Sources Contact Advanced Search Tutorials

An Interest In:

Web News this Week

Search Archive

Some of Our Sources

View All Sources

Help Webnuz

Referal links:

December 23, 2020 07:00 am

Scientists and Philosopher Team Up, Propose a New Way To Categorize Minerals

Carnegie's Robert Hazen and Shaunna Morrison teamed up with CU Boulder philosophy of science professor Carol Cleland to propose that scientists adopt a new "evolutionary system" of mineral classification -- one that includes historical data and reflects changes in the diversity and distribution of minerals through more than 4 billion years of Earth's history. Their work is published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Phys.Org reports: The IMA classification system for minerals dates to the 19th century when geologist James Dwight Dana outlined a way to categorize minerals on the basis of unique combinations of idealized compositions of major elements and geometrically idealized crystal structure. "For example, the IMA defines quartz as pure silicon dioxide, but the existence of this idealized version is completely fictional," said Morrison. "Every specimen of quartz contains imperfections -- traces of its formation process that makes it unique." This approach to the categorization system means minerals with distinctly different historical origins are lumped together [...] while other minerals that share a common causal history are split apart. "The IMA system is typical," said lead author Cleland, explaining that most classification systems in the natural sciences, such as the periodic table of the elements, are time independent, categorizing material things "solely on the basis of manifest similarities and differences, regardless of how they were produced or what modifications they have undergone." For many researchers, a time-independent system is completely appropriate. But this approach doesn't work well for planetary and other historically oriented geosciences, where the emphasis is on understanding the formation and development of planetary bodies. Differences in a diamond or quartz crystal's formative history are critical, Cleland said, because the conditions under which a sample was formed and the modifications it has undergone "are far more informative than the mere fact that a crystal qualifies as diamond or quartz." She, Hazen, and Morrison argue that what planetary scientists need is a new system of categorizing minerals that includes historical "natural kinds." Because a universal theory of "mineral evolution" does not exist, creating such a classification system for the geosciences is challenging. Hazen, Morrison, and Cleland's proposed solution is what they call a "bootstrap" approach based on historically revelatory, information-rich chemical, physical, and biological attributes of solid materials. This strategy allows scientists to build a historical system of mineral kinds while remaining agnostic about its underlying theoretical principles.

Slashdot

Slashdot was originally created in September of 1997 by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda. Today it is owned by Geeknet, Inc..

More About this Source Visit Slashdot