iron – Page 2 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

First Plants Caused Ice Ages

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2012Environment, Natureatmospheric carbon, atmospheric carbon level, calcium, carbon cycle, carbonate rocks, chemical weathering, climate, earth surface, first land plants, global cooling, granite, ice ages, iron, liam dolan, magnesium, marine life, mass extinction, mineral, modern moss, ocean, ordovician period, oxford university, phosphorus, physcomitrella patens, reduction, rocks, silicate rocks, tim lenton, university of exeter

*New research reveals how the arrival of the first plants 470 million years ago triggered a series of ice ages. Led by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford, the study is published in Nature Geoscience.*

The team set out to identify the effects that the first land plants had on the climate during the Ordovician Period, which ended 444 million years ago. During this period the climate gradually cooled, leading to a series of ‘ice ages’. This global cooling was caused by a dramatic reduction in atmospheric carbon, which this research now suggests was triggered by the arrival of plants.

Among the first plants to grow on land were the ancestors of mosses that grow today. This study shows that they extracted minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron from rocks in order to grow. In so doing, they caused chemical weathering of the Earth’s surface. This had a dramatic impact on the global carbon cycle and subsequently on the climate. It could also have led to a mass extinction of marine life. (more…)

Earth’s Core Deprived of Oxygen

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2011Sciencecarbon, carnegie, China, composition, core, earth, environments, function of depth, haijun huang, hydrogen, iron, less oxidized, light elements, liquid outer core, magnetic field, models, oxygen, reduced, silicon, solid inner core, speed of sound, sulfur, temperature and pressure, variations in density, wuhan university of technology, yingwei fei

Washington, D.C. — The composition of the Earth’s core remains a mystery. Scientists know that the liquid outer core consists mainly of iron, but it is believed that small amounts of some other elements are present as well. Oxygen is the most abundant element in the planet, so it is not unreasonable to expect oxygen might be one of the dominant “light elements” in the core. However, new research from a team including Carnegie’s Yingwei Fei shows that oxygen does not have a major presence in the outer core. This has major implications for our understanding of the period when the Earth formed through the accretion of dust and clumps of matter. Their work is published Nov. 24 in Nature. (more…)

How Tattoos ‘Move’ With Age

By Guest PostJune 6, 2011Culture, Sciencecadmium, dyes, fibroblast cells, fluid mechanics, ian eames, initial immune response, ink particles, iron, lead, lymphatic system, mathematical framework, mathematical model, mathematics today, mercury, nickel, skin, surface of the skin, suspension of particles, tattoos, white blood cells, zinc

The dyes which are injected into the skin to create tattoos move with time – permanently altering the look of a given design. In this month’s Mathematics Today Dr Ian Eames, a Reader in Fluid Mechanics at UCL, publishes a mathematical model enabling us to estimate the movement of these ink particles and predict how specific tattoo designs will look several years in the future.

“Tattoos are incredibly popular worldwide with more than a third of 18-25 year olds in the USA sporting at least one design,” says Dr Eames. “A great deal of work has already been done on the short term fate of ink particles in the skin, tracking them over periods of just a few months – but much less is known about how these particles move over longer periods of time. (more…)

“Fool’s Gold” from The Deep is Fertilizer for Ocean Life

By Guest PostMay 10, 2011Environment, Scienceamy gartman, atmospheric oxygen, bacteria, barbara ransom, carbon dioxide levels, clara chan, deep sea, fools gold, george luther, humans, hydrothermal vents, iron, iron disulfide, microscopic pyrite particles, mineral pyrite, multivitamins, mustafa yucel, nanoparticles, ocean, ocean bottom, organisms, phytoplankton, pyrite nanoparticles, pyrite particles, seawater, tiny plants, university of delaware

*Pyrite nanoparticles from hydrothermal vents are a rich source of iron in the deep sea*

Similar to humans, the bacteria and tiny plants living in the ocean need iron for energy and growth. But their situation is quite different from ours–for one, they can’t turn to natural iron sources like leafy greens or red meat for a pick-me-up.

So, from where does their iron come? (more…)

Widespread Ancient Ocean “Dead Zones” Challenged Early Life

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 20111 commentEnvironmentanoxic, atmospheric oxygen, bacteria, benjamin gill, cambrian period, chesapeake bay, dead zone, diversification of life, earth, enriqueta barrera, fluctuations, gulf of mexico, iron, late ediacaran period, maryland, molybdenum, nitrogen, ocean, oceanic oxygen, oxygen level, oxygen rich, phosphorus, timothy lyons, ucr, virginia

*Persistent lack of oxygen in Earth’s oceans affected animal evolution*

The oceans became oxygen-rich as they are today about 600 million years ago, during Earth’s Late Ediacaran Period. Before that, most scientists believed until recently, the ancient oceans were relatively oxygen-poor for the preceding four billion years.

Now biogeochemists at the University of California-Riverside (UCR) have found evidence that the oceans went back to being “anoxic,” or oxygen-poor, around 499 million years ago, soon after the first appearance of animals on the planet. (more…)

Walnuts: Its Amazing Health Benefits

By PravdaJuly 4, 20102 commentsHealth40 nuts, amino acids, anna protsenko, anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, Avicenna, b, black currants, blood pressure, blood sugar, c, calcium, cancer center, cardiovascular, chocolate, cholesterol, cobalt, colitis, constipation, copper, davis, diabetes, diseases, e, enteritis, fatty acids, gastro-intestinal tract, hippocrates, iodine, irina shlionslaya, iron, kernels, magnesium, medpulse, metabolism, minerals, nutritionist, omega-3, p, phosphorus, potassium, prostate cancer, protein, ru, sodium, teaspoon, thyroid, university of california, usa, vitamin c, vitamins a, walnuts

Health benefits of walnuts have been known since time immemorial. Hippocrates and Avicenna mentioned them in the treatment of various diseases. In addition, the ancients thought that they stimulate mental activity. Anna Protsenko, a nutritionist, told MedPulse.ru.

“Walnuts contain a great deal of minerals,” the expert explains. “They include iron, copper, cobalt, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and iodine. Many of them are antioxidants.

(more…)

Afghanistan’s Natural Wealth Evaluated at $1 Trillion

By PravdaJune 18, 2010Economyafghan economy, afghanistan, american geologists, blackberrys, China, cobalt, copper, drugs, gold, hamid karzai, iron, kabul, laptops, lithium, Pakistan, soviet scientists, taliban, united states

In Afghanistan, American geologists have discovered deposits of iron, copper, lithium, cobalt, and gold worth $1 trillion.

Experts believe that these reserves may not only stop the poverty in one of the poorest countries in the world, but turn Afghanistan in a flourishing country and one of the largest centers of natural resources excavation.