the Scottish wildcat issue generally are very polarized. I hope to add some neutral ground to the debate in the book chapter covering this.
Thank you for your interest!
Why are those scientists risking their lives, and then casting longing glances back at the deadly crystals even as they leave the cave?
Because this is what gypsum is like up at the surface:
For today’s geopark, believe it or not, we need to start out on Mars!
“Yardang” doesn’t sound like a typical scientific term (in English, anyway), and it isn’t. It’s Ugyur for the same type of rock formation on Earth, and it was first used by geologists to describe these desert features near Dunhaung in China.
We move too fast to see much of the movement made by this giant we live on and in, unless it has a spasm of some sort, like an earthquake, eruption, landslide, or storm.
None of us has the time to just stand around, watching the fascinating world around us. Fortunately, there are cameras.
So relax now for 16 minutes or so and let the sky roll over you (watch out for the snails and pity the ants, who live at an even faster pace than our own).
And yet people in the past used it all the time:
Nefertiti. (Arkadiy Etumyan, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Matthias Stom used antimony-based Naples Yellow in “The Arrest of Christ.” (Source)
It’s unclear if antimony harmed anyone back then, but it could have. While antimony’s effects on human health vary, it can cause liver, skin, respiratory, and/or cardiovascular problems.
Also, in some formulations antimony will burn (a feature that chemical experts have harnessed to provide us with green and white fireworks, as well as “glitter” effects).
Antimony is obviously a multipurpose (and sometimes sparkly) element. But why did the US government list it as a critical mineral in 2018?
Continue reading
This is also helpful in remote areas like Alaska, where volcano monitoring is difficult but absolutely necessary because of heavy air traffic.
And, yes, if you sped up volcanic infrasound, it would sound just like an erupting volcano:
Volcano News, Discussions, Chat and more
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." - Terry Pratchett
Walking alongside Opportunity as she explores Endeavour...
Join Mauricio Antón in his search for clues to restore ancient life
Discoveries, Journeys & Milestones in Space Exploration
Posts mainly about volcanoes
by John Bengtson "the great detective of silent film locations" New York Times
Washington's Landslide Blog
Exploring the Civil War-era landscape in the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania region.
Our Discovery and Usage of the Chemical Elements
Official Blog of the National Hurricane Center
Sharing My Culture, Stories & Other Things I Love
Silence Is Golden
A journal of space exploration
