Silica Stories

• Main Authors: De La Rocha, Christina (Author), Conley, Daniel J. (Author)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2017.
• Subjects: Popular works.; Geochemistry.; Geobiology.; Nature.; Environment.; Earth.; Geology.; Marine sciences.; Freshwater.; Popular Science.; Popular Earth Science.; Popular Science in Nature and Environment.; Biogeosciences.; Marine & Freshwater Sciences.

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes? It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, i...

Table of Contents:

• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Origin of Life Was Brought to You in Part by Silicate Rocks
• 3. The Making of Humankind: Silica Lends a Hand (and Maybe a Brain). - 4. Mystical Crystals of Silica
• 5. Glass Houses
• 6. Chicks Need Silica, Too
• 7. Of Fields, Phytoliths, and Hippo Poo
• 8. Silica, Be Dammed!
• 9. No Such Thing as Normal
• 10. Geoengineering, aka Silica to Save the World.