The discovery of tridymite in Mars’s Gale Crater triggered debate about the rare mineral’s origins. A research team recently suggested a scenario with explosive implications.
silicon
Posted inNews
Ocean Acidification May Drive Diatom Decline
Diatoms contribute to global oxygen production, marine food webs, and carbon sequestration, but scientists predict that diatom populations will decline due to ocean acidification associated with climate change.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Small Catchments Sustain Silicon Signatures Following Storms
Watersheds have unique patterns of silicon export due to differences in subsurface water routing and biogeochemical reactions.
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Better Together: Perovskites Boost Silicon Solar Cell Efficiency
Scientists engineer a way to layer materials to boost efficiency without interrupting manufacturing processes.
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State-of-the-Art Technology, Serendipity, and Secrets of Stonehenge
The first comprehensive analysis of what the sarsen stones are made of came about with new technology—and good old-fashioned luck.
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New Recognition for Major Players in the Ocean’s Silicon Cycle
Tiny, shelled protists known as Rhizaria may be responsible for up to one fifth of the total amount of silica produced by the world’s oceanic organisms.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Crystals Connect Bubbles in Explosive Magmas
Hydrous silica-rich magmas can degas through connected bubble pathways when as little as 20% crystals are present, influencing transitions from explosive, Vulcanian-style eruptions to lava effusion.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Tiny Organisms That Transport Silica Across Earth’s Oceans
Phaeodarians play a major role in marine nutrient cycle.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
One of World’s Oldest Animals Records Ocean Climate Change
Researchers probe millennia-old deep-ocean sponges for links between ocean nutrients and climate.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Accounting for the Missing Silica in the Marine Sediment Cycle
Cosmogenic silicon-based estimates of the amount of biogenic silica stored in clays along continental margins could explain the large discrepancy in the nutrient’s global marine budget.