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Thorianite
Thorianite is a rare thorium oxide mineral, ThO2. It was originally described by Ananda Coomaraswamy in 1904 as uraninite, but recognized as a new species by Wyndham R. Dunstan. It was so named by Dunstan on account of its high percentage of thorium; it also contains the oxides of uranium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium and neodymium. Helium is present, and the mineral is slightly less radioactive than pitchblende, but is harder to shield due to its high energy gamma rays. It is common in the alluvial gem-gravels of Sri Lanka, where it occurs mostly as water-worn, small, heavy, black, cubic crystals. The largest crystals are usually near 1.5 cm. Larger crystals, up to , have been reported from Madagascar. Chemistry Based on color, specific gravity and composition three types of thorianite are distinguished: *α-thorianite *β-thorianite *γ-thorianite Thorianite and uraninite form a complete solid solution series in synthetic and natural material. The division between the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxide Mineral
The oxide mineral class includes those minerals in which the oxide anion (O2−) is bonded to one or more metal alloys. The hydroxide-bearing minerals are typically included in the oxide class. Minerals with complex anion groups such as the silicates, sulfates, carbonates and phosphates are classed separately. Simple oxides *XO form **Periclase group *** Periclase *** Manganosite **Zincite group *** Zincite *** Bromellite *** Tenorite *** Litharge * form ** Cuprite **Ice * form **Hematite group ***Corundum ***Hematite *** Ilmenite * form **Rutile group ***Rutile *** Pyrolusite *** Cassiterite ** Baddeleyite ** Uraninite ** Thorianite * form **Spinel group ***Spinel ***Gahnite ***Magnetite *** Franklinite ***Chromite ** Chrysoberyl ** Columbite *Hydroxide subgroup: **Brucite ** Manganite ** Romanèchite **Goethite group: *** Diaspore ***Goethite Nickel–Strunz class 4: oxides IMA-CNMNC proposes a new hierarchical scheme (Mills et al., 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorium
Thorium is a chemical element; it has symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is a weakly radioactive light silver metal which tarnishes olive grey when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft, malleable, and has a high melting point. Thorium is an electropositive actinide whose chemistry is dominated by the +4 oxidation state; it is quite reactive and can ignite in air when finely divided. All known thorium isotopes are unstable. The most stable isotope, 232Th, has a half-life of 14.05 billion years, or about the age of the universe; it decays very slowly via alpha decay, starting a decay chain named the thorium series that ends at stable 208 Pb. On Earth, thorium and uranium are the only elements with no stable or nearly-stable isotopes that still occur naturally in large quantities as primordial elements. Thorium is estimated to be over three times as abundant as uranium in the Earth's crust, and is chiefly refined from monazite sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uraninite
Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U3O8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes the mineral to contain oxides of lead and trace amounts of helium. It may also contain thorium and rare-earth elements. Overview Uraninite used to be known as pitchblende (from '' pitch'', because of its black color, and ''blende'', from ''blenden'' meaning "to deceive", a term used by German miners to denote minerals whose density suggested metal content, but whose exploitation, at the time they were named, was either unknown or not economically feasible). The mineral has been known since at least the 15th century, from silver mines in the Ore Mountains, on the German/Czech border. The type locality is the historic mining and spa town known as Joachimsthal, the modern-day Jáchymov, on the Czech side of the mountains, where F. E. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitchblende
Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U3O8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes the mineral to contain oxides of lead and trace amounts of helium. It may also contain thorium and rare-earth elements. Overview Uraninite used to be known as pitchblende (from '' pitch'', because of its black color, and ''blende'', from ''blenden'' meaning "to deceive", a term used by German miners to denote minerals whose density suggested metal content, but whose exploitation, at the time they were named, was either unknown or not economically feasible). The mineral has been known since at least the 15th century, from silver mines in the Ore Mountains, on the German/Czech border. The type locality is the historic mining and spa town known as Joachimsthal, the modern-day Jáchymov, on the Czech side of the mountains, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered ''radioactive''. Three of the most common types of decay are Alpha decay, alpha, Beta decay, beta, and Gamma ray, gamma decay. The weak force is the Fundamental interactions, mechanism that is responsible for beta decay, while the other two are governed by the electromagnetic force, electromagnetic and nuclear forces. Radioactive decay is a randomness, random process at the level of single atoms. According to quantum mechanics, quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay, regardless of how long the atom has existed. However, for a significant number of identical atoms, the overall decay rate can be expressed as a decay constant or as a half-life. The half-lives of radioactive atoms have a huge range: f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, fourth largest island, the List of island countries, second-largest island country, and the List of countries and dependencies by area, 46th largest country overall. Its capital and List of cities in Madagascar, largest city is Antananarivo. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from Africa during the Early Jurassic period, around 180 million years ago, and separated from the Indian subcontinent approximately 90 million years ago. This isolation allowed native plants and animals to evolve in relative seclusion; as a result, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, with over 90% of its wildlife of Madagascar, wildlife being endemic. The island has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabaragamuwa
The Sabaragamuwa Province (, , ) is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Ratnapura is the capital of the province. History The provinces of Sri Lanka were created by the British in the 19th century, but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. The province is named after its former indigenous inhabitants, namely the Sabara, an Indic term for hunter-gatherer tribes, a term seldom used in ancient Sri Lanka. The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka is located in the town of Belihuloya, and was founded in 1991. Geography The province has an area of 4,968 km2 and a population of 1,918,880. Major towns include Ratnapura and Kegalle. Demographics Ethnic groups The Sinhalese are the majority ethnic group of the Sabaragamuwa province. Additionally, there are sizeable minority populations of Indian Tamils, Moors and Sri Lankan Tamils. Religion Administrative divisions Sabar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balangoda
Balangoda is a town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuwa Province. According to the 2001 census, Balangoda has a population of 16,875 and area of . According to 2012 census data Balangoda DS Division's religious composition is as follows Buddhists 63,203-77.49%,Hindus 9,528-11.68%,Islam 6,211-7.61%,Roman Catholics 1,834-2.25%,Other Christians 782-0.96%,Others 5-0.01%. Balangoda is notable due to the Balangoda Man, discovery of skeletal Hominini remains from the late Quaternary period (the earliest reliably dated record of anatomically modern humans in South Asia). The town is also the birthplace of Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero and Sirimavo Bandaranaike (the world's first female head of government) the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1960–65, 1970–77 and 1994–2000). Balangoda is situated in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
