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OCR for page 3348
Proc. Natl. Acad. Scat. USA
Vol. 96, pp. 3348-3349, March 1999
Colloquium Paper
This paper is the introduction to the following papers, which were presented at the National Academy of Sciences
colloquium "Geology, Mineralogy, and Human Welfare," held November 8-9, 1998 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman
Center in Irvine, CA.
Geology' mineralogy' and human welfare
JOSEPH V. SMITH*
Department of Geophysical Sciences and Center for Advanced Radiation Sources,
The complex sciences of geology and mineralogy couple the
focused sciences of physics, chemistry, and biology to the
"diffuse" disciplines of ecology and the environment. For this
colloquium, 18 papers have been selected on matters related
to human welfare, particularly health and both physical and
mental wellbeing, to demonstrate the importance of new
research plans and new instrumentation.
Agricultural Mineralogy, Soils, and Surfaces. Emerging
"chemical microscopes" using neutrons, synchrotron x-rays,
and electrons allow physicochemical characterization of min-
eral surfaces and adsorbed molecules and ions in soils (1~.
Plant growth depends on subtle interactions between mineral
surfaces, saline fluids, and microbes. Incorporation of "good"
trace elements into food depends on the interaction of organic
. . .
and inorganic components, as does that of toxic ones. One-
quarter of the wheat and rice crops are lost to Mn-oxidizing
bacteria. Soils become contaminated with mobile toxic ele-
ments, including Pb, Cd, Se, and As, which can affect plant
growth and food safety (2-4~.
Aerosols and Climate. Mineral dust blown from drying
geological basins pervades the atmosphere, and falls to earth
with both good results loess soil in central Europe, China,
and North America was important for early agriculture, and
still supports large populations and bad ones air pollution
causes lung problems (5~. Chemical microscopes provide phys-
icochemical analysis of tiny particles, particularly useful for
distinguishing the natural and industrial components (6~.
Oceans. Minerals in the oceans range from several dozen
types in bioorganisms to various zeolites grown from volcanic
ash, sulfides in hot smokers in volcanic ridges, and precipitates
in Mn-rich nodules (7~. The reactions with sea-water depend
on temperature and composition and ultimately can be related
to climate and plate-tectonic processes. Highly touted as a
major energy source for the future are the methane-water
clathrate beds on cold ocean beds; however, current evidence
is not promising for successful commercialization (84.
Biomineralogy. Chemical microscopes coupled with bio-
chemical techniques are opening up a rapidly expanding field
of studies on microbes. Before these tools were developed,
mineralogists could only speculate on how microbes concen-
trated useful elements (including uranium!) into ore bodies,
how microbes interact with atmospheric gases to modify the
climate, how deep-seated ones relate to the spatial distribution
and chemical signatures of natural gas and oil in the continents,
and so on. Microbes can make organic acids that accelerate
mineral weathering to make soil minerals (good), and eat away
outdoor statues (bad) (9~.
Honeycombed surfaces of weathered feldspars may have
been the first home of primitive cells where they were pro-
tected from destruction by solar ultraviolet radiation. The
internal hydrophobic silica-rich surface in nanometer-wide
channels of a zeolite mineral formed from abundant volcanic
PNAS is available online at www.pnas.org.
5734 S. Ellis Avenue, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637
ash (e.g., mutinaite = synthetic silicalite-ZSM-5) might have
scavenged organic species from the proverbial water-rich
"soup" and catalyzed assembly into primitive polymers that
extruded like spaghetti to become tangled up to form the
nucleus of a proto-cell (10~.
Radwaste, Mining, and Environmental Issues. Perhaps a
billion people, including some in developed countries, cur-
rently ingest harmful amounts of toxic elements. A prime aim
of this colloquium was careful evaluation of selected problems,
and establishment of an international plan for coupling scien-
tific and administrative skills for mitigation (11-14~.
Pure and Applied Mineralogy. Improvements in the chem-
istry of electric storage batteries are related to mineralogy
(e.g., long-life Pb; high-energy Li, etc). Over 400 minerals
contain Mn; we selected Mn-oxides for presentation because
of advances in understanding their chemistry using the new
chemical microscopes (15~.
Perhaps the most spectacular advances have been in the
petroleum industries, to the great benefit of the consumer.
Three-dimensional-seismic imaging, slant drilling, and other
engineering advances are tripling the recovery of petroleum
from geologic reservoirs and actually advancing the provable
reserves (although most prognostications assert that supply
will not meet demand some time before 2030~. The value of
mineral geochemistry was illustrated by use of subtle argon-age
dating of clay minerals across a potential basin to predict its
yield of oil (16~.
An even broader success story has been the invention of
zeolite/molecular sieve adsorbent/catalysts and industrial de-
velopment of myriad applications (174. Almost unknown to all
but the zeolite chemists and engineers are everyday applica-
tions: the 3-fold increase in yield of gasoline from petroleum
from tailored zeolite catalysts, also higher octane number and
lower pollutants in automobile exhausts; clearer multi-pane
windows from zeolite adsorbing dirty vapors; safer brakes in
trucks and trains from pressure-swing zeolite adsorbent;
longer life of refrigerators; and selective absorbents in nuclear
waste. Just moving forward into major use are natural zeolites
whose low cost and high exchange capacity are leading to bulk
applications in agriculture, gardening, and waste management
(18~.
Geoscientists now have the "chemical microscopes" and
other tools to study the scientific characteristics of toxic
materials, and we can now study at the atomic level those
interactions between the inorganic and organic worlds that
have positive aspects for human welfare. However, the avail-
able funds are far too small to properly service the growing
community of environmental geoscientists. Hence, the collo-
quium concluded with presentations on a concept for estab-
lishment of a new efficient program for instrumentation in the
environmental sciences costing only $100 million to be com-
plemented by a similar one for research, teaching, and public
*e-mail: smith@cars.uchicago.edu.
3348
OCR for page 3349
Colloquium Paper: Smith
outreach over the initial five years at universities, colleges, and
experimental stations. An additional $100 million is needed to
bring together research professionals and students around the
world to quantify the dangers to human health of toxic
elements, including As, Se, and Pb; to devise plans for dis-
semination of information; and to evaluate ideas for remedia-
tion in the context of diplomatic, social science, and economic
planning procedures.
To conclude, particularly important for this colloquium is
that the boundaries between subdisciplines are falling; that
humans are now moving as much material on the Earth's
surface as geological processes; that natural climatic changes
are being modified willy-nilly by human activities; and that the
recent increase in population and use of energy is beginning to
slow down as fundamental limits are approached, but they may
not slow down fast enough. Doubling of the population might
be sustainable, but quadrupling almost certainly would lead to
serious problems and possible catastrophes. Biological evolu-
tion, as seen in the context of geologic time, indicates that
fortune goes with increasingly skilful use of resources of many
types, not the maximum use of resources.
1. Sposito, G., Skipper, N. T., Sutton, R., Park, S.-h., Soper, A. K.
& Greathouse, J. A. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96,
3358-3364.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96 (1999) 3349
Bertsch, P. M. & Seaman, J. C. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
96, 3350-3357.
3. Traina, S. J. & Laperche, V. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96,
3365-3371.
Brown, G. E., Jr., Foster, A. L. & Ostergren, J. D. (1999) Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3388-3395.
5. Prospero, J. M. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3396-3403.
6. Buseck, P. R. & Posfai, M. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96,
3372-3379.
7. Kastner, M. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3380-3387.
8. Kvenvolden, K. A. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3420
3426.
9. Banfield, J. F., Barker, W. W., Welch, S. A. & Taunton, A. (1999)
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3404-3411.
10. Smith, J. V., Arnold, F. P., Jr., Parsons, I. & Lee, M. R. (1999)
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3479-3485.
11. Ewing, R. C. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3432-3439.
12. Finkelman, R. B., Belkin, H. E. & Zheng, B. (1999) Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3427-3431.
13. Nolan, R. P., Langer, A. M. & Wilson, R. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA 96, 3412-3419.
14. Nordstrom, D. K. & Alpers, C. N. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA 96, 3455-3462.
15. Post, J. E. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3447-3454.
16. Pevear, D. R. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3440-3446.
17. Sherman, J. D. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3471-3478.
18. Mumpton, F. A. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3463-3470
Representative terms from entire chapter:
chemical microscopes
