Unique species in ‘the world’s most biodiverse desert’ are at risk from a warming planet and the lucrative plant poaching trade In May 2020, 10mm of rain fell at Sendelingsdrif Rest Camp in South Africa’s most north-westerly corner. After enduring nine years of almost zero rain, Pieter van Wyk, a 32-year-old self-taught botanist who heads up the Richtersveld national park’s … [Read more...] about Succulent smuggling: why are South Africa’s rare desert plants vanishing?
mining
Malachite
Malachite is a coppercarbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formulaCu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures and deep, underground spaces, where the water table and hydrothermal fluids provide the means for chemical precipitation. Individual crystals … [Read more...] about Malachite