Merry Blogmas for December 8: Why Should I Care About Alunite?
We continue today with our daily “Merry Blogmas” posts on fun bite-sized science topics, which will run until Christmas. WHAT IS ALUNITE AND WHY SHOULD I CARE? Most people outside of geologists have probably never heard of alunite but this rock has had wars fought over it. Alunite was a major source of potash alum from antiquity up until the 19th century. Potash alum was and still is one of the most important commodities in the world, used in medicines,…