The group, which includes Yuki Inoue from the Graduate School of Science at Kyushu University, Ryoji Tanaka, senior researcher at the Sagami Central Chemical Research Institute, Akito Hagiwara from the Geological Society of Japan, and Takashi Ishibashi, an invited researcher from the Osaka University Museum, is based in Shikaoi Town, Hokkaido. , a new mineral called ``Hokkaido stone'' was discovered in the mountain forest of Aibetsu Town, and the name was approved by the International Union of Mineralogy and the mineral was allowed to be registered.It is a new organic mineral originating from Japan.
According to Kyushu University, the scientific name of Hokkaido stone is ``Hokkaidouite''.The research group found pale yellow dendrites in opal formed by ancient hot springs in Shikaoi Town, and in the interstices of quartz in Aibetsu Town.For conservation reasons, the exact location is not made public, but it is near Daisetsuzan National Park and Tokachi Shikaoi Geopark.The discovered samples are scheduled to be exhibited at the Tokachi Shikaoi Geopark Visitor Center.
The true identity of Hokkaido stone is a natural crystal of benzoperylene, which consists only of carbon and hydrogen.It has the characteristic of emitting fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light.It is considered to be a natural precursor of an organic compound called coronene, but since there is no detailed information on the formation mechanism of coronene, this study is the key to elucidating not only the formation mechanism of coronene but also the process of oil formation associated with hydrothermal water. It is expected that
The research results were presented at the Japan Geoscience Union 2023 Conference and the International Conference on Rock-Water Interactions and Applied Isotope Geochemistry.
