Minerals - Earth's Ultimate Time Capsules

Join a fascinating one-hour lecture where renowned astrobiologist and mineralogist Dr. Robert M. Hazen explores how minerals serve as Earth's ultimate time capsules. Discover groundbreaking research from a 15-year study that details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, offering insights into reconstructing our planet's 4.5-billion-year history. Learn how the combination of mineral evolution and mineral informatics reveals Earth's dramatic transformations through physical, chemical, and biological processes. Gain valuable knowledge about how this revolutionary work guides the search for new minerals, predicts characteristics of future life, and aids in the exploration of habitable exoplanets. Benefit from Dr. Hazen's extensive expertise, reflected in over 400 publications and 25 books, covering topics from high-pressure crystallography to mineral surface chemistry and the mineralogical co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere.

Syllabus

The Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory EPL invites you to join astrobiologist, mineralogist, and author Dr. Robert M. Hazen, for a special presentation entitled, “Minerals: Earth’s Ultimate Time Capsules.” The free public lecture will take place at PM EST on December 8, 2022.
This talk is a part of EPL’s continuing Neighborhood Lecture Series aimed at connecting the local Washington, D.C. community of science enthusiasts with the work being done at EPL’s campus. The presentation will begin at 6:30 PM in the Greenewalt Auditorium of the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Broad Branch Road Campus in NW, Washington, DC. Doors open at PM.