Amid Earth’s mobile tectonic plates, subduction zones arise as regions of intense geological activity. These zones create processes that concentrate minerals into ore deposits. High-temperature, water ...

Geologists have known for decades that gold forms in quartz with the help of earthquakes, but now they have worked out exactly how the setting and seismic waves combine to form large nuggets. When you ...

Gold has always been a hot commodity. But these days, finding a nugget isn’t too tricky: Much of the world’s gold is mined from natural veins of quartz, a glassy mineral that streaks through large ...