I thought 'Clunch' was interesting enough ... but now 'I hear' that there's a catalogue detailing the origins and diversity of every known mineral on earth …
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| Elephant Island - an ice-covered mountainous island |
… which is certainly helping scientists realise our planet's history of life, yet also perhaps predicting possible characteristics of future life …
… we do live in wonderful times – so interesting to learn these snippets, even though I don't really understand … I just love the learning curve.
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| Talk about a bleak place ... |
Nature has so so much to offer us … and we do not, most definitely do not, know how our life is made up … so so many components …
These mineral time capsules are made up from 57 “recipes” to create more than 10,500 “mineral kinds” - through crushing, zapping, boiling, baking and more …
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| Phyllites near Ben Lomond, Scotland |
Each mineral holds details about the Earth from when the rock was formed, allowing scientists to gain information about the emergence of life and the evolution of the planets.
The title of this post: Spheniscidite … is a phosphate mineral formed by reaction of penguin guano and the phyllitic soil of Elephant Island, Antartica …
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| A collage of Penguins |
The poop of the penguins causes a little bit of magic to happen in the soil … to give us the mineral Spheniscidite (named from the Penguin order Sphenisciformes) a phosphate mineral.
Tomato plant possibly benefitting from
Spheniscidite ...
Phosphate is one of the three main nutrients in fertilizers … it can be turned into phosphoric acid, which is used in everything from food and cosmetics to animal feed and electronics …
… what else can poop tell us about life?
I thought you'd be pleased I haven't added an image of 'poo' ... ?!
BBC article - Science Environment ... making minerals
New Scientist - 'Reclassification of earth's minerals reveals 4,000 more than we thought' ...
Hilary Melton-Butcher
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