Science

The Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals offers extensive research, training, workshops, classes, and educational material on the science of rocks and minerals. Our mineralogy and geology programs are featured in our Education area. There are special events and festivals annually for rock and mineral enthusiasts to learn even more.

Below is a collection earth science-related news, topics, discussions, and information to help you learn more about the study of rocks and minerals.

15,000 Year Old Agate Knife Found in Oregon

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OPB Radio reported on the amazing archaeological discover of a knife carved from agate currently estimated from 15,000 years ago in Eastern Oregon, evidence of what could be the oldest human occupation west of the Rocky Mountains, shaking up many theories on North American human history. Carved from clear orange agate, the stone knife has been described as a Swiss Army Knife of its day with a serrated point edge like a saw and a steep, flaked edge used to carve wood and scrape hides and cut meat from the bones of prey. Blood found on the stone has been tested and found to be Bison antiques, an ancient ancestor of the modern bison or buffalo in North America.

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30,000 Diamonds

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A rare diamondiferous peridotite has been found in the Udachny Diamond Mine. The Russian mine is one of the 10 deepest open-pit mines on Earth. A chunk the size of a golf ball has geologists counting the micro-diamonds imbedded within the rock. In addition to diamonds, the 10.5 g rock contains specks of red and green garnet and other minerals. Prof Taylor and his colleagues examined it using a giant X-ray machine to study the diamonds and their relationships with associated materials. They also beamed electrons at the materials inside the diamonds to study the chemicals trapped inside. This created 2D and 3D images which revealed a relationship between minerals. …The images also showed abnormal carbon isotopes for this type of rock, indicating it was originally formed as part of the crust of the Earth, withdrawn by tectonic shifts and transformed into the shimmery rock scientists see today. Along with the 30,000 diamonds fused into the peridotite are red and green garnets making for a beautiful and unusual specimen.

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Popocatepetl and Colima Volcanoes in Mexico Erupting

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A webcam focused on Mexico’s volcano, Popcatepetl captured ash erupting, erupt ash from the snow covered upper slopes today. This is one of two active volcanoes in Mexico, the other being Colima with two explosions over this past weekend with ash plumes reaching an estimated 10,000 feet/3km into the skies over the volcano. It’s been over 100 years since Colima was the site of a large eruption so researchers are studying reports as people prepare to evacuate if the volcano continues to show activity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6blib3FoRF4 According to reports from CENA PRED Mexico, the translated report for the recent activity on Popcatepetl states: In the last 24 hours the monitoring system of Popocatepetl volcano registered 57 exhalations accompanied by emission of steam, gas and ash. The most significant was presented at 06:57 and recorded 57 minutes of tremor. During the night glow was observed over the crater. Over a 24 hour period on January 4, CENA PRED reported the Popocatepetl volcano was under a “yellow” alert as they reported “113 low-intensity exhalations” and explosions of “low to intermediate intensity.

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Volcano in Iceland Stops Air Traffic

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National Geographic answers the question, “Why Iceland’s volcanoes have vexed humans for centuries?” Witze says that Iceland’s volcanoes have affected human communities for more than a thousand years and that BárÄ‘arbunga is responsible for the largest eruption anywhere on Earth in the last 10,000 years. Some of the most famous ones in the last couple of decades have been Surtsey, a brand-new island that rose from the waves off the southern coast in 1963, and Heimaey, another island where in 1973 an eruption began in the middle of the night, in the middle of a town. But if you go further back in time you can find much more devastating examples. In the year 1104, the volcano Hekla covered more than half the island with pumice. And in 1783, Laki erupted for eight months, pouring out the biggest lava flow in recorded history. Laki also emitted more than 100 million tons of sulfur dioxide, which drifted over Europe to form a choking fog that damaged crops and changed the climate for years. Iceland has approximately 30 volcanoes, and BárÄ‘arbunga, the largest volcano in that part of the planet, is threatening to erupt. Air traffic over the area is currently suspended. The Iceland Meteorological Office features a live webcam of the glacier covered volcano. We recently covered volcanoes and the havoc they cause in our story on the Mt. St. Helens Volcano.

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Earthquake Science

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On Sunday, August 24, 2014, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Napa Valley of California. According to the National Geographic, the event was centered about 6.7 miles under the earth and was one of the largest in the area since the 1989 Loma Prieta quake that measured 7.0. Today’s quake was reported by the Earthquake Report Center from San Francisco to Sacramento and classified as a “typical strike-slip earthquake with a mainly horizontal movement.” They called it the “most dangerous earthquake type in the world.” Their web page monitors and updates news about the earthquake. While reports are still coming in, initial reports suggest this earthquake was triggered by a crack or fault in the earth’s crust known as the Franklin Fault, thought to be dormant for 1.6 million years.

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Rare Film Footage of Mt. St. Helens Volcanic Eruption

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Last year, rare footage of a documentary on Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption from the late 1980s was shared on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zHgwiOK3oU The documentary shows old photographs from before the eruption dating back to the 1950s, exploring the campgrounds, parks, lakes, and forested areas, now changed forever by the destructive forces of the volcano erupting in 1980. Mount St. Helens formed 275,000 years ago. March 27, 1980, the volcano erupted, closing the Gifford Pinchot National Park, and bringing thousand of scientists and forest service experts to the mountain to document every moment of this monumental event. May 18, 1980, the volcano exploded at 8:32am, killing 57 people, and destroying 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railroad, and 185 miles of highway. For over nine hours, the plume of ash rose approximately 16 miles above sea level, moving eastward at about 60 miles per hour, reaching Idaho by noon, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, by the next day. A debris avalanche triggered by the explosion and earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, releasing 24 megatons of thermal energy. It reduced the mountains summit from 9,677 to 8,365 feet, leaving a one mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater, becoming one of the most deadliest and economically destructive volcanic events in the history of the United States. Mt. St. Helens eruption was classified as a VEI 5 event, the only significant such event to happen in the contiguous 48 United States since the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California. Before 1980, the last eruption of St. Helens was 130 years ago.

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History of the Solar System Found in Meteorite

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Science Daily reports that planetary scientists from Curtin University found that a unique volcanic meteorite recovered in Western Australia may reveal the violent history of our solar system. Associate Professor Fred Jourdan, along with colleagues Professor Phil Bland and Dr Gretchen Benedix from Curtin’s Department of Applied Geology, believe the meteorite is evidence that a series of collisions of asteroids occurred more than 3.4 billion years ago. “This meteorite is definitely one-of-a-kind,” Dr Jourdan said. “Nearly all meteorites we locate come from Vesta, the second largest asteroid in the solar system. But after studying the meteorite’s composition and orbit, it appears it derived from a large, unidentified asteroid that was split apart during the collisions.” The research team dated the meteorite with the argon-argon technique, a well-known method for dating impact crater events, to offer a glimpse of the asteroid’s impact history. Falling to earth in 2007 and believed to originate from Vesta, the scientific team found that the meteorite had not a single impact after 3.4 billion years ago until it arrived on earth, and they recorded three impact events between 3.6 billion and 3.4 billion years ago. This information confirms that some of the bombardment history of the solar system ended after 3.4 billion years, helping scientists with the timeline of the evolution of our region of space. You can read more about this discovery on the report from Curtin University. The Rice Northwest Museum is home to an outstanding collection of meteorites on exhibit in cooperation with the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory of Portland State University. Each May, the museum celebrates the Annual Meteorite and Family Fun Day with extensive special exhibits, demonstrations, lectures, and more. Interested in learning more about meteorites? Read our Meteorite article and visit the museum to touch the Gibeon Meteorite from Africa.

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Curiousity Rover Finds Its First Meteorite on Mars

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This week it was announced that NASA’s Curiosity Rover has found its first iron meteorite on Mars. The meteorite represents a time capsule for scientists to study and learn more about our universe. Meteorites found on Mars are of special interest as they had little atmosphere to pass through on their way to the planet, and little weather to wear them away, keeping them almost as pristine as when they arrived in our solar system.

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The Meteorite

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The Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum is home to many “out of this world” meteorites, most of them prepared and presented by the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory of Portland State University. On a visit to the museum, you will have a chance to touch our amazing Gibeon Meteorite from Africa. There is so much iron in that meteorite, it feels really cold to the touch. Meteorites are naturally occurring objects that come from space and survive penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere. Most meteorites originate in the asteroid (an object in space too small to be a planet) belt between Mars and Jupiter, but some meteorites are pieces of Mars or the moon. Every May, the Museum celebrates our annual Meteorite and Family Fun Day. Until them, let’s learn more about meteorites. There are three main types of meteorites: stony, stony-iron and iron. The most abundant type of meteorite is the stony meteorite, which accounts for over 90% of all recorded meteorite falls. The subgroup chondrites are most abundant. Iron meteorites account for ~5% of all meteorite falls. Meteorite sizes vary greatly from small (dust) to large (5 to 7 miles wide). The frequency with which the Earth is bombarded by meteorites depends on the meteorite’s size. Small meteorites impact the Earth very frequently, whereas large meteorites impact much more rarely. Meteorites are named after the locations where they are found. Oregon meteorites include an iron meteorite from Klamath Falls, a stony meteorite from Salem, an iron meteorite from Sams Valley, and an iron meteorite from Willamette. Here is information about the specific types of meteorites. Stony Meteorites The stony meteorites are composed of mostly rocky material (silicate minerals) and contain a small amount of iron and nickel. There are two main types of stony meteorites chondrites (have never been melted) and achondrites (melted and thus differentiated such that heavy metals sank to the core and the lighter silicates floated). Stony-Iron Meteorites The stony-irons are made up of an almost equal mixture of iron-nickel metal and silicate minerals. Pallasites are a common example of stony-iron meteorites. Iron Meteorites Iron meteorites are composed primarily of iron and nickel metal. These meteorites most likely represent the metallic cores of asteroid bodies. More Information on Meteorites To help you learn more about meteorites in general, here are some helpful educational resources and articles. Meteorite – Wikipedia Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory of Portland State University The Meteorite Exchange – Learn About Meteorites & Meteors Meteorite Information Death by meteorite – Bad Astronomy | DiscoverMagazine NOVA | Diamonds in the Sky Meteorite Carries Ancient Water from Mars – Scientific American World’s Only Known Natural Quasicrystal Traced to Ancient Meteorite – Scientific American The best meteorites are found in Antarctica – Slate Magazine Nasa’s Curiosity rover finds large iron meteorite on Mars | Stuart Clark | Science | The Guardian

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Rhodochrosite – The Inca Rose Stone

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Among our many Exhibits in the Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum is our popular Rhodochrosite specimens. Rhodochrosite is also known as Inca Rose Stone, Raspberry Spar, and Manganese Spar. Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate (MnCO3). The carbonates are a group of minerals that contain the anion group CO32-, and are subdivided into the calcite, aragonite, dolomite or hydrated carbonate subgroups. Rhodochrosite belongs to the calcite subgroup. These carbonates are known for having rhombohedral symmetry, which results in the formation of rare rhombohedron shaped crystals. The name rhodochrosite is derived from the Greek for rose-colored. Rhodochrosite is most commonly pink or red, but may sometimes occur as yellow, grey or brown crystals. Pink and red colors occur when the rhodochrosite has a high manganese content, but some substitution of iron in place of manganese causes other colors. Its density also depends on the amount of manganese present, with a lower density associated with low iron content.

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