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Wonders of Heritage


What is magma and how is magma formed?
What is magma? Magma is a super-hot viscous material that consists of molten and semi-molten rock that flows deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Depending on the chemical composition of the magma, there are three magma categories: basaltic magma, andesitic magma, and rhyolitic magma. There are different mechanisms for magma formation: partial melting, decompression melting, and flux-induced melting. When magma breaks through the earth’s surface, the magma that reaches the surfa
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Devil’s Marbles - Karlu Karlu Conservation Reserve: Science, History, and Cultural Heritage
The Devil’s Marbles (the Karlu Karlu conservation reserve) is an area in Northern Territory, Australia, sprinkled with large reddish granite boulders. The Devils Marbles is a Registered Sacred Site because of it's high cultural significance for the Alyawarre people and for other Aboriginal groups. In the traditional culture, the Devil's Marbles were created by Arrange, The Devil Man. Scientifically, the Devils Marbles were formed through the slow weathering of a large granit
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What is the Richat Structure - "The Eye of the Sahara"?
The Richat Structure (The Eye of the Sahara) is an eroded geologic dome in Mauritania, Africa. Its birth started over 100 million years ago.
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The science behind fancy-colored diamonds: why are diamonds colored?
Fancy colored diamonds get their color from three main causes. Impurities, such as other chemical elements, in the diamond crystal structure, are the cause for fancy yellow and orange diamonds, as well as blue, violet, white and black diamonds. Lattice defects in the diamond structure lead to the fancy pink and red diamonds, as well as the fancy brown diamonds and purple diamonds. Radiation leads to the formation of fancy green diamonds. The rarest fancy-colored diamond is th
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What are diamonds and how are diamonds formed naturally?
Diamonds are minerals composed of carbon that come from deep volcanic eruptions in the Earth's mantle and were formed billions of years ago.
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Colored Sand Beaches—What Gives Sand Its Color?
From white sand beaches to black sand beaches, and even multicolored sand beaches - Earth has it all! Where does the sand color come from? What gives sand its color? The white sand beaches are made up of pure quartz, the pink sand beaches get their color from foraminifera, the red sand beaches, green sand beaches, gray sand beaches, and black sand beaches get their colors from the different ingredients in the lava from volcanic eruptions. Purple sand beaches are based on diff
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