Earthquakes produce giant gold nuggets by electrifying quartz to make 'natural batteries'

New research suggests that electricity generated by earthquakes may be the key to forming giant gold nuggets.

The study, conducted by geologists at Monash University in Melbourne, was published in the journal Nature Geoscience today.

Gold has been valuable to humans for thousands of years. Its luster, color, and relative rarity have made it a valuable commodity that has formed the basis of economies and been a sign of wealth.

Besides jewelry and a store of value, gold is also an essential component in computers and communications equipment.

A lump of gold in quartz. Image credit: Pierre Longnus/The Image Bank/Getty Images Plus.

According to the US Geological Survey, 244,000 tons of gold have been discovered so far, with about 57,000 tons still in underground reserves.

The total amount of gold found could fit into a cube with sides of 23 metres.

No wonder humans spend so much time trying to figure out how to make gold. For centuries, chemists believed they could turn lead—atomic number 82—into the precious element gold—atomic number 79.

Scientists have recently tried to explain how gold is produced in nature. Some have even managed to produce gold nanoparticles in the laboratory.

“The standard explanation is that gold precipitates from hot, water-rich fluids as they flow through cracks in the Earth’s crust. As these fluids cool or undergo chemical changes, the gold separates and becomes trapped in quartz veins,” says Chris Voysey, a researcher at Monash University and lead author of the new study.

“While this theory is widely accepted, it does not fully explain the formation of large gold masses, especially given that the concentration of gold in these fluids is very low.”

Researchers sought to better understand how the large gold nuggets form by testing a new theory: piezoelectricity.

The piezoelectric effect was first discovered in 1880 by French physicists Jacques and Pierre Curie – the latter being the husband of physicist Marie Curie. Piezoelectricity occurs when certain solids are able to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, or vice versa.

Some crystals, such as quartz, can generate a piezoelectric voltage when mechanical stress is applied to them. This effect is commonly found in quartz watches and lighters used in barbecues.

Voisy's team wondered whether mechanical stresses generated during earthquakes could produce piezoelectricity in quartz, leading to the electrical and chemical changes needed to make large gold nuggets.

To test their idea, the team tried to replicate the conditions that quartz might experience during an earthquake.

Quartz crystals were immersed in a gold-rich liquid and pressure was applied to them using a motor. The quartz samples were then studied under a microscope.

(Left): Scanning electron microscope image of gold deposited on quartz via piezoelectric interactions during experiments. The doping is a magnified image revealing that the texture of the gold grains consists of multiple gold nanoparticles bonded together. (Right): Energy dispersive spectral map of the sample. Highlighting the chemical composition of the sample area. Copyright: Dr. Chris Voysey.

“The results were amazing,” says co-author Andy Tomkins. “Not only did the electrochemically stressed quartz deposit gold on its surface, it also formed and accumulated gold nanoparticles. Remarkably, the gold had a tendency to deposit on existing gold grains rather than forming new ones.”

This is because quartz is an electrical insulator while gold is a conductor. The result is that the gold deposited on quartz due to piezoelectric voltage becomes an attraction pole for other dissolved gold particles.

“Our discovery provides a plausible explanation for the formation of large gold nuggets in quartz veins,” Voisy says. “Essentially, quartz acts as a natural battery, with gold acting as an electrode, and more gold slowly accumulating with each seismic event.”

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