Olivine is one of the earth's most abundant minerals. It shines like glass, however it is hard enough to cut glass. I was able to trace the earliest date I could find on the mineral to be 1500 BC. During this time, it was mined by the Egyptians in the Red Sea. This mineral is used in some jewelry and is sometimes called the "evening emerald." One place you can visibly see olivine is on the green beaches of Hawaii. It is also found on the moon and mars from meteorites.
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Olivine is found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. It is not a very strong mineral, meaning that it goes through weathering fairly easily. When it does this it turns into a compound of iddingsite which is a mixture of clay, iron oxides and ferrihydrites. This is found in water. Since iddingsite was found on Mars, one would say that water once existed on Mars, however, that has not yet been proven and probably wont be. .
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Factories using aluminum use olivine sand. It is used instead of the old use of silica sand because it uses less water, thus making the molds more effective. This is yet another use for olivine. Our world is finding new compounds faster than we can count them and finding ways for them to benefit our world in ways never imagined or even considered.
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The original place olivine was mined, as stated earlier, was the Red Sea. The mine that they get this from is called St. Johns Island. This is a small volcanic island (3x2 km.) There is a small group of these islands clustered together. I now understand why they are close to each other because of previous lessons in this geology laboratory class. Since olivine is located in the upper mantle and very abundant there, it also makes since for this mineral to be located on this small, but rich in minerals, group of islands. This group of islands has been mined for so long and has been such a staple in the economy of the Egyptian region that it is protected by the government by being a part of the national park Elba.
Ultramafic Rocks • Olivine. ... • Pressure changes the crystal structure of minerals causing a slow in seismic wave velocity. 3. ... Mantle is mostly olivine. 1. ... Mantle rocks found in volcanoes with deep roots contain olivine. ... Examining carboneous chondrites (primitive meteorites) with olivine. ...
Introduction Plate tectonics is the main process that produces volcanoes, at subduction, convergent, and divergent zones. Yet, we see volcanic activity without the plate tectonics. "Hotspots" are found around the world. Many people who hear of the term hotspots, think of volcanoes and then the association of Hawaii, since it is a very common known hotspot. The Glossary of Geology (1987) defines "hotspots" as "a volcanic center, 100 to 200 km across and persistent for at least a few tens of millions of years, that is thought to be the surface expression of a persistent ...
