Earth, the only known habitable planet in the Universe, has a magnetic field that shields organic life-forms from harmful radiation coming from the Sun and beyond. This magnetic field is generated by the churning of molten iron in its outer core. The habitability of exoplanets orbiting other stars could be gleaned through better understanding of their iron cores and magnetic fields ( 1 ). However, extreme pressure and temperature conditions inside exoplanets that are much heavier than Earth may mean that their cores behave differently. On page 202 of this issue, Kraus et al. ( 2 ) used a powerful laser to generate conditions similar to those inside the cores of such “super-Earths” and reveal that even under extreme conditions, molten iron can crystallize similarly to that found at the base of Earth’s outer core.
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Novel Micro-Scale Steel-Making from Molten Cast Iron Practised in Medieval Nomadic Communities of East Mongolia: Steel-making from molten cast iron in medieval eastern Mongolia
- Award ID(s):
- 1737687
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10112753
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Archaeometry
- Volume:
- 61
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0003-813X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 83 to 98
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ABSTRACT Cast iron objects recovered primarily in eastern Mongolia, spanning the Xiongnu through the Early Historic periods (ca. 3rd BC–AD 17th century), were examined for their radiocarbon ( 14 C) concentration and microstructure. Most of the samples examined were found to have originated from charcoal-based smelting with a few exceptions that were made using a mineral coal-based technique. A comparison of 14 C dates with dates derived from artifact typology allowed the charcoal-smelted objects to be classified into two groups, based on whether the radiometric and typological periodization are in agreement or not. In addition, those with differing 14 C and typological dates can be divided into two subgroups with and without evidence for a melt treatment applied after original casting. These conflicting dating results are confusing and would seem to provoke skepticism about the use of 14 C measurements for dating iron artifacts. We demonstrate however that 14 C analysis, when combined with metallographic examination and other lines of chronological evidence, can clarify the history of a given iron object and its multiple users, often separated in time by more than a millennium.more » « less