Sometimes known as ‘necromineral’ or ‘mineral of the dead’, vivianite is a very curious and unknown element. One of its main features is that, in fact, it occurs in corpses under certain conditions. It is a rare phosphate mineral (Fe3(PO4)2−(H2O)8) that grows in organic materials such as fossil shells, animal waste deposits, and even decaying bodies.
Crystal of beautiful appearance and structure thrives in iron-rich sedimentary deposits containing bone, decayed wood and other organic residues, especially clay and sandstone. It is an extremely brittle and usually pale white or transparent crystal, but darkens in color when exposed to light.due to oxidation. In fact, the glass continues to darken until it reaches shades of blue, darker green and purple, and finally a purplish black.
Interaction between iron, water and phosphate
However Why does vivianite occur on corpses? key consists Interaction between iron, water and phosphate. Our bodies contain large amounts of phosphate, especially in teeth and bones, which is released into the environment as soon as corpses begin to decompose. Under certain conditions, When the surrounding area contains water and iron, the phosphate can react and form the mineral vivianite.
In most cases, vivianite has been observed in corpses that have been buried for several centuries. There are also much older examples where it has been found in mammoth tusks and bones of other animals that are several thousand years old, but there are also some cases where it has been identified in more recent human bodies. portal.IFLScience.
In the 1960s, archaeologists discovered several corpses at Lake Walchen in Germany, already almost skeletal and also covered with body fat. One of the bodies was fixed to an iron plate, which formed vivianite between it and the oil. Analysis of the clothing on the body showed that it was likely in the water for 30 to 50 years. and that the crystals may have formed at that time because the plate in question had released enough iron ions when it corroded enough to allow vivianite to grow in the most phosphate-rich areas of the body.
In 1998, another team of researchers discovered vivianite in the remains of a US soldier reported missing in the Vietnam War since 1963, who went missing on a B-26B aircraft. By analyzing the mineral, the researchers were able to conclude that the body was probably buried in moist soil next to parts of the plane, allowing the vivianite to grow.
Also found in the Ice Man Ötzi
This mineral has also been found throughout the body (inside and outside the skin and in lung tissue), so The 5,300-year-old ice man “Ötzi” discovered by a German tourist in the Ötztal Alps of Tyrol in 1991. The crystal is believed to form due to the body coming into contact with iron-containing rocks.
Similarly, another vivianite-covered body was found in a bay on Lake Brienz, Switzerland, in 1996, and is believed to belong to a man who drowned there in the 18th century.
ANDThe name Vivianite comes from the English geologist John Henry Vivian, who first discovered the mineral. 19th century in Cornwall, England.
The most important deposits are in Bolivia, Germany, Romania, England or Austria. In Spain, vivianita can be found in Murcia and Asturias, among other places.
…..
Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]