The mantle makes up the majority of the volume of the Earth, but there is still a lot about it that we don’t understand. This is because we can’t observe it directly – forget ‘Journey to the center of the Earth’ – even our deepest drill holes (about 12 km deep) are merely tickling the surface of the planet (about 6400 km to the center). Most of what we know abou ...[Read More]
What is it? Lithiophilite, LiMnPO4 What’s it made of? Lithium (Li), manganese (Mn), phosphorus (P) and oxygen (O). The PO4 at the end of the formula makes this a phosphate mineral (phosphorus + oxygen = phosphate). What’s it’s structure? The way the different atoms are arranged in lithiophilite is described as orthorhombic, which means the crystal is built of lots of tiny cuboid- ...[Read More]
#mineralmonday: your weekly* dose of obscure mineralogy, every Monday** [*not guaranteed; **or possibly Tuesday-Sunday] What is it? Lazurite. Take a deep breath, the formula is Na3CaAl3Si3O12S. That’s a lot of elements to digest, what does it mean? Well, the aluminium (Al) and silicon (Si) form tetrahedra (4-faced 3D triangular shapes), with oxygen (O) on the points. These are arrange ...[Read More]
Did you ever notice that the majority of convenors of the EGU conference sessions seem to be older than you? Have you ever despaired that none of the conference sessions are directly relevant to your work? Does your CV look conspicuously blank in the ‘Service’ section? Have you ever tried to sneak one of your friends into the EGU Friday night party only to be discovered, have your conf ...[Read More]