TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring Carbon Mineral Systems

T2 - Recent Advances in C Mineral Evolution, Mineral Ecology, and Network Analysis

AU - Morrison, Shaunna M.

AU - Buongiorno, Joy

AU - Downs, Robert T.

AU - Eleish, Ahmed

AU - Fox, Peter

AU - Giovannelli, Donato

AU - Golden, Joshua J.

AU - Hummer, Daniel R.

AU - Hystad, Grethe

AU - Kellogg, Louise H.

AU - Kreylos, Oliver

AU - Krivovichev, Sergey V.

AU - Liu, Chao

AU - Merdith, Andrew

AU - Prabhu, Anirudh

AU - Ralph, Jolyon

AU - Runyon, Simone E.

AU - Zahirovic, Sabin

AU - Hazen, Robert M.

N1 - Funding Information: This publication is a contribution to the Deep Carbon Observatory. Studies of mineral evolution, mineral ecology, and data-driven discovery in mineral systems are supported by the Deep Carbon Observatory, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the W. M. Keck Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the NASA Astrobiology Institute (80NSSC18M0093), a private foundation, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. SK thanks Russian Science Foundation for financial support (grant 19-17-00038). SZ was supported by Alfred P. Sloan grants G-2017-9997 and G-2018-11296 through the Deep Carbon Observatory, and Australian Research Council grant IH130200012. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies or affiliated organizations.

PY - 2020/8/27

Y1 - 2020/8/27

N2 - Large and growing data resources on the spatial and temporal diversity and distribution of the more than 400 carbon-bearing mineral species reveal patterns of mineral evolution and ecology. Recent advances in analytical and visualization techniques leverage these data and are propelling mineralogy from a largely descriptive field into one of prediction within complex, integrated, multidimensional systems. These discoveries include: (1) systematic changes in the character of carbon minerals and their networks of coexisting species through deep time; (2) improved statistical predictions of the number and types of carbon minerals that occur on Earth but are yet to be discovered and described; and (3) a range of proposed and ongoing studies related to the quantification of network structures and trends, relation of mineral “natural kinds” to their genetic environments, prediction of the location of mineral species across the globe, examination of the tectonic drivers of mineralization through deep time, quantification of preservational and sampling bias in the mineralogical record, and characterization of feedback relationships between minerals and geochemical environments with microbial populations. These aspects of Earth’s carbon mineralogy underscore the complex co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere and highlight the possibility for scientific discovery in Earth and planetary systems.

AB - Large and growing data resources on the spatial and temporal diversity and distribution of the more than 400 carbon-bearing mineral species reveal patterns of mineral evolution and ecology. Recent advances in analytical and visualization techniques leverage these data and are propelling mineralogy from a largely descriptive field into one of prediction within complex, integrated, multidimensional systems. These discoveries include: (1) systematic changes in the character of carbon minerals and their networks of coexisting species through deep time; (2) improved statistical predictions of the number and types of carbon minerals that occur on Earth but are yet to be discovered and described; and (3) a range of proposed and ongoing studies related to the quantification of network structures and trends, relation of mineral “natural kinds” to their genetic environments, prediction of the location of mineral species across the globe, examination of the tectonic drivers of mineralization through deep time, quantification of preservational and sampling bias in the mineralogical record, and characterization of feedback relationships between minerals and geochemical environments with microbial populations. These aspects of Earth’s carbon mineralogy underscore the complex co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere and highlight the possibility for scientific discovery in Earth and planetary systems.

KW - carbon

KW - carbon minerals

KW - mineral ecology

KW - mineral evolution

KW - network analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090562817&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3389/feart.2020.00208

DO - 10.3389/feart.2020.00208

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85090562817

VL - 8

JO - Frontiers of Earth Science

JF - Frontiers of Earth Science

SN - 1673-7385

M1 - 208

ER -