Gold is an element, a building block of all matter and can be found scattered throughout the earth’s crust. I don’t know why they end up in nuggets, but here’s what the museum of victoria had to say on the matter
“While there are several theories for the origin of nuggets, the evidence points conclusively to them coming from the gold-bearing quartz reefs. Many big alluvial nuggets contain lumps of quartz, or show imprints of quartz crystals enclosed by the gold as it crystallised in cavities in the reefs. Why large masses should suddenly crystallise is not completely understood. However, it has something to do with conditions in the surrounding rocks changing the solubility of gold in the warm water that had dissolved it in huge amounts and carried it up from deep in the crust.
In some goldmines, large slugs of gold were found where quartz reefs cut particular layers in the surrounding sedimentary strata. These layers became known as ‘indicators’ and were actively sought out by the early miners. Over millions of years of erosion, the landscape was worn down, exposing the quartz reefs and the enclosed gold. Gradually, weathering caused the reefs to disintegrate, freeing the lumps of gold. These moved into the soil, then down slope into the nearest stream.”
I like these “why” and “how” questions, very good one cupcakesrachel.
Gold is not made – it occurs naturally in an elemental form. You may remember from your chemistry classes; en element is a chemical substance that is made of only single type of atom (in other words you can’t break it down anything further). And gold is an element.
By the way throughout the history there have been many people with a desire to “make gold” – the so-called science behind it is known as alchemy but in reality there is no such a thing.
Now why on earth the gold is found under the ground? In order to understand this we have to go back some 13.7 billion years ago. During the formation of the universe (The ‘Big Bang’ Theory), only the lightest elements were formed – hydrogen and helium along with trace amounts of lithium and beryllium. With cooling of gases from big bang, stars formed, and these then grouped together to form galaxies. The other 86 elements found in nature were created in nuclear reactions in these stars and in huge stellar explosions known as supernova.
Like all the mortal rockstars, the real stars out there in universe will die out eventually. This happens when a star’s core runs out of hydrogen. The dying star expands into a red giant, and this now begins to manufacture carbon atoms by fusing helium atoms. Bigger stars begin a further series of nuclear burning or reaction stages. The elements formed in these stages range from oxygen through to iron.
Finally when a supernova occurs, the star releases very large amounts of energy as well as neutrons, which allows elements heavier than iron, such as GOLD, to be produced and during supernova explosion, all of these elements are expelled out into space like bullets and embed themselves into the depths of surface of other planets nearby.
So that’s why you find gold mostly under the ground – because of the rage of an angry dying star which forms and throws the heavy elements like gold to its surroundings.
Gold is an element, a building block of all matter and can be found scattered throughout the earth’s crust. I don’t know why they end up in nuggets, but here’s what the museum of victoria had to say on the matter
“While there are several theories for the origin of nuggets, the evidence points conclusively to them coming from the gold-bearing quartz reefs. Many big alluvial nuggets contain lumps of quartz, or show imprints of quartz crystals enclosed by the gold as it crystallised in cavities in the reefs. Why large masses should suddenly crystallise is not completely understood. However, it has something to do with conditions in the surrounding rocks changing the solubility of gold in the warm water that had dissolved it in huge amounts and carried it up from deep in the crust.
In some goldmines, large slugs of gold were found where quartz reefs cut particular layers in the surrounding sedimentary strata. These layers became known as ‘indicators’ and were actively sought out by the early miners. Over millions of years of erosion, the landscape was worn down, exposing the quartz reefs and the enclosed gold. Gradually, weathering caused the reefs to disintegrate, freeing the lumps of gold. These moved into the soil, then down slope into the nearest stream.”
https://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/gold-nuggets/
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I like these “why” and “how” questions, very good one cupcakesrachel.
Gold is not made – it occurs naturally in an elemental form. You may remember from your chemistry classes; en element is a chemical substance that is made of only single type of atom (in other words you can’t break it down anything further). And gold is an element.
By the way throughout the history there have been many people with a desire to “make gold” – the so-called science behind it is known as alchemy but in reality there is no such a thing.
Now why on earth the gold is found under the ground? In order to understand this we have to go back some 13.7 billion years ago. During the formation of the universe (The ‘Big Bang’ Theory), only the lightest elements were formed – hydrogen and helium along with trace amounts of lithium and beryllium. With cooling of gases from big bang, stars formed, and these then grouped together to form galaxies. The other 86 elements found in nature were created in nuclear reactions in these stars and in huge stellar explosions known as supernova.
Like all the mortal rockstars, the real stars out there in universe will die out eventually. This happens when a star’s core runs out of hydrogen. The dying star expands into a red giant, and this now begins to manufacture carbon atoms by fusing helium atoms. Bigger stars begin a further series of nuclear burning or reaction stages. The elements formed in these stages range from oxygen through to iron.
Finally when a supernova occurs, the star releases very large amounts of energy as well as neutrons, which allows elements heavier than iron, such as GOLD, to be produced and during supernova explosion, all of these elements are expelled out into space like bullets and embed themselves into the depths of surface of other planets nearby.
So that’s why you find gold mostly under the ground – because of the rage of an angry dying star which forms and throws the heavy elements like gold to its surroundings.
0