Soman K

From flood geology to rare-earths geology

From flood geology to rare-earths geology

K. Soman
Former address: Resources Analysis Divn, CESS, Trivandrum E-mail: kunjusom@yahoo.com Abstract. Geology is a science of very recent origin. It was the result of efforts of many pioneering naturalists
and scientists that it has achieved the status of an all-embracing natural resource and environmental science. When rare earth elements are in much demand, our resources are being plundered. Geologists have a duty to perfect their studies in locating valuable mineral resources and to apprise the rulers about their value in the national perspective.

Introduction Human habitation of the earth constitutes a miniscule part of the earths history as manifested in the geological time-scale. The primeval man like all other life forms mostly sustained on the biosphere, whereas his better organized civil structures started infringing on the lithosphere and hydrosphere for extracting minerals for tool making, soil and wood for brick making and water for irrigation. Overexploitation of natural resources resulted in perishing of early human civilizations. Examples include the case of the Vedic society in the present day Gujarat-Rajasthan region, the Mohenjo-Daro-Harappa civilizations in the Indus river basin or the Babylonian civilization in the Euphrates-Tigris basin. Sea-faring, colonialization, migration and trade had a dilating effect on the pressure on land resources in the more populated regions of the earth. Geology or discourse on earth was the domain of theologians initially, till it was contested by naturalists in the beginning of 17th century A D. Advent of industrial revolution opened new vistas of exploitation of natural resources, especially the minerals and mineral fuels. Coal, iron ore and clays formed the first batch of the exploitation list. This was followed by base and other metals, uranium, fertilizer minerals, i. e. those elements in more abundance in the earths crust, and oil, natural gas etc. This was possible thanks to the efforts of many a naturalist/geologist who documented the strata and minerals. While the mineral extraction and metallurgy developed, the more difficult for metal extraction turned out to be the rare earths, that were found highly dispersed and found in rare concentrations, besides being more difficult to refine. Still, those nations who managed to extract all these metals turned out to be prospering, while the mere suppliers of raw materials remain underdeveloped. This essay narrates the broad sequence of development of geology as a science, and concurrently dwells upon the role of rare earth elements, which are most vital in the most modern industrial arena, but the last in the sequence of metal extraction. Relative position of India/ Kerala in this field is also under mention. Geology as a science Emergence of geology as a science only facilitated systematic documentation of rock strata, mineral resources contained in them and their exploitation later. It has developed in to its present form quite recently. Though features of the earth, its rotation, its place in the solar system etc were all concerns of philosophers in ancient Greece and Egypt, such knowledge became alien to the Europeans by the medieval times. This left the questions of origin and age of the earth the domain of theological beliefs. It was Archbishop Ussher, who in the mid1600s proclaimed that the earth origin was in B C 4004. It meant that the earth was only 6000 years old, an allusion to the biblical story of creation of earth by God in six days. Theologians and
Shaji E & Pradeepkumar AP (Eds) 2014 Mineral Resources of Kerala Trivandrum: Dept of Geology Univ of Kerala ISBN 978-81-923449-0-4

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From flood geology to rare-earths geology

their supporters also held that all the rocks had formed at one time when a mass of sediments settled out of the declining waters of Noahs Flood. Geological thought of this nature was termed as Flood Geology by the opposing school of thought in medieval Europe. The beginning of modern geology is attributed to the efforts of Nicolaus Steno (163887), a Danish citizen who worked mostly in Italy. He put forward the basic tenets of stratigraphy after analyzing fossil remains in rocks. He formulated the Law of original horizontality (waterlaid sediments are deposited in layers/strata, and are parallel or near parallel to the surface on which they are accumulating) and the Law of superposition of strata (in any undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, the rocks at the bottom of the sequence are older than those which overlie them). These remain basic tenets in sedimentary geology even today. These were revolutionary postulates then, and were opposed by supporters of Flood Geology. Abraham Gottlob Werner from Freiberg Mining Academy published a general theory of the origin of rocks in 1787. He postulated that the crust had a layered structure and consisted of hard crystalline rocks overlain by rocks of less crystalline nature. He also believed that all rocks were formed in a universal ocean, and rejected the idea of catastrophism, which was postulated by French scientist Georges Cuvier in 1812 to explain the geological phenomena such as mountain building processes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions etc that were considered as supernatural, catastrophic events resulting in extinction of all life forms and termination of earths relief features. Werners theory was known as Neptunism, and supported by Flood geologists. Presence of volcanic rock assemblages among sediments, however, could not be explained by this theory. Willam Smith, an English engineer during his professional journeys observed that a rock of certain age irrespective of its content over some distance (say clay or sandstone) would still contain some of the same fossils. He was the first to publish a very reasonable geological map of England and Wales in 1815 using the principle of dating the rocks by the fossils they contained. His contribution to the development of geology as a science is commendable. It was indeed James Hutton (1726-1797) who laid the foundation of modern geology by asserting the existence of processes such as erosion, deposition and volcanism. He rejected the ideas of catastrophism and neptunism, and reasoned that due to internal forces certain areas could be uplifted and then subjected to erosion, whereas other areas could be subsided to become basins of deposition. He also stated that the forces acting on landscape today have been in operation throughout geological time. This was the basic concept of interpreting the rock record by Hutton. His insistence on the role of subterranean heat and that certain rocks had cooled from a molten state earned his ideas the nickname plutonism. His postulates gave importance to both internal and external processes in shaping the earths crust. Huttons views were popularized by Jon Playfair, and furthered by Charles Lyll, whose book Principles of Geology(1830) became the basic text for geologists for the rest of the century and influenced Charles Darvins view of the world. The basic concept of interpreting the rock record by Hutton, and elaborated by Lyll was nicknamed uniformitarianism which was opposed to catastrophism. Uniformitarianism was succinctly summarized by Lyll as, Present is the key to the past, a geological principle followed by the geological fraternity ever since. Towards the end of the 19th century, huge volume of geological material was accumulated from various parts of the world including from British India. Geologic Column was formalized in the II meeting of the International Geological Congress in 1881.The great Austrian geologist Edward Suess summarized the accumulated data in a four-volume treatise on the geologic structure of the entire planet titled Das Antlitz der Erde (18831909; The Face of the Earth). Theories of the structure and evolution of the lithosphere are discussed in the treatise in greater detail, tracing the ancient changes in the continents and seas necessary to form the modern features of the Earths surface. Though his treatise was based entirely on the contraction theory, many of the common terms and concepts still in use in tectonics, such as Gondwanaland,
Shaji E & Pradeepkumar AP (Eds) 2014 Mineral Resources of Kerala Trivandrum: Dept of Geology Univ of Kerala ISBN 978-81-923449-0-4

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Tethys and Shield were first proposed in this book. The work also indicates that Suess was the first to recognize that major rift valleys such as those in East Africa were caused by the extension of the lithosphere. Further progress in tectonics was centred around the arguments for and against the postulates in this work. Works of great sedimentologists Stille, Arkhangelskiy, Strakhov, Pettijohn and others finetuned the theories of sedimentation and introduced facies analysis. Mineralogical / petrological and geochemical contributions of pioneering workers Bowen, Clarke, Niggli, Goldschmidt, Wedepohl, Vinogradov, Fersman, Arthur Holms, Ramdohr and a host of others unraveled the rock characteristics, elemental and mineral affinities, age ralations and formation sequence of rocks and minerals. These developments led to elucidation of geological and structural criteria essential for the formation of mineral deposits, as also of oil and gas fields. Mine cuts and bore holes offered further insight into the geology beneath the surface, enriching the perspective thinking of geologists about the interiors of the earth. This was followed by devising and refining of exploration tools. Such inputs were useful in mineral exploration and metallurgy that led to the industrial advancements of the 20th century. Beginning of the 20th century witnessed seismology taking a lead role in exploring the interiors of the earth and characterizing its internal structure. R. D. Oldham, John Milne, Beno Gutenberg, Andrija Mohorovicic, Inge Lehmann, Hugo Benioff, and Charles Richter are some of the most prominent contributors to this field. Seismology came handy for geologists to explore oil and gas bearing structures, that changed the economic well being of many nations, besides providing a very useful energy and chemical industry source. Advances in geophysics and their application in oceanic explorations, especially after World War II resolved many a fundamental problem in geology, especially those related to the question of expanding earth, mountain building processes, causes of earthquakes and so on, resulting in the formulation on plate tectonics. In short, beginning from the concept of Flood Geology in the mid 1600s till date, the impressive advances in geology liberated this science from the theologians and enabled humanity to explore and exploit the richness hidden underneath the earths surface. This contributed to the well being of many nations and peoples where the Governments were keen on peoples welfare. Present day Latin America and the Middle East are examples. Mineral richness also adds to the misery of nations, like the nations in western Africa, where wars and corruption thrive on mineral riches. Rare Earths The rare earths got their name starting in the 1700s. Chemists first discovered them as oxide compounds and therefore termed them "earths". They were found in rare minerals and difficult to reduce to metal. That gave the adjective "rare". This label did not change even when they were found to be metallic elements and not especially rare, as it is made out. These are also known as the lanthanides or lanthanoids after the element lanthanum, which is the first of the series. The lanthanides include the 15 elements from lanthanum (atomic number 57) through lutetium (71). One of the lanthanides, promethium, is too unstable to exist in nature, but it can be manufactured in nuclear reactors. Two other very similar elements, scandium and yttrium (elements 21 and 39), are also included in the grouping, as they occur together in minerals. The elements range in crustal abundance from cerium, the 25th most abundant element of the 78 common elements in the Earth's crust at 60 parts per million, to thulium and lutetium, the least abundant rare-earth elements at about 0.5 part per million. REE ions have slightly larger ionic radius in the light REEs (elements 5762) and slightly smaller in the heavy REEs (elements 6371). This difference allows them to slowly become enriched or excluded as they enter melts of various compositions. Geologists use this characteristic of REEs to trace the histories of rocks and magmas.
Shaji E & Pradeepkumar AP (Eds) 2014 Mineral Resources of Kerala Trivandrum: Dept of Geology Univ of Kerala ISBN 978-81-923449-0-4

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From flood geology to rare-earths geology

Rare Earth Metals and Their Applications The elemental forms of rare earths are iron gray to silvery lustrous metals that are typically soft, malleable, and ductile and usually reactive, especially at elevated temperatures or when finely divided. Because of these, REEs have important roles in metallurgy, electronics and magnetic applications. The urge to separate rare earth metals emerged on utilization of nuclear energy. Concentration of rare earth isotopes during nuclear fuel separation warranted their and removal. By 1960s, most of the rare earth elements could be separated in metal forms, leading to a spurt in their application. Their uses widened from equipment manufacturing and metallurgy through computers, electronic clocks, nuclear batteries, colour television, lasers, oil cracking during petroleum refining, electronics, glass industry and colour ceramics, radiology equipment, to oxidizers and reducers, and a host of other areas most modern technology. The US and Japan are the major consumers of these metals. As on today China is the largest manufacturer of rare earths. Their 2010 policy to restrict export of rare earth metals has severely affected the Japanese industry. Japan is seeking to enhance the supply route through negotiations with India which has vast resources of monazite, a mineral rich in rare earths , and also trying to exploit the resources in the vicinity of Hawaii- French Polynesia islands in the pacific ocean. Geology of rare earths Over 250 minerals containing REEs are known. Only 60-65 minerals are known to contain TR in the range of 5-8%..The principal economic sources of rare earths are the minerals bastnasiteCe(CO3)(OH,F), monazite-(Ce,La) PO4 and loparite-(Na,Ca,Ce)(Ti,Nb)O3 found in pegmatites and carbonatites. A third source is the placer deposits and the fourth source-lateritic ionadsorption clays found in China. Certain amount of the REEs is also associated with iron ore deposits. The Indian resources are mainly in the beach placer mineral deposits found in the vicinity of khondalite suite of rocks in the east and west coasts, which are rich in Ce (LREE). Cerium subgroup of rare metals are generally associated with alkaline rocks and associated post magmatic-metamorphic melts, whereas, yttrium subgroup is associated with post magmatic products of granitoids with higher alkalinity. Analytical data of monazite from Chavara indicate that the monazite is rich in LREE. Though presence of reported carbonates and other alkaline rocks are less documented in the south Kerala khondalites, such assemblage is reported from khondalite-calc granulite assemblage of the Palghat Gap area. Studies on the genesis of beach placer deposits with detailed probing into the provenance region is thus of utmost importance, not only for solving the issue of their genesis, but also for formulating prospecting criteria for similar deposits in the sedimentary-metamorphic basins of India. Beach placer deposits of Kerala Keralas (Travancores) beach placer deposits were discovered virtually a century ago with the identification of monazite by Schomberg in 1909. Mining started in the year 1932, then started the titanium pigment production. World War II and after, the demand on titanium metal was tremendous, so was the demand on rare earth metals and thorium after the 1960s. Till date we could not imagine of producing the much valuable titanium metal and rare earth metals contained in the minerals of the deposits. Some production by the DRDO and BARC of these metals does not auger well for the States economy or for that matter for the national economy. Substantial part of the deposit has been exploited, and raw minerals including zircon and

Shaji E & Pradeepkumar AP (Eds) 2014 Mineral Resources of Kerala Trivandrum: Dept of Geology Univ of Kerala ISBN 978-81-923449-0-4

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monazite exported or smuggled out of the country. The latter happened, especially after the amendments in the atomic minerals act brought in place in 1998. Discussion and conclusion The first part of the essay was addressed to the development of geology as a science. Development of this science facilitated scientific exploration and extraction of minerals/metals and fuels that drives the economic development and nation building efforts of many nations. The second part pertains to rare earths that are in big demand in the sophisticated modern technologies. Though India hosts most of these resources in good quantities, our complacency in systematic geological investigations and absence of concept-based mineral exploration strategies including those for oil and gas has kept us spending substantial part of our revenues for import of fuel energy resources. Absence of an all-embracing metallurgical segment in the Indian economy hampers the quality of industrial goods and hinders its chances to emerge as a modern industrial nation. This lag will continue to increase, as most the rare valuable resources are on their way out of the nation either by export as raw material, or by smuggling as in the case of rare earth sources. This is in contrast to the efforts of mineral-starved nations as Japan which is seeking to extract rare earth minerals from the Pacific Ocean. The dangerous complacency our rulers in such matters is ruinous for the nation. This is a matter to be discussed seriously in the geological circles in the country, and hence this communication. References
Nemkov, G I, Muratov, M V and Grechishnikova I A 1974 Historical Geology. Nedra Publishers, Moscow, 320p. (in Russian) Sawkins F J, Chase C G, Darby D G and Rapp G (Jr) 1978 The Evolving Earth: A Text in Physical Geology (second edition). Collier Macmillan Publishers, London, 558p. Volfson F I and Druzhinin A V 1982 Major types of Metallic Deposits. Nedra Publishers, Moscow, 384p.(in Russian)

Shaji E & Pradeepkumar AP (Eds) 2014 Mineral Resources of Kerala Trivandrum: Dept of Geology Univ of Kerala ISBN 978-81-923449-0-4

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