Scientists catalog more rare Earth minerals

A recent catalog of rare Earth minerals revealed that the total quantities of some of these minerals have a smaller volume than a sugar cube. However of the over 2,500 minerals in the catalog, many hold information that is crucial to understanding how the Earth formed. Robert Hazen, a researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science, argues that while many people dismiss these rare minerals because they are so minimal in quantity, these minerals tell us how the Earth differs from the Moon, Mars and other planetary bodies. These uncommon minerals found only on our planet hold the key to knowing what makes Earth so special.

Hazen and his colleague Jesse Ausubel, a professor at the Rockefeller University, co-authored a paper on the rare minerals of Earth. They said that these minerals not only inform us of Earth’s past, but may actually help us understand the origins of life on Earth.

While many think that rare minerals are substances like diamonds, rubies and emeralds, these are far too common to be included in their paper. “Rare,” by their standards, includes minerals found in only five or fewer places on earth.

All of these minerals are a product of just a few variables: temperature, pressure and one or more of the 72 chemical elements that make up earth.

Some minerals are rare because they can only form under the most extreme and precise of conditions, like hatrurite, which is formed from calcium, silicon and oxygen, but only at temperatures around 1,2500 degrees Celsius.

Planetary constraints are seen in minerals formed from rare elements, like beryllium. Ephemeral minerals have a crystalline form of methane hydrate and are found in obscure locations like Arctic drill sites.

While this study may seem to have exhausted the subject, the scientists, as well as other geologists around the globe, are looking for more minerals deemed ‘rare’ enough to be included in such selective catalogs. They hope to apply the knowledge of these minerals to solving our unanswered questions about the Earth.

They hope to apply the knowledge of these minerals to solving our unanswered questions about the Earth.