Science Project on Environmental Issues
Turn in your research theme by the end of the day
Environmental issues? What's that about?
Ugh, I haven't decided on my theme yet.
Like recycling?
Or like plastics? Or deforestation?
Hmm... This is hard...
Wow, that was fast.
Seto-san!
Wanna eat lunch together?
S-Sure, I guess.
Science project?
I'm doing mine on water quality testing.
Water quality? What's that mean?
Hey! Can we do that topic together?
Ugh, figures.
Look, you should think of your own topic.
Think fast!
When'd you two become friends?
W-We're not friends—
Not too long ago! Right?
You're doing the science project together?
Yup!
H-Hey, I only work alone.
Oh yeah, you two were at the beach picking up trash.
Not trash! Sea glass!
You sure sound like friends.
Aoi!
Later.
Hey, what's up?
Can I do the project with you?
Fine.
Yay!
Add river water and some testing chemical to the tube and check the color.
Seto-san! It's not changing color!
You have to wait for a bit.
It'll tell you the level of water pollution.
The Golden Elegy
Keep it precise, okay?
Environmental issues, huh?
Honestly, it doesn't even feel real.
I wonder when I can start my sapphire research again...
You copied my theme and now you're slacking off?
Let's head to the next spot.
Why did you pick water as your theme?
I was sure you'd do something on rocks.
Imari-san told me something.
Rocks are constantly interacting with different worlds around them.
So if you want to know more about rocks,
it's just as important to learn about their surroundings.
For example...
Natural water actually contains a mix of different materials.
It's a valuable source of information that teaches us more about the world.
Some things can't even be seen without looking through water.
If you ever get a chance, it's worth studying.
Water contains different materials, huh?
Let's look downstream of that factory next.
We've got manganese and iron reactions!
They're both below standard value, but looks like that factory is the culprit.
All right, let's keep going.
Collection site
Bridge Point A
Bridge Point B
Bridge Point C
Factory (Downstream) Point A
Factory (Downstream) Point B
COD
ish
Zinc
Below 0.05
Almost 0
Iron
Below 0.2
Manganese
Below 0.5
Below 0.2
0.7 ish
We're making good progress!
We might finish today at this rate.
If that's the case...
Wanna take a quick break?
Panning?
You said you've never tried it!
Fine, but only for a little while.
Like this?
I can't tell if I'm doing it right.
You're good!
Did you actually check?
You've got all this black magnetite left.
These heavier rocks are proof that you're doing it right.
It is? That's good to hear.
I'm gonna finish up my lunch.
Yum.
Huh? What's this?
An orange mineral?
Whoa! Could be a big discovery!
No way... You think so?
Let's take it back and ask Nagi-san.
Yeah.
I dropped it!
Where?
Umm...
Oh no, I've lost sight of it.
Let's try looking for another one.
I betcha that was a huge discovery.
You don't want to leave without it!
There's gotta be more around here.
Seto-san, let's try over there next.
Tanigawa-san, we're out of time.
We have to get back to our project.
Pollutants
We need to test samples quickly, so we can test the water under the same conditions.
Just a little bit longer!
I'd like to, but we have more important things to do.
Ruri!
What's up?
I know you're busy, but are you done with your paper?
Nope, not yet.
Then I guess mineral hunting is out of the question...
Did something happen?
Well, you see, Seto-san found this orange rock at the river.
An orange rock?
But we lost sight of it.
She tried to play it off like she was fine.
But I think she was pretty bummed.
You seem sad too, Ruri.
Senpai, on second thought,
could you help me with the fluorite resear—
Imari-san! Are you going mineral hunting?
You scared me!
So that's why you tagged along on my research.
Yup!
I'm sorry, I hope we're not being too pushy.
We can only make up for that lost rock by searching for more rocks!
You were right, this tributary is it.
Really?
Then let's climb up here, just as planned!
Okay!
Our work today is to test the river water every 30 meters or so.
Huh? The water?
We're not looking for rocks?
The color's getting darker.
Yeah, that's a good sign.
Great! Off to our next spot.
Hopefully, we're near a river.
It's hard to tell.
Umm, Nagi-san... is this....
Ruri, could you grab some river water from over there?
This is no different from the water quality testing we did.
Yeah, I thought the same thing.
Not a bad result.
Nice!
The whole point of today was to help Seto-san find rocks.
Hey, Nagi-san! I thought we were hunting for minerals!
Tanigawa-san, it's okay—
Found it! Over here!
Here, it's fluorite.
A purple crystal!
I don't have this color!
I'm glad we were able to find it.
You were testing the water to find this deposit?
Yup. Turns out, we could detect a small amount of fluorine
in a river distant from the mine.
So I figured if this fluorine comes from fluorite,
Mine
Fluorite
Fluorite detected
No fluorite detected
Upstream
there's a good chance another deposit exists besides the mine.
And that's what we were trying to find out today.
Rocks can impact water quality?
It happens all the time.
Have you heard of water hardness?
Like hard water and soft water.
It's the amount of calcium and magnesium contained in water.
Yup!
Hardness
Calcium
Magnesium
Minerals! They're minerals!
Those are usually caused by minerals that dissolved out of rocks.
Potassium is derived from feldspar and mica Sodium is from feldspar and rock salt, etc.
Others
Components of Natural Water
Calcium
Magnesium
Main Source
Limestone, gypsum, etc.
Dolomite (altered limestone containing magnesium)
Serpentinite
Wow, Imari-san!
Weird. Imari-san doing all the explaining?
This one looks the prettiest.
I understand much better now.
I'm glad we were able to find them.
By the way, some say that fluorite has healing properties.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if this was the right approach.
Apparently, it helps improve concentration and mental health.
Really?
There's tons of information contained in water,
but it's not always derived from rocks.
Hey, about that orange rock that Seto-san found in the river...
Yeah, I would've liked to see it.
We tried looking for others, but couldn't find any more.
Do you think we could search for it this way?
Hmm... That's difficult without knowing what kind of rock it was.
We don't know which component to look for.
Yeah...
Besides, even if we could identify the rock,
that doesn't mean we can find it.
Yeah...
Still wanna give it a shot?
You were right about testing water quality, too.
I told you!
I wanna help Seto-san find an answer to that mystery rock.
Okay then, it's settled.
Nagi's Respite
In many cases, the water found in Japan is soft water. Soft water means that it contains low levels of calcium and magnesium. In contrast, hard water is more common in places like Europe and other continental regions. So, why is that? One reason lies in the geology—that is, the presence of limestone. While Europe has a large amount of limestone-rich earth, in Japan, limestone makes up less than 0.5% of the land. If you search across Japan, slightly harder water can be found in southern Okinawa, where the land is formed from ancient coral reefs, which are rich in limestone. Another reason for Japan's water hardness lies in its topography. Despite its small size, Japan is very mountainous. This means rivers are short and steep, so water flows quickly from the mountains to the sea. As a result, water has less time to absorb minerals from the rocks it passes through. In contrast, rivers on large continents tend to flow more slowly over longer distances, which gives them more time to pick up minerals, leading to harder water.
Limestone changes the flavor of water?
Does taste different, though
Areas with more limestone
Okinawa Island
Nagi's Respite
Mineral resources have played an essential role in our lives since ancient times, but they have also long carried the risk of causing serious and widespread harm into the future. Sulfur mines can contain large amounts of pyrite, and when this pyrite is exposed to water and oxygen, it reacts to form sulfuric acid. This acid can flow into downstream rivers, making the water highly acidic and uninhabitable for aquatic life. Another concern is cadmium, a toxic metal commonly found in zinc ores. During the refining process, cadmium can remain in wastewater or mine tailings, requiring caution in surrounding areas. Mining can also cause physical problems. Because it creates underground cavities, it can lead to land subsidence and surface collapses in nearby areas. Japan is no exception when it comes to mine-related problems like these, but thanks to decades of dedicated research and environmental monitoring, our understanding has improved significantly, laying the groundwork for the preventative measures we have today.
Pollution caused by mining
There's a lot of research on it
So what do you think? Do our tests give you any clues?
Let's start by looking for indicator elements of ore deposits.
Target mines
Indicator elements
found underwater
Zinc
Iron
Manganese
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Lead
Zinc
Manganese
Iron
Good indicator
Likely indicator
Unlikely indicator
Not viable
Around here, you can find iron, manganese, and zinc.
These are useful in locating metal ore deposits.
Zinc looks like a good choice.
You'd find a lot of minerals with it.
But these three could all be from factory wastewater.
Iron and manganese are usually detected near factories.
Come on, did you really have to bring that up now?
Right, Seto-san?
Sorry.
I feel bad about getting you both involved
without knowing if we'll even find it.
We're just as interested in finding these orange rocks.
Don't feel bad for asking for our help.
No need to solve every concern before taking action.
Or to wait until you've formulated a fool-proof theory.
If you think that way, you'll never do anything. Right, Imari?
Y-Yup!
If we find it, great. If not, oh well.
Let's give it our best shot.
Okay.
Look!
It's faint, but there's definitely a zinc reaction!
Let's see... this place is...
Huh? There's no reaction.
We got one on this side!
How about here?
Is it just me, or is it getting darker?
Let's wait and see a bit longer.
The water upstream gets even darker!
Whoa, that's gotta be over the limit.
It must mean that we're on the right track!
Best not to put your weight on this rock.
Looks like it could crumble.
Watch out for this rock.
M'kay...
There's a clearing up ahead.
Is this an abandoned factory?
Looks like it.
I can't say it feels very inviting.
So that zinc, iron, and manganese from our tests were...
They all likely seeped out of this factory.
All that work just to learn it was wastewater.
Water is affected by all kinds of facets of our world.
It happens.
If rocks are indicators that tell us about the past,
then constantly flowing river water teaches us about the present.
Water contains substances from the air.
Animal waste and the decay of plants and animals increase the level of organic pollution
Exhaust gases in the atmosphere are a major cause of sulfate ions in water
It reflects the activity of nearby plants and animals.
Inorganic substances mainly come from rocks, such as magnesium, iron, etc.
And, of course, the same goes for rocks.
Water is also impacted by seasonal changes and the weather.
We may not always notice it, but the state of our environment is undeniable.
That reality is all here, mixed in bodies of water.
Still, we were able to find fluorite with fluorine.
If we look for another element, do you think we can still find the orange rock?
But wouldn't water pollution make that difficult?
Even if it were all from the factory, we wouldn't be able to tell.
You're right!
I should give environmental issues a piece of my mind.
We can't research rocks because of you!
Even a faint reaction is a huge roadblock in our research.
We may not have found the orange rock...
But it looks like this was a great lesson.
Um, can we take some pictures of the factory?
It's dangerous, so just a few.
Maybe this is where the water was before it seeped out.
Whatever it was, I doubt it was safe to mix into the river.
That's huge. Is it a roasting furnace?
O-Owie...
You okay?
Yeah. What was that thing?
Looked like a squirrel.
Jeez, it came out of nowhere.
Nagi-san! This is the orange rock we found at the river!
It really is orange.
What's going on?
Whoa! What's that?!
Could it be zincite?
You know what it is?
Its Japanese name literally means "red zinc ore."
Red Zinc Ore
Zincite
*Its red color is due to impurities (manganese)
Just as its name suggests, it's a red mineral made of zinc oxide.
Zinc is red?
The red color comes from impurities.
Or more specifically, it's from manganese.
Let's take some home and research it.
Senpai and I may be too big to crawl in there.
Seto-san, wanna give it a try?
M-Me?!
Th-That's okay. Tanigawa-san, you're smaller than me—
Seto-san!
This one's all yours. It's gotta be!
I'll try my best.
Zincite is a rare mineral, only found in a few places in the world.
It's that rare?!
It requires extremely specific conditions to form.
Specific conditions?
Zinc minerals easily formed from magma
Sphalerite
Zincite forms through a series of complex chemical reactions,
Breaks down in neutral to alkaline environments
Smithsonite
Further decomposition progresses
but environments that meet all of these conditions are extremely rare.
Hydrozincite
Water and carbon dioxide are released due to heating from magma, etc.
Zincite
And even then, zincite usually only forms as small crystals.
Naturally occurring, gem-sized crystals are very rare.
As far as I know, they've only been found at the Franklin Mine in the U.S..
I'm starting to doubt if this is really zincite.
Are you sure it's not something else?
I meant only natural zincite.
Its composition is fairly simple, so it can form by accident.
There's been reported cases of zincite crystals forming
Oxygen in the air
Vaporized high-purity zinc
inside factory chimneys where vaporized zinc met oxygen.
The same has happened from zinc mine fires or accidents during zinc refining.
This pipe likely happened to have similar conditions.
It's the result of a unique, human-made environment rarely found in nature.
A special mineral indeed.
What's the matter? I thought you came to work on your report.
Factory Wastewater and Environmental Issues
It's pretty, but...
I'd never guess it's from that dirty old factory just by looking at it.
When I think about how it formed, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to feel happy.
Well, you should feel happy.
Ruri-chan... I mean, Tanigawa-san.
You encouraged me to find it.
This is the first rock that I found—
I mean, that my friend and I found together.
So I hope... when you look at this rock...
You'd think back on that and feel happy too...
Well, duh! Of course I will!
I was just thinking about something else for a bit.
Something else?
I was wondering what makes things "good" or "bad."
Our world feels too complicated to view in black and white.
Wow, Tanigawa-san. I didn't expect that from you.
Wait, did I just say something cool?
Not really, but I'm looking forward to your report now.
I-I should get on that...
Hey, by the way.
Did you call me "Ruri-chan" just now?
I don't think so.
You totally did.
No, I didn't.
Did too.
Did not!
You can call me Ruri, you know.
Stop distracting me!
Next Time
Time Capsule of 1.9 Million Tons