Talk:Olivine

message: I may be wrong but is the new image of olivine not a peridotite xenolith (with green olivine and black pyroxene) in basalt? If it is it would make a good illustration for the article on the mantle and on pyroxen (with a sutible caption). Andreww 07:46, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with you - as I understand the San Carlos peridot inclusions are likely xenoliths. Use where it fits. I just aquired the sample and was experimenting with a new camera - could be a bit sharper methinks. Need a scale also, the image is about 4-5 cm across. I may re-take the photo and replace with a better image -- someday. Vsmith 13:53, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: New image

message: Sorry, I'm new at this, please correct this if I input incorrectly. I haven't registered/tutorialed yet.
Anyway, in a game, "Gadget: Past as Future," Olivine is used as a power-source for a subterranean transport. Pretty out-there, but I thought it was worth a mention. ...Olivine is used in furnace bricks, I've read, but is there really anything reactant about the stuff? -TJ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.177.199.23 (talk) 04:33, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Interesting tidbit of "Popular Culture!"  Unfortunately olivine does not contain much of anything reactive (i.e., that could be used as a power source).  It consists mostly of silicon, oxygen, and (for the most part) a bit of iron and/or magnesium.  None of those materials are radioactive, reactive, or flamable in their mineralic form.  Personally, I've never heard of olivine (a pretty benign substance if there ever was one) being used as a power source or in furnace bricks.  Do you remember the reference of where you read that?--Will.i.am 10:38, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gadget Referrence 

message: This article seems to me to be seriously understating what is an absolutely amazing mineral:  if indeed it comprises 50% of the earth's mantle, it's very likely to be the most common type of "rock", or at least of mineral, on earth.  Furthermore, it binds CO2 when crushed, thus providing a plausible geoengineering route to reducing atmospheric CO2 levels and removing excess acid from the world ocean.
And, yes, since the reaction is exothermic, it could plausibly be used as a power source (probably most easily in a galvanic cell, given the problems with using a small heat differential to build a heat machine).
I think that's amazing.  We tend to think of rock and CO2 both as waste products that have attained their lowest energy state, and that that's simply untrue on such a staggering scale - only a small faction of the world's olivine would be enough to bind all carbon on the planet - is, at least, amazing, and at best an early hint at a chemical reaction that might stop or reverse global warming, if the technological issues can be solved.
I'm putting this here because, frankly, I don't know much about rocks, and the one thing I learned today is that no one else I've ever talked to does, either.  I know that mining and crushing huge amounts of rock might be a bit more difficult than it seems to a non-engineer, but the rewards would be huge.  why's no one doing it?
92.116.251.251 (talk) 15:54, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I too, wanted to verify this information. I am at this moment watching NatGeo's Naked Science. In episode 3 of the 2009 season called "Birth of Oceans" a Geologist stated, that Olivine is the most abundant mineral on Earth. Should this be added to this article. Does it need to be further confirmed? I'll get his name when the episode reairs later tonight.  Rayfire (talk) 00:33, 23 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: The geologist is Professor Mike Drake.Rayfire (talk) 00:46, 23 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  the most common rock? 

message: earth has been cooling for billions of years.  Mg-rich olivine 'freezes' at much higher temperatures than Fe-rich olivine.  Ergo, whilst common Mg-rich olivine evidently solidified billions of years ago, coalescing onto crustal formations that human geologists have studied; conversely, Fe-rich olivine may yet be liquid, and account for the bulk of material in the fluid, convecting mantle. 66.235.38.214 (talk) 23:20, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: And ... how would you improve the article? Vsmith (talk) 23:32, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Comment

message: As of December 8th, 2013, several general-media reports have cited Olivine as the essential mineral in a new process for producing hydrogen:
"Researchers in France said aluminum oxide speeded up a process by which hydrogen is produced naturally when water meets olivine, a common type of rock, under the high temperatures and pressures found at great depths." 
-Reuters
The article would be improved by an expert's elaboration on the process and the mechanics of the reaction.
Jeffca3 (talk) 04:42, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Using Olivine as a Short-cut to produce hydrogen  

message: I've never heard of this stuff before, but last week's Cosmos features it as a primary factor for the creation of life.  NGT also shows it already being olivine as it emerges from a supernova.  That sounds strange to me - wouldn't it form as the minerals coalesce into a planet?  Is that worth putting into the main article?  Or is NGT overstating things?  --Algr (talk) 13:39, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cosmos: Possible worlds 

message: The article has seemingly contradictory statements about olivine's resistance to weathering. The first paragraph of the lead states "it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickly on the surface", and in the weathering section it states, "Olivine is one of the weaker common minerals on the surface according to the Goldich dissolution series". However in the lead it also states "Olivine rock is usually harder than surrounding rock and stands out as distinct ridges in the terrain" and "Olivine rock is hard and base-rich", and in the uses section it states "In Finland, olivine is marketed as an ideal rock for sauna stoves because of its comparatively high density and resistance to weathering under repeated heating and cooling". How can this be clarified? PaleCloudedWhite (talk) 05:08, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradictory statements about resistance to weathering