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Sepiolite
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning " sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for which is Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O, it can be present in fibrous, fine-particulate, and solid forms. The fibrous clay minerals have recently been shown to exist as a continuous polysomatic series where the endmembers are sepiolite and palygorskite. There is a continuous variation in chemical composition from sepiolite, the most magnesic and trioctahedral endmember, to palygorskite, the least magnesic, most Al- and Fe-bearing, most dioctahedral endmember. Originally named ''meerschaum'' by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1788, it was named ''sepiolite'' by Ernst Friedrich Glocker in 1847 for an occurrence in Bettolino, Baldissero Canavese, Torino Province, Piedmont, Italy. The name comes from Greek ''sepion'' (σήπιον), meaning " cuttl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meerschaum Pipe
A meerschaum pipe is a smoking pipe made from the mineral sepiolite, also known as meerschaum. Meerschaum (, German for "sea foam") is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and is rather suggestive of sea foam (hence the German origin of the name, as well as the French name for the same substance, ). History The first recorded use of meerschaum for making pipes was around 1723. It quickly became prized as the perfect material for providing a cool, dry, flavorful smoke. Because of the porous nature of meerschaum, moisture and tobacco tar are drawn deep into the stone. Meerschaum became a premium substitute for the clay pipes of the day and remains prized to this day, although since the mid-1800s Tobacco pipe#Briar, briar pipes have become the most common pipes for smoking. The use of briar wood, beginning in the early 1820s, greatly reduced demand for clay pipes and, to a lesser degree, meerschaum pipes. The qualities of meerschaum were combined with those of briar pipe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tobacco Pipe
A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl (smoking), bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simple machine-made briar models to highly prized hand-made artisanal implements made by renowned pipemakers, which are often very expensive collector's items. History Some cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas smoke tobacco in ceremonial pipes, and have done so since long before the arrival of Europeans. For instance the Lakota People, Lakota people use a ceremonial pipe called Chanunpa, čhaŋnúŋpa. Other cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas smoke tobacco socially. The tobacco plant is native to South America but spread into North America long before Europeans arrived. Tobacco was introduced to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century and spread around the world rapidly. As tobacco was no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Friedrich Glocker
Ernst Friedrich Glocker (1 May 1793 – 18 July 1858) was a German mineralogist, geologist, and paleontologist. Biography From 1810, he studied theology, philosophy, and sciences at the University of Tübingen, and afterwards, continued his education at Halle. In 1823, he obtained his habilitation with the dissertation thesis, "''De Gemmis Plinii inprimis de Topazio''", and he later served as a professor at the Magdalene gymnasium in Breslau. In 1834, he became a full professor at the University of Breslau, where he was also director of the mineral cabinet. During his scientific excursions, he collected minerals and fossils in Silesia, Lusatia, Moravia, and the Sudetenland. He is credited with coining the mineral terms: pyrargyrite (1831), ozokerite (1833), sepiolite (1847), halite (1847), sphalerite (1847), arsenopyrite (1847), and liparite (1847). He also conducted research in the field of botany — in 1836, paleobotanist Heinrich Göppert named the plant genus ''Glocke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnesium Silicate
Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, with the chemical formula . Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent and lubricant. It is an ingredient in ceramics, paints, and roofing material. It is a main ingredient in many cosmetics. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, and in an exceptionally rare crystal form. It has a perfect basal cleavage and an uneven flat fracture, and it is foliated with a two-dimensional platy form. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 1 as the hardness of talc, the softest mineral. When scraped on a streak plate, talc produces a white streak, though this indicator is of little importance, because most silicate minerals produce a white streak. Talc is translucent to opaque, with colors ranging from whitish grey to green with a vitreous and pearly luster. Talc is not soluble in wate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clay Mineral
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay minerals form in the presence of water and have been important to life, and many theories of abiogenesis involve them. They are important constituents of soils, and have been useful to humans since ancient times in agriculture and manufacturing. Properties Clay is a very fine-grained geologic material that develops plasticity when wet, but becomes hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing. It is a very common material, and is the oldest known ceramic. Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay and used it for making pottery. The chemistry of clay, including its capacity to retain nutrient cations such as potassium and ammonium, is important to soil fertility. Because the individual particles in clay are less ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuttlebone
Cuttlebone, also known as cuttlefish bone, is a hard, brittle internal structure (an internal Mollusc shell, shell) found in all members of the family (biology), family Sepiidae, commonly known as cuttlefish, within the cephalopods. In other cephalopod families it is called a Gladius (cephalopod), ''gladius''. Cuttlebone is composed primarily of aragonite. It is a chambered structure that the animal can fill with gas or liquid for buoyancy control. On the ventral (bottom) side of the cuttlebone is the highly modified siphuncle; this is the organ with which the cuttlebone is filled with gas or liquid. The microscopic structure of cuttlebone consists of narrow layers connected by numerous upright pillars. Depending on the species, cuttlebones implosion (mechanical process), implode at a depth of . Because of this limitation, most species of cuttlefish live on the seafloor in shallow water, usually on a continental shelf. When the cuttlefish dies, only the cuttlebone remains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal mollusc shell, shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buoyancy. Cuttlefish have large, W-shaped pupils, eight Cephalopod arm, arms, and two tentacles furnished with :wikt:denticulate, denticulated suckers, with which they secure their prey. They generally range in size from , with Cephalopod size, the largest species, the giant cuttlefish (''Sepia apama''), reaching in mantle (mollusc), mantle length and over in mass. Cuttlefish eat small molluscs, crabs, shrimp, fish, octopuses, worms, and other cuttlefish. Their predators include dolphins, larger fish (including sharks), seals, seabirds, and other cuttlefish. The typical life expectancy of a cuttlefish is about 1–2 years. Studies are said to indicate cuttlefis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relative Density
Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for solids and liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest (at ); for gases, the reference is air at room temperature (). The term "relative density" (abbreviated r.d. or RD) is preferred in SI, whereas the term "specific gravity" is gradually being abandoned. If a substance's relative density is less than 1 then it is less dense than the reference; if greater than 1 then it is denser than the reference. If the relative density is exactly 1 then the densities are equal; that is, equal volumes of the two substances have the same mass. If the reference material is water, then a substance with a relative density (or specific gravity) less than 1 will float in water. For example, an ice cube, with a relative density of about 0.91, will float. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia (country), Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is Inflow (hydrology), supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe. The Black Sea, not including the Sea of Azov, covers , has a maximum depth of , and a volume of . Most of its coasts ascend rapidly. These rises are the Pontic Mountains to the south, bar the southwest-facing peninsulas, the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and the Crimean Mountains to the mid-north. In the west, the coast is generally small floodplains below foothills such as the Strandzha; Cape Emine, a dwindling of the east end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phyllosilicates
Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. In mineralogy, the crystalline forms of silica (silicon dioxide, ) are usually considered to be Silicate mineral#Tectosilicates, tectosilicates, and they are classified as such in the Dana system (75.1). However, the Nickel-Strunz system classifies them as oxide minerals (4.DA). Silica is found in nature as the mineral quartz, and its polymorphism (materials science), polymorphs. On Earth, a wide variety of silicate minerals occur in an even wider range of combinations as a result of the processes that have been forming and re-working the crust for billions of years. These processes include partial melting, crystallization, fractionation, metamorphism, weathering, and diagenesis. Living organisms also contribute to this carbonate–silicate cycle, geologic cycle. For example, a type of plankton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hardness
In materials science, hardness (antonym: softness) is a measure of the resistance to plastic deformation, such as an indentation (over an area) or a scratch (linear), induced mechanically either by Pressing (metalworking), pressing or abrasion (mechanical), abrasion. In general, different materials differ in their hardness; for example hard metals such as titanium and beryllium are harder than soft metals such as sodium and metallic tin, or wood and common plastics. Macroscopic hardness is generally characterized by strong intermolecular bonds, but the behavior of solid materials under force is complex; therefore, hardness can be measured in different ways, such as scratch hardness, indentation hardness, and rebound hardness. Hardness is dependent on ductility, elasticity (physics), elastic stiffness, plasticity (physics), plasticity, deformation (mechanics), strain, strength of materials, strength, toughness, viscoelasticity, and viscosity. Common examples of hard matter are cer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as List of islands of Italy, nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino. It is the List of European countries by area, tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering , and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Italy's capital and List of cities in Italy, largest city is Rome; other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Venice. The history of Italy goes back to numerous List of ancient peoples of Italy, Italic peoples—notably including the ancient Romans, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
