Template:Did you know nominations/Hadean zircon


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:48, 24 December 2017 (UTC)

Hadean zircon

 * ... that that the oldest materials produced by Earth are zircon minerals found in Australia?
 * ALT1: ... that the oldest mineral grains can tell the Earth's history (equipment used pictured)?
 * ALT2: ... that some minerals have had a Hell of a time?
 * Reviewed: Mitten wir im Leben sind
 * Comment: part of University of Hong Kong/Regional Geology (Fall Semester 2017)

Moved to mainspace by Karaclc (talk). Nominated by Graeme Bartlett (talk) at 05:58, 18 November 2017 (UTC).


 * Going to review. Preliminary request: can we avoid "we" in the prose? I moved the question mark in ALT1, but find little relation between "can tell" and the image, as equipment tells me nothing ;) - I'd need an explanation for ALT2. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:21, 29 November 2017 (UTC)
 * The explanation for alt2 is that it is a bit of a joke. The name "Hadean" is derived from Hades, another term for Hell. It is used for the time period because it was believed that the surface of the Earth was covered in molten rock, and blasted by a bombardment of falling asteroids, so the conditions were hellish. The Hadean zircons survived these conditions. Also I will remove that use of second person in the article. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 10:14, 3 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you for explaining, but I am afraid the joke might be lost an the average reader. - Can you work a bit on the lead? It needs a few lines further up, to be accessible by someone like me, such as "The characteristics of Hadean zircons show early Earth history and the mechanism of Earth's processes in the past." I linked Archean, as I would medieval. I think that instead of "Other articles: Hadean, zircon & zirconium", - these terms should simply be linked. Can the orphan tag go? More later. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:02, 3 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I have boosted the lead. And I am scrapping that other articles bit. Someone else got to take off the orphan tag within 2 hours of your request. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 06:47, 4 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you! Next: prose. English is not my native language, so may be wrong. In "That the plate recycling mechanism has melted almost all pieces of Earth crust is commonly accepted by most scientists. However, some rare Hadean zircon grains included in much younger host rock were discovered.", I dislike two things: beginning with "That" when it's not a preposition, and the use of "However". Could you check for those two? I see some abbreviations without an explanation, - our readers are no scientists. Examples: ">4Ga zircons", "U-Pb analysis", "U/Yb versus Y plot", "Pu/U". --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:57, 5 December 2017 (UTC)
 * The "That ... is ..." is valid grammar. It is confusing because it is potentially ambiguous where the first part of the sentence ends. Anyway, I have rearranged this to get rid of the passive. Also hopefully I have made it clearer why its a "however". (0.00...001 tiny% of crust was not melted). I will expand the abbreviations. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 22:00, 5 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Learning, thank you. Next: "Since there was no evidence showing the palo-environment was like in the past" - something seems to be missing. "Isotope Geochemistry" - is that a term that needs capitalisation? Is it "circons is" or "circons are"? - Could you go over it for terms that the average reader will not know, but could have a link? Next step will be good faith ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:30, 5 December 2017 (UTC)
 * One more: the image is licensed but not too easy to understand that size. If you want it to be used it needs a much shorter caption because it will actually go to the Main page, with links, - I use it usually to expand a hook past the 200 chars limit. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:33, 5 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I fixed that paleo-environment missing word, and Vsmith fixed decapitalization and some missing links. I will look for more missing wikilinks to add. On the picture topic, I would have preferred a big zoomed in microscopic picture of a Hadean zircon grain, but there is not such a picture. I have simplified the caption. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 05:03, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you again. Looking at the hooks now, I don't understand "produced by Earth", so strike the first. ALT2 hints too little at anything scientific, so same. In the second, you don't need to say the same thing in the brackets AND the caption. Suggestion:
 * ALT3:... that the oldest mineral grains can tell the Earth's history (scientific equipment pictured)? with a caption of just "Electron probe microanalyser"
 * I'd like that polished, and Australia included, because I think that's attractive. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:11, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
 * ALT4: ... that the Earth's history is revealed in the oldest mineral grains which are found in Australia (scientific equipment pictured)?
 * ALT5: ... that Australia has the earliest piece of Earth's history in the form of zircon mineral grains (scientific equipment pictured)?
 * I also trimmed the caption. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 09:15, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I'd like a better wording than "has the ... piece" - can't say piece is grains, no? Something like "earliest evidence ... was found in Australia?" - I suggest to unpipe for clarity, "Hadean zircon mineral grains" or "Hadean zircon mineral grains. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:40, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Try this: Graeme Bartlett (talk) 05:20, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
 * ALT6:... that Australia has the earliest grains of Earth's history in the form of Hadean zircons (scientific equipment pictured)?
 * Symbol voting keep.svg That works for me! I moved the question marks, but have no more questions! Keep going adding science to the Main page! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:18, 22 December 2017 (UTC)