|
|
Article: Digging at the dolomite dilemma.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- November 30, 1985
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1985 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In geology, the present is often the key to the past. One curious exception to this rule is dolomite, a magnesium-calcium carbonate (limestone). The "dolomite problem," as it has come to be called, arises from data collected earlier this century indicating that considerably more dolomite formed on the ancient earth than is forming today. Why this is so, and how the mineral is created, even in modern settings, are subjects of lengthy debate.
A new paper by David N. Lumsden at Memphis (Tenn.) State University presents the first measurements of dolomite deposited in deep-sea sediments over the last 150 million years. These data verify the earlier indication that ...