Distribution Of Gold Igneous Rocks: Fill & Download for Free

The crust, (and not what is under it), provides mankind with necessary minerals from gold to marble. The exploration for new sources of all minerals is restricted to the crust, regardless of what lies below. Obviously the Earth’s crust is not homogenous and therefore one cannot expect an even distribution of minerals all over the planet.Besides, the oceans hide 71% of the crust, so mineral resources are harvested from the surface that is accessible. The premise that Africa is rich in minerals is true. To say that Africa has more mineral wealth than other continents is false. For one thing the exposure of of certain igneous rocks, age of the strata, deposition and erosion, varies around the globe. It boils down to what minerals are of interest and the availability of those minerals to extraction.Industry’s needs often focus on Rare Earth Elements (REE). As stockpiles dwindle, Africa is a logical place to explore, but only for some minerals. For example, there are no significant yttrium deposits in Africa. Yttrium is used as an additive in alloys and was used to produce red phosphors for old-style colour television tubes. Yttrium’s radioactive isotope yttrium-90 has medical applications, (such as the treatment of liver cancer).For decades De Beers controlled the diamond market with their mines in South Africa, Significant diamond resources were discovered in Russia and Canada, effectively breaking the De Beers monopoly.A view of the distribution of mineral resources demonstrates a generous scattering of minerals around the world.Africa has a great many unexploited mineral resources that are being cornered by various companies and countries. China is leading the way in obtaining concessions for strategic metals.

Stunning Electric-Blue Flames Erupt From VolcanoesI think the oily black stones are indicative of a sulphur content.Volcanoes, like the one above, have visible blue flames at night, as sulphurous gases escapes from hydrothermic vents. They can have turquoise acidic lakes associated with them. The burning sulphur - blue flame - cools and forms yellow sulphur deposits.Yunkai has yellow walls. Braavos is associated with acidic lemon trees, and Dorne was once ruled by the Yellow Toad. Tarth has turquoise lakes and is associated with sapphires. The Others are visible at night, as are the flames from the burning sulphurous gases.‘On the day of the Doom, every hill for five hundred miles exploded, filling the air with ash and smoke and fire, which killed even dragons’ - Doom of ValyriaMany of the philosophers in ancient civilisations believed that everything in the natural world was made from the four elements: earth, water, air and fire.The geology of the Earth is a function of the interactions between those four ancient elements. Progress in scientific understanding since then has allowed us to increase the resolution with which we understand each ancient element, and further subdivide it at the material and atomic level. We explain matter in terms of forces, conditions - heat, pressure and time - how materials change to other forms, or react together to form a material, either known, or unknown.The black oily substance in ASOIAF will be the product of those four elements too. To ascertain what it is requires investigation into how it could have been formed, when and where, why, and from what.It seems somewhat crazy to attempt to use contemporary science to try to understand what a mysterious stone in a fantasy series, which on the surface is all Boobs. Sex. Magic. Dragons., could be, I think it’s worth a go.A working hypothesis that the geology of Earth might provide for a useful point of reference I think can be justified by the presence of known rocks, minerals and metals, flora and fauna, phenomena like weather, volcanoes, continental splits, astronomical similarities with the moon, sun and stars, comets and meteorites, and the action of the rivers flow, the tides and waves of the sea. There are products like obsidian, basalt, brimstone, ash and dust from volcanoes in ASOIAF, just like the volcanoes on Earth.The history of Earth is written in the geological features of our landscape - underneath the layers of rock - strata - are the continents of solid granite, interspersed with molten basalt.There are groups of rocks in the strata defined by origin - igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary - ores, minerals and metals - composition of elements - location, crystal structures - geodes, infiltration of material into rocks. Igneous rocks over time can become sedimentary rock, as further geological processes redistribute other material which is laid down over the top of them.Within the series there are numerous references to rocks and minerals that are real world materials, such as granite, basalt, marble, bloodstone, obsidian, lapis lazuli etc …We know that volcanoes in ASOIAF are likely associated with dragons - and a bit magic - but there are events like the Doom of Valyria, which are described in line with real world volcanic eruptions, minus the sorcerors, dragons incinerated in the air, prophetic dreams and Faceless Men taking all the credit.There are features within the author’s maps that mirror real world features: a shattered peninsula, river deltas, horseshoe shaped volcanic islands, geological layering, coastlines suggestive of continental split, and the distribution of recognisable geological materials, which are found in the kind of landscape, and in the form, that we would be familiar with on Earth.The author is not just a fantasy author, but also a sci-fi author - and sci-fi authors are diligent world builders, where although the worlds might be magical, they are still logical and coherent.Way back when, the Earth had a single continent, which split a number of times before resembling the world as we recognise it today. These continents make up most of Earth’s continental crust, the remainder being submerged, that is to say, covered by the sea.The lower the sea levels on Earth - for instance during the Pleistocene Ice Ages - the higher the amount of the continental shelf exposed as dry land, forming land bridges.Since the Earth was formed, tectonic plate activity, has split and reassembled continents a number of times. There are anomalies in the world map of ASOIAF, like the relative positions of Starfall, with the Sword of the Morning, on the west coast of Westeros, and Evenfall, Tarth, on the east. They are effectively the wrong way round, which is suggestive of continental breaking and reformation through time.The black, greasy stone then, I think has a strong argument for a basis in real world geology. There is one particular feature of rock on Earth, that when present has such materials consistently described as greasy or oily.It relates to sulphur.Volcanoes are all ‘fire and brimstone’, but brimstone gets only a fleeting mention as present in the water that Dany finds when travelling through the Red Waste, and in the ‘dragonstink’ of the pit under the pyramid of Meereen, when Quentyn is down there with Rhaegal and Viserion.The black, oily stone is present in a few different contexts.It’s there in the ‘stones that fall from the sky’ like the Toad Stone, and maybe the Bloodstone Emperor story. Some metereorites have a high sulphur content.The Black Stone, in real life, is an object of reverence, and said to have fallen from heaven as a guide for Adam and Eve to build an altar: Black Stone - WikipediaThere are different ‘types’ of meteorites, but one rare form is noteable for the iron content mainly being bound with sulphur, as the sulphide.Sulphur is known as a ‘siderophile’- it likes to be bound up with iron - from the Greek ‘sidero-’ - iron. However, the Latin root of ‘sidero-’ relates to stars and constellations.Chondrite - WikipediaIt’s also present in the ‘black blocks’ used to build the curtain wall of Moat Caitlin, the Five Forts, and the in the ruins of Yeen. It is intimated that those blocks are brought from elsewhere - there are described as too big for a man to carry alone - and deliberately used for a purpose that we don’t yet know. Constructions like Storms End and the Wall were built with purpose - to keep out the non-human - it seems reasonable to think that those blackstone buildings were too. It’s also there in Asshai.The ruins of Moat Cailin are said to be made from basalt, but when wet have an oily sheen. The access to the Breakwater at Sisterton is via a black basalt bridge, similar to the stone of Moat Cailin, and Moat Cailin was built from stone from elsewhere.The mineral native Sulfur information and picturesIn addition, these sorts of rocks have a very low density, say, the sort that would wash up on the shores of an island like Old Wyk.The black petroleum coating is the product of the decay of once living things. In the real world, the sedimentary environment would be sedimentary basins: the source rock sinks to the optimal depth in the basin, and the oil migrates into it, the source rock acts as a host.How much oil is created each year?Sedimentary basins are the result of subsidence, due to tectonic activity, producing gaps for sediment carried by geological processes to infill: Sedimentary basin - WikipediaThe Alchemists Guild and Black Cells of King’s Landing, and the subterrerean mazes of Lorath, could be where the sedimentary rock underground has been hollowed out during construction.There are also numerous islands which have the horseshoe shape found in volcanic islands. An example on Earth is Tanna, Vanuatu - Tanna (island) - Wikipedia - with features like Whitesands and Sulphur Bay; there are also volcanic islands that ‘rise’ from the sea, like Japanese scientists land on newly formed volcanic islandHere are some aspects of materials with the fictional world of ASOIAF that have real world counterparts that relate to suplur.Within the earlier information about sulphur, was colour of the flame produced when it burns. In addition, a major location of sulphur containing deposits, is where salt deposits are to be found.Here is a driftwood fire:Here is a blue volcano:Indonesian Volcano Erupts Electric-Blue LavaHere is some lapis lazuli:Lapis lazuli - WikipediaHere is some Fool’s Gold - Iron pyrites, or iron sulphide:I think it’s real world geologically possible that Casterly Rock might have fool’s gold mistaken for further real gold in their mines. A lot of language around the Lannisters relates to ‘fools’.Pyrite: The Real Story Behind “Fool’s Gold”TL;DR There are indications of the presence of sulphur containing materials in ASOIAF - and, geologically, the fictional world contains all the other kinds of rocks you’d expect from natural processes - basalt, salt, granite, marble, lapis lazuli. The greasy descriptor yells ‘sulphur’ and the ‘oily’ descriptor yells ‘black petroleum’ the product of decay of organic matter found frequently coating sulphur.There are meteorites with sulphur content which do not look dissimilar to, say, the Toad Stone. Sulphur burns with a blue flame: that, and the theme of organic decay lines up with the fictional theme of necromancy. Volcanoes and dragons are all ‘fire and brimstone’, but the brimstone hasn’t been accounted for yet - though sulphur containing lapis lazuli is definitely present (it’s blue because sulphur).Iron and sulphur, sulphur and salt, are related geologically. The first iron used by man was meteoric iron, before extraction from iron ore was developed. Iron and stars share a etymological root - ‘sidero-’ - the Others have ‘eyes like blue stars’ and hate ‘cold iron’ - sulphur burns blue - which would be a nice rationale for the basis of the Others and their iron-related dislikes.

“How can minerals form? —Minerals can form on the surface through evaporation of solutions containing dissolved minerals. Minerals can form beneath the surface when dissolved elements and compounds leave a hot water solution or when materials melted in magma/ lava then cools & hardens.”https://www.basd.net/cms/lib2/PA01001269/Centricity/Domain/353/Ch_4_Sec_2_How_minerals_form.pdf“A mineral is a naturally occurring crystalline solid that cannot be physically broken down into smaller components. Deposits of minerals form when a medium that contains and transports mineral-making ore-releases and deposits the ore. Magma is one such medium that transports ores. When magma or lava cools, the magma and ore carried within it crystallize to form tiny minerals in the newly-created igneous Rock. Minerals found in such rock might include feldspar or mica. Minerals can also be transported and released from water sources, such as seawater, river water, or groundwater. Often, chemical changes in the water might result in the release of different minerals such as salt or calcium carbonate. Pressure and heat in the process of creating metamorphic rock can also result in the formation or transformation of minerals. Distribution of mineral deposits is related to the transportation and release process. When gold minerals are released, typically they are so heavy that they are distributed to the bottom of riverbeds. Other minerals, such as feldspar, hornblende, or quartz, may be lightweight and drift in waterways until they are washed up on shores of riverbanks or coasts. Minerals in igneous rocks often form where magma has cooled over time. In this case, the mineral grains will be larger underground, where magma has not reached the Earth’s surface, and the cooling period is much longer.”Mineral Deposits