WEBVTT - How Does Hematite Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lorn Vogel bomb here. The mineral hematite has shaped

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<v Speaker 1>civilizations for thousands of years. It was first used as

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<v Speaker 1>the main pigment in cave paintings, often having a reddish hue,

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<v Speaker 1>a signature trait of hematite. Later, it was and still

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<v Speaker 1>is the primary source of iron, shifting the world out

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<v Speaker 1>of the Stone Age and into the Iron Age and beyond.

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<v Speaker 1>While heemotite comes in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and forms,

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<v Speaker 1>it always streaks red, garnering its name, which is based

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<v Speaker 1>on a Greek root for blood and the nickname Bloodstone.

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<v Speaker 1>Haematite can appear steel, gray, black, brown, or red, and

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<v Speaker 1>can shine in the form of metallic crystals or show

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<v Speaker 1>up as dull, reddish rough rocks. And hematite isn't exclusive

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<v Speaker 1>to Earth. It's the main reason that the planet Mars

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<v Speaker 1>is red. Roughly ten to fift of its soil is

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<v Speaker 1>made up of the mineral. Fine grained hematite is dispersed

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<v Speaker 1>around Mars during its many seasonal dust storms. In its

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<v Speaker 1>base form, hematite is an iron oxide composed of iron

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<v Speaker 1>and oxygen. As one of the most abundant minerals on

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<v Speaker 1>the planet Earth. It's perfect for mining to produce iron

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<v Speaker 1>and iron based derivatives like steel. But even though it's plentiful,

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<v Speaker 1>hematite isn't usually found on Earth on its own, or

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<v Speaker 1>rather it's generally found mixed together with other minerals like magnetite.

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<v Speaker 1>For the article, this episode is based on How's to

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<v Speaker 1>Fork spoke by email with Brad le Blanc, senior geoscientist

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<v Speaker 1>for Sweet Lake Land and Oil and Oil Refinery in Louisiana.

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<v Speaker 1>He explained that hematite quote forms as a reaction of

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<v Speaker 1>hot magmas with surrounding materials and likely eroded into concentrated

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<v Speaker 1>layers of down dip sedimentary beds, the separating out via

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<v Speaker 1>gravity distribution. He Atite can also precipitate out of lake waters,

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<v Speaker 1>forming a bed on lake bottoms. As hematite can be

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<v Speaker 1>formed in different ways, it can have different physical traits.

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<v Speaker 1>This can make it rather hard to identify based on

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<v Speaker 1>just appearance alone. Intuitively, it's not easy to think that

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<v Speaker 1>a rainbow metallic crystal is actually the same kind of

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<v Speaker 1>mineral as a rough black specimen, but these are both

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<v Speaker 1>forms of hematite. The mineral does have that big tell

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<v Speaker 1>though regardless of how it looks due to its high

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<v Speaker 1>iron and oxygen content, But when it's scratched against anything,

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<v Speaker 1>it always leaves a reddish brown powder. So how did

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<v Speaker 1>our planet wind up with so much hematite? Back when

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<v Speaker 1>Earth was covered in primordial oceans about two and a

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<v Speaker 1>half billion years ago, there was an abundance of iron

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<v Speaker 1>in the water. When early aquatic plant life that could

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<v Speaker 1>process sunlight and undergo photosynthesis started forming, the oceans began

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<v Speaker 1>filling with oxygen. In this oxygen bound with the iron

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<v Speaker 1>in the water, forming rust particles. Over time, these sank

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<v Speaker 1>to the bottom of the ocean's floor, compressing into banded

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<v Speaker 1>iron deposits, which are the primary source of hematite today.

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<v Speaker 1>This accumulation continued for hundreds of millions of years. Along

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<v Speaker 1>with hematite, in these sedimentary iron deposits, there's also magnetite,

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<v Speaker 1>another primary source of iron. The mixing of these two

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<v Speaker 1>minerals in different quantities is one of the ways hematite

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<v Speaker 1>can take on different forms. While hematite is mainly mined

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<v Speaker 1>for iron, there are several other uses for the mineral

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<v Speaker 1>going back to the earliest civilizations. As we briefly discussed above,

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<v Speaker 1>hematite is one of the main ingredients of red ochre

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<v Speaker 1>pigment used for paints, makeup glazes, and early cave drawings

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<v Speaker 1>in Paleolithic eras a red ochre was also used in

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<v Speaker 1>paintings of the Renaissance era. Since hematite can present itself

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<v Speaker 1>in crystalline forms, it's also used and jewelry. When polished

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<v Speaker 1>or tumbled, the mineral can give off a smooth, metallic appearance,

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<v Speaker 1>making it perfect for beads of all shapes and sizes.

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<v Speaker 1>The mineral has also been used as a healing stone,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes said to bring relief from medical problems like anemia,

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<v Speaker 1>leg cramps, and insomnia, though there's no scientific proof of

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<v Speaker 1>any of that. But there is a real medical use

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<v Speaker 1>for hemotite. It can stop X rays and so is

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<v Speaker 1>used in radiation shielding for medical equipment. But these other

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<v Speaker 1>uses of hematite don't make up a significant portion of

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<v Speaker 1>the mineral's use overall, not when compared with iron production.

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<v Speaker 1>While hemotite can be found virtually everywhere in the world,

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<v Speaker 1>large quantities of it are mined in places like China, Brazil, Venezuela, Australia,

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<v Speaker 1>and South Africa, as well as across the US in Canada.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of those mines removed more than a hundred million

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<v Speaker 1>tons of iron ore every year, including hemotite, magnetite, and

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<v Speaker 1>other products m Today's episode is based on the article humatite,

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<v Speaker 1>the shapeshifting mineral used from the Stone Age to today

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff works dot Com, written by Trevor English.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuff Works dot Com, and it is produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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