Fascinating. Do you think the bacterial activity and the resulting coatings developed over short (like thousands to tens of thousands of years) time frames, or over geologic spans, several million years? Or really, I'm asking how long ago it might have happened.
I don’t know. If I were to guess, I’d say it’s relatively young—thousands of years ago. But it’s hard to say for sure as I’m only looking a float material. It would be great to look at the source rock and see where these coated garnets. Or maybe the coating only forms on garnets in the float, that would be interesting too!
Fascinating. Do you think the bacterial activity and the resulting coatings developed over short (like thousands to tens of thousands of years) time frames, or over geologic spans, several million years? Or really, I'm asking how long ago it might have happened.
I don’t know. If I were to guess, I’d say it’s relatively young—thousands of years ago. But it’s hard to say for sure as I’m only looking a float material. It would be great to look at the source rock and see where these coated garnets. Or maybe the coating only forms on garnets in the float, that would be interesting too!
What a story! Thanks for bringing it to us Aaron!