The World's Most Valuable Volcanoes; Carbonatite Forming Eruptions
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2024
- In a remote section of Tanzania is the world's strangest volcano. Here, low temperature lava erupts as a black color, but soon cools to a bright white rock. This lava has a viscosity lower than water and is enriched in rare earth elements. Known as carbonatite, this unique lava has implications for mining operations around the globe which are searching for ancient deposits of it. So, why does this rare earth element enriched lava erupt?
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Graphics of eruption dates are courtesy of the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institute. volcano.si.edu/
Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers
0:00 1300 Active Volcanoes
0:20 The Most Valuable Volcano
1:00 Carbonatite Lava
2:01 How Carbonatite Forms
3:03 Rare Earth Elements
3:28 Is Mining Feasible?
Thumbnail Photo Credit: William Calvin, WilliamCalvin.org, CC BY SA 4.0-I
CC BY SA 4.0 license: creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Carbonatite lavas are a very fun yet highly rare occurrence on Earth. Also, when look at older rocks so called “skarn” deposits can look very similar to carbonatite at first glance.
Amazing video as ever, plz can you take a look to the Machin and Tolima Volcanoes, there is a family livinbg in the crater of the machin mountain, plz take a look if u can thanks as ever for your content
Can you please make a video about the "Laguna Caldera" it is part of the laguna de bay lake and it's just at the outskrits of Manila (The Capital of the Philippines) our local news and geology agencies have little to no information and the public doesnt know anything about it. Considering it's potential size.
I live in Minnesota in the twin cities area and I really enjoy driving up along the North shore even as far as Grand Portage by the Canadian border. Camping in The Boundary Waters area.
Let me know if there's anything I can look out for. I would definitely take some pictures and maybe some video!!!!
Been by Mountain Pass many times OTW to/from Las Vegas. Most people don’t even know they’re driving by such a unique mine on the 15.
How about doing a video on kimberlite???
Your last recomendation didnt included any asteroid mining '' hypothesis'' at all :(
That overhead photo of the volcano has some serious fantasy rpg vibes to it.
I thought said Carbonite and I was like "so this is where they found the material to freeze Han Solo"
And if you pay attention in the movie despicable me 3 the old scientist that worked with Gru is frozen also like Hans Solo when he fights Brat and discovers he has a twin brother.
I spent the last 30 years trying to sell carbonatite as an alternative fertilizer. This was a venture of futility; agricultural science does not recognize mineral reactivity. Rare earths, phosphorus, potassium rich biotite and calcium make an exceptional low cost fertilizer that though not water soluble is very bioavailable.
would you recommend this over Dolomite? Or is it pretty much one in the same?
Well minerals in carbonatites are also rich in Th and U, so that might be a downturn for many to use it as a fertilizer.
The phosphorite that we get from phalaborwa has been used and sold in South Africa since the opening of that mine
@@missymoonwillow6545 dolomite is mainly used to balance the soil pH as the carbonate structure makes up 60% of the (Mg/Ca)CO3 structure
It can and does exchange its cations in participation with colloids (wich does add the nutrients)however dolomite (or lime as its commonly referred to) is more pH control
@@Vulcano7965 thats high dependent on concentration because all soils naturally contain Th, U, Cs and K witch are all radio active hence why we as geologist and soil scientists can use Gama-ray spectometry,
In South Africa we mine uranium down in the karoo, miles away from phalaborwa witch is a Carbonotite mine (one of the world's largest)
The mine operators at Mt Pass used to dump a load of ore at post office for rock collectors. Don't know if that's still practiced, but allowed a lot of us to sample the ore.
I thought the mine was depleted.
@@donaldkasper8346 and that's why I said "used to"
Geology hub not only giving us geology facts but also investment ideas
A series on volcanic hot springs would be really cool.
1:36 Viscosity of natrocarbonatite is actually significantly greater than water. The least viscous lava ever recorded there was 18 mPa-s (millipascal x seconds), while water has a viscosity of 1 mPa-s (and that lava formed under extremely unusual circumstances, having been "filter pressed" out of a stationary flow) (Norton and Pinkerton 1997). More commonly, natrocarbonatite samples range from 150 mPa-s to over 10,000 mPa-s. Of course, basalts can be well over 100,000 mPa-s, so natrocarbonatite is still extremely fluid, for a lava.
Having visited Lengai once, back when the flows were still accessible to people (about a year before it started to erupt explosively, building its new crater*), I can tell you that this volcano is the most interesting natural phenomenon I've ever laid eyes on. Cresting the summit of the north crater, and gazing at the collection of hornitos/spatter cones therein felt like I had left Earth altogether and was witnessing an alien environment. Also, the volcano is high enough that you can see a significant chunk of the East African Rift Valley spread out before you from its summit, including a lot of the western "wall" of the graben. And I was lucky...I was able to witness a pretty spectacular eruption while there. If you want to see the video of that (under my old TH-cam handle of Chris2112), here it is (apologies for the babbling...the eruption happened in a place where I'd been STANDING not 5 minutes earlier, so I was a bit freaked out...note also that the footage was filmed on a potato, so maybe view it in the miniplayer): th-cam.com/video/itTYc4sRvxI/w-d-xo.html
*Hopefully the new crater will fill in quickly, allowing scientists and curious volcanophiles alike close access to the most wonderful lava flows in the world.
It is true that natrocarbonatite is different (slightly) than carbonatite. It is far more viscous than simply carbonatite, in the range of what you described. However this volcano has recently (geologically recently) erupted both. Natrocarbonatite since at least when humans have visited it.
Also, the video you referenced is quite amusing. Surprisingly few videos of ol Doinyo Lengai erupting exist!
@@GeologyHub Regular carbonatites, as far as I can tell, clock in at between 5 to 100 mPa-s (according to and Treiman and Schedl, 1983; Tierney, 2000; and Wolfe, 2009). I have not found a source that places carbonatite's erupted viscosity below that of water, but if you have, I'd like to know about it.
Oh, and yeah...I find the video funny now too. That was quite the trip. Incidentally, I camped about 200 meters from that eruption site...just a few short weeks later, that campsite was buried in 3 meters of lava.
@@VoIcanoman I’ve seen carbonatites in papers range from 0.3-100. At ol Doinyo Lengai several older flows were inferred as 0.8. Also if you have any more footage or images of your visit to ol Doinyo Lengai, I’d love to see them!
@@GeologyHub Tthe lowest recorded viscosity for molten CaCO3 I can find is about 5 mPa-s, so I remain skeptical that there are carbonate-based magmas that erupted below 1 mPa-s at Lengai (or anywhere else). If you can dig up the reference, I'd really appreciate it (note that this could be a units problem too...a lot of papers report viscosity in either Pa-s or poise).
As for the other video, is your ASU email address still active? The video is about 18 MB, so it might be email-able. If you would prefer it to another email address, let me know what that is. And I will send links to the references about carbonatite viscosity as well.
Thanks, Cameron, for suggesting this fascinating topic!
So cool! Always learning something new on this channel.
Mining an extinct volcano is not something I ever considered. i wonder what could be learned as we bring it down later by layer.
Mining extinct volcanoes is extremely common. The most obvious example are kimberlite pipes mined for diamonds.
I've been in several quarries collecting mineral specimens from a variety of volcanic origin in the Eiffel. I have seen some cool features during that trip.
Lots of good stuff can be mined from old volcanoes, such as bentonite
Not really rare, we used some for road work in hungary too as paving stones back when there was nothing else
Love this content. We need more minerals for renewable technologies, so learning about how we get them is very interesting
We must mine more minerals! Bring on the probes!!!
Renewable are not only inefficient and terrible for the energy grid, but far worse than coal for the environment. Most heavy metals are produced in china and lets not even get started on habitat destruction to build the gargantuan power plants required for renewables.
@@goldenhate6649 bro coal is mined....
Another reason why Ol Doinyo Lengai shouldn't be mined is that despite its current eruptive sequence, it is still an active *stratovolcano.* Therfore, explosive eruptions are still to be expected, such as in 2007 that destroyed the carbonatite plateau and carved in the current summit crater.
Not only is it dangerous for the workers, but everytime it happens, there is a chance it will dramatically change something underground and the volcano may never erupt carbonatite lava again.
no.
@@allegorx58 Understandable, have a great day!
There's also a failed rift in the eastern US across NJ, NY, and CT.
Haven't seen much study of east coast magmatics, at least nothing public domain to show what is known.
Somes deposits are already found in Québec from the St-Lawrence river rift system. Somes are linked to the opening of the Iapetus bassin. The others are the results of intrusions from the Monteregians Hills
Gas drillers in the Appalachians from way back, around the 1930s and 40s, supposedly encountered pockets of magma when drilling deep into the rift-like folds and valleys in Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. As verifiable as old coots tales can be, I've done plenty of spelunking in the region and there are a few signs of volcanic activity, albeit incredibly old.
@@denniskerley8409 Beemerville nj has a diatreme that has eroded enough to resemble a cindercone.
Around the corner from me is an intrusive dike or sill depending on if the block it's in has tilted.
But very little info to be had.
I love these videos
As always, interesting, informative and concise. Job well done! Omedeto gozaimasu!
Thanks for branching out on your typical subject matter. Good stuff!
I live where the rock is primarily limestone just east of Canyon Lake. I have unearthed blobs of solid amberish colored calcite 2 feet in diameter and weighing up to 60 pounds. Crystals galore!
This is so informative! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and providing facts! 👍
This is by far my favorite volcano. There is a video of people at the summit climbing around inside a hornito.
Now this should be interesting
You are extremely well versed in the topic and most enjoyable to view. Thank you for posting. Bret in North Iowa.
Speaking of carbonatites, could you do a video about the Alno Complex in Sweden?
Many of the larger mines in sweden are thought to be really old (like billions of years) island arc volcanos! Like Kiruna, Falun and Skellefteå i think… The extinct volcanos in Scania are younger though but not originally as large.
Very informational awesome coverage very well done keep up the good work keep following yo
Love the Content man!
its been a few days and wasn't sure if you saw, I was wondering if you would produce a video on the Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown, Texas. I understand if you're not interested as its not in your usual Video Content.
Love your videos and hope you have an awesome day!
I have to admit that a series on caves or natural caverns would be pretty interesting
I’m planning to make a few videos on large cave systems. It has been a surprisingly popular request. However, I’m still in the planning stages of figuring out what to say. Essentially, there are a number of large caves worldwide which are relatively similar
@@GeologyHub the gypsum cave in Mexico (?) Would be cool to get your take on
@@GeologyHub The lava tubes outside of Twin Falls, ID, USA would be interesting. They're full of ice!
@@GeologyHub thank you for the insider knowledge! You’re channel actually got me to learn some the characteristics of common geologic rock layers.
One of your finest videos, sir. Incredibly informative.
Excellent as always...!!!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤❤❤❤❤
Cool info. Even if it has been dormant for a quite a while, I'd feel a little nervous about mining out the top of a volcano...
Very interesting. Thanks!
Thanks Cameron , good idea.
I'm always interested in videos and articles about carbonatites as the subject of my Masters' thesis in Geology was the geochemistry of carbonatites from Magnet Cove and Potash Sulfur Springs, a few miles east of Hot Springs, AR in the southern Ouachita Mountains. This was part of an area of volcanics that ran up to the Little Rock area and west at least to the Kimberlite pipe found in Pike County, AR. Magnet Cove is known for the unusual minerals found there in addition to the carbonatite outcrops.
I really love Ol Doinyo Lengai's name. And it is such an interesting volcano to boot.
Look forward to a future video of me explaining why I'm digging up rocks and plants on the side of the road near the mountain pass mine. Awesome!
Who knew Minecraft Stone is this valuable?
So glad to see my country getting mentioned. Love from Kenya 🇰🇪
Well done. Thanks.
I was just thinking what are the odds that he'll mention the Great Lakes or Mid-Continent Rift areas. Thanks for the upload. Always interesting.
Speaking of the Mid Continent Rift, that would be an interesting video or two discussing it's formation, how the copper came to be deposited in Michigan, and it's involvement in the formation, if at all, of the Michigan Basin.
Thanks
great videos thank you. I dont think it would be the most exciting video but the story of siletzia always interest me as I spend a lot of time in the oregon coastal range and learning rock id from the different watershed around there can be a little all over the place for an amateur hobbyist.
very cool keep it up.
Have you ever talked about the geology between Las Vegas and Reno? I know we have lithium and other minerals around here and would be interested in how they got there.
very interesting:)
Damn, I had no idea about this! It would make a really cool sci-fi or fantasy setting concept.
It is amazing how great video was millions of years ago.
Watching this video whilst eating my steel cut oat porridge :)
Thank you 🙏
Thanks!
So incredibly interesting ✅✅✅
I find it strange that South Africa has so little rare earth elements but so much platinum, gold etc etc...
Hey, have you ever done a video on the Banff hotsprings in Alberta? I've always wondered that powers the hot water; they state several thoughts of the mechanics of the process of the heating, but not how it is heated! There is also unique snails that live in some of the hotsprings. I have some photos of the area, and of areas there, if you are interested/wanting some if going to make it.
It's rare that I don't enjoy one of your videos when I do watch them. So rare in fact that I don't not enjoy them.
Wow, this channel is genius!
Interesting topic.
Priceless!
Is the concentration available in California higher due to deposits formed by erosion of the mineral lava flows?
I think it has something to do with ancient sea minerals and salts.
erosion or better put, alteration of these deposits usually enrich the concentration, yes. I can't say if that's the case at mountain pass tho.
The chemistry of magma is fascinating, heat and pressure does crazy things 🤯
“Old Lengai” is what grandpa calls his ding-a-ling
I found this video to be very informative.
Kinda interesting, i thought it always erupted carbonite lavas. The old phonolite material is interesting, i wonder what would happen if Vesuvius suddenly started erupting carbonite lavas given it has erupted phonolite lavas. You mentioned carbonite is commonly found on rift zones, i wonder why so far nothing has been discovered in Ethiopia where a triple junction is currently spreading apart.
Ol Doinyo Lengai is truly the world's weirdest volcanoes, it beats Dallol and Kawah Ijen easily.
@@vesuviussoloshumans It had at least one VEI-6 eruption(Avellino eruption) in it's history. I'm afraid too many people would die given Naples is super crowded. And global cooling would be awful specially for Italy and surrounding countries.
I don't think an eruption of this magnitude will erupt soon tho. Like Santorini, it's been dormant for more than 70 years, it would need more time for a VEI-6 eruption (tho it's magma chamber suprised scientists based on it's size and a potential connection with Campi Flegrei's chambers could likely pull the trick off). Vesuvius seems like a perfect candidate for a Fuji like dormancy, it goes along with the data we have on it's major eruptions (most of them preceded by dormancy including the 79 ad showdown).
@@vesuviussoloshumans If it's proven that it shares the chamber with Campi Flegrei, either CF will pull more magma from Vesuvius's chamber or Vesuvius will pull more magma from CF's 2 chambers. I don't think Vesuvius will erupt soon, it's most likely building up for a big eruption, but it only started doing that after the end of WWII, it feels like too little time to go big again. Campi Flegrei tho is nearing 500 years of dormancy, i just hope it keeps trolling us for a while. Most nations are still recovering from a pandemic, we don't need another large eruption right now.
@@vesuviussoloshumans true, but it's unprecedented for a VEI-6+ to happen so soon, the only exception i can think is Krakatoa, the 1883 blast happened after 200 years of dormancy, but it's still way more than the 70+ years of dormancy of Vesuvius right now.
It's also out of line for Vesuvius, it's major eruptions happened after long periods of dormancy. The only scenarios i can think that would lead to an eruption would be:
1 - Large earthquake damaging the crust and allowing more magma to intrude upwards thus. Large earthquakes preceded both it's 79 ad eruption and the Hoei eruption of Mount Fuji.
2 - If it's connected to Campi Flegrei it would be able to pull from CF's magma chambers thus better served for a major eruption.
@@vesuviussoloshumans the thing is there's a lot of things that happens below our feet we don't know yet, we don't know by example how much magma was avaliable prior to the 79 ad eruption and how much was left after it, we don't know the percentages of it's magma reservoir is used during an eruption (it it uses 15% of avaliable magma or 60%, 70%). The data on magma chambers is very recent, they didn't have that technology back then and there's so much we yet do not understand fully.
What we do know is that the avaliable reservoir surprised scientists based on it's size, but we don't know if Vesuvius saves a lot of magma or goes on a spending spree during an eruption.
We also sadly have nothing solid to compare, if we had data on the magma chambers of Pinatubo and Novarupta prior to their eruptions we could maybe compare and take some conclusions.
Here's the link of the article, this data is from 2001, they didn't have exact measurements of the chamber.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/study-shows-massive-magma/
@@vesuviussoloshumans the eruptions on that magnitude lead us to believe you need at least 200 year dormancy for a VEI-6. Of course that's not set in stone, but it's a pattern that has been noticed on volcanoes that erupted on that magnitude. Vesuvius MIGHT be in a different position, but we don't know, it's something unprecedented thus far.
I live in the Midcontinental rift in Michigan where theres mining prospects starting for some of these medals. Currently where I live we have the only active Nickel mine in the USA, and we also mine a lot of ore. But small carbonatite deposits have been found here
Does this mean that the mid ocean rifts, like the Atlantic, may also have similar carbonatite volcanoes?
Then they may be rich in rare earths?
Pity they are below the surface.....
I love the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano and yes, the lava is rare. I saw the volcano in the movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, before the Lengai became active again after years of dormancy. There was an article about the Tonga volcano's shockwave, but there was not much information. So could you please see if you can find the article and share it in another video?
I always look forward to your videos and Happy Easter!
Hey! please review Kasatochi Island, it looks like a cool volcano to discuss
There are many places with prospective areas for REE minerals, most of them outside the North American continent. Australia and southern Africa seem to be very prospective for these, especially when one considers that rare earth's and uranium are very heavily correlated.
Please, dont expect from a US citizen to serious look beyond the the borders of the USA. They are simply not taught and socialized accordingly.
Rare earths is slang for radionucleotide elements.
Kudos to Cameron for suggesting this topic. REEs are critically important in today's world, and given the geopolitical climate, it's not wise to depend on unfriendly countries in Asia.
A few volcanoes in Auckland have been mined out completely for road metal (scoria) In fact, one in East Tamaki has been nearly entirely replaced with garbage being a city refuse dump.
The cost of mining is SO expensive, its why open pit mines are now done more than tunnels if it can be. To give a example, just 900 feet worth of electric cable for underground cost $19k in recent mining video i watched.
Thorium also belongs to the REE group and is an inherent member of this group (discluding few very rare cases of extreme fractionation).
I just learned about Carbonatite in lab today and its occurence as a volcanic igneous rock and there was no doubt in my mind that I would find a video about it here lol
Nice to know that these rare earth elements are within the borders of the usa.
Could you cover Puerto Ricos volcanic past specifically the El Yunque Caldera?
Not just silica is "the main component of lava at every other volcano" because the same is to be said about alumina, magnesia, lime, and other oxides like K2O are also main (major) components, among others.
New word of the day, Carbonatite. Thank you.
I wish I could just have the cool samples of these ores, with crystals or slices to shine light thru.
If the ecological impact of volcano mining is smaller than conventional mining - absolutely!
more on "copper country" , UP of Michigan, and the vulcanism behind lake superior would be great
The Mountain Pass Mine in California is preparing to go back into full-scale operation as soon its infrastructure (electrical and process piping) can be replaced. Permitting in California is a huge issue. Ambient summer temperatures approach 120f degrees. This is no easy task. China owns a significant share of the company and processes about 90% of all rare earth elements. I suggest a deep dive into Mountain Pass.
It's my understanding they also found rare earth elements in the Sumitomo mine located on the north side of Big Bear Mountain in SoCal.
Its not only the REE that are valuable at O-L, the carbonatite lava is a very effektive fertilizer, and one of the reasons why the places around are so fertile.
you mention the rio grande rift in New Mexico. I have seen no records of carbonatitetype of volcanoes here (I live in Albuquerque). Where would they exists? Love your content
Could you do a video on Mount Hudson in southern Chile? Thanks.
Love it
Those that spurt oil and jet fuel.
I am not aware of any use of Mountain Pass since Unocal owned it in the 80's.
Interesting view of volcanoes as a source of rare minerals…
The ancient volcano Alnön in Sweden was also a carbonatite volcano and the site is abundant in unique minerals today (one is so rare it's even called alnöit). But Alnön is far from any continental zones. The closest is the Protogine zone in the middle of Sweden but that is like 300 km from Alnön and I don't think it was active 500-600 mya when Alnön was erupting. So I wonder why a carbonatite volcano was formed there, in the middle of the Baltic shield?
Do one on Cerro Negro cinder cone that was born in 1951
I am very interested in the volcanic island La Reunion in the Indian Ocean. I would like to know more about its active volcano Piton de la Fournaise.
Idk mining volcanos feels like popping a pimple that’s not ready yet. Feels like a good idea but ends in disaster
Geology rocks, but geography’s where it’s at.
How can I not enjoy your video(s) ? They're brilliant !
May I recommend Parallaxnick's YT Channel
Do particularly strong back-arc rifts ever produce such volcanoes? I know most strange forms of volcanism tend to occur near more productive zones or deal with thicker crust (like the subducting Ontong Java plateau causing lava cones on Bougainville, or the strange west African volcanoes on old thick craton crust, or much of the volcanism in east Africa) but I'd imagine you could get similar, albeit weaker, effects with strong enough back arc rifting. I know there's gold on the Coromandel peninsula in New Zealand, but I'm not sure if that's related to early activity of the TVZ or something else. And I'd imagine the Andes could contain some pretty nice deposits too if back arc activity could produce anything unique, lots of slab rollback there and a few instances of alkaline back arc volcanism like the Pali-Aike volcanic field.
carbonatites occur at regions with very low partial melting of the mantle, so strong rifting and therefore large melting of the mantle would discourage that.
The reason for this is that at low partial melting, alkaline elements are enriched compared to higher melting, since they are one of the first elements that partition into the magma. Increase mantle melt (~>5-10%) and you basically dilude it, producing magma of normal basaltic composition.
Please do a special on kimberlite pipes.
How does the Ashram Rare Earth Element and Fluorspar Deposit compare to the ones you showed in the video?
The Mt Weld carbonatite intrusion in Western Australia didn't earn a mention. Pity since it's currently the biggest source of neodynium outside China.
I feel the phalaborwa open cast mine would have been a great example
Most valuable rare Earths/ore, where they come from and what they are used for??? Good video topic?
There is another definate discussion on the melting permafrost and mammoth ivory rush / fossil in northern Russia...I think?
Somewhere?
Top 👍👍
Lake superior volcanic origins specifically in relation to the continental rift
Is the pic in the thumbnail the same as the volcano with active black lava in it? If so, how did those spikes form?
Anyone else automatically think of Han Solo when the narrator mentioned the name of this material?