#1
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
Everybody knows that when the earth was totally molten all the heavier
elements sank to the center like iron and nickel. What they don't say is that the heaviest should be at the center like gold, lead etc. The center core of the earth could be liquid gold; which would make a great magnetic field. Asteroid impacts may have sloshed up some of the heavy elements and the crust solidified before it could sink back to the center. That's why some is accessible to us. A dead planet like Mars could have solid gold at it's center. Even the moon could have all it's heavy elements at the core. Worth going after. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
In article WVVfh.4492$_55.4108@trndny09,
Paul Bunion wrote: Everybody knows that when the earth was totally molten all the heavier elements sank to the center like iron and nickel. What they don't say is that the heaviest should be at the center like gold, lead etc. The center core of the earth could be liquid gold; which would make a great magnetic field. There just isn't that much gold and lead compared to things like iron, carbon, oxygen, and silicon, which are very abundant elements in the universe. Asteroid impacts may have sloshed up some of the heavy elements and the crust solidified before it could sink back to the center. That's why some is accessible to us. I really doubt it; crust solidification wasn't that fast a process. Rather, the molten core churns and occasionally stuff gets brought up through vulcanism and through formation of new crust. This stuff is very diffuse, but over time it gets concentrated mainly by water into usable veins. A dead planet like Mars could have solid gold at its center. There's no doubt a little gold on Mars, but no reason to think it's any more (or any more accessible) than it is on Earth. Even the moon could have all it's heavy elements at the core. Yeah, except that the Moon's heavy elements are mostly the lighter ones on Earth, since the Moon is mainly a big hunk of Earth's crust that got knocked into orbit. You won't find much there that isn't pretty abundant in the crust on Earth, except what has since been deposited by asteroids, comets, and the solar wind. If you want to go prospecting for valuable minerals (e.g. platinum-group metals) on the Moon, I think the place to look is impact craters, where perhaps not all material from the impactor was lost. Best, - Joe |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
Considering the cost of launching things into space and bringing them
back, would something like that be economically viable? |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
Paul Bunion wrote:
Everybody knows that when the earth was totally molten all the heavier elements sank to the center like iron and nickel. Everyone doesn't know that, because it's wrong. What sank to the middle of the earth was a heavier *phase*. The molten metal was denser than silicate, so it went down. However, whether a particular element partitioned into the silicate phase or the metal phase is a function of its chemistry, not its atomic weight. Uranium, for example, not only went into the silicate, it went into the light silicates when the mantle further fractionated. The Earth's continental crust is enriched in uranium by about a factor of 1000 vs. the average composition of the planet. Moreover, the partitioning is a chemical equilibrium process, so unless the equilibrium is particularly one sided not *all* the element will go into one phase. Finally, there's been subsequent stirring of the mantle, which can carry material back up from the core-mantle boundary. Paul |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
Paul Bunion wrote: Everybody knows that when the earth was totally molten all the heavier elements sank to the center like iron and nickel. What they don't say is that the heaviest should be at the center like gold, lead etc. The center core of the earth could be liquid gold; which would make a great magnetic field. Asteroid impacts may have sloshed up some of the heavy elements and the crust solidified before it could sink back to the center. That's why some is accessible to us. A dead planet like Mars could have solid gold at it's center. Even the moon could have all it's heavy elements at the core. Worth going after. 1.) We know the size of the Earth, and we know its density from its gravitational field. These agree with a core made primarily of nickel-iron, not gold. 2.) The outer core of the earth is molten, the core itself is solid due to the pressure on the nickel-iron; if it were molten there would be no magnetic field as the iron atoms couldn't align themselves in one direction, as they can in a solid magnetic form of the iron. 3.) Being only very slightly magnetic, gold would not make a "great magnetic field" it would make almost no magnetic field. 4.) assuming you could bring back gold from the other planets in large quantities cheaply, all that you would do is cause the price of gold to drop precipitously on the world market, causing all the nation's gold reserves to become almost worthless. this could lead to a world-wide financial collapse. Someone once wrote a science fiction story called "Element 79" where a solid gold meteorite falls to Earth, and causes society to collapse due to what it does to international gold prices. Pat |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:31:50 GMT, Paul Bunion wrote:
Everybody knows that when the earth was totally molten all the heavier elements sank to the center like iron and nickel. What they don't say is that the heaviest should be at the center like gold, lead etc. Right, like the Earth's ocean should be composed of pure fresh water, with all the salt sinking to the bottom and filling the deep trenches. Except that it doesn't work that way. Gravity is the weakest force in the universe, and loses to chemistry every time. -- *John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, * *Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" * *Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition * *White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute * * for success" * *661-718-0955 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition * |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
Here, John Schilling wrote:
Except that it doesn't work that way. Gravity is the weakest force in the universe, and loses to chemistry every time. Sir? I've got a black hole made of peanut butter on line 3, wants to talk to you about cholesterol... --Z -- "And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..." * If the Bush administration hasn't subjected you to searches without a warrant, it's for one reason: they don't feel like it. Not because of the Fourth Amendment. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Gold
Paul Bunion wrote: Everybody knows that when the earth was totally molten all the heavier elements sank to the center like iron and nickel. What they don't say is that the heaviest should be at the center like gold, lead etc. The center core of the earth could be liquid gold; which would make a great magnetic field. Asteroid impacts may have sloshed up some of the heavy elements and the crust solidified before it could sink back to the center. That's why some is accessible to us. A dead planet like Mars could have solid gold at it's center. Even the moon could have all it's heavy elements at the core. Worth going after. It has been written (Debate about the Earth: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1972Icar...16..406D) that getting to the surface of the moon and Mars is easier than getting to the core of the Earth. The Earth's core is believed to be nickel surrounded by liquid iron. No gold. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Eye relief of Parks Gold 3.8mm EP? | [email protected] | Amateur Astronomy | 1 | July 30th 05 12:17 PM |
Where is the most gold in our solar system? | Evan-Josh Roose | Astronomy Misc | 4 | September 24th 04 08:56 PM |
Pot-of-gold question | Blurrt | Science | 1 | June 30th 04 12:19 AM |
Thomas Gold Dies at 84 | Ron | News | 0 | June 23rd 04 12:39 AM |
Panning for Martian gold | Abdul Ahad | UK Astronomy | 27 | April 1st 04 03:27 AM |