Talk:Gypsum

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Contents 1 Merge with Selenite 2 World's largest open-pit gypsum mine 3 non-mineral info moved 4 Link to plaster? 5 Culinary uses? 6 Power plant byproduct? 7 I NEED IMFORMATION.

[edit] Merge with Selenite

I think the content in Selenite, covering crystalline forms of gypsum (not only Selenite) should be merged into this article. M0ffx 22:49, 27 April 2007 (UTC) PS: Discussion on the matter here please, rather than on Talk:Selenite - let's keep any debate in the one place (abritrarily chosen) for simplicity.

As the updater of the selenite article, I don't have a problem with merging with the gypsum article. Only issue is - and not quite sure if this is an issue - that the 4 crystalline varieties have a different focus to gypsum/drywall/plaster of paris/sculpture, which are industrial uses. The 4 crystalline varieties are more of a consumer retail focus - and [yes, I know, very controversial] also a "metaphysical" focus. So, I would like the 2 different focuses to be clear, yes? I've written a metaphysical focus article on the 4 crystalline varieties - haven't submitted to Wikipedia yet - partially 'coz I'm semi-chicken about the controversy that it may create - but mainly 'coz "good" citations are few and far between. That creates a problem - though I think I've "fixed" the citation issue by planning to state categorically that "a claim is a claim is a claim - a belief is a belief is a belief" - and are not to be taken as "factual truth" [wording can change if you'd like]. [Also, if you access the Discussion section of the selenite article, you'll see what I wrote originally - and it included metaphysical uses. A bot suggested that I remove the metaphysical section and avoid controversy - which I agreed with and did so.] I will volunteer to do the merge - and I will be careful about what's already been written in the gypsum article - I'll probably only change stuff to make it "readable" and "flowable". BUT 'coz I'm still a newbie, I'd kind of like some hand-holding or good advice. Will probably take most of May to do this 'coz I'm squashy for time until mid-May. Thanks, Ashley Witchcrafter

I've been doing a bit of "merging" [not in Wikipedia] of the gypsum and selenite articles - and, quite frankly, I think maybe merging the two articles is not the best thing to do. Both gypsum and alabaster are separate articles because their usage is different - gypsum mainly building material - alabaster mainly sculpture. Usage of the 4 crystalline varieties is also different - mainly collectible, retail, and metaphysical. I think that, perhaps, the gypsum article should have the references to the 4 crystalline varieties moved to the selenite article. ???? Thanks, AshleyWitchcrafterAshleyWitchcrafter 18:40, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

Speaking as a geologist/mineralogist, if there is any merging, it should be into gypsum, because gypsum is the mineral and selenite, alabaster, etc. are varietal names of it. (And as an aside, the statement on the selenite page that gypsum is massive and shows no crystalline habit is incorrect; certainly it often does - though when it does, it is sometimes called selenite.) I certainly would not oppose keeping important varietal names like alabaster and selenite as separate articles, though they could probably equally well be subsumed into the gypsum article. Cheers Geologyguy 18:58, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

I would fully agree with merging the selenite article in. Almost half of the information on Selenite is repetition of information that is covered in the infobox here at Gypsum so a merge whould not be to difficult.--Kevmin (talk) 02:21, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Oppose merge. Per Ashley's comments about usages being so different as well as the separate literature. In the long run both of these articles could grow very large on their own. Let them develop separately and see what materialises. Cheers. Cewvero (talk) 17:19, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] World's largest open-pit gypsum mine

The world's largest open-pit gypsum mine is located in Milford, Nova Scotia, Canada. Mentions of it can be found on Google.... perhaps information on it should be included in the main Gypsum article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dezzo (talk • contribs) .

gypsum could become more popular as a building material: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2546574,00html (btw thanks, came to this article to see how common gypsum is and this article answered that)

[edit] non-mineral info moved

I moved the chemical reaction and industrial usages to calcium sulfate. This article is about the natural mineral and its varieties. Vsmith 00:59, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

nice. I think that some of that stuff is relevant to this article though, and perhaps a filtered version needs to be put back. For example the sections about where gypsum comes from? I do agree that sections such as uses of processed gypsum in the form of plaster of paris needed to be moved. perhaps even to the plaster of paris page, what are your thoughts?Bouncingmolar 02:02, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

er? What sections about where gypsum comes from? Gypsum the natural mineral doesn't come from flue gases or phosphate processing. I don't see any description of the origin of gypsum as a natural mineral in the removed material. Yes the plaster of Paris bit would probably have been better moved to that article, unless it's already there (I haven't looked). The section in this article about volcanic and hydrothermal vein origins of gypsum versus anhydrite as well as the evaporite deposits could use some expansion, but not from the moved material. Vsmith 03:07, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Link to plaster?

Should this document contain a link to the Plaster article? (212.61.57.82 10:00, 2 April 2007 (UTC))

Technically, probably not. There is a relation to gypsum with a different outcome after heating: Plaster of Paris is made by heating gypsum to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, driving 75% of the water out of the mineral. This reaction absorbs energy, enabling a sheet of drywall to resist fire for a while. Heating further to about 350 degrees F drives out the remaining water and results in conversion to the mineral anhydrite. Any thoughts? Annlanding 16:15, 12 August 2007 (UTC)AnnLanding

Both Plaster and Plaster of Paris are linked (appropriately) in the Uses section. Cheers Geologyguy 16:38, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Interesting. Thank you for clarifying.Annlanding 13:10, 13 August 2007 (UTC)Ann Landing

BTW Geologyguy- your website is most informative- verging on awesome. Great reference!

Thanks for the nice words. Cheers Geologyguy 14:02, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Culinary uses?

My buddy just put a pouch of gypsum into the batch of beer he's brewing. I came here to figure out why you would do such a thing, and there's no information. Anyone know, and if they do, could/should they add it to the article?

Googling 'gypsum beer' gives 291,000 results, including this one. Cheers Geologyguy 22:44, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I think that use arguably belongs on the "calcium sulfate" page rather than this one. Def-Mornahan (talk) 20:55, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

No the selenite section should be treated as seperate topic. In fact I think all the varieties of Gypsum and other minerals should be treated as seperate topic. In doing so the clarity of search options will be optimized and will bring a broad breadth in the topic.

[edit] Power plant byproduct?

I've heard that gypsum is a byproduct formed at some coal power plants. Anyone able to read some of the information out there? I can find a lot of irrelevant or highly technical results, but it's hard for me to filter them. --72.54.44.153 (talk) 22:51, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Certainly this is done. The question would be if the amounts produced in power plants is significant volumetrically. A quick look at some google results suggested that making synthetic gypsum in power plants is beyond the experimental stage, but no suggestion of how much is made. Cheers Geologyguy (talk) 23:08, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

As I recall from undergrad, a "mineral" is naturally formed. Thus the result of scrubbing at power plants is "hydrated calcium sulfate" rather than gypsum, is it not? Def-Mornahan (talk) 20:58, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] I NEED IMFORMATION.

PLS TELL ME WHAT GYPSUM CAN BE PROCESSED INTO,THAT IS,WHAT IT CAN BE USED FOR.PLEASE I WILL APPRECIATE IE IF YOU CAN MAIL ME BACK THE ANSWER THROUGH MY E-MAIL <Removed.> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.78.18.211 (talk) 16:04, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

You may find the article on Gypsum a good place to start looking. And posting your e-mail address on wikipedia is a very bad idea unless you enjoy receiving spam - I thought I'd better remove it for you! Verisimilus T 16:51, 4 April 2008 (UTC)