Silicon (Si) plays a crucial role in global biogeochemical cycles, acting as an essential nutrient for a number of marine organisms, particularly for diatoms, who use it to build their cell frustules ...

For the first time, a high-pressure calcium silicate perovskite (CaSiO 3) has been identified as a naturally occurring mineral from Earth’s lower mantle, researchers report. The newly discovered ...

When it comes to knowing what actually lies deep inside the Earth, diamonds are a geologist’s best friend. The diamond bearing the telltale mineral inclusion came from a Botswana mine and formed at ...

"The process acts as a multiplier," Kanan said. "You take one reactive mineral, calcium oxide, and a magnesium silicate that is more or less inert, and you generate two reactive minerals." As a quick ...

Asteroid Bennu—the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, led by the University of Arizona—is a mixture of materials from throughout, and even beyond, our solar system. Over the past few ...

Identification of minerals founded on BSE signal segmentation can be challenging as some minerals have comparable BSE intensities. Advanced Mineral Identification and Characterization System (AMICS) ...

A new process could enable crushed rocks to capture carbon dioxide from the air much more quickly, turbocharging a carbon removal technique that is already being widely adopted. Natural silicate ...