[Rockhounds] Earthquakes can trigger quartz into forming giant gold nuggets, study finds

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Scientists have discovered exactly how earthquakes trigger quartz into
forming large gold nuggets — finally solving a mystery that's puzzled
researchers for decades.

*Gold* <https://www.livescience.com/39187-facts-about-gold.html> naturally
forms in quartz — the second-most abundant mineral in Earth's crust after
feldspar. But unlike other types of gold deposits, those found in quartz
often *cluster into giant nuggets*
<https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/largest-gold-nugget-ever-found-in-england-unearthed-with-faulty-metal-detector>.
These nuggets float in the middle of what geologists call quartz veins,
which are cracks in *quartz-rich rocks*
<https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/whats-the-difference-between-a-rock-and-a-mineral>
that
periodically get pumped full of hydrothermal fluids from deep within the
crust.

"Gold forms in quartz all the time," said *Chris Voisey*
<https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/chris-voisey>, a geologist at
Monash University in Australia and the lead author of a new study published
Monday (Sept. 2) in the journal *Nature Geoscience*
<https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X1590019&xcust=livescience_us_5142290217592645132&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41561-024-01514-1&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.livescience.com%2Fplanet-earth%2Fgeology%2Fearthquakes-can-trigger-quartz-into-forming-giant-gold-nuggets-study-finds>.
"The thing that's weird is really, really large gold nugget formation. We
didn't know how that worked — how you get a large volume of gold to
mineralize in one discreet little place," Voisey told Live Science.

Hydrothermal fluids carry gold atoms up from the deep and *flush them
through quartz veins*
<https://www.livescience.com/bonanza-gold-vein-nanoparticles.html>, meaning
gold should theoretically become evenly spread in the cracks rather than
concentrated into nuggets, Voisey said. These nuggets are exceptionally
valuable and represent up to 75% of all the gold ever mined, according to
the study.

Two separate clues helped Voisey and his colleagues solve the gold nugget
mystery, he said.

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/earthquakes-can-trigger-quartz-into-forming-giant-gold-nuggets-study-finds