Possible range of metal compositions

The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

What about aluminum? Silicon is even, aluminum is odd. Are there any
places in space where odd nuclei are less common than in Solar System?
Nucleogenesis prefers even mass numbers, but odd mass numbers are also
found...

wrote in message
ps.com...
The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

The metals come from supernovae and possibly many
of them contribute to the material in any planet.
Thus when the Solar System formed, it incorporated
the metals found in the region that were deposited
from previous SNe so you would be looking for a
region in which the materials could not form, not
just a single star.

Failing that, might is have had a high temperature
phase early in its life so that all the iron was
able to settle to the core?

The question of aluminium is more difficult.

George

On 16 Sep 2006 06:09:39 -0700, wrote:

The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

What about aluminum? Silicon is even, aluminum is odd. Are there any
places in space where odd nuclei are less common than in Solar System?
Nucleogenesis prefers even mass numbers, but odd mass numbers are also
found...

Isaac Asimov just made it up, like he did the positronic brain.
Unfortunately, we can no longer ask him about it.

Bud
--
The night is just the shadow of the Earth.

Simulations of worlds that form in systems with "hot Jupiters" find
that the planets contain relatively little iron for their size.
However, they also tend to contain an excess amount of water for their
size, which may lead to a lack of habitable land area.

Grrr, can't find the link to the research.

Luke

On 16 Sep 2006 06:09:39 -0700, wrote:

The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

What about aluminum? Silicon is even, aluminum is odd. Are there any
places in space where odd nuclei are less common than in Solar System?
Nucleogenesis prefers even mass numbers, but odd mass numbers are also
found...


He could have been saying that there were no surface (or near surface)
deposits of iron or iron ores. As far as the aluminum is concerned.
Could the rocks, sands, soils have been predominantly composed of
silicates, rather than the aluminum oxides that we a re familiar with
on earth?

Tom S

"George Dishman" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ps.com...
The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

The metals come from supernovae and possibly many
of them contribute to the material in any planet.
Thus when the Solar System formed, it incorporated
the metals found in the region that were deposited
from previous SNe so you would be looking for a
region in which the materials could not form, not
just a single star.

Failing that, might is have had a high temperature
phase early in its life so that all the iron was
able to settle to the core?



Most iron deposits near the surface of the earth are deposited
by bacteria. In fact, most anomylous concentrations of heavy metals
near the surface are the byproduct of life .
Typically, the process of iron deposition begins with elemental sulphur
or sulphates which are metabolized into sulphides and eventually
into iron and other heavy metals. This process works best in
low oxygen high saline environments like those found in acid
mines. Mars has just these conditions as well.

Which is why the Opportunity rover chose Meridiani, which is completely
coated in an unusual layer of hematite, which is a type of iron usually
associated with bodies of water and bacteria, such as sulphate
reducing bacteria.

http://chapters.marssociety.org/cana...ssaBattler.pdf


There's a lot not being said publicly about the discoveries at Meridiani
and on Mars in general For instance, did you know they've found methane
and formaldahyde in the Mars atmosphere?

And did you know they found a currently existing frozen sea on the surface
of Mars
some 7000 square kilometers? About the size of the north sea.

Evidence for a frozen ocean on the surface of Mars
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/pdf/1741.pdf




Jonathan


s


The question of aluminium is more difficult.

George

wrote:

The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

The solution is simple. Just import fertilizer that contains iron.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

What about aluminum? Silicon is even, aluminum is odd. Are there any
places in space where odd nuclei are less common than in Solar System?
Nucleogenesis prefers even mass numbers, but odd mass numbers are also
found...

George Dishman wrote:

wrote in message
ps.com...
The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

The metals come from supernovae and possibly many
of them contribute to the material in any planet.
Thus when the Solar System formed, it incorporated
the metals found in the region that were deposited
from previous SNe so you would be looking for a
region in which the materials could not form, not
just a single star.

Terminus' sun must be very old, so as to lack heavy elements.

"jonathan" wrote in message
...

"George Dishman" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ps.com...
The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

The metals come from supernovae and possibly many
of them contribute to the material in any planet.
Thus when the Solar System formed, it incorporated
the metals found in the region that were deposited
from previous SNe so you would be looking for a
region in which the materials could not form, not
just a single star.

Failing that, might is have had a high temperature
phase early in its life so that all the iron was
able to settle to the core?



Most iron deposits near the surface of the earth are deposited
by bacteria. In fact, most anomylous concentrations of heavy metals
near the surface are the byproduct of life .

The question was why "on the surface of Terminus, there
is no trace of iron", quite the opposite of deposits or
concentrations.

There's a lot not being said publicly about the discoveries at Meridiani
and on Mars in general For instance, did you know they've found methane
and formaldahyde in the Mars atmosphere?

And did you know they found a currently existing frozen sea on the surface
of Mars some 7000 square kilometers? About the size of the north sea.

Yes, these were widely publicised when found but they
are old news now.

I think there is sufficient evidence of the conditions
having been suitable for life at least in the past to
justify a robotic mission to drill into the subsurface
and look for life. Let's just hope they do that before
sending humans to contaminate everything.

George

"Tim Bruening" wrote in message
...


George Dishman wrote:

wrote in message
ps.com...
The first (number 2, but 1 is much later) part of Foundation specifies
that on the surface of Terminus, there is no trace of iron or aluminum.

What then does Terminus consist of?

If there is no trace of iron, how can any Earth-originated lifeform
exist there?

They cannot grow potatoes without iron in soil. Nor can any other
lifeform of Earth exist without iron - no plant, no alga, no bacterium.

Also, is it possible to have a planet with traces of iron, but small
traces only? Are there known stars where nucleosynthesis ended at
silicon and did not reach iron, so that the planets would consist of
pure rock and silicates, with no iron?

The metals come from supernovae and possibly many
of them contribute to the material in any planet.
Thus when the Solar System formed, it incorporated
the metals found in the region that were deposited
from previous SNe so you would be looking for a
region in which the materials could not form, not
just a single star.

Terminus' sun must be very old, so as to lack heavy elements.

It would need to be a small Pop II star, maybe half
the mass of Sun? How well was it described in terms
of colour and size?

George