Carbon Mineral Challenge

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The Carbon Mineral Challenge is a citizen science project dedicated to accelerating the discovery of carbon-bearing minerals. The program launched in 2015 December with sponsorship from the Deep Carbon Observatory. The project ended in 2019 September, with 31 new carbon-bearing minerals found from 27 locations. [1]

Contents

Background

Mineralogist Robert Hazen and his colleagues pioneered the concept of mineral evolution to explain how life and geology have intertwined throughout Earth's multi-billion year past. As part of that research, the group developed a model that combines the locations and distributions of known minerals to predict the number of unknown carbon minerals on Earth. The method is similar to statistical methods used in biology. [2] Hazen and his group predicted that 145 carbon minerals remain undiscovered on Earth. [3]

A paper supporting the research, "Carbon Mineral Ecology", was published by American Mineralogist in 2015, and the Carbon Mineral Challenge was announced in 2015 at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco. [4] Geochemist Daniel Hummer (Southern Illinois University) is the project lead. [5]

Carbon is the focus of the project due to the element's importance to life on Earth and how little is known about it. [6] [7]

Research Method

The research behind the Carbon Mineral Challenge is based on a type of analysis called large number of rare events (LNRE) modeling. To arrive at their total of 145 previously undescribed carbon minerals, Hazen and his colleagues, including mathematician Grethe Hystad of Purdue University-Calumet, focused on diversity-distribution relationships of the 403 known carbon-bearing minerals. Using 82,922 pieces of data about mineral species and localities, tabulated in mindat.org (as of 1 January 2015), the researchers found that all carbon-bearing minerals, as well as subsets containing carbon with hydrogen, calcium, sodium, or oxygen, conform to LNRE distributions. This method of analysis is often used in microbiology to estimate new species. [8]

Hazen likens this method of modeling to reading a book. "Some words you read over and over throughout, such as 'and' and 'the.' These common words are everywhere and easy to spot," says Hazen. "On the other hand, there are words that may appear only one or two times in an entire book. Earth's missing minerals are like these rare words; we haven't found them yet because they formed only in very few places and in very small quantities." [9]

The researchers note that 145 is a minimum estimate of undiscovered carbon-bearing minerals for two reasons. First, the calculation is based on the assumption that minerals will continue to be discovered using exactly the same procedures. However, new techniques and emerging technology are expected to boost the rate of discovery. Second, the data from mindat.org underreports the numbers of rarest minerals found at exactly one or two localities; a bias that results in lower estimates of undiscovered minerals. [10]

Hazen and his colleagues continue to explore big-data mineralogy in a project called "The Co-Evolution of the Geo- and Biospheres: An Integrated Program for Data-Driven, Abductive Discovery in the Earth Sciences". [11]

How the Project Works

To register a new carbon mineral with the project, mineralogists are asked to adhere to the protocol outlined by the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification. Once a carbon mineral is approved by that body, the team responsible for the mineral's discovery submits their finding via a form on the project's website. [12] As of December 2015 there were 405 known and catalogued carbon minerals. [13]

The project focuses both on new discoveries in the field and analyses of samples already in storage in museums and other institutions. [14] Thirty-one new carbon minerals have been described since the project's launch. [15] While two minerals, abellaite and parisite-(La), have chemistry that was predicted by the research team, there have been some unexpected finds, including the mineral leószilárdite, a uranyl carbonate, and tinnunculite which is an organic mineral. [16] [17]

The mineral analysis by Hazen and his colleagues provides some clues about promising locations to look for new carbon minerals and predicts their chemical makeup [18]

List of new minerals found

The following new minerals were found by the project: [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineralogy</span> Scientific study of minerals and mineralised artifacts

Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coesite</span> Silica mineral, rare polymorph of quartz

Coesite is a form (polymorph) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) that is formed when very high pressure (2–3 gigapascals), and moderately high temperature (700 °C, 1,300 °F), are applied to quartz. Coesite was first synthesized by Loring Coes, Jr., a chemist at the Norton Company, in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindat.org</span> Non-commercial online mineralogical database

Mindat.org is a non-commercial interactive online database covering minerals around the world. Originally created by Jolyon Ralph as a private project in 1993, it was launched as a community-editable website in October 2000. As of 2023 it is operated by the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stishovite</span> Tetragonal form of silicon dioxide

Stishovite is an extremely hard, dense tetragonal form (polymorph) of silicon dioxide. It is very rare on the Earth's surface; however, it may be a predominant form of silicon dioxide in the Earth, especially in the lower mantle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abelsonite</span> Organic mineral, a nickel porphyrine derivative

Abelsonite is a nickel porphyrin mineral with chemical formula C31H32N4Ni. It was discovered in 1969 in the U.S. State of Utah and described in 1975. The mineral is named after geochemist Philip H. Abelson. It is the only known crystalline geoporphyrin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ho-Kwang Mao</span> Chinese-American geologist

Ho-Kwang (Dave) Mao is a Chinese-American geologist. He is the director of the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research in Shanghai, China. He was a staff scientist at Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science for more than 30 years. Mao is a recognized leading scientist in high pressure geosciences and physical science. There are two minerals named after him, Davemaoite and Maohokite.

Luisa Ottolini is an Italian physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hazen</span> Research scientist at George Mason University

Robert Miller Hazen is an American mineralogist and astrobiologist. He is a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Science at George Mason University, in the United States. Hazen is the Executive Director of the Deep Carbon Observatory.

The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is a global research program designed to transform understanding of carbon's role in Earth. DCO is a community of scientists, including biologists, physicists, geoscientists and chemists, whose work crosses several traditional disciplinary lines to develop the new, integrative field of deep carbon science. To complement this research, the DCO's infrastructure includes public engagement and education, online and offline community support, innovative data management, and novel instrumentation development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic mineral</span> Natural compound occurring in mineral form

An organic mineral is an organic compound in mineral form. An organic compound is any compound containing carbon, aside from some simple ones discovered before 1828. There are three classes of organic mineral: hydrocarbons, salts of organic acids, and miscellaneous. Organic minerals are rare, and tend to have specialized settings such as fossilized cacti and bat guano. Mineralogists have used statistical models to predict that there are more undiscovered organic mineral species than known ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark S. Ghiorso</span> American geochemist

Mark S. Ghiorso is an American geochemist who resides in Seattle, Washington. He is best known for creating MELTS, a software tool for thermodynamic modeling of phase equilibria in magmatic systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abellaite</span> Hydrous carbonate mineral

Abellaite is a hydrous carbonate mineral discovered in the abandoned Eureka uranium mine in the village of Torre de Capdella (Lleida province), Catalonia, Spain. The ideal chemical formula of abellaite is NaPb2(CO3)2(OH). It is named in honor of Joan Abella i Creus, a Catalan gemmologist who has long studied minerals from the Eureka mine and first found abellaite in the mine. A team composed, among others, by Jordi Ibáñez-Insa from the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera (CSIC) and by Joan Viñals and Xavier Llovet from the University of Barcelona, identified and characterized the mineral’s structure and chemical composition.

Marklite is a hydrated copper carbonate mineral named after Gregor Markl, a German mineralogist at the University of Tübingen. Markl found the type specimen of marklite in the dumps of the Friedrich-Christian mine in the Black Forest Mountains in southwestern Germany. Markl specializes in crustal petrology and geochemistry and has studied the hydrothermal ore deposits of the Black Forest area. Jakub Plášil of the Institute of Physics at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and colleagues identified its structure.

Leószilárdite is a mineral discovered by Travis Olds of the University of Notre Dame and colleagues in the Markey Mine in Utah, USA. They named the mineral in honor of Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born physicist and inventor. Leószilárdite is the first naturally occurring sodium- and magnesium-containing uranyl carbonate. It is rare and water-soluble, and was discovered on a seam of carbon-rich material deposited by an ancient stream. Groundwater reacted with the uraninite ore to create leószilárdite and other minerals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parisite-(La)</span> Carbonate-fluoride mineral

Parisite-(La) is mineral discovered by Daniel Atencio of the University of São Paulo and colleagues in the Mula claim, Bahia, Brazil. Parisite-(La) is the lanthanum analog of parisite-(Ce), which has the same structure, but with cerium substituted for lanthanum. Parisite-(La) is chemically similar to synchysite-(La).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Abella i Creus</span> Catalan mineralogist

Joan Abella i Creus is a Catalan gemmologist and mineralogist who discovered abellaite, a mineral that receives this name in his honor

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Fleischer (mineralogist)</span>

Michael Fleischer was an American chemist and mineralogist. He worked as a geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey from 1939 to 1978. He published a huge number of chemical abstracts and reviews of proposed mineral names, and is known for his authoritative Glossary of Mineral Species, first published in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineral evolution</span> Increasing mineral diversity over time

Mineral evolution is a recent hypothesis that provides historical context to mineralogy. It postulates that mineralogy on planets and moons becomes increasingly complex as a result of changes in the physical, chemical and biological environment. In the Solar System, the number of mineral species has grown from about a dozen to over 5400 as a result of three processes: separation and concentration of elements; greater ranges of temperature and pressure coupled with the action of volatiles; and new chemical pathways provided by living organisms.

The carbonate chlorides are double salts containing both carbonate and chloride anions. Quite a few minerals are known. Several artificial compounds have been made. Some complexes have both carbonate and chloride ligands. They are part of the family of halocarbonates. In turn these halocarbonates are a part of mixed anion materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Leslie Jambor</span> Canadian geologist and mineralogist

John Leslie Jambor was a Canadian geologist and mineralogist. Jambor was an exceptional figure in the field of mineralogy and a major contributor to the Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC).
Jambor has a Scopus h-index of 38.

References

  1. ↑ "The carbon mineral challenge: A worldwide hunt for new carbon minerals". Phys.org. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Elizabeth (22 December 2015). "Worldwide Hunt Begins for Missing Carbon Minerals". Scientific American. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Deep Carbon Observatory: Announcing the Carbon Mineral Challenge
  4. ↑ AGU Fall Meeting: The Carbon Mineral Challenge: A worldwide hunt for new carbon minerals (Workshop)
  5. ↑ deepcarbon.net
  6. ↑ Ivy Shih (9 March 2016). "Discovery of carbon on Mercury reveals the planet's dark past". The Conversation. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  7. ↑ Hazen, Robert M.; Jones, Adrian P.; Baross, John A. (eds.). "1" (PDF). Carbon in Earth. Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry. ISBN   978-0-939950-90-4 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Hazen, Robert M.; Hummer, Daniel R.; Hystad, Grethe; Downs, Robert T.; Golden, Joshua J. (2016). "Carbon mineral ecology: Predicting the undiscovered minerals of carbon" (PDF). American Mineralogist. 101 (4): 889–906. Bibcode:2016AmMin.101..889H. doi:10.2138/am-2016-5546. S2CID   741788 . Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Deep Carbon Observatory: Announcing the Carbon Mineral Challenge
  10. ↑ Hazen, Robert M.; Hummer, Daniel R.; Hystad, Grethe; Downs, Robert T.; Golden, Joshua J. (2016). "Carbon mineral ecology: Predicting the undiscovered minerals of carbon" (PDF). American Mineralogist. 101 (4): 889–906. Bibcode:2016AmMin.101..889H. doi:10.2138/am-2016-5546. S2CID   741788 . Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Co-Evolution of the Geo- and Biospheres: An Integrated Program for Data-Driven, Abductive Discovery in the Earth Sciences". Carnegie Institution for Science. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  12. ↑ Carbon Mineral Challenge: How It Works
  13. ↑ Smithsonian Magazine
  14. ↑ "Worldwide Hunt Begins for Missing Carbon Minerals". Scientific American . Archived from the original on 17 April 2023.
  15. 1 2 "New Carbon Minerals". Carbon Mineral Challenge. May 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  16. ↑ The Carbon Mineral Challenge
  17. ↑ "Three new uranium minerals from Utah". Science Daily. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  18. ↑ Sid Perkins (4 October 2016). "Rock hounds are on the hunt for new carbon minerals". Science News. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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