Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology

THE CHALLENGES OF DATING – GEOLOGISTS’ VERSION (part two)

Guto Paiva-Silva October 28, 2024

Heart-shaped minerals photomicrograph by Bernardo Cesare, from the Imaggeo archives

Whether the first four robust candidates for the love of your (geological) life did not match your expectations (if you missed part one, check it here) or you are feeling polyamorous looking for some other options and perspectives, other bachelors/bachelorettes datable phases can be everything you have been looking for. Here are some other minerals used in geochronology, as if they were featured ...[Read More]

THE CHALLENGES OF DATING – GEOLOGISTS’ VERSION (part one)

Guto Paiva-Silva July 19, 2024

Heart-shaped minerals photomicrograph by Bernardo Cesare, from the Imaggeo archives.

When it comes to dating profiles, minerals can put up a really good face at first. But, as some of the users in dating apps out there, they might not be worthy of a second try, or maybe not even of a first depending on what your intentions are… To help out, we will tackle some of the main minerals used in geochronology, as if they were featured on online dating apps, plus some ‘red flags’ from pre ...[Read More]

Elemental etymology – what’s in a name?

Elliot Carter June 7, 2023

Photo of a medieval medical manuscript translated from Arabic in the 2nd half of the 13th Century.

Al-Razi's Recueil des traités de médecine translated by Gerard of Cremona, from the second half of the 13th century. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Like many scientists in the GMPV sphere, I work a lot with geochemistry – using chemical elements and their differing behaviours, abundances or isotopes as tools to understand Earth processes. While staring at the periodic table, something that’s always niggled at me is where the names of these come from: why is the stuff we breath called oxygen and the sand on the beach made of silicon? Even more ...[Read More]

Rare Earth Elements…..in olivine?

Mike Jollands June 16, 2021

The Rare Earth Elements, or REEs, are really important. This is a group of elements including neodymium (used to create strong magnets), cerium (used in catalytic converters), lanthanum (used in electric car batteries), lutetium (used in oil refinery), with the uses of REEs increasing continuously. At the moment, the majority of the world’s supply of REEs comes from a single deposit in Inner ...[Read More]