Gold from Outer Space - Periodic Table of Videos
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- The Professor discusses new research suggesting why gold (among other dense metals) is found close to the Earth's surface.
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I love how the professor gets so excited when he gets to see or do something new, great enthusiasm!
I think the Professor is probably my favorite Professor ever. =)
Such an intelligent and pleasant man.
Thank you for all the videos! From the GulfCoast of Texas =)
They need alot more torches or a creeper will get them.
So does that mean there may be a pot o' molten gold at the centre of the earth?
I love this guy. He's the chemical mentor of my adulthood where Bill Nye was that of my childhood. Id love to see the two meet and chat!
I really like this guy and his videos, especially when he's surrounded by the wealth of nations.
The miner's sense of humor stole the show.
He was great.
In case anyone is curious, 1337.58 is the melting point of gold in Kelvins, which is 1064.43 °C or 1947.97 °F or 2407.64 °R (for Rankine) or 851.54 °Ré (for Réaumur).
How about ancient volcanic eruptions?
Not going to lie, that tour guide seems really awesome and peppy. Very nice service from the looks of it. That's someone who loves his job.
Based from what you said and since gold comes in little BB'S I think the earth was a moltin ball of metals and asteroids hit the surface causing the liquid to spread rather than the gold being in the asteroid and from that you get the little BB'S of gold etc I only think this because I do alot of mig welding and spatter is the little BB'S and if the moltin puddle of metal isn't just right. Think of it this way you pour water in a glass drop something fairly heavy into that the water will splash going everywhere I think something similar happened.
I need a giant diamond straw to suck the gold from the core of the planet.
"Don't do it Joe, you'll choke on all the 'space peanuts'.
Brilliant scarf - I want one!
Does anyone know the paper details? doi would be nice :)
Every time he says Heavy Metal, I raise my hand, hailing Metal...
Actually as far as that's concerned the Professor's a bit inaccurate.
They've already confirmed that metal-based asteroids exist. These asteroids are essentially large clumps of metallic material that would have potentially made up the innards of a planet if it had properly formed. While from the outside they would appear like rock in the same way one would expect a planet or other asteroid would, their innards would be chock full of raw ore material. Even if it was distributed, there's enough stuff in there that it affects magnetic instruments. It is also the only way to explain why one can find a huge amount of gold or iron or silver in mines across a large amount of area; if there wasn't a lot there, it would be near impossible to find it without getting very lucky.
So the short version; it is very possible to get rich quick by finding an asteroid in space. It just takes longer to get it than simply grabbing the asteroid and dragging it back home.
Yep. I subscribed. Actually I'm surprised i haven't done it before.
holy shit, you guys were in bendigo? thats where i live!
There is SO much quartz above and underground in the northern part of Georgia in the USA, Im really surprised there are not more gold mines here... MASSIVE seams...
@theman2160 what the prof was referring to was when he was talking about gold separating into the core occurred well before plate tectonics started to move elements around. Tectonics only began when the Earth was cool enough to have a solid crust, core formation would have occurred when the Earth was still molten.
This was exciting, just clicked on this video because I love the videos on this channel, and find the professor is underground in my home/current town in it.
@525047 That depends entirely on the temperature, pressure, water fugacity and major element composition of the magma. These intensive variables are what control the composition of crystals that form. In a system of pure melt, I think we have a fairly decent understanding that the major element composition is largely homogeneous (leaving aside cooling gradients, nucleation sites etc).
@culwin Diamonds are brought to the surface by a special kind of magma called a kimberlite. Gold is typically formed through metamorphic processes as opposed to igneous processes. Plate tectonics is typically the cause of metamorphism but the ways in which diamonds and gold deposits form is different
If you read the full article on the subject you'll see it's two-fold: the theory is just that gold was deposited into the mantel (the layer below the crust) by meteors striking the earth AFTER the core had cooled (the layer below the mantel, where all of Earth's "native" gold was and is locked up). Then, geological processes (see any text book on gold formation at this point) moved the gold from the mantel to the crust.
This just explains why the mantel has gold when it should be in the core.
@wowsordog That may be why there is a higher abundance of gold in the crust than expected but many gold deposits especially in the case of Bendigo are formed through metamorphic processes.
The Professor most certainly has excellent taste in periodically correct gentleman's accessories !
One of the more dazzling videos.
Woa! Tungsten is a word that I've never heard, and I'm Swedish, so when you said that, I got kind of shocked.
@jawayetti That is a geological process, reading the paper wont help. Mountain building zones commonly have gold deposit types called "orogenic gold". These occur when metamorphism causes water to be released from rocks, this water is at high temperatures and pressures, which allows it to leech small amounts of gold out of the rock, as the fluid travels through the crust it leeches more and more. When the fluid reaches a point where gold isn't soluble anymore it precipitates it in a small area.
@AtheistKharm : Mostly the heavier elements was formed during supernova explosions, not in the stars themselves. The mass thrown off by a supernova does not contain any asteroids, and any objects larger than gas molecules formed later during the formation of the solar system itself.
Asteroids were probably formed by the same processes that formed larger objects(like planets), but the formation was disrupted or collisions occurred that left asteroids as the remnants.
This was awesome, did you happen to visit UNE in Armidale on your tour?
@oomblikkies Gold and all the elements heavier than iron are formed in supernovae.
Iron is the heaviest element that can be formed in normal stellar fusion, but when a star goes supernova the pressure necessary to fuse iron is present.
Correct me if I'm wrong, nut should there be therefore be a lot of heavy elements at the core.
@CommonRaven Because gold is so dense it should have been partitioned into the core. Basaltic (the type that you are referring to) magma's are generated in the mantle where you would expect little or no gold to be if the partitioning of gold had occurred.
@anish4 The earth's crust (the very solid bit) is only 30-50km deep (5-10km deep under the oceans). The generally solid (but not always) upper mantle underneath goes another 410km deeper.So you can't really go 1000 miles down.
The other issue with digging deep is that the temperature rises by about 30°C per km, reaching temperatures between 200°C and 400°C at the crust/mantle boundary. That's an issue if you're interested in sending humans down. Check wikipedia out for mantle & crust info
I watched or read something that shows this same thing. It deals with an area in Canada that was hit by a huge asteroid. It is a combination of the heavy elements in both the asteroid and elements on the earth before the impact. Once the impact happens, it makes the surface molten-- heavy elements like gold will concentrate in smaller areas and flow between other sediments other compounds like veins. Outside impact zone, such elements are to thinly dispersed for mining.
Well, we know that the vast majority of it must be iron in order for our magnetic field to be what it is. However, I think you may have a very valid point in that, this liquid iron may be rich with heavy elements. Although, not so rich to make the journey through Earth's molten mantle an economically sound undertaking.
Couldn't the formation of the continents (via subduction and rifting) also bring metals to the surface as the magma is a liquid/molten medium and could have had these heavier metals dispersed through-out?
@jawayetti - as the mountains rise up, water erodes the rock. The rock grains are light and wash away easily, leaving lumps of gold behind.
Probably, but volcanic eruptions generally only happen in certain area. Some areas with gold don't have eruptions, or don't seem to have had them in the past
@AtheistKharm : Well, it is a complex subject to discuss in the YT message limits but the main fusion processes of stars only produce elements up to iron and nickel, as fusion of iron and heavier elements absorbs energy. Some heavier elements can form by slow neutron capture(the S-process), but most of the elements >iron is formed by supernova nucleosynthesis, the R-process etc. Look up nucleosynthesis on Wikipedia for a start, then follow links, refs or Google further if needed.
wow i never knew elements like gold are are formed by "gasses melted elements". you learn something new everyday!
hm.. how about the activity in the mantle?
We know that the earth is being "steared up" by the hot magma streams.. Could it be that some of the natrual magma stream could have brought up gold in specific areas? For example "hotspots". That could explain why we have gold some places, and absent other places on the earth.
Where do these asteroids with gold come from? From my understanding all the heavier elements form in the furnaces of stars and are distributed by supernova. Do the asteroids form after the supernova or are some direct result of a super nova?
@Ts6451 The second part of what you said about the formation for asteroids I do find plausible, but the first part about the formation of heavier elements I find hard to accept. Everything I've heard of from different scientist say that heavy elements are formed in the center of stars because the heavy gravity allow element fusion. No double there are titanic forces at work in a supernova. My question to you us do you have any references to the idea that heavy elements form in a supernova?
@bubbajames10 Not really, there are a few examples where asteroid impacts have formed ore deposits but its more than likely that the Ytterby mine was formed from a granite.
Except for the inner and outer cores, earth is still in a "liquid" state. It flows around and brings even gold up and down to / from the upper mantle. That is the main source of gold really and is why you find such large concentrations of it near plate boundaries. California for example has huge deposits of gold that has been brought up over the years because the American plate has been pushing and gone over the pacific plate. Bringing gold to the surface in the process.
I think it would still be the same if not less, the reason we know of the period of heavy bombardment is because of the crators of the moon, so the moon obviously formed before that, however the moon formed after a massive object hit earth sending material into orbit, that material formed the moon, obviously while in a state not entirely unlike Saturns ring, the moon wouldn't have been effected by asteroids whilst the earth still was, so that's why i think maybe less.
@sharrynuk - Yes, the heaviest elements would have sunk to the center of the inner core while the entire Earth was still molten.
no, its only economical to mine gold (or any resource) when its concentrated in deposits. Theres actually quite a lot of gold in the ocean, but because its not concentrated we dont extract it.
@TheSpankymonkey Columns of hot magma can make the gold rise in specific area additionally if you assume that the entire earth was molten then the currents would not only move along the 2 dimentional path we see our oceans doing but rather in 3 dimentions snaking along the surfaces while rising to the surface along hotter areas and diving dow below the surface in cooler areas which also explains specific regions with or without gold. I believe this phenomenon cana also explain precoius gems to.
Diamonds are made on earth though, so its kinda different from gold. Though now that I think about it and some double checking your right any impact that big to do what I suggested would be ridiculously big.
But why would any heavy metals be near the surface, or in the upper mantle because the earth used to be liquid there's no reason why the denser elements shouldn't have sank. Once it solidified yes makes sense heavy elements can stay on the surface. But how did they get up here?
Facinating.
This makes me wonder if there are a lot of heavy metals near the core of the moon or other moons. If the cores are cool and solid theoretically they could be mined robotically.
There are no tectonic plates going through australia, and the likelyhood is that it may be a combination of factors.
WE NEED TO GO TO BENDIGO MORTY
@definitionofis It would be zero in any case, but as we know, there's a high pressure and temperature solid ball of heavy elements down there.
Gold does come up in veins which are how we find and mine most the gold we find. Yet there used to be a lot of volcanic activity here under the Appalachians and we got barely nothing. Yet under the rocky mountains they did have a lot of gold come up. Its possible very large meteor, asteroid hits penetrated deep enough into the earth to bring gold up closer to the surface to then come up from volcanic activity.
Where does he get these ties/scarves/mugs? I want one!
@endimion17 Thanks. I pondered that and I can see why the compression can likely happen, even if there is less gravity as you move to the centre. However, I'm fuzzy on the compressibility of various elements and compounds and I guess somebody thought about buoyancy for lighter things. But if there is no gravity, then there is no floating of light objects and decent of heavy objects.
A more recent paper explaines how the egyptians were using iron and gold from meteorites to make various objects before the process of extraction being invented.
The Moon is really quite similar in its geological composition to the Earth, leading to the current Giant Impact theory, where a Mars-sized planetoid smashed into Earth, lent us the iron core that gives us the magnetosphere, and threw off about 1/6 of Earth's mass into a ring structure that coalesced into the Moon. The Moon has had bombardment from meteorites, leaving the heavily-cratered far side, so it'd possible if this theory holds up we'd find gold on the Moon.
I love the Professor...so bummed I missed his tour.
Could the impact of the asteroid be energetic enough to create gold through any type of fusion? Or do I need to watch more of the Professor?
One theory of the formation of the Moon suggests that a Mars size object hit the early Earth, not once, but twice. First an almost glancing blow which threw up a large amount of crust into space, then circling around for a more direct hit, ejecting even more matter into space adding to what would coalesce into the Moon around a newly merged planet. This explains why the Moon is made of the lighter elements. Could it also have caused an uneven distribution of elements as the new Earth re-cooled?
To all those coming up with theories regarding the moon gold content remember that the moon was formed from the dust and debris that surrounded the earth during its development and the number of craters on the moon does not directly correlate to that of earth's. The moon has no atmosphere therefore there is no friction prior to impact thus there are way more craters. However this does not necessarily mean there is more gold due to its density.
Just wondering if the gold came from asteroids wouldn't there be all sorts of heavy metals in these mines and not just gold? I don't see why asteroids would only contain 1 metal yet every mine I've heard of has only contained one metal. Does the paper talk about this? or do asteroids only come with a single payload?
Some gold may be from meterords.and asteroid. But I think most of the gold,silver ,copper,iron,diamonds, ext were spewed up from volcanic action and moved around by plate tectonics.
This is a bit off of topic here, but he reminded me when he mentioned Earth's diameter. Anyhow, did you guys know that the Earth is actually smoother than a standard cue ball? The maximum allowed imperfections on a cue ball is about 0.25 percent of it's overall size, whereas Earth's imperfections account for about 0.162 percent of it's overall size. That is, the highest and lowest points on a cue ball are greater in relation to its size than Earth's highest and lowest points to its size.
if anyone asks why all the things are powered by compressed air in a mine, well used too but the reason is tsimple. EXPLOSIVE GAS! and wouldn't surprise me if those jackhammers are were made by Atlas Copco, they pretty much made pretty much anything that's related to Mines and compressed air, Like lights that ran on air that had a mini turbine and a Dýnamo sealed in a thick housing made of a non sparkin material like alluminium.
Brady, could you ask the professor if he thinks that there could still be a fairly large concentration on heavy elements towards the core of the earth?
So if I travel to the core of the earth I will find TONS of the heavy elements?
OK im off craeting mining techniques and to secretely get tons of gold and be rich.
it would still be much better though because it is for example a very good conductor, it's just soo much cheaper to use copper so in the relation of price and the ability to conduct electricity copper is usually the better choice
@oomblikkies Isn't it the very collapse of the star, when it has run out of fuel to fuse, which generates all the heavier elements beyond iron?
Holy crap that scarf is fucking amazing.
Hmm, if heavy metals sunk towards the core, would there not be a higher concentration of them in volcanic areas like divergent plate boundaries?
This is sooooo much better than TV or school.
Captions are funky through the whole video.
@kawana87 he is actually at bedrock with the altitude that he is at. atleast if you take from sealevel.
So, would the center of the earth have a sphere of heavy elements like gold, tungsten, uranium, and so forth?
@kawana87 We need gold for electronics. Also most of the earth's diamonds exist in the upper mantle.
took. almost at the same rate as the Earth. It's just that it did not get eroded due to absence of an atmosphere/weather. so it will have almost the same amount as in Earth, if not less (since moon was formed later than Earth).
What about volcanic activity? That is pretty much the spoon that mixes the earth. Maybe when it erupts, it throws bits of molten gold.
Victoria also had quite a lot of Volcanism millions of years ago.... dotted around the area and further west are several extinct volcanoes. Blue Lake, Mount Gambier is a good example....
Gold and other minerals would also been ejected in eruptions....
@culwin Me too. Every time I've heard it explained before it was always volcanoes that brought gold up.
I'm a yoganaut and I've been watching periodic videos from day one.
As a scientist (chemist) it baffles me the amount of conjecture that goes into explaining something like intermittent heavy metal deposits on the earth. As a Bible fearing soul, I know its rubbish, but I'm sure it's a good read, which is why it's in Nature Magazine.
It does leave open the idea that the core of the Earth is a mass of gold, or at least many dense elements.
mining in low gravity would be a lot easier, also there would be radioactive material at the core which can be used as an energy source to sustain mining.
gold can be heated to such an extent under earth's pressure where the particles flow with gases through vents and cool on the interior of vents
Turn automatic captions at 1:37
Well, this might explain why the proposed gold mine being fought in Peru is meant to be an open pit mine. I didn't realize gold was so close to the surface, either.
@RowibeProductions Thank you
@kawana87 Gold is actually very important in electronics. Most modern teach requires a small amounts of gold.
Thats cool i understood your reply was tring to defent the professor too this man is a walking chemistry book he has forgotton less in five min than most chemists have ever learned in there lifetime. I thinks it is a sound therory. Im not a chemist just a person that has a brain like a sponge can absorb any material and understand it ant give a relitive answer to a scientific or mechanical answer..Rock on professor a modern day eninstin
like the dangers in the coal mines where a person (coal miner) inhales small particles of coal and in future affecting his/her health by cancer occurring in the lung and other parts are there any side effects a person can have working in a gold mine ?
The formation of the earth and other rocky planets would consist entirely of asteroids running into one other, would it not? It seems useful to think of this as a spectrum of events, asteroids constantly pummeling this ever growing rock, heavier metals constantly entering and sinking. Eventually Earth started cooling, and everything got stuck where it was.
@oOoxelAoOo not really because those volcanic rocks are formed from melting the mantle which has very little gold in it.
As I understood, the gold is still from inside the Earth (not from outer space as the title suggests), just brought to the surface due to powerful asteroid collisions.
The amount of energy required to knock the Earth out of orbit is about enough to destroy it, one asteroid may speed or slow the Earths rotation (making days shorter/longer by fractions of a second), but the Earth will stay in its orbit. And it's been hit with many asteroids, you can still see some of the craters, they're pretty cool, on google maps and such.
they have found diamond in a meteor that luckily exploded OVER the middle east when back in 2007, there are other cases of some meteors containing heavy metals, as well as others with some silica like glass content. Soo im sure there is an array of asteroids with different elements inside of them.
What is the "please install the video converter" advertising?