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The Crystallography, Metallography and Composition of Gold

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Gold is an element, a metal and a mineral. In nature, gold most commonly occurs as an alloy with silver and, more rarely, with palladium, mercury and copper, and ranges in size from nanoparticles to nuggets weighing 70 kg. Crystallography, metallography and composition control the colour of the alloy, how it will deform, how it will behave at high temperature and how it reacts. These properties offer insights into how gold deposits have formed and been altered, whether under hydrothermal or Earth-surface conditions.

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December 2025 --The Variscan Orogeny in Europe – Understanding Supercontinent Formation

The Variscan orogen formed between 380 and 300 million years ago through several accretionary and collisional cycles, culminating with the construction of the Pangea supercontinent. This process occurred via sequential opening and closure of oceanic basins, synchronous detachment of Gondwana derived continental ribbons, and their outboard amalgamation onto the Laurussia margin. The Variscan orogen is rather unique compared with other orogenic belts on Earth: its overthickened and dominantly magmatic crust in the central belt, surprisingly minor mantle involvement in the magmatic and geodynamic processes, coherent and pulsed magmatism along the collision suture, and its complex accretionary history. Because its final product, Pangea, is the youngest and best-understood supercontinent on Earth, the Variscan orogeny offers clues for understanding the mechanisms of supercontinent formation.