To weather rock, reagents are required. For example, CO2 is found in rainwater as carbonic acid or CO2 is produced by plant roots and by microbes. Through the large fractures carbonic acid and CO2 reach great depth – dissolved in water. Through the fine fractures they reach the interior of the rock. There they dissolve minerals, like the feldspar. New, completely different minerals form, for example clay minerals. They create fine fractures through which water...

An unbelievable crime is discovered in a storage facility. Rocks have been murdered! Detective Hercule Poirot takes up the investigation. He hires a group of international geo-researchers to search for the "suspects" in a drilling campaign in the spectacular landscapes of Chile. They find evidence of the crime in research laboratories - and present a surprising solution to the murder case. The film addresses a scientific question: how does weathering deep below the Earth's surface...

In einer Lagerhalle wird ein unglaublicher Mordfall entdeckt. Viele Steine sind ermordet worden! Detektiv Hercule Poirot nimmt die Ermittlungen auf. Er engagiert eine Gruppe internationaler Geo-ForscherInnen für die Suche nach den „Tätern“ in einer Bohrkampagne in spektakulären Landschaften Chiles. Sie finden Nachweise zum Tatvorgang in Forschungslaboratorien – und eine überraschende Auflösung des Mordfalles. Im Film geht es um eine wissenschaftliche Frage: Wie wird durch Verwitterung tief unter der Erdoberfläche Gestein zu Boden? Die vier „Verdächtigen“...

In einer Lagerhalle wird ein unglaublicher Mordfall entdeckt. Viele Steine sind ermordet worden! Detektiv Hercule Poirot nimmt die Ermittlungen auf. Er engagiert eine Gruppe internationaler Geo-ForscherInnen für die Suche nach den „Tätern“ in einer Bohrkampagne in spektakulären Landschaften Chiles. Sie finden Nachweise zum Tatvorgang in Forschungslaboratorien – und eine überraschende Auflösung des Mordfalles. Im Film geht es um eine wissenschaftliche Frage: Wie wird durch Verwitterung tief unter der Erdoberfläche Gestein zu Boden? Die vier „Verdächtigen“...

During weathering of the deep rocks, many actors act together. This is a property characteristic of the entire “Earth system”. For example, fractures open up, through which water flows that carries carbon and reagants with it from above. New minerals are formed and open up further fractures. Large fractures are also a gateway for microbes from above. They multiply at depths where there is carbon and iron is oxidised. The explorer Alexander von Humboldt stated...

Weathering needs fractures in the rock. When two tectonic plates collide, the plates slide against each other. During earthquakes fractures in the rock are created. The microscope reveals tiny cracks running through the rock. These micro-fractures are caused by the movement of the rocks against each other, but also when erosion at the Earth's surface removes the burden of the overlying rock. Fractures are necessary to bring water, reagents, and microbes to depth to weather...

Weathering of rock needs water. A rock fractured by tectonic movement is gradually eroded from above, and it moves closer towards the Earth's surface. There it is exposed to precipitation and water begins to penetrate the soil and the layers beneath the soil. Through the tectonic fractures, the water can reach great depths. This is a rapid transport process. At a millimetre scale the water slowly moves into the interior along the smallest cracks that...

Se descubre un misterioso crimen en un almacén. Muchas rocas han sido asesinadas. El detective Hércule Poirot emprende la investigación del caso. Para ello, contrata a un grupo de geo-científicos internacionales que buscan a los "culpables" en una campaña de perforación en los espectaculares paisajes de Chile. Los científicos encuentran pruebas del crimen en laboratorios de investigación y presentan una sorprendente solución al caso de asesinato. Esta película aborda una pregunta científica: ¿Cómo se convierte...

Living organisms can also weather rocks. There are microorganisms in deep rock – in the "deep biosphere". With flowing water, the microbes are transported from soil through the fractures to depth. Down there, in complete darkness, the microbes live on water, carbon, and energy. They can oxidise iron in minerals and receive energy in the process. The iron-containing minerals are oxidised, carbon is consumed, and more and more microbes are created. This is how the...