New form of sulfur discovered in geological fluids
Monday, February 28, 2011 - 12:02
in Physics & Chemistry
Sulfur is the sixth most abundant element on Earth and plays a key role in many geological and biological processes. A French-German team including CNRS and the Université Paul Sabatier has identified, on the basis of laboratory measurements, a novel form of sulfur present in geological fluids: the S3- ion. The discovery calls existing theories about the geological transport of sulfur into question, and could provide ways of identifying new deposits of precious metals such as gold and copper. These findings are published in the 25 February 2011 issue of the journal Science.