* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Jade

Blobrana · L

New 600-ton 'king of jade' discovered in Liaoning

At eight meters long, three meters wide and four meters high, the exposed part of the jade weighs approximately 600 tons. Officials in the Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County said the jade is larger than the Hemo Jade, currently the world's largest, and that they will apply for a new world record.
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3,300-Year-Old Jadeitite Tool Leads to New Potential Geological Source

The discovery of a small jade tool that was dropped into the waters off an island in the Southwest Pacific about 3,300 years ago is stirring up questions about its origin. The reason for puzzlement: the small green artifact has a chemical composition that is unlike any other described jade, and it was found thousands of miles away from the nearest known geological source.

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Jade sheds light on Guatemala's geologic history
A new analysis of jade found along the Motagua fault that bisects Guatemala is underscoring the fact that this region has a more complex geologic history than previously thought. Because jade and other associated metamorphic rocks are found on both sides of the fault, and because the jade to the north is younger by about 60 million years, a team of geologists posits in a new research paper that the North American and Caribbean plates have done more than simply slide past each other: they have collided. Twice.

"Now we understand what has happened in Guatemala, geologically. Our new research is filling in information about plate tectonics for an area of the world that needed sorting" - Hannes Brueckner, Professor of Geology at Queens College, City University of New York.

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Analysing the origins of jade used in ancient jewellery has revealed a trading arena that was active for more than 3,000 years and sprawled over 3,000km in Southeast Asia possibly the largest such network discovered in the region to date.
Credit: Australian National University

Blobrana · L

Analysing the origins of jade used in ancient jewellery has revealed a trading arena that was active for more than 3,000 years and sprawled over 3,000km in Southeast Asia possibly the largest such network discovered in the region to date.
An international research team led by archaeologists from The Australian National University used electron probe microanalysis to examine jade earrings excavated from sites all over Southeast Asia, and were able to pinpoint the origin of the precious stone to a source in Taiwan.

People have noted the widespread use of jade in Southeast Asia since the early 20th century, so one of the big questions has been about where the stone was sourced and how it was distributed - research leader Hsiao-Chun Hung, a PhD student in archaeology at ANU.

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Blobrana · L

Jade prospectors are putting one of China's rivers in peril and could soon exhaust supplies of the precious stone.
About 200,000 people are sifting the Yurungkax river in Xianjiang for Hotan jade - which costs up to $120 (£63) a gramme - state media reports have said.
As well as the prospectors, around 2,000 mechanical diggers are sifting through the river bed for the gemstone.

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The water conservation authorities in Hotan Prefecture admitted that the rampant excavation has caused degradation of the river's biological system, resulting in serious soil erosion.
Xinhua reported in 2004 that jade hunters using heavy machineries wrecked ruins of an ancient civilization dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and the Tang dynasty (618-907), located at the western bank of the Yurungkax River.
So far, no measures have been put in place by the local authorities to curb the jade hunting fever in Xinjiang.

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