This Week in H’burg is a weekly column featuring photos and fun facts from local photographer Pierre Ratté. Each week we’ll feature a new photo from Ratté along with a fact about the subject matter of the photo.
Quicksilver, or mercury, is the only metal appearing in liquid form at room temperature. It is often found in association with hot springs in the red ore cinnabar. Processing houses heat cinnabar and then collect the vaporized mercury to obtain the pure element. Listed 80th on the periodic table, its symbol “Hg” is a combination of the symbols for water (H2O) and silver (Ag). Back in the 1870s, Sonoma County experienced a quicksilver mining boom, and many mines were established around Pine Flats Road where remnants of these operations are still visible. Back in the day, the areas was known as the Cinnabar Mining District. Fun facts about mercury: lead will float on it; it resists absorption; its meniscus is convex rather than concave like most liquids; its boiling point is 356 degrees centigrade; it ranks 67th in minerals found in earth; by weight it comprises 85 parts/billion of the earth’s crust making it a rare metal; and it is extremely toxic.
Pierre Ratté posts a daily picture on Instagram, Facebook and TodayinHburg.com. He can be reached at pj*****@ic****.com. His book “100 Days Sheltering-In-Place” can be purchased at Levin’s and Copperfield’s bookstores, TodayinHburg.com or Amazon.com.
