Otari Village, Nagano Prefecture has designated the "Okiiwa body" that produced the new mineral chibaite and the "silica clathrate mineral (* 1) and its pseudomorphs" such as chibaite as natural memorials of the village.The stratum where Chibaite was found will not be open to the public for protection, but Chibaite will be exhibited at the Otari Village Folk Museum from 2022.
According to Kobe University, Chibaite was first discovered in Minamiboso City, Chiba Prefecture, and was published in a paper in 2011.The main component is silicon dioxide, which is the same as quartz, and they form cage-like crystals that contain molecules of hydrocarbon gases such as methane and ethane.The crystals have the same structure as methane hydrate, known as "burning ice."
In 1998, an amateur mineral researcher in Hamamatsu brought the white octahedral minerals found in Otari Village to the Fossa Magna Museum in Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture.In response to this, the National Museum of Nature and Science, Kyoto University, etc. conducted a field survey and confirmed that Otari Village was the second source of chibaite in the world.
The Kotanimura Board of Education also proceeded with its own investigation, confirmed Chibaite, and designated the offshore rock body that produced Chibaite, silica clathrate minerals and their pseudomorphs as natural monuments.
The offshore rock body at Mt. Nakatsuchi Shimizu in Otari Village is a volcanic rocky mountain. The geology of the magma.Inside the rock, there are reticulated veins consisting of carbonate minerals and silicon dioxide minerals, from which chibaite was produced.
* 1 Silica clathrate mineral A substance with cage-like crystals made of silicon dioxide.Silica is a general term for substances made of silicon dioxide or silicon dioxide.
