Canada
Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada.
With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military.
While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
Schist
Schist is a medium-grade metamorphic rock with medium to large, sheet-like grains in a preferred orientation. It is defined by having more than 50% platy and elongated minerals, often finely interleaved with quartz and these lamellar minerals include micas, talc, hornblende and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a form called quartz schist is produced. Schist forms at a temperature and has larger grains than phyllite. Geological foliation with medium to large grained flakes in a preferred orientation is called schistosity. The names of various schists are derived from their mineral constituents, for example, schists rich in mica are called mica schists and include biotite or muscovite. Most schists are mica schists, but graphite and chlorite schists are common, Schists are named for their prominent or perhaps unusual mineral constituents, as in the case of garnet schist, tourmaline schist, and glaucophane schist. The individual mineral grains in schist, drawn out into flaky scales by heat and pressure, Schist is characteristically foliated, meaning that the individual mineral grains split off easily into flakes or slabs.
Most schists are derived from clays and muds that have passed through a series of processes involving the production of shales and phyllites as intermediate steps. Certain schists are derived from fine-grained igneous rocks such as basalts, before the mid-18th century, the terms slate and schist were not sharply differentiated by those involved with mining. In the context of underground mining, shale was frequently referred to as slate well into the 20th century. During metamorphism, rocks which were originally sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic are converted into schists, if the composition of the rocks was originally similar, they may be very difficult to distinguish from one another if the metamorphism has been great. A quartz-porphyry, for example, and a fine grained feldspathic sandstone, however, it is possible to distinguish between sedimentary and igneous schists and gneisses. If, for example, the district occupied by these rocks has traces of bedding, clastic structure, or unconformability.
In other cases intrusive junctions, chilled edges, contact alteration or porphyritic structure may prove that in its original condition a metamorphic gneiss was an igneous rock. Such rocks as limestones, dolomites and aluminous shales have very definite chemical characteristics which distinguish them even when completely recrystallized, the schists are classified principally according to the minerals they consist of and on their chemical composition. For example, many metamorphic limestones and calc-schists, with crystalline dolomites, contain silicate minerals such as mica, diopside, scapolite and they are derived from calcareous sediments of different degrees of purity. Another group is rich in quartz, with amounts of white and black mica, feldspar, zoisite
Serpentine subgroup
The serpentine subgroup are greenish, brownish, or spotted minerals commonly found in serpentinite rocks. They are used as a source of magnesium and asbestos, the name is thought to come from the greenish color being that of a serpent. In mineralogy and gemology, serpentine may refer to any of 20 varieties belonging to the serpentine group, owing to admixture, these varieties are not always easy to individualize, and distinctions are not usually made. There are three important mineral polymorphs of serpentine, antigorite and lizardite, the serpentine group of minerals are polymorphous, meaning that they have the same chemical formulae, but the atoms are arranged into different structures, or crystal lattices. Chrysotile, which has a habit, is one polymorph of serpentine and is an important component of asbestos. Other polymorphs in the group may have a platy habit. Antigorite and lizardite are the polymorphs with platy habit, many types of serpentine have been used for jewellery and hardstone carving, sometimes under the name false jade or Teton jade.
Their olive green colour and smooth or scaly appearance is the basis of the name from the Latin serpentinus, meaning serpent rock and they have their origins in metamorphic alterations of peridotite and pyroxene. Serpentines may pseudomorphously replace other magnesium silicates, alterations may be incomplete, causing physical properties of serpentines to vary widely. Where they form a significant part of the surface, the soil is unusually high in clay. Antigorite is the polymorph of serpentine that most commonly forms during metamorphism of wet ultramafic rocks and is stable at the highest temperatures—to over 600 °C at depths of 60 km or so. In contrast and chrysotile typically form near the Earths surface and break down at low temperatures. It has been suggested that chrysotile is never stable relative to either of the other two serpentine polymorphs, samples of the oceanic crust and uppermost mantle from ocean basins document that ultramafic rocks there commonly contain abundant serpentine.
Antigorite contains water in its structure, about 13 percent by weight, the flora is generally very distinctive, with specialised, slow-growing species. Areas of serpentine-derived soil will show as strips of shrubland and open, scattered small trees within otherwise forested areas, most serpentines are opaque to translucent, soft and susceptible to acids. All are microcrystalline and massive in habit, never being found as single crystals, lustre may be vitreous, greasy or silky. Colours range from white to grey, yellow to green, and brown to black, many are intergrown with other minerals, such as calcite and dolomite. Occurrence is worldwide, New Caledonia, Canada, US, Britain, China, Ural Mountains, Korea, India, New Zealand and Italy are notable localities
Chlorite group
The chlorites are a group of phyllosilicate minerals. Chlorites can be described by the following four endmembers based on their chemistry via substitution of the four elements in the silicate lattice, Mg, Fe, Ni. Clinochlore, O108 Chamosite, O108 Nimite, O108 Pennantite, 64O108 In addition, lithium, the great range in composition results in considerable variation in physical, and X-ray properties. Similarly, the range of chemical composition allows chlorite group minerals to exist over a range of temperature and pressure conditions. For this reason chlorite minerals are ubiquitous minerals within low and medium temperature metamorphic rocks, some rocks, hydrothermal rocks. The name chlorite is from the Greek chloros, meaning green, the typical general formula is, 34O102·36. This formula emphasizes the structure of the group, chlorites have a 2,1 sandwich structure, this is often referred to as a talc layer. Unlike other 2,1 clay minerals, a chlorites interlayer space is composed of 6 and this 6 unit is more commonly referred to as the brucite-like layer, due to its closer resemblance to the mineral brucite.
Therefore, chlorites structure appears as follows, -t-o-t-brucite-t-o-t-brucite, thats why they are called 2,1,1 minerals. An older classification divided the chlorites into two subgroups, the orthochlorites and leptochlorites, the terms are seldom used and the ortho prefix is somewhat misleading as the chlorite crystal system is monoclinic and not orthorhombic. Chlorite is commonly found in rocks as an alteration product of mafic minerals such as pyroxene, amphibole. Chlorite is a common mineral associated with ore deposits and commonly occurs with epidote, adularia. Chlorite is a metamorphic mineral, usually indicative of low-grade metamorphism. It is the species of the zeolite facies and of lower greenschist facies. It occurs in the quartz, sericite, within ultramafic rocks, metamorphism can produce predominantly clinochlore chlorite in association with talc. Chlorite occurs naturally in a variety of locations and forms, for example, chlorite is found naturally in certain parts of Wales in mineral schists.
Chlorite is found in large boulders scattered on the surface on Ring Mountain in Marin County. Clinoclore and chamosite are the most common varieties, several other sub-varieties have been described
Actinolite
Actinolite is an amphibole silicate mineral with the chemical formula Ca2Si8O222. The name actinolite is derived from the Greek word aktis, meaning beam or ray, actinolite is an intermediate member in a solid-solution series between magnesium-rich tremolite, Ca2Si8O222, and iron-rich ferro-actinolite, ☐Ca2Si8O222. Mg and Fe ions can be exchanged in the crystal structure. Like tremolite, asbestiform actinolite is regulated as asbestos, actinolite is commonly found in metamorphic rocks, such as contact aureoles surrounding cooled intrusive igneous rocks. It occurs as a product of metamorphism of magnesium-rich limestones, the old mineral name uralite is at times applied to an alteration product of primary pyroxene by a mixture composed largely of actinolite. The metamorphosed gabbro or diabase rock bodies, referred to as epidiorite, fibrous actinolite is one of the six recognised types of asbestos, the fibres being so small that they can enter the lungs and damage the alveoli. Actinolite asbestos was mined along Jones Creek at Gundagai, Australia.
Some forms of actinolite are used as gemstones, one is nephrite, one of the two types of jade. Another gem variety is the chatoyant form known as cats-eye actinolite and this stone is translucent to opaque, and green to yellowish green color. This variety has had the misnomer jade cats-eye, transparent actinolite is rare and is faceted for gem collectors. Major sources for these forms of actinolite are Taiwan and Canada, other sources are Madagascar and the United States. Classification of minerals List of minerals Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Klein, Cornelis,1985, Manual of Mineralogy, 20th ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York ISBN 0-471-80580-7
Mont Cenis
Mont Cenis is a massif and pass in Savoie, which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps. The pass connects Val-Cenis in France in the northwest with Susa in Italy in the southeast, in the Middle Ages, pilgrims passing through Moncenisio and Susa Valley came to Turin along a road called Via Francigena, with final destination Rome. It was one of the most used Alpine pass in from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The pass was part of the border between the two countries from the annexion of Savoy to the third French Empire in 1861 until 1947 Treaty of Paris, the treaty allowed Savoy to retrieve its historical and political boundaries. A road over the pass was built between 1803 and 1810 by Napoleon, the Mont Cenis Pass Railway was opened alongside the road in 1868, but was dismantled in 1871, on the opening of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. It was the first ever railway based on the Fell mountain railway system and was worked by English engine-drivers, the Fréjus Rail Tunnel acquired the alternative, and geographically incorrect, name of Mont Cenis Tunnel because the traffic which formerly used the Mont Cenis Pass was transferred to it.
This tunnel is really 27.4 km 17 miles west of the pass, from Chambéry the line runs up the Isère valley, but soon bears through that of the Arc or the Maurienne past Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Modane. The tunnel is 13 km in length, and leads to Bardonecchia, some way below which, thence the valley of the Dora Riparia is followed to Turin. The carriage road mounts the Arc valley for 25.7 km /16 mi from Modane to Lanslebourg, whence it is 12.9 km /8 mi to the hospice, the descent lies through the Cenis valley to Susa where the road joins the railway. To the southwest of the Mont Cenis is the Little Mont Cenis which leads from the plateau of the main pass to the Etache valley on the French slope. This pass was crossed in 1689 by the Vaudois, and is believed by some authors to have been Hannibals Pass, the term Mont Cenis could derive from mont des cendres. According to tradition, following a forest fire, a quantity of ashes accumulated on the ground. The path of ashes was found during the work of the route.
Being a pass in the Alps, the Mont Cenis was used in several incidents in history. One example is the descent of Constantine I to Italy, to fight against Maxentius and it was the principal route for crossing the Alps between France and Italy until the 19th century. It was used as the passage by which Charlemagne crossed with his army to invade Lombardy in 773. When the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont ceded Savoy to France, in 1860, the Mont Cenis became a frontier pass and it was therefore highly fortified as a protection against an invasion of the Val di Susa route towards Turin. In 1874-1880 the Italian Regio Esercito built three forts, Fort Cassa, Fort Varisello and Fort Roncia, supported by several batteries and fortifications
Garnet
Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, the different species are pyrope, spessartine, grossular and andradite. The garnets make up two solid solution series, pyrope-almandine-spessartine and uvarovite-grossular-andradite, the word garnet comes from the 14th‑century Middle English word gernet, meaning dark red. It is derived from the Latin granatus, from granum, Garnet species are found in many colors including red, yellow, purple, blue, black and colorless, with reddish shades most common. Garnet species light transmission properties can range from the gemstone-quality transparent specimens to the varieties used for industrial purposes as abrasives. The minerals luster is categorized as vitreous or resinous, garnets are nesosilicates having the general formula X3Y23. The X site is occupied by divalent cations 2+ and the Y site by trivalent cations 3+ in an octahedral/tetrahedral framework with 4− occupying the tetrahedra.
Garnets are most often found in the crystal habit, but are commonly found in the trapezohedron habit. They crystallize in the system, having three axes that are all of equal length and perpendicular to each other. Garnets do not show cleavage, so when they fracture under stress, because the chemical composition of garnet varies, the atomic bonds in some species are stronger than in others. As a result, this group shows a range of hardness on the Mohs scale of about 6.5 to 7.5. The harder species like almandine are often used for abrasive purposes, for gem identification purposes, a pick-up response to a strong neodymium magnet separates garnet from all other natural transparent gemstones commonly used in the jewelry trade. Almandine, Fe3Al23 Pyrope, Mg3Al23 Spessartine, Mn3Al23 Almandine, sometimes incorrectly called almandite, is the modern gem known as carbuncle, the term carbuncle is derived from the Latin meaning live coal or burning charcoal. The name Almandine is a corruption of Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stones were cut in ancient times, almandine is an iron-aluminium garnet with the formula Fe3Al23, the deep red transparent stones are often called precious garnet and are used as gemstones.
Almandine occurs in metamorphic rocks like mica schists, associated with such as staurolite, andalusite. Almandine has nicknames of Oriental garnet, almandine ruby, and carbuncle, Pyrope is red in color and chemically an aluminium silicate with the formula Mg3Al23, though the magnesium can be replaced in part by calcium and ferrous iron. The color of pyrope varies from red to black. A variety of pyrope from Macon County, North Carolina is a shade and has been called rhodolite
Metamorphism
Metamorphism is the change of minerals or geologic texture in pre-existing rocks, without the protolith melting into liquid magma. The change occurs primarily due to heat and the introduction of chemically active fluids, the chemical components and crystal structures of the minerals making up the rock may change even though the rock remains a solid. Changes at or just beneath Earths surface due to weathering and/or diagenesis are not classified as metamorphism, Metamorphism typically occurs between diagenesis, and melting. Three types of metamorphism exist, contact and regional, Metamorphism produced with increasing pressure and temperature conditions is known as prograde metamorphism. Conversely, decreasing temperatures and pressure characterize retrograde metamorphism, Metamorphic rocks can change without melting. When pressure is applied, somewhat flattened grains that orient in the same direction have a stable configuration. The upper boundary of metamorphic conditions is related to the onset of melting processes in the rock, the maximum temperature for metamorphism is typically 700 –900 °C, depending on the pressure and on the composition of the rock.
Migmatites are rocks formed at this limit, which contain pods. Since the 1980s it has recognized that rocks are rarely dry enough. Conditions producing widespread regionally metamorphosed rocks occur during an orogenic event, the collision of two continental plates or island arcs with continental plates produce the extreme compressional forces required for the metamorphic changes typical of regional metamorphism. These orogenic mountains are eroded, exposing the intensely deformed rocks typical of their cores. The conditions within the slab as it plunges toward the mantle in a subduction zone produce regional metamorphic effects. The techniques of structural geology are used to unravel the collisional history, regional metamorphism can be described and classified into metamorphic facies or metamorphic zones of temperature/pressure conditions throughout the orogenic terrane. Contact metamorphism occurs typically around intrusive igneous rocks as a result of the increase caused by the intrusion of magma into cooler country rock.
The area surrounding the intrusion where the contact metamorphism effects are present is called the metamorphic aureole, contact metamorphic rocks are usually known as hornfels. Rocks formed by contact metamorphism may not present signs of deformation and are often fine-grained. Contact metamorphism is greater adjacent to the intrusion and dissipates with distance from the contact, the size of the aureole depends on the heat of the intrusion, its size, and the temperature difference with the wall rocks. Dikes generally have small aureoles with minimal metamorphism whereas large ultramafic intrusions can have significantly thick, the metamorphic grade of an aureole is measured by the peak metamorphic mineral which forms in the aureole
Volcanic rock
Volcanic rock is a rock formed from magma erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin, for these reasons, in geology and shallow hypabyssal rocks are not always treated as distinct. In the context of Precambrian shield geology, the term volcanic is often applied to what are strictly metavolcanic rocks, Volcanic rocks are among the most common rock types on Earths surface, particularly in the oceans. On land, they are common at plate boundaries and in flood basalt provinces. It has been estimated that volcanic rocks cover about 8% of the Earths current land surface, lava Tephra Volcanic bomb Lapilli Volcanic ash Volcanic rocks are usually fine-grained or aphanitic to glass in texture. They often contain clasts of other rocks and phenocrysts, phenocrysts are crystals that are larger than the matrix and are identifiable with the unaided eye. Rhomb porphyry is an example with large rhomb shaped phenocrysts embedded in a fine grained matrix.
Volcanic rocks often have a vesicular texture caused by voids left by volatiles trapped in the molten lava, pumice is a highly vesicular rock produced in explosive volcanic eruptions. Most modern petrologists classify igneous rocks, including rocks, by their chemistry when dealing with their origin. The fact that different mineralogies and textures may be developed from the same initial magmas has led petrologists to rely heavily on chemistry to look at a volcanic rocks origin. The chemistry of volcanic rocks is dependent on two things, the composition of the primary magma and the subsequent differentiation. Differentiation of most volcanic rocks tends to increase the silica content, the initial composition of most volcanic rocks is basaltic, albeit small differences in initial compositions may result in multiple differentiation series. The most common of these series are tholeiitic, calc-alkaline, most volcanic rocks share a number of common minerals. Differentiation of volcanic rocks tends to increase the silica content mainly by fractional crystallization, more evolved volcanic rocks tend to be richer in minerals with a higher amount if silica such as phyllo and tectosilicates including the feldspars, quartz polymorphs and muscovite.
While still dominated by silicates, more volcanic rocks have mineral assemblages with less silica, such as olivine. Bowens reaction series correctly predicts the order of formation of the most common minerals in volcanic rocks, occasionally, a magma may pick up crystals that crystallized from another magma, these crystals are called xenocrysts. Diamonds found in kimberlites are rare but well-known xenocrysts, the kimberlites do not create the diamonds, Volcanic rocks are named according to both their chemical composition and texture. Basalt is a common volcanic rock with low silica content
Mid-ocean ridge
A mid-ocean ridge is an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It consists of various mountains linked in chains, typically having a known as a rift running along its spine. This type of mountain ridge is characteristic of what is known as an oceanic spreading center. The production of new results from mantle upwelling in response to plate spreading. The buoyant melt rises as magma at a linear weakness in the oceanic crust, a mid-ocean ridge demarcates the boundary between two tectonic plates, and consequently is termed a divergent plate boundary. Mid-ocean ridges are geologically active, with new magma constantly emerging onto the floor and into the crust at. The crystallized magma forms new crust of basalt and gabbro and they are formed by two oceanic plates moving away from each other. The rocks making up the crust below the seafloor are youngest along the axis of the ridge and age with increasing distance from that axis, new magma of basalt composition emerges at and near the axis because of decompression melting in the underlying Earths mantle.
The oceanic crust is made up of much younger than the Earth itself. Most oceanic crust in the basins is less than 200 million years old. The crust is in a constant state of renewal at the ocean ridges, moving away from the mid-ocean ridge, ocean depth progressively increases, the greatest depths are in ocean trenches. As the oceanic crust moves away from the axis, the peridotite in the underlying mantle cools. The crust and the relatively rigid peridotite below it make up the oceanic lithosphere, by contrast, fast spreading ridges like the East Pacific Rise are narrow, sharp incisions surrounded by generally flat topography that slopes away from the ridge over many hundreds of miles. The overall shape of ridges results from Pratt isostacy, close to the ridge there is hot. As the oceanic plates cool, away from the axes, the oceanic mantle lithosphere thickens. Thus older seafloor is underlain by denser material and sits lower, there are two processes, ridge-push and slab pull, thought to be responsible for the spreading seen at mid-ocean ridges, and there is some uncertainty as to which is dominant.
Ridge-push occurs when the bulk of the ridge pushes the rest of the tectonic plate away from the ridge. At the subduction zone, slab-pull comes into effect and this is simply the weight of the tectonic plate being subducted below the overlying plate dragging the rest of the plate along behind it
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock types, in a process called metamorphism, which means change in form. The original rock is subjected to heat and pressure, causing profound physical and/or chemical change, the protolith may be a sedimentary, an igneous, or even an existing type of metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rocks make up a part of the Earths crust. They are classified by texture and by chemical and mineral assemblage and they may be formed simply by being deep beneath the Earths surface, subjected to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above it. They can form from tectonic processes such as continental collisions, which cause horizontal pressure and they are formed when rock is heated up by the intrusion of hot molten rock called magma from the Earths interior. The study of rocks provides information about the temperatures and pressures that occur at great depths within the Earths crust. Some examples of rocks are gneiss, marble, schist.
Metamorphic minerals are those that only at the high temperatures and pressures associated with the process of metamorphism. These minerals, known as index minerals, include sillimanite, staurolite and some garnet. Other minerals, such as olivines, amphiboles, micas and quartz, may be found in metamorphic rocks and these minerals formed during the crystallization of igneous rocks. They are stable at temperatures and pressures and may remain chemically unchanged during the metamorphic process. However, all minerals are only within certain limits. The change in the size of the rock during the process of metamorphism is called recrystallization. Both high temperatures and pressures contribute to recrystallization, high temperatures allow the atoms and ions in solid crystals to migrate, thus reorganizing the crystals, while high pressures cause solution of the crystals within the rock at their point of contact. The layering within metamorphic rocks is called foliation, and it occurs when a rock is being shortened along one axis during recrystallization.
This causes the platy or elongated crystals of minerals, such as mica and chlorite and this results in a banded, or foliated rock, with the bands showing the colors of the minerals that formed them. Textures are separated into foliated and non-foliated categories, foliated rock is a product of differential stress that deforms the rock in one plane, sometimes creating a plane of cleavage. For example, slate is a metamorphic rock, originating from shale
Graphite
Graphite, archaically referred to as plumbago, is a crystalline form of carbon, a semimetal, a native element mineral, and one of the allotropes of carbon. Graphite is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions, therefore, it is used in thermochemistry as the standard state for defining the heat of formation of carbon compounds. Highly ordered pyrolytic graphite or more correctly highly oriented pyrolytic graphite refers to graphite with a spread between the graphite sheets of less than 1°. The name graphite fiber is sometimes used to refer to carbon fibers or carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. Graphite occurs in rocks as a result of the reduction of sedimentary carbon compounds during metamorphism. It occurs in rocks and in meteorites. Minerals associated with graphite include quartz, calcite and tourmaline, in meteorites it occurs with troilite and silicate minerals. Small graphitic crystals in meteoritic iron are called cliftonite, Graphite is not mined in the United States, but U. S. production of synthetic graphite in 2010 was 134 kt valued at $1.07 billion.
Graphite has a layered, planar structure, the individual layers are called graphene. In each layer, the atoms are arranged in a honeycomb lattice with separation of 0.142 nm. Atoms in the plane are bonded covalently, with three of the four potential bonding sites satisfied. The fourth electron is free to migrate in the plane, making graphite electrically conductive, however, it does not conduct in a direction at right angles to the plane. Bonding between layers is via weak van der Waals bonds, which allows layers of graphite to be easily separated, the two known forms of graphite and beta, have very similar physical properties, except for that the graphene layers stack slightly differently. The alpha graphite may be flat or buckled. The alpha form can be converted to the form through mechanical treatment. The acoustic and thermal properties of graphite are highly anisotropic, since phonons propagate quickly along the tightly-bound planes, graphites high thermal stability and electrical and thermal conductivity facilitate its widespread use as electrodes and refractories in high temperature material processing applications.
However, in oxygen containing atmospheres graphite readily oxidizes to form CO2 at temperatures of 700 °C, Graphite is an electric conductor, useful in such applications as arc lamp electrodes. It can conduct electricity due to the vast electron delocalization within the carbon layers and these valence electrons are free to move, so are able to conduct electricity
