Geology in the Nineteenth Century

Greene, Mott T.

doi:10.7591/9781501704741

Cited by 27 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The evolution of the mineral kingdom is a topic that has engaged Earth scientists for more than two centuries, since debates raged between supporters of steady-state uniformitarianism and episodic catastrophism (Rudwick 1972;Greene 1982). Radiometric measurements of the extreme antiquity of some mineral specimens (Strutt 1910), coupled with recognition of the deterministic evolutionary sequence of igneous rocks and their minerals (Bowen 1915(Bowen , 1928, placed the chronology of Earth's changing near-surface mineralogy on a more quantitative footing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury (Hg) mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry, and the emerging terrestrial biosphere

Hazen

Golden

Downs

et al. 2012

American Mineralogist

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Analyses of the temporal and geographic distribution of earliest recorded appearances of the 88 IMA-approved mercury minerals plus two potentially valid species exemplify principles of mineral evolution. Metacinnabar (HgS) and native Hg are the only two species reported from meteorites, specifically, the primitive H3 Tieschitz chondrite with an age of 4550 Ma. Since the first terrestrial appearance of cinnabar more than 3 billion years ago, mercury minerals have been present continuously at or near Earth's surface.Mercury mineral evolution is characterized by episodic deposition and diversification, perhaps associated with the supercontinent cycle. We observe statistically significant increases in the number of reported Hg mineral localities and new Hg species at ~2.8-2.6, ~1.9-1.8, and ~0.43-0.25 Gaintervals that correlate with episodes of presumed supercontinent assembly and associated orogenies of Kenorland (Superia), Columbia (Nuna), and Pangea, respectively. In constrast, few Hg deposits or new species of mercury minerals are reported from the intervals of supercontinent stability and breakup at ~2.5-1.9, ~1.8-1.2, and 1.1-0.8 Ga. The interval of Pangean supercontinent stability and breakup (~250-65 Ma) is also marked by a significant decline in reported mercury mineralization; however, rocks of the last 65 million years, during which Pangea has continued to diverge, is characterized by numerous ephemeral near-surface Hg deposits.The period ~1.2-1.0 Ga, during the assembly of the Rodinian supercontinent, is an exception because of the absence of new Hg minerals or deposits from this period. Episodes of Hg mineralization reflect metamorphism of Hg-enriched marine black shales at zones of continental convergence. We suggest that Hg was effectively sequestered as insoluble nanoparticles of cinnabar (HgS) or tiemannite (HgSe) during the period of the sulfidic "intermediate ocean" (~1.85-0.85 Ga); consequently, few Hg deposits formed during the aggregation of Rodinia, whereas several deposits date from 800-600 Ma, a period that overlaps with the rifting and breakup of Rodinia.Nearly all Hg mineral species (87 of 90 known), as well as all major economic Hg deposits, are known to occur in formations ≤400 million years old. This relatively recent diversification arises, in part, from the ephemeral nature of many Hg minerals. In addition, mercury mineralization is strongly enhanced by interactions with organic matter, so the relatively recent pulse of new Hg minerals may reflect the rise of a terrestrial biosphere at ~400 Ma.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury (Hg) mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry, and the emerging terrestrial biosphere

Hazen

Golden

Downs

et al. 2012

American Mineralogist

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“…Though historians like Boime and Mitchell have delineated points of overlap and exchange between Wernerian geology and Friedrich's work, at the turn of the nineteenth century a rival theory was gaining traction that would decisively triumph over Wernerian geology by the 1820s. 48 The Scottish naturalist James Hutton put forward a radically different account in his Theory of the Earth, first published in 1788 and republished in 1795 as a two-volume edition. Whereas Werner was a ''Neptunist'' who believed that water was responsible for the formation of rocks, Hutton represented an alternative faction of ''Vulcanists'' who asserted that heat from the earth's core was the determinant factor.…”

Section: Unconformitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Staring into the Abyss of Time

O'Rourke¹

2019

Representations

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“…The Swiss paleontologist Karl Ludwig Rütimeyer (1825–1895) “in 1867, makes the suggestion of the former existence of a vast Antarctic continent, connecting all of the southern continents and New Zealand, and this idea received support from T.H. Huxley in 1870” (Schmidt :773, Nelson ), though Eduard Suess coined the name Gonwandaland (Greene :191; see below).…”

Section: Europeansmentioning

confidence: 99%

History of Ecological Sciences, Part 61B: Terrestrial Biogeography and Paleobiogeography, 1840s–1940s

Egerton

2018

Bulletin Ecologic Soc America

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Geology in the Nineteenth Century

Cited by 27 publications

References 0 publications

Mercury (Hg) mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry, and the emerging terrestrial biosphere

Mercury (Hg) mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry, and the emerging terrestrial biosphere

Staring into the Abyss of Time

History of Ecological Sciences, Part 61B: Terrestrial Biogeography and Paleobiogeography, 1840s–1940s

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