Unusual Silica Rich Soil Discovered on Mars (18 Dec 2007)

FieryIce · Post by **FieryIce** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:22 am

is usually created by either volcanic steam or a hot spring.

It is my understanding there are other means to create silica.

Qev · Post by **Qev** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:12 am

True enough, but I'm assuming that this discovery is important in that pure silica is only known to form naturally in significant quantities through those two processes.

craterchains · Post by **craterchains** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:51 am

ahhh yes, "naturally", *coughs*, , , , ,

, , , and the "un-naturally" is created by?

Doum · Post by **Doum** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:47 pm

ahhh yes, "naturally", *coughs*, , , , ,

, , , and the "un-naturally" is created by?

It is created by us human.

twixter · Post by **twixter** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:35 pm

Woah Spirit really made a mess there didn't she? But silica has a wide variety of uses in industry, from glass to computer chips. A few more incentives like that, and maybe private industry will beat government to Mars. Can't you just see the bulldozers? Now if we could just find oil...

starnut · Post by **starnut** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:07 am

twixter wrote:Woah Spirit really made a mess there didn't she? But silica has a wide variety of uses in industry, from glass to computer chips. A few more incentives like that, and maybe private industry will beat government to Mars. Can't you just see the bulldozers? Now if we could just find oil...

Oil? I know that you were kidding, but isn't oil nothing more than decomposed ancient carbon-based plants? Any life that formed in the early history of Mars didn't last long enough to leave behind a sizeable carbon deposit.

What we need on Mars more than anything else is water and any raw material from which we can get oxygen so we can breathe and burn any oil that we find.

Storm_norm · Post by **Storm_norm** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:52 am

ok, so I just did a quick google search on silica and would you believe that every article I read said nothing about

Life

organisms

water.

hmm, imagine that. Another leap of logic.

what I found however might be of interest to manufacturers of anything from glass to the smallest digital gadget. Mars, just another resevoir of materials. sounds like another place I know. but by the time we were able to fully harvest the raw materials on mars or the moon. the earth might have decided to recycle itself and start all over again from scratch. then the use for those raw materials available in other planets would have to wait again.

norm

FieryIce · Post by **FieryIce** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:09 am

craterchains wrote:ahhh yes, "naturally", *coughs*, , , , ,

, , , and the "un-naturally" is created by?

Exactly.
The people of Bikini Atoll could most likely add to the discussion.

March 7, 1946 - March 7, 2006
60 Years of Exodus from Bikini Atoll

Thanks for the value added post Doum

craterchains · Post by **craterchains** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:36 pm

Oil? I know that you were kidding, but isn't oil nothing more than decomposed ancient carbon-based plants?

No, go back to school, that "theory" was proven wrong way back in 1957.

What we need on Mars more than anything else is water

No, there is plenty of water on Mars. APOD may be about pictures, but one should read too.

0000OO0O00OOO

Doum · Post by **Doum** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:06 am

It can also be made in a lab, but it's a very good example of what we can do

. That's why it's better to use the natural one. Wich come by the same process wich is from inside a star,uhhh or a nova, uhhh or supernova. Anyway it is all natural!

bystander · Post by **bystander** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:12 pm

Silica, silicon dioxide, forms with the exposure of silicon to oxygen and heat. Dissolved silicon in ground water is vented through hot springs and volcanic vents, combines with oxygen in the surrounding air or seawater forming silica. Silica is not soluble in water, so it precipitates out causing the surrounding area to become "silica rich". It's not surprising that volcanic vents and hot springs are the most common "natural" sources of "silica rich soils". Since oxygen and silicon are the two most common elements on Earth, it is also not surprising there is so much of this compound around.

bystander · Post by **bystander** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:48 pm

craterchains wrote:
starnut wrote:Oil? I know that you were kidding, but isn't oil nothing more than decomposed ancient carbon-based plants?
No, go back to school, that "theory" was proven wrong way back in 1957.

Abiogenic petroleum origin theory is the minority opinion, especially in the West. Most oil exploration is based on biogenic theory.

starnut · Post by **starnut** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:34 am

bystander wrote: Abiogenic petroleum origin theory is the minority opinion, especially in the West. Most oil exploration is based on biogenic theory.

Thank you, bystander, for your support.

craterchains wrote:
What we need on Mars more than anything else is water
No, there is plenty of water on Mars. APOD may be about pictures, but one should read too.

What makes you think that I only look at the pictures and not read the explanations and check the links? I don't recall anyone saying that Mars has plenty of water at present, only in the ancient time as evidenced by the numerous water channels and the silica left behind. Even the polar ice caps don't hold enough water to support a large human population and the agricultural and industrial production they might engage in. Any water still buried underground in either liquid or frozen form is still only speculated and unproven.

geonuc · Post by **geonuc** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:46 pm

Minority opinion indeed. I received a geology degree in the '90s and I don't recall much discussion at all of an abiogenic hypothesis for oil formation.

The evidence sure seems to be mounting for Mars having been a very water-rich planet at one time. The silica soil is just the latest. We need more rovers - the two we have there now have been outstanding!

FieryIce · Post by **FieryIce** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:14 pm

Silica, silicon dioxide, forms with the exposure of silicon to oxygen and heat.

Exactly what the Bikinian people would say also, bystander.

It is also a component of silicones, a class-name for various synthetic plastic substances made of silicon, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen

Silicon

ta152h0 · Post by **ta152h0** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:44 pm

is a giant kabooomboom like a supernovae also produce silica ?

Nereid · Post by **Nereid** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:04 pm

Thread "One more resource" merged into this thread.

NoelC · Post by **NoelC** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:09 pm

ta152h0 wrote:is a giant kabooomboom like a supernovae also produce silica ?

In space, no one can hear you explode.

Sorry, I figured since everyone else is picking nits...

-Noel

ta152h0 · Post by **ta152h0** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:36 pm

It is the visual cues that make these events so remarkable. perhaps it is fortunate we cannot hear these events. Can't wait till Eta Carinae produces gold.

Starship Asterisk*

Unusual Silica Rich Soil Discovered on Mars (18 Dec 2007)

Unusual Silica Rich Soil Discovered on Mars (18 Dec 2007)

One more resource

Re: One more resource

is a giant

Re: is a giant

kaboombooom