Seawater Contains Gold: Scientific Confirmation
- * Gold is present in the ocean, but in extremely tiny concentrations.
Here are the relevant facts from the provided text:
* Gold is present in the ocean, but in extremely tiny concentrations.
* Concentration Levels: Typical dissolved concentrations are around 50-150 femtomoles per liter in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. This equates to roughly 1 gram of gold per 100 million metric tons of seawater.Levels are measured in parts per trillion (ppt).
* Sources of Gold: Gold enters seawater from rivers, aeolian dust, and hydrothermal vents.
* Gold’s Behavior: it binds to particles and forms dissolved complexes with chloride, keeping it dispersed. It also sticks to container walls, making accurate measurement challenging.
* Measurement Techniques: Researchers use trace metal clean bottles, filtered air, mass spectrometers, and older methods like solvent extraction and atomic absorption to measure gold levels.
* Seafloor Gold: Undissolved gold exists on the seafloor in sulfide minerals and crusts, but these deposits are deep (a mile or two down) and locked in rock requiring extensive mining. Hydrothermal vents can enrich nearby minerals with gold,but the surrounding water remains dilute.
* Mining Infeasibility: Mining gold from seawater is currently not economically viable due to the extremely low concentrations.
* Kelly Falkner’s Contribution: Kelly Falkner’s team established baseline measurements for gold levels in seawater, providing reliable data for scientists.