#bentonite

Бентонитовые холмы в американском штате Юта.

Бентонитовые холмы (Bentonite Hills) в Юте – это уникальный, инопланетный пейзаж с гладкими, разноцветными глинистыми холмами и гребнями, сформированными из бентонита (особой глины), расположенные вблизи Национального парка Кэпитал Риф, создающие сюрреалистические виды, похожие на марсианские, особенно после дождя, когда глина становится влажной и блестящей, привлекая фотографов и исследователей.

Они образовались в Юрский период, когда ил, мелкий песок и вулканический пепел откладывались слоями в болотах и озерах, подарив нам впоследствии марсианский пейзаж из нескольких цветов: красный, коричневый, фиолетовый, серый и зеленый. Индейцы Навахо называют эту местность «Заснувшей радугой».Сегодня они являются известной туристической достопримечательностью из-за своего необычного цвета, хотя и не включены в часть национального парка.

Это очень хрупкая экосистема; передвижение по холмам затруднено, а следы от обуви или шин остаются на годы. Передвигаться рекомендуется только по дорогам. Пешие прогулки ограничить твердыми участками или размытыми долинами, чтобы минимизировать воздействие.

Bentonite hills in the American state of Utah.

Bentonite Hills in Utah is a unique, alien landscape with smooth, colorful clay hills and ridges formed from bentonite (a special clay) located near the Capital Reef National Park, creating surreal views similar to Martian ones, especially after rain, when the clay becomes wet and shiny, attracting photographers and researchers.

They were formed during the Jurassic period, when silt, fine sand and volcanic ash were deposited in layers in swamps and lakes, subsequently giving us a Martian landscape of several colors: red, brown, purple, gray and green. The Navajo Indians call this area the "Sleeping Rainbow."Today they are a famous tourist attraction because of their unusual color, although they are not included in the national park.

This is a very fragile ecosystem; movement over the hills is difficult, and footprints or tire tracks remain for years. It is recommended to travel only on roads. Hiking should be limited to hard areas or blurred valleys to minimize impact.

Floating biodegradable beads remove oil in 60 minutes and stay easy to recover

Floatable beads made from chitosan and cellulose acetate and enhanced with bentonite have been engineered to effectively clean oil from water. The beads showed good oil adsorption capacity while remaining easy to collect from the water surface. Oil spills, the accidental and uncontrolled release of crude oil into the ocean, are remediated by removing the oil from the environment. Typical approaches include mechanical recovery, a dangerous, labor-intensive, and time-consuming process; in situ burning, which causes severe ecological disruption; bioremediation, an environmentally friendly yet slow process; chemical dispersants, which also cause severe ecological disruption; and sorbent-based approaches, which are promising but currently inadequate.

Lessons I've recently had to relearn to avoid screwing up my 4-year skin recovery journey:

Use Hypochlorous Acid spray after EVERY workout to prevent breakouts (no exceptions)

Heal with 15-minute Bentonite Clay masks

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There's nothing worse than minding your own business, walking along in the desert when all of a sudden your feet start to feel weighted down. It gets harder and harder to pick up your feet. The mud is sticky and pulling you into the ground. That's bentonite.

Bentonite is type of very soft, plastic clay made primarily of montmorillonite clay.

Montmorillonite is a hydrous, aluminum silicate in the smectite group (often you will hear bentonite and smectite used interchangeably).

Bentonite is formed by the alteration of volcanic ash when it comes in contact with water. Clays in general form from the chemical breakdown of feldspars (check out October's posts for more on feldspar!) and when ash gets thrown in the mix something very nasty occurs: swelling clays.

Bentonite increases greatly in volume when water is added...and decreases just as much when the water evaporates or gets absorbed in the groundwater system. This causes the popcorn texture you see in badlands topography.

Popcorn texture in Brushy Basin Member, Morrison Formation, near Evil Tree Bonebed. Sauropod rib found in it.

This can also cause structural damage. That is why the building around the Wall at Dinosaur National Monument had to be repaired a few years ago. Basically, the swelling of the bentonite split the foundation.

It also becomes very dangerous to drive on or walk on when it gets wet, becoming a slurry, sticky mess.

This is the main reason why we have to wait for summer to come before we head out to the dig site. We physically cannot get there until the Mancos Shale bentonite is dry enough to drive on.

Bentonite is not all bad though. It has some good uses too.

We actually use it to trap moisture in our skin and hair when we dry out. It's a natural sunblock and relieves burns and itching from bug bites. We even put it in Wendy's Frosty's to give them that smooth texture!

Bentonite is also used in agriculture as a natural pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide in fertilizers.

They also use it to coat drills in the oil industry to keep the drill bit lubricated, as well as coating well walls to keep them from collapsing. If you're a geek, like me, think Avatar, the Last Air Bender and the Fire Nation drill.

Part three of the ingredients and their uses series, minerals! Take care of your body: lick a rock today!

Very few of these are the minerals described in the article, but they look cool so here we are.Photo by Edz Norton on Unsplash Minerals are underrated. For a lot of minerals, only a tiny amount is needed for them to take an immense part in the body’s ability to stay alive and well. Many come from rocks, but often those rocky mineral sources are broken up and modified by plants, or simply mixed…