Gold, Earth's very own starmetal or warpstone?

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Starmetal, warpstone, whatever you call it. Fantasy worlds seem to use the trope over and over for magical materials fallen from space.

Looks like Earth has so much gold and other precious metals precisely because it mostly came from space.

Gold, Earth's very own starmetal? Seeing people's deranged behavior to accumulate more, maybe warpstone is an equally apt name!

David Edding's world in the Belgariad had the Red Gold that was tainted, but wouldn't it be interesting if normal gold had its own in-game taint the more you accumulated it? Sure, you can buy more stuff, . . . but is it really worth the result?

[Couldn't find a better tag than "technology", huh . . .]

 

[Umbran]

"Starmetal" usually refers to meteoric iron, which often has a solid carbon content, making is a lot closer to steel, which is a hefty benefit for more primitive metalsmiths.

Studies like the one you link to often seem to ignore the event that produced the Moon in the analysis. I am not sure that makes a difference, but it leaves me with questions.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When I think of "Starmetal" or other space stones of possible arcane importance to FRPGs, think of 2 main types:

Pallasite (Peridot and nickel-iron) meteorites such as Esquel or Imilac PALLASITE, PALLASITE METEORITE, PALLASITES, IMILAC, ESQUEL, SEYMCHAN, BRAHIN, FUKANG
ESQUEL PALLASITE, ESQUEL PALLASITES

And

Crystalline nickel-iron (with Widmanstatten patterns) meteorites like the Gibeon strike:
GIBEON METEORITE GIBEON METEORITES

 

[Ed_Laprade]

"Starmetal" usually refers to meteoric iron, which often has a solid carbon content, making is a lot closer to steel, which is a hefty benefit for more primitive metalsmiths.

Studies like the one you link to often seem to ignore the event that produced the Moon in the analysis. I am not sure that makes a difference, but it leaves me with questions.

This.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I post a link to a report that claims Earth's gold mostly fell space (I thought it was a cool idea to apply the idea gold was from space to a fantasy setting), and I'm nitpicked over my word choice?

I'd put in a smiley but I can't think of one appropriate . . . maybe

 

[Umbran]

I post a link to a report that claims Earth's gold mostly fell space (I thought it was a cool idea to apply the idea gold was from space to a fantasy setting), and I'm nitpicked over my word choice?

Hey, be glad we didn't nitpick that *all* the stuff we colloquially think of as metal are "starmetal", because the heavier elements are only made inside stars.

It is quite possible that most of our water is also "from space". But then, the entire planet is "from space", it's just a question of when a particular bit fell.

 

[Treebore]

Well, considering that 4 to 5 billion years ago our entire planet came from "space", I'm not surprised.

 

[jimmifett]

I seem to recall that all matter comes from space

Gold, specifically, is the result of supernovae (regular suns can't fuse past Iron if i'm not mistaken). Large suns blow up like a woman in florida that doesn't get her chicken nuggets when they start trying to fuse silicon and iron. When the sun busts open it's can of whoop-ass, these temperatures are much higher than regular solar operations. Something called nucleosynthesis occurs. Several neutron capturing processes happen, bulking up atom isotopes like steroidal freaks on Muscle Beach. These unstable nuclei then break down like the sissy losers that can't bench press a tank on said beach, and result in more stable, heavier elements.

These heavy atoms, gold, uranium, etc, float around the cosmos until the Empress of the Racnoss decides to hide her children by encasing her cacoon in a gravity well that attracts other stellar dust forming the Earth.

Some time later, some planet decides to get all up in Earth's grill, sucker punching it like 2 sumo wrestlers. Earth turns into a big molten ball and vomits out the moon like a freshman at a frat party.

Earth sorts itself out, with nickel and uranium and stuff sinking to the core and everything cooling around it. Except the uranium is now much closer together now and sets off a fission rave at the Earth's core, keeping it hot and fluidic... like rave girls...?

This stirs the magma pudding and can keeps it circulating heavier atoms back towards the surface. Meanwhile, the crust cools down, the moon stabilizes the Earth's wobble, we get lovely Fjords (thank you Slartibartfast) and David Tennant.

Meanwhile, there are still chunks of rock floating out there in space, filled with supernova excriment, waiting to fall from the sky...

 

[Umbran]

Gold, specifically, is the result of supernovae (regular suns can't fuse past Iron if i'm not mistaken).

You are slightly mistaken.

Fusing elements together nets an energy release, up to the point where the result of the fusion is iron. Fusing to get anything heavier than iron takes up energy.

So, normal stars don't make *much* of anything beyond iron, but the reactions will sometimes happen, statistically speaking. Of course, if you fission anything heavier than iron, you get energy out, so those heavier elements tend to get broken up inside a star. It is only in supernovae where you'll get things heavier than iron made in quantity, and made such that they don't get busted up again.

Except the uranium is now much closer together now and sets off a fission rave at the Earth's core, keeping it hot and fluidic... like rave girls...?

No. There isn't a fission rave going on in the core. It's just radioactive decay.

 

[jimmifett]

You are slightly mistaken.

Fusing elements together nets an energy release, up to the point where the result of the fusion is iron. Fusing to get anything heavier than iron takes up energy.

So, normal stars don't make *much* of anything beyond iron, but the reactions will sometimes happen, statistically speaking. Of course, if you fission anything heavier than iron, you get energy out, so those heavier elements tend to get broken up inside a star. It is only in supernovae where you'll get things heavier than iron made in quantity, and made such that they don't get busted up again.

No. There isn't a fission rave going on in the core. It's just radioactive decay.

You sir, are indeed correct on the specifics. I provided a crude generalization of events.