[Rockhounds] Survival of the firmest - Scientists say rocks evolve too

[Pmodreski at aol.com]

I got your Vancouver link to work too--I was just missing the half of the  
url that lapped on to the second line.  Both of the stories were really  pretty 
much the same, the Canadian one adapted from the other.
 
I don't know that this is really going to change mineralogy, at least in  
regard to the definitions of minerals.  For example, all the oxidized  copper 
minerals wouldn't exist without the oxygen in our present atmosphere, and  the 
oxygen wouldn't be there without plants; but that doesn't quite mean that  these 
minerals are biologically produced.
 
Altho, the whole question of "biologically produced or mediated, minerals",  
is a whole 'nother can of worms, as to definitions of what's a mineral.  I  
know that a number of mineralogists would like to drop the whole "requirement"  
that minerals be strictly inorganic, because there is such a lot of gray area  
where life forms play some role in mineral formation.  For example, most of  
the calcite in limestones would not be considered "a mineral" if we rigorously 
 exclude any mineral precipitation in which biologic processes play any  role.
 
Pete
 
 
In a message dated 11/26/2008 6:54:45 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
Kreigh at tomaszewski.net writes:

Pete,

Odd, your direct link didn't work for me. But I was able  to back up to  
http://www.ciw.edu/news/ and click on the story to  read it. It had  
better science than the Canadian  newspaper.

My first reaction was that the mineralogical and geological  textbooks  
are going to end up being rewritten.

My second  reaction was what is the IMA going to do? Most definitions of  
what  is a mineral include something like inorganically formed - see   
http://webmineral.com/Mineral_Definition.shtml.

Most great  discoveries seem obvious once they are explained. I had a  
real 'Aha'  moment this morning after it was pointed out to me by a  
friend. I  think this is going to be a big turning point in the history  
of  mineralogy.

Kreigh



On Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008, at 19:35  America/Detroit, Pmodreski at aol.com  
wrote:

> Yes, this is a  very interesting concept and way of looking  at things,  
>  thanks
> for posting this, Kreigh.
>
> This has appeared in  several online science news sources lately; the  
> full
>  article is in the latest (Nov-Dec) issue of the American Mineralogist,   
> and it
> includes an unique version of a geologic time chart of  earth history,
> emphasizing the various major events in the evolution  of the planet  
> and of both
> inorganic and life-related  processes.  Not everything it deals with is  
>   connected
> with life; the article begins with the various stages of  mineral   
> formation in
> the solar and pre-solar  nebula.
>
> A bit amusing that this story link you gave here is  from a Canadian  
> news
> source and emphasizes the Canadian  contribution to this paper; the  
> first two
> authors are  from the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie  
> Institution  (Wash.
> D.C) and the others are from the U. of AZ, Johns Hopkins,  the  
> Smithsonian, and
> yes, one from the Canada  Geological Survey.
>
> Actually, I'm not getting the link you  posted to work (seems to get  
> that
> Vancouver newspaper  website but not the specific story), but here is  
>  another
> that works for me, from the C.I.W. (I got this via  _www.geology.com_
> (http://www.geology.com) ):
>
>  _http://www.ciw.edu/news/mineral_kingdom_has_co_evolved_life_
>  (http://www.ciw.edu/news/mineral_kingdom_has_co_evolved_life)
>
>  Pete
>
>
> In a message dated 11/26/2008 5:17:33 P.M.  Mountain Standard Time,
> Kreigh at tomaszewski.net writes:
>
>  A  landmark scientific study co-authored by a Canadian geologist  has
> identified a sudden explosion of mineral diversity after the   emergence
> of life on Earth, and advanced a "revolutionary"  theory  that rocks  
> have
> been evolving - much like  plants and animals -  throughout the planet's
>  history.
>
> Wouter Bleeker, an  Ottawa-based researcher with  the Geological Survey
> of Canada, is one  of eight members of an  international team whose
> theory of "mineral  evolution" - the  idea that many of the Earth's  
> rocks
> are dynamic   "species" which emerged and transformed over time, largely
> in   concert with living things - is generating a major buzz in the
> global  scientific community since its publication last week in a  U.S.
>  journal.
>
>  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=839b3ae1-264a-4e61-
>  a6f5-d464d5f0f923
>
>
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